The ULTIMATE Wave Control Guide for Season 16

[00:00] Welcome back team. Today I'm going to be

[00:01] teaching you all the new wave control

[00:02] that you need to know for season 16 in

[00:04] just 10 minutes. There are quite a few

[00:06] big changes that heavily impact the way

[00:08] we manipulate the waves in top lane. So

[00:10] it's really important that you

[00:11] understand them if you want to climb in

[00:12] solo Q. So let's not waste any more time

[00:14] and get straight to it.

[00:20] Starting off with wave 1. And due to the

[00:22] increased movement speed from the wave

[00:23] this season, you have to be a lot more

[00:25] careful with wave 1 than we were in

[00:27] previous seasons. So you can see in this

[00:29] example where I'm playing Jax up against

[00:31] a Garen. I played it pretty much exactly

[00:33] how I would in the previous season, a

[00:35] big fat E that hits him and the wave at

[00:37] the same time cuz I want to go for a

[00:38] two- wave crash. But because I did that,

[00:40] because my E hit the entire wave and I

[00:42] also committed a bunch of free autos. My

[00:44] wave one got put in a very awkward

[00:46] position where it doesn't really quite

[00:48] crash. Even if it did crash, you really

[00:49] don't want to do that. It really messes

[00:50] with your wave. And now Garen can freely

[00:53] farm. It feels a little bit

[00:54] uncomfortable for me to hit the wave,

[00:55] get level two, and abuse that level two

[00:57] versus one. So, it's definitely

[00:58] something you should strongly avoid

[00:59] doing this season. And here's an example

[01:01] of what it looks like if you optimize

[01:03] wave 1 correctly. So, in this game

[01:05] versus Casante, I wanted to do a wave

[01:07] two crash so that the wave came back

[01:08] near my tower and allowed me to get an

[01:10] extended trade against him. With

[01:12] Conquering Ghost, I'm going to beat him

[01:13] in an extended trade, but he can win

[01:15] short trades. So, if I slow down my push

[01:17] too much, and he pokes me down, gets

[01:19] level two same time, level three same

[01:20] time, and blocks the wave, it can be

[01:22] very hard for me to crash. So, wave two

[01:24] crash is optimal. So, you can see I'm

[01:25] bashing the wave down. I want to push

[01:28] quickly, but I'm not hoofing my Olaf

[01:29] life axe through the wave or anything

[01:30] like that and pushing too fast and

[01:33] getting my wave 1 too close to his

[01:34] tower. So, you can see the goal for a

[01:37] wave two is you want to kill the last

[01:39] minion of wave 1 just as wave two is

[01:41] passing the tower like this. You'll also

[01:43] see I walked a little bit ahead of the

[01:44] wave because I wanted to block it

[01:46] momentarily. The reason why I want my

[01:49] wave two to move up a little bit because

[01:50] it cuts down on travel time when I kill

[01:53] wave two. I want my wave two to crash

[01:55] under his tower quickly. So, if it's

[01:56] close to its tower, it's going to get

[01:58] there a lot faster because wave three

[02:00] moves very quick every wave does. But

[02:01] the extra movement speed means wave

[02:03] three arrives to your lane faster than

[02:04] it did before, which means you need to

[02:06] crash wave two faster. So, you can see

[02:07] now I'm hoofing my ax through the wave

[02:09] because I really want to crash this

[02:11] under tower. So, you can see making sure

[02:13] it goes under clean wave two crash. So,

[02:15] that's the number one rule for wave 1.

[02:17] If you want to do a wave two crash, you

[02:18] want to kill wave 1 before just as wave

[02:21] two passes the tower. If you want to do

[02:23] a wave three crash, you have to be very,

[02:24] very gentle with the wave.

[02:28] Now, one of the most important wave

[02:30] control concepts this season is still

[02:31] when to crash wave two versus wave

[02:33] three. That's something I talked a lot

[02:34] about last season and is still extra

[02:36] important now, especially with the

[02:38] enhanced minion movement speed. You have

[02:40] to have a lot of intention. If you're

[02:42] crashing wave two or wave three, you

[02:43] have to really know what you're doing

[02:45] and nuke that wave in because the next

[02:47] wave is going to arrive very quickly.

