In a teamfight, focus the most dangerous enemy you can reach and kill safely, not just the champion closest to you. Often that is a carry with a lot of damage, but if you can't reach them without dying, hit the nearest threat and protect your own carries instead. The right target depends on three things: how dangerous they are, whether you can reach them, and what your team needs to win the fight.
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1. Threat, reach and value
Threat is how much a champion can do in this fight: their items, their level and what their kit does. Reach is whether you can get to them, given their position and your range. Value is what killing them gives your team, for example removing the only engage or the only damage dealer.
The best target scores well on all three. A fed carry you can't reach is a worse target than a less fed one standing in front of you.
2. Carries: hit what is in range
If you play a marksman or a mage, your job is to deal damage for as long as possible. Hit the closest enemy you can hit safely, and only move to a better target when it comes into range.
Walking past the enemy frontline to reach their backline is how carries die in the first seconds of a fight.
3. Divers and assassins: go for the backline
Champions built to jump in, like assassins and divers, are there to reach the targets that others can't. Wait for the enemy to use their key defensive abilities, then go for their carry.
If their carry is protected and you can't get out, switch to a target you can kill and survive.
4. Tanks and supports: engage or peel
A tank or support either starts the fight on the right target or protects their own carries. Peeling means using your crowd control and body on the enemies who dive your carry.
Ask which job wins the fight: if your carry is stronger than theirs, keeping yours alive often matters more than killing theirs.
5. Focus as a team
Damage split over five enemies kills nobody. Damage on one target kills them, and the fight becomes five against four.
Follow the first engage, ping the target, and switch as a team when that target escapes or dies.
Check your targets in replays
In a replay of a lost fight, pause at the start and ask who your team should have focused. Then watch whose health actually went down.
If your damage went into the enemy tank while their carry was free, that is the habit to change first.
Practice choosing the target
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. Target prioritisation 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
- Should I always focus the enemy ADC?
- No. Focus the most dangerous enemy you can reach safely. If the ADC is behind their frontline and you would die getting there, hit the closest threat and wait for a safer moment.
- What is peeling in League of Legends?
- Peeling is protecting your own carries from enemies who dive them, with crowd control, shields, heals or your own body.
- How do I know which enemy is the biggest threat?
- Look at the scoreboard before the fight: items, levels and kills. Then think about what each champion's kit does in this fight, for example who can engage, who deals the most damage and who can protect their team.
- Why do we lose teamfights when we have more kills?
- Often because the damage is spread over several enemies or goes into their tanks while their carry deals damage freely. Focusing one target as a team wins more fights.
- 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.