User blog comment:XelNecra/False Friends - SS/Mia/@comment-6365781-20130208002633

First off, I would agree with what you are saying: that in theory, MIA's were a good idea at first, but really they are a system that will fail.

I barely call MIAs, except if I am absolutely sure that they are not in lane for whatever reason. However, I don't normally play laners, so I don't do this often (I'm usually a jungler); instead I watch the minimap alot (I once recorded my irl self playing and I was surprised at how much my eye flit back and forth between my champion and the minimap) and I ping when someone shows up in a weird position, as well as buying wards.

I think the main thing is that I think people need to learn to watch the minimap more often and just look for yourself and ping it out for people if you know something is coming. Especially, know the difference in buttons for Normal pings and Alert pings because Alert pings really get someone's attention. As for how not to get flamed for it, pinging a path or area, usually works out well as they can see who pinged it, but their really is no help if people only want MIAs. If that's the case, then they will probably overextend anyway if you did call it.

But to reitorate, I think the main thing is that people need to learn map awareness. It should be your job to watch the map as well as your lane.