[02:48] So, in this game, vers Gwen, I want to

[02:50] showcase an example of a wave two crash

[02:52] and the benefits of it. So, like we just

[02:53] talked about, kill the last minion of

[02:55] wave 1 before wave two arrives. This one

[02:57] is pretty much perfect, the position of

[02:59] the wave, it's not quite under tower, as

[03:01] you can see. So, I can hit all the

[03:02] minions, but it's so close to the tower

[03:04] that when I kill wave two, my wave two

[03:06] is going to crash very quickly. So, you

[03:07] can see I'm just bashing the wave down,

[03:09] perma, hitting it, trying to kill it as

[03:11] quickly as possible without missing CS.

[03:13] So, you can see I got 12 out of 12

[03:15] minions and crash wave two very quickly.

[03:17] Now, the benefit of that here, I just

[03:19] checked the jungle. Nothing to see

[03:20] there. The benefit of the wave two crash

[03:22] is now not only did I have level two

[03:24] advantage and he had to respect. Now, I

[03:26] can allow the wave to come back towards

[03:28] me. So, I'm trimming the wave as it

[03:29] comes in trying to stay healthy. And now

[03:31] that the wave has come back in, it's

[03:33] time to go. The lane is stabilized. It's

[03:35] by my side. I'm an extended trading

[03:37] champion. It's time to go here. So,

[03:39] you'll see the second I hit the zolafax,

[03:41] boom, pop the ghost. I've got so much

[03:43] room to run her down from my side of the

[03:44] lane to hers. I'm able to get this

[03:46] extended trade and get the kill based

[03:48] purely from my two-wave crash.

[03:52] And now I'll showcase an example of a

[03:54] game where it's more optimal to do a

[03:55] wave three crash. So this game I'm grasp

[03:57] the hen versus silus. So I want short

[04:00] trades. Now I'm a short trading

[04:01] champion. So it's better for me not to

[04:03] crash wave two and let the wave come

[04:05] back in. I'm not going to be have to run

[04:06] down a conquer silus with a early game

[04:08] grasps ahead. it's better for me to

[04:10] maintain priority and go for a wave

[04:12] three crash. So, your goal here is to be

[04:14] quite gentle on wave one and do slightly

[04:16] more damage to the wave than your

[04:17] opponent. You don't want to do too much

[04:19] more. So, if they're a Mundo sitting two

[04:20] screens away doing nothing, you're also

[04:23] being very gentle. If they're farming

[04:24] the wave and doing a bit of damage,

[04:25] you're just trying to do slightly more

[04:27] than them cuz if you push too quickly,

[04:29] you can't wave three crash. And if you

[04:31] push it too slowly and let them hit the

[04:32] wave more than you, they're going to get

[04:34] level two before you, level three before

[04:35] you, and you're not going to get

[04:36] priority anyway. So you can see I'm just

[04:37] doing slightly more than the silus. And

[04:39] when I know I've got pry, which is

[04:41] around here, the switch, boom, I've got

[04:42] push. Nothing you can do about it. Now

[04:44] I'm being extra gentle, milking the

[04:46] last. You can see I'm lasting them when

[04:47] they're really low HP, not when they're

[04:49] 76 or whatever I'm hitting here when

[04:51] they're very, very low. Now, same with

[04:53] the wave 1 mindset I talked about. You

[04:55] want to kill the last minion of wave

[04:57] two, just as wave three passes the

[04:59] tower. It's exactly the same. You kind

[05:00] of see the pattern now. So now I only

[05:02] have to kill the six minions here, the

[05:04] seven minions, including cannon. I don't

[05:06] have to kill eight or nine. So you can

[05:08] see I'm eating the wave. I'm just nuking

[05:09] it and getting it cleanly. Crash under

[05:11] tower. Can even proc the crust here for

[05:13] good measure. So much better way to play

[05:14] the lane in this type of matchup where

[05:16] you really favor short trades. And if

[05:19] you give them the wave advantage, if you

[05:20] give them the level advantage, then they

[05:22] can use that against you. The Olaf

[05:23] versus Gwen, even though she was

[05:25] momentarily higher level than me, she

[05:26] couldn't do anything about it and

[05:28] eventually I could kill her. The Silus,

[05:30] he could, if he's level four versus

[05:31] three, he could beat me up as you're

[05:33] kind of going kind of see here. So, it's

[05:34] better for me to maintain priority. Get

[05:36] level two first, get level three first,

[05:38] but get do a nice slow push the whole

[05:40] time so that the wave doesn't bounce

[05:41] back to me.

