The following guide was contributed by BlueNoseReindeer on Reddit. It includes an effective level 1 jungle invade strategy that works in solo queue in a majority of matches, including some tips and tricks you should know about invading. Enjoy!
Hi there, I just completed my journey from Silver 4 to Platinum, invading every single match on the way there, approximately 1k games (minus the occasional game where people refused to, perhaps 1/50 games).
I experimented with several types of invade, and settled on this one because it has virtually no risk in soloq. This can be done with as few as 3 people (although you will probably only force a flash), and no level 1 cc abilities are necessary.
First, get your items as quickly as possible and run straight to mid with no delay, SPEED IS THE MOST ESSENTIAL FACTOR, THE FASTER YOU GO, THE BETTER THE INVADE. When you get to mid immediately step into the brush by their blue (assuming their jungler starts blue, if he starts Red, go to that side). You can get to this bush with 100% safety if you go quickly (unless they have a teleport teemo).
When you get there, if your team got things together quickly you can go straight into the next bush. If they didn’t, but either you or another person that is with you has cc, go straight into the next brush anyways.
This bush is where you will sit and wait until one of the people on the other team comes to facecheck it. If no one comes by 1:15, leave to leash your jungle, you have plenty of time and you have lost nothing.
Here are some pointers to avoid common mistakes with this invade:
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Don’t change your level 1 skill for the invade, especially if you are the jungler. CC is really nice for invading, but if you walk into the middle of 4 people, you’re in trouble whether they have CC or not. What’s more, exhaust is standard on most supports, and if they exhaust before the enemy flashes, the flash is essentially wasted, because you can catch up to them before exhaust wears off.
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Maybe you don’t even get a flash for some reason, but if their Nautilus had to get anchor at L1 he’s going to have a rough time clearing his jungle: this means you know he will be looking for immediate ganks on that side of the map, and that he is even MORE counterjungleable early, so going to his red might not be a bad idea…
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Only flash after if it guarantees a kill. Sometimes people will walk into the first bush (the one at mid), and when they see you will flash away. This means you have won the exchange because you forced a summoner, don’t change that by flashing after them.
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If no one facechecks your bush, there is a decent chance they are invading you. Decide with the time left before minions spawn whether you should go back to yours and fight them (usually not the best idea, unless you wait out of sight until they start leashing blue/red and then jump them) or simply swap buffs.
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Don’t get greedy. Unless your team comp is infinitely better at a L1 engage (Morg, Blitz, Cho, Trist, Voli v Sona, Ez, Nid, Malp, Mord) don’t try to force a 5v5 teamfight at L1. It’s very easy to get a kill with this invade if you have one solid form of CC, but even a free flash is enough. Staying to try to take Blue/Red is where things can go really wrong.
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Make sure everyone is on the same page. Communicate exactly what the plan is in champion select, because TeamWithPlan > TeamWithoutPlan.After that, leading by example and pinging lead to a better coordinated team.
If you have a style of invade you like, please share it! Invading is probably my favorite thing to do in League and I love doing/thinking/talking about it. Likewise, if you have any questions about this invade in particular, or invading in general, if I can’t answer it someone else probably can, so ask away.
If you would like to see this invade in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-ITJxOqPog (also embedded below).
You can find BlueNoseReindeer on Facebook and Youtube for more League of Legends content.
