User blog:Felza/Map Strategy: The Twisted Treeline

The Twisted Treeline

 * Welcome, welcome, this is a blog post explaining core mechanics and strategies that are used on The Twisted Treeline. I will not provide a huge description of the basics of the map, The basic information is HERE.


 * In this Post, i will be including the following:
 * 1. Team compositions, workable compositions and ideal ones (Note: this will not include every possible comp)
 * 2. Strategies, types of plays that a team comp can focus on (e.g. Pushing, objective secure, kiting)
 * 3. Champion Picks, a rough tier list (ALL SUBJECTED TO OPINION)
 * 4. Item Choices, some items that prevail on the map
 * 5. Pick'n Ban Phase, understanding what the opponent might be going for in the pick and ban phase.



Tier List

 * HERE is a sample tier list from a pro Treeline Player, Sam. Note that this tier list is updated for the new map (Vi patch) as the champion capabilities have not switched up much.


 * Here is my own top tier for Treeline:

Tier 1
Darius: Bruiser, Tank


 * As a high pressure laner, Darius is more fit in lanes than in jungle, his capabilities as a bruiser is strong hence a strong pick on this map.

Cho'Gath: AP Carry, Jungler, Tank


 * Extremely versatile pick who can do multiple roles efficiently. Combination of tankiness, damage and CC. Great pick when your team lacks some form of hard CC.

Jax: Bruiser, Carry, Jungler


 * The Ultimate Duelist will definitely have his place on this map. With a fairly small team size, Jax no longer has to worry about huge focuses but can keep pushing out massive amounts of damage. A very good carry.

Olaf: Bruiser, Jungler, Tank


 * "Tankiness for damage" is about the biggest thing that describes this champion. He deals great damage, is very tanky, can be "unstoppable" makes him a powerful pick on this map. He is a both a good laner and jungler.

Jarvan IV: Bruiser, Tank


 * Utility plus burst, his R can be very devestating on this map where many bruisers prevail. He provides a powerful lane phase and a great chunk of utility from his knock up to his lock down. The jungle here he can perform fine in, but a bully like him in lane is more efficient in lane than jungle.

Lee Sin: Jungler, Bruiser


 * The Epitome of "mobile Bruiser". An assassin early and a bruiser late, with excellent mobility and damage he is a very capable jungler on this map. He can also play in lane but is much less of a threat except for specific counters.

Kayle: AP Carry, AD Carry


 * When you can make an ally immune to damage for a good 2.5 seconds, you will always be a good pick. Kayle is capable of dealing high amounts of damage and with her ultimate, she can be built glass cannon and work fine. She can also be built both AP and AD bringing variety to any composition.

Riven: AD Assassin


 * Tons of Physical damage and a hyper-snowballer. A riven that gets fed ca easily bring a whole opponent team down to 20% health in a full combo. a mobile champion like her can very well perform on this map efficiently.

Diana: AP Carry


 * She is really good can catching people out of position, she also scales really well into late game. Dealing high amounts of Magic damage in an AoE while being particularly tanky. She is more favorable in lane due to the huge power spike at level 6 with her ultimate.

Singed: AP Carry, Tank, Jungler(?)


 * "Don't chase Singed" is more than just true on this map, but his impossible tankyness simply becomes truer when there is only 3 people that can focus him. He is annother excellent combination of tankyness and damage.

Xin Zhao: Bruiser, Jungler


 * All in champion that has the absolute damage early game. When a laner he becomes dominant starting level 2 and as a jungler his ganks are nothing to laugh at.

Rumble: AP Carry


 * THE AP Carry of twisted treeline. With capabilities to lane even against bruisers, he brings high amounts of Magic damage into team fights with him ultimate.

Teemo: AP Carry


 * Since the buffs to his E on-hit ratio and the introduction of Blackfire torch, teemo has seen a rise in power on the treeline. Along with that, his traps are perfect replacements for wards gaining additional sight advantages against your opponents.

(NOTE: Other tiers are not included due to the heavy load of information needed to explain, this can take up the whole section and direct the discussion away from the actually strategy to the tier list)

Strategies

 * One of the things about Twisted Treeline is its versatality, In many ways any comp can become powerful on this map, you just need to fit them with the right champions and acquire the correct Strategies.


 * Strategies can be divided into a two different sections: Phase Focus and Play Focus. Phase focuses are the specific phase you are aiming to excel and end the game in. While Play focus is certain focuses of play making one will be focused with the composition.



