Will Burton
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7 Min read Dragons, in general, are a powerful resource. Not only do they empower you, but getting multiple or securing every Dragon in the game can allow you to gain a significant advantage over the enemy.
Every Jungler should prioritise securing objectives such as the Dragon because they are powerful in the current meta.
We will break down some tips and tricks to help you secure more objectives, such as the Dragon with or for your team.
This will be a general guide and suitable for every role. It is not just aimed at Junglers.
To track all your stats related to your ability to take Dragons and other objectives, sign up for your free Mobalytics account!
Dragons are giant monsters that spawn in the bottom of the map every so often. They offer you a range of buffs to empower you and your team. The team that secures 4 Dragons will gain an empowered Dragon buff.
After a team has killed 4 Dragons, an Elder Dragon will spawn, giving the team further empowerment, including an execution.
Before the Elder Dragon spawns, there are a variety of Dragons that can spawn. For instance, there is the Cloud Dragon and Mountain Dragon. I won’t break down everything about the Dragons, so check out the Dragon section on the LOL Wiki if you want to find out more.
It will go into more detail about each Drake and the buffs they provide.
Let it be known that regardless of the Drake that spawned, they will be helpful for your team. Any Drake is better than no Drake.
Most of the time, it will be the Jungler who secures the Dragon. This is especially true during the early stages of the game. One person, such as the ADC or Top laner, may take the Dragon independently in the later parts. Any Jungler can secure the objective, but some may find it easier than others.
Shaco
Shaco can secure the Dragon with ease, thanks to his early game damage and his boxes. Post 6, he can also secure it quickly, thanks to his clone.
This image and ones similar are taken from the LOL Wiki page.
“Jokes on you” if you don’t check out Shaco’s champion page to learn everything you need to know how to improve as Shaco.
Shyvana
Shyvana is a strange case. She needs to secure Dragons to get additional stats from her Passive. A good Shyvana will try to take these at her earliest convenience.
Learn the Dragon girl by checking out Shyvana’s champion page.
Cassiopeia
Cassiopeia has reasonable objective control and can burst the Dragon down thanks to her E spam. If you can get priority in the mid lane, you can rotate and help your Jungler secure the Dragon.
Cassiopeia is one of the hardest Mages to play. Learn her Runes, builds and combos by checking out Cassioepia’s champion page.
Taking the Dragon is easy, but identifying when you should take it and how to make securing it safely is the hard part. Let’s go over some tips to make securing it a little bit easier.
You can check this at any time by plugging in your Summoner name and seeing your GPI scores, as seen in the image below.
With these stats, you can quickly see your overall stats and see how good you are at securing the Dragon!
As the title suggests, if you’re able to take the Dragon, you should do it. Dragon’s are powerful in the current meta, and if you do not take it, the enemy will. You must prioritize the objective and try to take it as frequently as possible.
At the end of the day, if you don’t secure the Drake, the enemy will. So, it would help if you put some effort into trying to secure them.
Taking the Dragon on your own can be risky business. You must have priority in nearby lanes if you want to take the objective so these laners can rotate and assist you if you need it.
If you try to secure the objective with no priority in nearby lanes and the enemy Jungler shows up, they will not rotate and help you secure it because they have further to travel.
In this situation, the enemy has mid lane slightly pushed, and bot lane pushed in. The enemy can take the Dragon as they have priority in two lanes.
The most common way of knowing if you have priority is by looking at the minion waves. If your allies are pushing- they have priority. If they’re being pushed in, you will not have any priority. If your allies are strong in a 2v2, they also have priority.
If you know where the enemy Jungler is somewhere else on the map, you could try to take the Dragon while they’re spotted elsewhere. If you cannot counter gank the enemy (as you’re not on the same side of the map), doing the Dragon is a good trade to make.
For instance, let’s say that the enemy Jungler has been spotted in the top lane. If you’re in the bot side of the map, you could try to take the Dragon as you know where the enemy Jungler is.
If you’re not in a position to take the objective, you could try to gank another lane or invade their bottom side jungle.
When should you take Dragon? Well, that’s a complicated answer, but other times are when you spot them onwards inside their jungle, when the enemy Jungler dies, or when they’re in their base.
Let’s keep it simple, don’t call for the objective if you don’t have Smite up. Without Smite, you’re running the risk of losing the objective. In Season 11, jungle Smites were also changed, so if you don’t have the upgraded version of Smite compared to the enemy, don’t do the Drake if they’ve got the stronger version of Smite.
If it comes to a Smite battle, the enemy will win as their Smite will deal more damage than you. So make sure you have the same Smite level if you’re trying to steal it.
In the later parts of the game, trying to take the Dragon or Elder Dragon when the enemy has a champion that can execute the objective from higher health than Smite can be very challenging. It is best not to try and secure this objective if one of these enemy champions are nearby in the late game.
Nunu
Cho’Gath
Try to take these champions down before trying to take the Dragon to make it much easier for your team to secure it. Alternatively, fight them before the Dragon to force them to recall.
The Dragon isn’t easy to take in the early game. It takes a lot of time if you’re doing it alone. To increase your safety and prevent yourself from getting killed and stolen from you, you must place a Control Ward in the pit to see if there are any wards placed in there.
If you try to take the Dragon and you cannot secure it quickly, you will be wasting a lot of time as the enemy could rock up, kill you when you’re low and then finish the objective off. Recall, pick up a Control Ward (or use your Sweeper) and check for vision before doing the objective.
For more vision denial tips, check out this vision denial guide.
In the mid-game, Dragon’s don’t live too long. This is why you must place vision prior to the objective spawning to see if the enemy tries to take it. If you know that the enemy is trying to take it, it is possible that you can contest it.
On the other hand, getting vision around the objective before starting it will allow you to spot the enemy if they try to contest it. If you see them coming, you could retreat to safety and avoid dying.
Warding locations for the blue team when setting up the Drake (note the wards for the Baron too).
Here are some good warding locations for the Dragon during the mid and late game. If you want to find more warding locations or know why these wards are good, check out our in-depth warding guide.
On another note, if the scuttle crab spawns in the bot side, try to kill it so you can get a ward right in front of the pit.
Securing the Dragon is very important. If you do not secure Drakes frequently, you will be weaker than the enemy as each Dragon gives you a certain buff. Use these tips to make securing the objective easier and safer!
For more useful tips like these, check out Mobalytics!
If you have any questions or want to learn more, check out PicklePants’s stream.
Watch live video from PicklePantsLOL on www.twitch.tv
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