How to Effectively Slow Push and Freeze Lanes in League of Legends

Wave Management is one of the essential subjects to learn and understand in League of Legends. Everyone has heard of wave management, but most lack the skill and knowledge to master it the right way. There are plenty of guides on slow push and freeze lanes in League of Legends. But, some of them are way too much explained, and some are just not enough. 

In this article, you can expect to understand the most critical things on wave management, slow pushing, and freezing any lane in quick and precise details.

We all know that mastering wave management requires time and energy to achieve. However, it’s not that hard if you try to understand it through constant practice. On your first tries, you’ll probably find yourself constantly trying to control the wave and looking out for any ganks simultaneously.

It becomes much easier once you get used to it as hard as it seems on the first tries. It’s best to play normal games instead of ranked when learning to control the wave because you won’t be risking any RP. That way, you won’t be disheartened or discouraged when failing to manage the wave.

What’s Slow Pushing and When To Do It?

A slow push in League of Legends occurs when a player is slowly killing the enemy minions instead of the enemy champion. It’s like taking a step back and reflecting on your surroundings. The more you let your enemy push your lane, the more you’ll have control over the lane. For instance, slow pushing can come in handy when your Jungler wants to gank your lane. You make space for your Jungler to swoop in and lock the enemy between them and you by slowly pushing.

Slow pushing can also be used when you see that the enemy Jungler is near your lane. This way, the enemy will push the lane faster near your Tower, and you’ll be safe from a potential gank. 

Another good reason to slow push is when you’re much stronger than your enemy. You allow the enemy to push the lane to your Tower by pushing slowly, and now you can engage and defeat them quickly. Pushing slowly in a situation like this will make the enemy farm less than you.

And, the final reason why you should utilize slow pushing is when the enemy is more aggressive or stronger than you. If you think that the enemy is stronger than your champion in the early game, then make sure to participate less in farming.

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How to Successfully Slow Push a Lane?

First things first, learn all you can about the enemy. Carefully watch out for patterns, weaknesses, and strengths regarding your enemy. The knowledge you collect from the enemy will determine how you push the wave.

Situation 1

Let’s say the enemy champion is stronger than your champion. Ask yourself, how can I defeat them? What are their weaknesses? What are their strengths? Considering I’m weaker early, how can I use this situation to my advantage?

Answer these questions as you last hit the enemy minions. Once these questions are answered, you understand them fully. You can slowly push the lane to make the enemy over-pushed on your side.

Make sure you don’t let the minion wave go all the way to your Tower. If this happens, all your hard work and focus will go to waste, and the wave will reset in the middle of the lane. So, here you’ll need to freeze the lane, which we’ll discuss later in the article. 

Once you do all of this, you will be safe to escape, and you’ll present an opportunity to your Jungler to gank the lane.

Situation 2

 Let’s say you’re playing on Top lane, and you notice the enemy Jungler go from a gank on Mid to his Jungle. What do you do? You slow push, of course! 

Your eyes need to be on the mini-map frequently. And, when you do spot that enemy Jungler going on your half of the map – you better slow push or risk of being ganked. Usually, when your lane is pushed back to your side – the enemy Jungler will see that there is no opportunity for him to gank you, and he will leave to Mid or Bot lane.

Situation 3

Imagine you’re playing in the lane, and you’re stronger than your enemy. You’ve killed them two times, and you can carry yourself on defeating his lane. Usually, you’ll over-push the lane and risk being ganked by Junglers, or you could make a mistake that the enemy’s going to use against you.

You demand more control over the lane and the enemy by taking a step back. The enemy doesn’t have anything to do other than come to your side and try to farm. But, you’ll stop them by defeating them, or your Jungler ganks your lane. Either way, you’re securing the kill and making them get less gold and experience.

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What’s Freezing and When To Do It?

Freezing a lane creates space for your Jungler to gank and get in a safe distance between you and your opponent. It’s used when you want to freeze the minion wave at a particular lane area. For instance, it can be on the middle of the lane, on your side of the lane, or the opponent’s side if you’re playing Irelia or Darius. 

The best way to freeze is on your side of the lane. We mentioned why it’s important to freeze the lane on your side. You’ll need to focus on your and the enemy’s minions if you want to freeze the lane successfully. 

If you let your enemies grow in number, you’ll move the wave to the center or the opponent’s side. And, if you let the number of enemy minions grow larger than your ally minions, then you’ll move the wave under your Tower. 

So, it’s vital to concentrate when freezing the lane. Also, be patient for ganks and any other information or opportunity presented to you. 

How to Freeze a Lane in League of Legends?

Freezing a lane can be more complex than slow pushing a lane. You can let the enemy damage your minions for slow pushing than you do his. But, to freeze a lane, you’ll need to do the same damage as the enemy does to your minions. If they take out an ally minion – you take one of theirs. 

But, to get to this situation first, you need to make sure you and your enemy have the same number of minions. If they have more minions than you, you can take them out faster with auto-attacks. However, if you have more minions than them, make sure to take their minions as slow as possible. Let the enemy take out your minions faster to make the number of minions between you even.

And, do keep in mind that most players can’t achieve this from their first tries. Some gold-ranked players still can’t freeze lanes. They over-push because the enemy isn’t taking out minions, and they get ganked by their Junglers. Then he blames his teammates for his foul play. 

When I wanted to master freezing and wave management, I used to go on practice or match vs. bots to learn these subjects thoroughly. And, I think you should try doing this before you queue on Ranked matches. 

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When to Stop Freezing and Push the Lane? 

Always check if Drakes, Barons, and Rift Heralds are available to obtain with your Jungler. Your Jungler can’t do anything on their own so make sure to help them when needed. Once you see that your teammate needs help on Drake, you start to push the lane faster and help them.

You can also stop freezing and push all the way when your opponent recalls to their base. You can do the same thing by pushing the lane faster to get more gold and recalling to buy something. 

You should also push the lane faster if you plan to roam around the map. If you’re playing as Zed on Mid lane, then you’ll want to roam and get more kills. 

So, freezing the lane can sometimes freeze your performance.

Final Thoughts

Wave management is like testing to see how much you are conscious of yourself and your surroundings. Learning these two topics is essential because they’ll gradually help you rank up and enjoy the game more.

To slow push and freeze lane in League of Legends effectively, you’ll need to practice more and try to do better each time you log in.