Early-Snowballing

 * This is the most commonly used strategy on treeline. Snowball early and end game fast, usually consists of champions like Lee Sin or Xin Zhao who are extremely powerful early game.

Mid-game domination

 * The core of this composition is winning teamfights, securing highly valuable objectives as early as possible. Champions like Diana or Rumble, In general AP carries who carry damage and utility in one.

Late-game Overpower

 * Turtling was a hated strategy for the old treeline, it was weakened, but in no way impossible to do. The goal is to out scale the opponent and overpower the opponent later on in the game. Good pocks are such as Kayle or Singed.

Ganking

 * This is one of the most common strategies on this map and in the update, the removal of wards only made this even better. Ganking is an extremely efficient way of snowballing a team towards victory, capitalizing on early lane phase and taking the lead early. Champions such as Lee Sin or Jarvan IV are great picks for this strat.

Kiting

 * This is a very old type of composition, it is a niche composition that will counter a fair amount of teams such as all rbuiser teams. this type of team will never fight hads on, almost always keeping their opponents far away from harm but close enough to deal damage. Good picks are such as Singed or Teemo.

Objective secure

 * Another way to gain advantages early is by securing objectives (Vilemaw, alters). Focusing on this will mean one will be able to secure these objectives everytime its up and with ease. This can often easily turn a loosing game into a winning game when executed properly. Good picks are such as Jax(soloing Vilemaw) or Shaco(sneaking alters).

Team fighting

 * This comp burns with AoE damage and AoE CC making sure they win every full engagement. Focusing on full team wipes and then quickly ending the game, this strat makes of strong team fight champions. Great picks are such as Amumu or Fiddlesticks.

Nit-picking

 * This isn't the best name to call it, but this is what the strat is all about: capitalizing on the smallest of positioning errors and taking out opponent champions one by one. This is a more specific type of ganking strategy where you will always be focusing on taking one target out of the fight instantly. The big difference is that this works mostly out of lane phase. Good picks are such as Maokai or Akali.

Pushing

 * Or commonly known as split pushing. this strat focuses on taking down tower by tower at hyper speed and instantly gaining map control and tower advantage. Good picks are such as Singed or Malzahar



And that is the a list of strategic focuses seen on treeline. These strategies alone though, will accomplish nothing. Another huge factor is knowing what is beneficial for your specific strategy.

Item Choices

 * This section will be all about item choices for different strategies or just good items in general. This will also include what items are good for countering specific strategies.

 The Active Items

Aegis of the Legion / Runic Bulwark

 * Aegis has always been a strong item on treeline. it makes not so tanky champions tankier and make tanky champions more tanky. When facing teams where they have a great mix of damage types Aegis of the Legion is the perfect item to rush as a jungler or tank. This item's upgrade Runic Bulwark is simply a must have on compact teams, it is an item filled with value and can fit nicely into many many different builds.


 * Must Have for: Teamfight


 * Must Have against: Teamfight, AP centric comps,

Shurelya's Reverie

 * Just like on Summoner's Rift this item stays as a super effective item for many uses. It gives a decent chunk of regeneration that helps people stay between important fights more often and gives a tad bit of health and some Cooldown Reduction which are all good stats. The active, is what really is good about this item. A huge teamwide speed buff allows for quick repositioning, disengages and engages.


 * Must Have For: Kiting, Ganking, Teamfighting


 * Must Have Against: Kiting, Teamfighting



Locket of the Iron Solari

 * A strong item after the changes to health the shield became much more worthy than before. Along with the decent amount of tanky stats, this item is a fair pick which can fit into every comp. This is especially effective when facing executioner ultimates.


 * Good for almost every comp, no must have(s)



Randuin's Omen

 * Strong item all around, good on-demand slow, nice amount of stats too. This item can help secure kills through the active, while its passive is great for kiting and anti kiting. This can potentially be a decent pick on ADCs.


 * Must Have for: Kiting


 * Must Have against: Kiting

Mikael's Crucible

 * notably strong item which can save an ally from deep focus. The Active is strong enough to change the tides of the battle by saving your dying fed teammate. The stats on this item though is very situational except for the Magic Resist.


 * Must Have against: Nit-Picking, team fighting


 * (NOTE: a good item to pick up when you need to often save a fed teamamte from focus)



 The Attack Damage Items

The Black Cleaver

 * This item should always be on your team as long as you have at least 2 physical damage sources. This item applies a decent amount of damage boost for the team for a fair amount of price. Though, this item does not belong in any specific play strategies.


