What Is an Invade in LoL?

What Is an Invade in League of Legends?

Invade means entering the enemy jungle, usually to steal camps, place vision or catch the enemy jungler before they can fight back. Invades happen most often in the first thirty seconds before minions spawn, and they range from a full five man level one play to a solo jungler stealing a single buff.

How does invading work in LoL?

An invade works on arriving with more players than the enemy expects, at a spot they have to be. At level one that means walking into their jungle as a group and standing on the buff they are about to start, which either wins a fight or forces them to clear the opposite side and lose tempo. Later it means counter jungling: taking camps behind their clear path while they are on the other side of the map.

Timing is everything and the downside is large. A failed invade costs summoner spells, lane experience and sometimes two deaths before the first wave, which puts the whole team behind on a map that punishes early deficits harshly. Vision decides most of it: invading without knowing where the enemy jungler started is a coin flip, and the same tracking that prevents a gank is what makes an invade safe.

How do invades affect your rank in LoL?

Successful invades compound. A stolen blue buff slows the enemy jungler's clear, which delays their first gank, which lets your lanes push, which gives your team the first drake. That chain is why high elo junglers invade constantly and low elo junglers mostly should not, because the play only pays off when the rest of the team responds to what it created.

For most players the practical lesson is defensive: know when your own jungle is being invaded and stop walking into it alone. Reading enemy jungle pathing is one of the last skills to develop, and a League of Legends division boost or Master to Challenger boosting covers the tiers where the whole lobby is making that read and you are expected to keep up.

Invade vs counter jungling: what is the difference?

Invading is the act of entering the enemy jungle, whatever the reason, including fighting, warding or simply passing through. Counter jungling is one purpose of an invade: taking their camps to deny gold and experience rather than to look for a kill. Every counter jungle is an invade, but a level one five man standoff on their buff is an invade that takes no camps at all. The distinction matters because they carry different risk: counter jungling is quiet and profitable, while a fighting invade is a gamble.

FAQ

Is invading worth it in low elo? It depends. A clean level one invade that steals a buff is always good, but invades that start fights usually fail below Platinum because teams follow up inconsistently.

Can you invade alone as a jungler? Yes. Counter jungling solo is standard when you know the enemy jungler is on the opposite side of the map, though it needs vision or a tracked clear to be safe.

When is the best time to invade in League of Legends? Right before minions spawn, when the enemy team is committed to their starting buff, or immediately after you see the enemy jungler clear the camp furthest from you.