A catch, or pick, is killing an enemy who is alone or out of position, so your team can take an objective while they are a player down. You set one up with vision and timing: ward the paths enemies walk, wait in fog near those paths, and strike when the target is too far from their team to be helped. A trap is the same idea in advance: you hide where you expect the enemy to walk before they get there.
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1. Where catches happen
Catches happen where enemies walk alone: a side lane far from their team, the entrances to their jungle, the river before dragon or Baron, and anywhere a player walks forward to place or clear a ward.
In the mid game, the enemy who is farming the side lane with no vision around them is the most common target.
2. Take their vision away first
A catch only works if the target does not see you coming. Clear the enemy wards on the path you want to use, and place your own wards where you expect them to walk.
Vision is what turns a guess into a catch: you know where they are, they don't know where you are.
3. Wait in fog
Once your team is in place, stay out of sight. The enemy plans around what they last saw. If your team was last seen on the other side of the map, they think the path in front of them is safe.
The hard part is patience: showing yourself too early to farm a camp or a wave ruins the trap.
4. Pick the right moment
The best time for a catch is just before a big objective spawns, because the enemy has to walk through the river and the jungle to get there. Players also walk into traps when they come forward to ward or to catch a side wave.
Champions with long-range crowd control or hard engage are the ones who start catches. Let them land the first ability, then follow with damage.
5. Turn the pick into an objective
A kill on its own gives gold. A kill followed by dragon, Baron or a tower is what wins games. The enemy is a player down for the length of their death timer, so use that time.
Decide before the catch what you will take after it, so nobody wastes the window chasing or recalling.
6. Don't be the one who gets caught
The same rules work in reverse. If several enemies are missing and you are alone in an unwarded area, you are the target. Move with your team, or stay where your vision covers you.
Find the catches in your replays
In a replay, look for moments when an enemy was alone and your team was close by. Did anyone go for it? Did you have vision of their path?
Then look at your own deaths in the mid game. Many of them are catches the enemy made on you, and they show you which paths are dangerous to walk alone.
Practice spotting catches
MOBA Trainer turns real game situations into puzzles: you see the map, choose the play, and learn what the best players would do and why. Traps & catches has its own video explanation and training puzzles on the Pattern Map, made by top players and coaches, next to the other fighting patterns.
Frequently asked questions
- What does a pick or catch mean in League?
- It means killing an enemy who is alone or out of position, usually before a teamfight or an objective, so your team can fight or take the objective with more players.
- How do I make picks in solo queue?
- Clear the enemy wards on a path they use, wait in fog near it with a teammate who has crowd control, and go for a player who walks up alone, often to ward or to catch a side wave.
- Which champions are good at catches?
- Champions with long-range crowd control or hard engage, such as hooks, long-range stuns and roots, or champions that can jump onto a target from fog. They start the catch; the rest of the team follows with damage.
- What should we do after a catch?
- Take an objective while the enemy is a player down: dragon, Baron, Herald or a tower. Decide what to take before you go for the catch.
- Is MOBA Trainer free?
- The daily puzzle and the first lesson are free. The full campaign with every pattern is part of the Season Pass, at $9.99 a month or $69.99 a year. MOBA Trainer runs on Windows, macOS, iPhone and Android, in the web app and as the Discord bot Moti, in 12 languages.