User blog:Fistful of Force/Holding the line: Protracted siege situations.

This post is mostly for tanks and bruisers, so carries and supports can skip this reading.

Okay, so what I'm going to talk about today is that in the event of a relatively even match up where neither team has a desicive advantage, the game basically becomes a psychological game. The first one to make a mistake loses. One who loses a baron, or gets ganked, or gets caught basically loses the game.

Now this may seem easy enough to avoid (Just group, ward, avoid spells, etc.), but keeping a constant focus for 5 ~ 15 minutes is actually pretty hard. You have to remain vigilant enough to avoid the obvious mistakes, while flexible enough to avoid the tricky stuff.

This is especially hard for melee champions, because they simply can't do anything without opening themselves up to damage/cc/stuff. Everyone talks about positioning for AD carries, but positioning for Bruisers and Tanks is equally, if not more important, because they have crappier mobility. They have to be in position to peel for the ADC, initiate on the enemy carries, block spells from the enemy team, disrupt channels, chase down runners, and just general damage.

The best way to think of it is like this: Make a thought-list of the most important things you have to do in a team fight, and if you can't to it right at that exact moment, you're out of position.

An Example, if you are defending the mid tower against 5 as a initiating tank, you have to constantly move around to avoid skill shots, while remaining in front of your team, getting your team to ward and clear the minion waves (quickly!), waiting for either A) then to initiate under tower or B) Waiting for a clear shot at the enemy carry.

The most important part of this is a steady heard and a calm mind. You absolutely cannot crack under the pressure of waiting.

Just wait for it. The time will come.