 * Must Have for: Team with 2 or more physical damage sources.



Blade of the Ruined King

 * This item when built on bruisers allow for early Vilemaw through its constant percentage damage dealt. The Active on the other hand is very nice for dealing with kiting compositions.





 The Ability Power Items

Blackfire Torch

 * This is the definition of AP mages on treeline and 1 of the 2 major reasons why they are so powerful on this map. This item gives everything an AP champion will want: Mpen, AP, CDR, high power passive, health and a little bit of mana regen. This item also has multiple build paths: Idealy, starting with Kage's is the best idea but, if more damage is needed early, Haunting Guise could work too. Occationally, fiendish Codex could be a nice idea on some mana hungry AP carries.


 * Must Have for: Any AP carry, mage.



Wooglet's Witchcap

 * This is essentially "Zhongya's Ring" and the other item that is giving AP caster and carries so much power on Treeline. This item is the ultimate combination of Offense and defense providing a decent amount of Armor and AP. This helps APs survive against bruisers to a certain degree and help APs out put a decent amount of damage at the same time.


 * Must Have for: Any AP carry, mage.



Hextech Sweeper

 * This is a fairly strong AP item for early game. it provides CDR, Health, Move speed and AP which are all desirable on AP carries and at the same time a rather rare combination of stats. Though, the notable point of this item is the revealing mist and trap detection. Since the removal of wards on the new treeline, long lasting traps from champions are instant advantages that can easily throw a game in that team's favor with the increased vision. This item effectively makes these traps useless thus balancing out the scales on vision.


 * Must Have against: champions with long lasting traps

  The Attack Damage Items

The Black Cleaver

 * This item is just as effective on Treeline as it is on Summoner's rift. Being a powerful damage item on bruisers, it gives a hefty amount of damage through shredding the opponent's armor. this provides a damage boost not only to the bearer of the item but for teammate's physical damagers too. If you are running a double AD bruiser team, you'll want to have at least one on the team.


 * Must Have for: bruiser. (Note: if you are the only AD champion on the team, last whisper is better)



Grez's Spectral Lantern

 * This is a jungle's item, but what makes this valuable is not only the mist, but the proc. The proc alone allows certain junglers to take vilemaw at really early stages (Udyr, Warwick, Jax etc.). Otherwise there are always better items for damage and for tankyness. The vision it provides is a strategic boost when scouting for enemies, it can help prevent brainless face checks. On a map like Treeline where ganks and ambushes are essentially king,


 * Must Have for: objective control
 * Must Have against: ganking

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Blade of the Ruined King

 * Powerful item to have for early game. It may not win you the lane or an important fight, but having this early can help you take easy Spider. Its a worthy mention due to how well it synergies with bruisers who are rather dominant on this map. Also, on an important note, this item helps ADCs survive better against most bruisers on this map.


 * Must Have for: ADCs
 * Must Have against: HP stacking champions

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Well, that sums it up for the whole Active item Choice section, there are however many more items out there that are potentially really strong and is not mentioned in this section.

Pick & Ban Phase

 * This section is going to be short and sweet touching on somethings to look out for during the pick and ban phase.

"Bans"
THis is probably the most important part for this section. There are countless champions that are worthy of a Ban on the Twisted Treeline, but with only 3 bans, you can't ban out everyone. So what you do instead is leave extremely common and high priority bans to the last, for example, Singed and Darius to the last because it is highly possible your opponent will ban these out for you. In turn, ban out specific champions that will be problematic to your composition first leaving the last 1-2 ban slots for priority bans.

This should allow you to get the most out of the Ban phase while making sure you have top priority bans secured.

"Picks"
Well there really isn't much I can say here, but to read back on the strategy section of this blog and think through what you want to use. Otherwise, the picking strategy is very similar to that of Summoner's Rift, "Pick obvious/general picks first, keep the specific/gimmicky pick last".

Closing Statement
Now that this article has come to an end, I'd like to take a moment and sum up some of my final thoughts.

This article all in all is merely my personal views on the Twisted Treeline, as a long time player of this map and the captain of a gold ranking Treeline team. I believe there is no absolute to the capabilities of any strategy or line up, with skill and careful planning its possible to execute very niche yet powerful plays in the game.

I wish that this article was beneficial to you as a reader and further enhance your experience when playing the League Of Legends.

GL and HF