[05:45] Next up, we have the cheetah recall,

[05:46] which has made a return this season with

[05:48] wave three being the cannon minion. So,

[05:50] now that wave three spawns a cannon, if

[05:52] you can cleanly crash wave three, you

[05:54] have the option to cheetah recall, which

[05:55] is essentially basing for free to get a

[05:57] resource and item advantage over your

[05:59] opponent. So, in this game versus

[06:00] Gangplank, I want to go for a wave three

[06:03] crash because I have to respect his

[06:04] barrels the whole time, which makes it

[06:06] very difficult to do a two-wave. He can

[06:08] hit the wave a lot and if I go near him

[06:10] and I don't respect the barrel, you can

[06:11] see this whole game I'm purely playing

[06:13] the barrel mini game. So, it makes it

[06:15] actually a little bit difficult to just

[06:16] ignore him and crash wave two as I'll

[06:18] take way too much damage. I have to play

[06:20] that barrel mini game. So, you can see

[06:22] here I'm slowing down my push a bit and

[06:24] then here kill the last minion of wave

[06:25] two as wave three is arriving. And now

[06:27] it's time to nuke. So I could have

[06:28] slowed down my wave two a little bit.

[06:30] That E was a bit much, but it's still a

[06:32] good example. So here, just nuking the

[06:34] wave as quickly as possible. Q him to

[06:36] get minion aggro. So my E hits the whole

[06:38] wave, and you can see him. I don't want

[06:39] to miss Lassets, of course, but I'm

[06:41] essentially pushing this wave in as

[06:42] quickly as I can. So just hard pushing

[06:45] it here. Don't look at that cannon miss.

[06:47] I swear it was worth dodging the barrel.

[06:48] I promise. And now I can cheat a recall.

[06:50] So when do you want to cheater? In the

[06:52] Zahen game, I have three wave crash and

[06:53] didn't cheat a recall. The only time you

[06:55] want to is if you're getting resources

[06:57] and item advantage. Never cheater just

[07:00] for a long sword or just for an amptome

[07:02] or anything like that. Only do it for

[07:03] resources and items. So in this

[07:05] situation, I'm half HP and half mana. So

[07:08] I'm getting 400 HP mana back and an

[07:11] item, not just a single long sword. So

[07:13] it's definitely worth it there. And

[07:14] there's a hame. It's full HP, full mana

[07:16] pretty much. So there's no point basing

[07:18] for just a single long sword. And you

[07:20] can see the wave comes back to me

[07:22] nicely. I've got this item advantage. I

[07:24] can trade with him and he's also set up

[07:26] for a jungle gank as well. So, cheating

[07:28] has quite a few benefits to it. Just

[07:30] make sure you only do it in games where

[07:32] you need the resources and items. And

[07:34] it's really important to keep in mind

[07:35] the wave two versus wave three crash.

[07:37] You can't really go into a game thinking

[07:40] I'm going to cheat a recall. Unless your

[07:42] opponent is fully an AI, it's fully a

[07:44] noob. Because if your opponent plays the

[07:46] game, a lot of the time it's not fully

[07:48] in your control. So, I'll give an

[07:49] example. Let's imagine you versus a

[07:51] Mundo one game and he sits two screens

[07:52] away chucking Q's. You can do whatever

[07:54] you want with the wave. You can

[07:55] three-wave crash. But if I'm playing

[07:57] Versodo the next game and he walks up

[07:59] and I beat the out of him with Jax

[08:00] and my E hits the entire wave. Now I

[08:03] need a two- wave crash. But it was worth

[08:04] it because I chunked him. So don't try

[08:06] to go into the game trying to cheat a

[08:08] recall. It really depends on how your

[08:10] opponent plays. Just remember in the

[08:12] moment when you're thinking about wave

[08:13] two versus wave three crashing, it

[08:15] really depends on the matchup and how

[08:17] your opponent plays. And if you decide

[08:19] on a three-wave crash, like in the Zahen

[08:21] game, like in this Jax game, then you

[08:22] have the option to cheer recall if you

[08:25] need the resources and you want to get

[08:26] that extra item advantage as well.

