Thought: Freezing Lanes

Freezing lanes is an important lane-control skill, one heavily dependent upon a knowledge of lane control in general and the state of the game. Unlike last-hitting, where the majority of the time it's a good idea, freezing a lane for more than a brief period is most often a mistake.

Freezing the lane is the art of holding a minion wave outside of your tower for an extended period of time. This is primarily accomplished by having you or an ally tank a wave of enemy minions just outside of tower range until your own wave arrives, and then by keeping the waves delicately balanced through last-hitting. Generally there should always be a slightly higher number of enemy minions than allies in order to keep the wave from pushing out, although special adjustments are necessary due to siege minions. By doing this you put your opponents in a situation where farming is dangerous, as they're likely to be ganked.

However, freezing the lane is not always a correct action. Just as how losing an inhibitor isn't a big deal so long as there are no objectives the enemy can take, so too is freezing the lane only safe when the enemy has nothing else they can safely accomplish. If you freeze the lane when dragon is available, when your lane opponent(s) can use the time to make plays by roaming, or when your jungle will become more vulnerable, then you are weakening your team's position considerably. Freezing the lane is the same as eliminating your presence on the map.

This technique mostly applies when you or your opponent have already lost a tower. While you can hold a wave outside your tower for a brief time during early laning, it's fairly simple for your lane opponents to upset the balance and cause the lane to reset. Lane freezing is also uncommon in the mid and top lanes because it carries greater risk; allowing higher level solo lanes to roam is dangerous.

Learning this technique is difficult, as is learning when it's safe to use it. Properly applied freezing a lane is a powerful tool for denying your opponent farm and taking an advantage. If you take or lose a turret early be sure to try this technique, and call in your jungler for some easy ganks.