Summoner's Rift | Types of maps League of Legends Guide

Last update: 03 February 2017

Tower	Nexus	Inhibitor	Baron Nashor	Dragon

Summoner's Rift is the first and the most popular map in League of Legends. This is where the tournament and world championship 5 vs. 5 games take place. The map is divided into two identically shaped parts - the Blue and the Purple. The battleground is crossed by three lanes: the Mid, the Top, and the Bottom. Each lane is guarded by three Towers and each base has three Inhibitors - one for each lane. Nexus is guarded by another two towers. The lanes are surrounded by adjacent jungle, which occupies the most of the map. In the jungle there are many neutral creatures, assigned to different camps. Both Blue and Purple parts of the map are divided by shallow water inhabited by the two most powerful creatures in the game: the Dragon and the Nashor. Killing former is awarded with 190 gold, and the latter - 300 gold along with a buff. Battles fought on this map are three-phased. Victory can be won either by destroying the enemy Nexus or forcing the opposing team to surrender.

Phase One - Early Game (Laning Phase)

Starts right after champions are spawned on the map. Usually at this moment players buy starting items. Champions do not have all their abilities yet and they are weak and vulnerable to damage. This is the right time for players to take positions on their lanes, where they can both farm and gain experience (hence the Laning Phase). The progression is slow - champions are barely able to finish off minions, not to mention killing hordes of monsters. It is then best to focus on Last Hitting and, from time to time, if the moment is right, you may poke your opponents, so they did not feel too secure. This is also the time when junglers' aggressive ganks are very common. The ending result of phase one greatly depends on farming. The more gold champions get, the better items they have in phase two. Early Game usually ends with taking down the first tower.

Phase Two - Mid Game

In this phase most champions will already have armed themselves with essential early items. This is now a good time to build numerical superiority on lanes: 4 vs. 3, 3 vs. 1 etc. This will help to eliminate opponents and take down enemy towers. At the same time, you should also keep an eye your own Turrets, since an unguarded alley makes an alluring and easy target for adversaries. Pick your targets carefully, because they may come back to bite you. At this point in game champions can push (kill minions by dozens), and consequently they farm faster. In phase two, your champion should already be armed with one or two mid game items. They will come in handy in inevitable team fights. Mid Game is also a good moment to control and kill the Dragon. Phase Two usually ends when most towers of a one team are destroyed.

Phase Three - Late Game (End Game)

In this phase most champions will already have armed themselves with essential final items. At this point any bad decision may turn into defeat, regardless of earlier advantage. Each team fight must be well-thought-out and targets picked carefully. This is a good time for luring out the opponents, capturing and controlling Baron, and eliminating all enemy Wards. Note that champions who die during this phase will have to wait 60-70 seconds before they respawn, so one victorious team fight may end the game.