[08:30] And finally, we have sneaking bases. And

[08:32] I'm going to include this as wave

[08:33] control, even though it's mainly related

[08:35] to back timers, just cuz it is wave

[08:37] control related as well. And it's very,

[08:38] very powerful this season due to the new

[08:41] home guard. So sneaking bases is

[08:43] essentially basing at a time your

[08:44] opponent won't expect to get a resource

[08:47] and item advantage. So in this situation

[08:49] right now, if I were to play out this

[08:50] lane for the next minute or two, Quinn's

[08:53] going to out sustain me with fleet

[08:54] footwork. She's range melee, so she's

[08:56] going to poke me under tower a little

[08:57] bit, proc my cross. I'm not going to be

[08:59] able to base at all. It's going to be

[09:00] very, very difficult for me to play the

[09:01] game if I stay in lane here. Sure, I

[09:04] could do my best to sneak a base when my

[09:06] TP is back up, but it's better for me

[09:08] right now to sneak a recall. So you can

[09:10] see here I trim the wave a little bit,

[09:12] go into this bush so she can't stop my

[09:13] base in that second bush and just sneak

[09:15] off a base. And due to the new home

[09:17] guards, I get back quite quick with

[09:19] resource and item advantage. And you can

[09:20] see I barely missed anything. The new

[09:23] home guard system is very strong. So

[09:24] make sure you abuse that anytime the

[09:25] wave is coming towards you. You will

[09:27] lose a little bit, but being full HP

[09:29] with extra items is better cuz you can

[09:31] imagine now me and Quinn both handshake

[09:33] a base. I'm in a really happy spot back

[09:35] here. If I stayed, you could imagine me

[09:37] being under tower, desperately trying to

[09:39] farm, I will bleed out way more. Now,

[09:42] that last example is definitely

[09:43] something we could have got away with

[09:44] last season. Maybe just missing one or

[09:46] two minions more. This is a much better

[09:48] showing of the power of sneaking your

[09:50] bases. So, as we can see here, I'm

[09:52] basing on the cannon wave. That's a

[09:53] really important step. If you want a

[09:54] base like this right in front of

[09:56] somebody's face, it must be the cannon

[09:58] wave. either one-shot the wave before

[09:59] cannon or if you feel like they're not

[10:00] going to crash it under tower like he

[10:02] didn't just sneak off the base before

[10:04] cannon because the cannon minion takes

[10:05] them a long time to clear and it'll tank

[10:07] the tower for a long time for you. So if

[10:09] we count the minions here, let's see how

[10:10] much I lose. Two caster minions plus the

[10:12] next seven from the cannon wave. So we

[10:14] boost back to lane and keep in mind this

[10:15] guy pushed as fast as possible. He did a

[10:17] fully charged W. He queued the entire

[10:19] wave. He was not messing around here. He

[10:21] cleared it as quickly as he can. So we

[10:23] come back to lane here and look, we

[10:24] missed one cast to minion and one mele.

[10:27] We're in such a good position. I'm even

[10:28] thumbs uping this guy because you can

[10:30] see how broken it is. So definitely

[10:31] sneaking your bases off the season. You

[10:33] can really minmax it here as you can see

[10:36] and it's a better alternative than

[10:37] getting to the jungler for sure. All

[10:39] right team, that's it for now, but do

[10:40] not panic. I am working on a full

[10:42] in-depth wave control guide for season

[10:44] 16 where I go through literally every

[10:46] wave control concept. So that is coming

[10:47] soon. Make sure you subscribe to see it.