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The Importance of the Macro Game: Timing Windows
Timing is important in MOBAs, but did you know exactly how much it impact League of Legends?
League of Legends is a blank slate determined
© Riot Games
A jungler emerges from the fog of war, the enemy Ahri shows up bot lane unannounced, and suddenly everyone’s dead by the ten minute mark except your top lane. Without anyone left alive to contest objectives, the enemy picks up a dragon and a tower in one fell swoop for a giant early gold lead. Within seconds, the surrender votes start to come out and someone threatens to leave.
To newer and less experienced players, League of Legends is a fast paced game. It also appears to be brutally unforgiving; everything happens at once and it’s hard to keep track of what’s going on let alone predict what’s going to happen next. But if you take a second look, you might be surprised by how formulaic it actually is. Much like the concept of vision control, timing windows are one of the lesser understood backbones of the MOBA genre—every action is tied to each other and everything plays out in a series of cause and effects, often stemming from one early decision. And as it turns out, an understanding of timing windows can determine how effective a player is.
Your decisions matter on Summoner's Rift
© League of Legends
Macro vs Micro
In a game like League of Legends, macro is more valuable than micro. While mechanical skills matter, it’s not a game like Counter-Strike where the sky is the limit for outplay. Although someone may be able to 2v1 if they play it perfectly or happen to be fed, if the players are of a similar skill and gold levels, they won’t be able to. As such, after a certain point, decision making overtakes everything. It allows players to get the biggest edge versus raw mechanical effort.
Timing windows are one of the essential macro skills to learn, covering everything from common sense to extremely niche knowledge.
One of the more basic timing windows that’s been prevalent all season is the timing of level two. If a player hits level two before their enemy, they can engage them with an additional spell and usually force an extremely unfavorable trade for the opponent. In bot lane, it’s even more valuable. It takes one wave of minions plus three melee minions after to hit level two. Players shove waves now and make sure they don’t spend too long giving a jungler a leash—if they miss a creep, they won’t hit two at the same time or before.
This can get more intricate as players get more experienced; it’s possible to zone at level one if you have a stronger level one than theirs and it’s also possible to not push the wave so that a creep is taken out before the opponents get to lane, denying them one creep of experience.
Another basic timing window would be the second spawning of buffs. Around 7:15, the first of the second buffs—whichever the jungler started at originally—comes up. By shoving the wave, buying, and returning with full health and new items, you can contest the enemy’s buff and secure more buffs for your team and deny the mid lane their blue. Denying many champions their second blue buff, especially champions like Orianna or Zilean who are popular in the current meta, is devastating to their early to middle game power spike.
Timing windows only get more intense as the skill level increases. Perhaps one of the best examples recently was in game two of Samsung Galaxy White versus Team SoloMid. Dyrus had used his Teleport earlier in the game after Looper had—putting Looper slightly ahead. Looper’s TP came up and Looper had about a minute window where he knew Dyrus’ was down. He used it to go bot lane, resulting in a massive play, and Dyrus was unable to show up for a few seconds thus costing TSM the team fight.
In organized play, every action counts. Backing for a B.F. Sword could cost a team dragon; an unsuccessful gank could cost a tower; and not backing quickly enough after an inhibitor results in the enemy getting Baron quite frequently for a mild comeback. In solo queue, however, these matter a lot less so people get lazy.
They might be aware of timing windows when they spectate, but rarely do they put them in practice in their own games. In platinum and lower games, chaos breaks out—and for the most part, it is avoidable.
Moving Forward
Learning timing windows can improve spectating of the eSports scene. But more than that, it can become a way to know the game better and become a better player. Next time you’re in solo queue, think about when you recall, when you roam, and what objectives are available.
It just might change how you view League of Legends—along with your ranking.
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