League 101: How to wave clear faster and effectively

Why focus more on wave clearing?

Clearing waves can give you a lot of advantages that you can use to win a game. These seem small but in the bigger scheme of things they will win you the game. It is what the professionals use in the big leagues, but also something you can use in your own games.

First off, clearing a wave fast will give you the opportunity to recall back to base to buy new items before your enemy does. If you can clear a wave very fast in the laning phase and get a quick reset from base back to lane, you can catch the enemy off guard with an extra item. Because the enemy will be clearing the minions you have just pushed in, you can use the pressure you created to get a reset in before he even touched the next wave of minions.

Xerath is great at clearing waves fast.

Secondly, clearing a wave quickly also gives you the chance to move out of your lane first. Because you cleared all the minions, you will not be missing any if you go help your jungler fight in the river or the enemy jungle. If your opponent wants to move, he will be missing out on the wave you just shoved in. This is important in both competitive, where supports like to roam or toplaners like to use their teleport advantage on the map, but also in your own games. An unexpected visit in the enemy jungle paired with your jungler might catch the enemy off guard!

As for the third option, you will get the possibility to chip down on the enemy turret while the enemy is focused on getting his minions. Of course, this is easier for a ranged champion than a melee champion but if you would like to siege a turret you need as many minions as possible. You lose less minions if you clear the enemy wave faster than he can clear yours.

How to pull it off

There are multiple ways to clear a wave fast and effectively, but it all comes down to using as much damage as possible in a short amount of time. You need the enemy minions to die before yours so never stop hitting them. You are focused on last hitting the minions for their gold but try to use as many of your auto-attack in between those last hits. This way you will ensure a pushing wave of minions and if the opponent is only last hitting, you will be pushing faster. Throw in some abilities if you see that the enemy is also damaging the wave in between last hits, but make sure to balance out your mana pool or cooldowns since you will need it if the enemy tries to force an all in if they catch you on those.

If you really need all your minions to, for example, siege a turret, you will need as many of them as you can. That is why, when the enemy minion wave approaches, you can stand in front of your minions so the minions of your opponent start attacking you instead of your minions. This way you save your minions from a lot of damage, and they arrive at the enemy turret healthy. Beware that you do not take too much damage especially at early levels. Minions can be a real pain in the… health department.
Hopefully, you have become a master manipulator of waves by now. So go in queue and see for yourself all the advantages you can gain from clearing a wave fast and effectively.

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