Losing one man in-game doesn't mean it's the end of the world
An age-old problem in League of Legends is playing 4v5 games. These can be really frustrating and happen for a multitude of reasons. Your team mate having issues with his internet, not letting him rejoin the game, or someone leaving intentionally after losing his lane. As we all know, League of Legends is a very team-based game, and every single role matters! Kind of like gears in a well-oiled machine, your team can only operate at it's best when everyone is present. Is it possible for the machine to get the job done even when one of the gears is missing?
My answer to that is: "Yes, but it's going to be hard as hell". If you're determined or you have enough skill to offset the 1 player deficit that your team is facing. Nothing is impossible. Either that or you bank on your opponent making a big mistake, or several big mistakes for that matter.
So here are a couple of tips from LoL Academy, and our best boosters, telling you how you can win seemingly unwinnable 4v5 situations.
Don't lose hope too early
The only way you're going to win this is if every member on the team firmly believes that it's possible to win. If even 1 player loses hope, it will affect the whole team, and since we're already 1 man down, we need everyone to be performing at their full potential. Your job is to make sure that your team mates remain motivated if you want a shot at winning.
"Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve" -- Napoleon Hill
Take a moment to assess the situation, then put forth an action plan
Of course, you'd want to know which role or lane is missing a player, then make plans to cover the lane with someone else. In theory, the best lane to lose a man on would be at bot lane. Losing either your Support or AD Carry player would mean that the remaining player at bot will be able to solo the lane by playing passively, or have your Jungler cover for the man down. A little bit of tower-hugging and babysitting wouldn't do much harm. Most importantly, try not to die. If you die, you lose precious exp, gold, tower, map control. Hug your tower or give it up if you really have to, just DON'T DIE.
For your Top and Mid lanes, these must never be left open. There's nothing scarier than a solo laner free-farming uncontested. If either of your solo lanes disconnect or leave, immediately send your Jungler, Support or AD Carry to cover the lane. This is extremely important because if you give up too much farm or too many towers, you're giving the enemy team a huge gold and map-control advantage, and you absolutely do not want that even in a 5v5 situation, so it goes without saying that this shouldn't be happening in a 4v5 scenario.
Once you have the empty lane covered, or had your ADC/Support playing passively, start looking for areas where you can take advantage of. Your opponent would very likely be playing over-aggressively as they think it's "OH 4v5, EZ GAME, LET'S END FAST". Take note of which lanes are over-pushing or over-staying with low hp. Try to capitalize on your opponent's over-confidence and gank the hell out of the lane that's making the most mistakes. Do take note, however, that you really need to make these ganks work, because if you fail the gank, you would be losing a bunch of exp and gold.
Look for picks, so you can clash 4v4
Most of the game, you want to be playing cautiously. Try not to get picked off because you definitely don't want to be clashing 3v5. If you need to lose some farm, it's fine. Prioritize your life over anything else. Look for opportunities to catch an enemy off guard. Be it a Support dewarding by himself or a Jungler overextending in your jungle. As mentioned earlier, there's a high chance that your opponent is playing over-aggressively or thinking that losing a few members won't matter since they have a one man advantage.
This is the only way to ensure your team has a fighting chance despite being out-manned. Fighting head-on 4v5 is definitely not something you want to do. Look for the picks and then take your fights, not the other way around.
Which brings us to the big question, "What do I do if the enemy team is just grouping up as 5 and gunning down mid?". This rarely happens, but in such a scenario, you also want to be grouped up, and hope that your enemy team composition isn't too siege heavy, or for them to make risky maneuvers like tower diving.
Feed your carries as much as possible
It goes without saying that even if you lost a key member of your team, you need to utilize whichever carries you have left because they are the ones who deal the most damage, and give you the best shot at winning. You need to trust them to position properly and stay alive for as long as possible. Give them space to farm and try to let them get the kills.
Contest objectives only if you know you'll win
This should be common knowledge, but in all our years of playing the game, common knowledge seems to be pretty uncommon these days. Most players think they can contest or do a "sick Baron steal" because of all the videos they've watched on YouTube. Keep these risky plays to a minimum because risk isn't something you can afford now with 1 man down. It's definitely not worth it to steal a Dragon buff and then lose the game just because your remaining 3 team mates can't fight a 3v5.
Play it safe, take objectives only when you can. Pick your fights wisely.
End the game as fast as possible
Do not drag the game out. Regardless of how fed your carries are, or if you're somehow dominating the enemy team even as 4v5. The longer you player, the stronger they get. They have 1 more player than you do, which also means 1-additional-player's worth of gold, exp and firepower. Even if they are losing now, all they need is one good team fight or some free-farming for their carries to get back into the game. Do not get complacent if you're winning, finish the game as soon as possible.
It's always best to end the game at any chance you get, but don't force it if it can't happen. Remember to weigh your risk/reward. Only go for it if you have an obvious advantage.
Never forget #remake #4v5
Naturally, with the new /remake option, you'll be able to vote and opt out of these 4v5 games. This doesn't make our Legendary tips obsolete, though. You could always vote "No" for a more thrilling game! If you manage to win a 4v5, that's one strike off your League of Legends bucket list for sure. It's a huge achievement to win 4v5 games. For mere mortals, anyway. Our boosters are pretty sick and tired of winning 4v5 and sometimes even 3v5 games. #nothumblebrag
Best of luck at winning your 4v5 games, and don't forget to brag about them on social media #4v5 #yolo420