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What is Peeling in League of Legends

A complete guide on how to keep your carries alive in League of Legends.

League of Legends can be difficult to learn and play before you really get the swing of it. There are several mechanics to master in order to execute some fantastic macro and micro plays and fulfill the responsibilities of the role you have selected. These mechanics introduced a number of jargons that newcomers would not be familiar with, one of which being the word "Peeling." But what exactly is Peeling anyway?

Read on to learn more about Peeling in League of Legends and how to properly do it.

What is Peeling in League of Legends?

League of Legends' teamfights and skirmishes require a solid strategy and plan in order to win.

Let's say you're an assassin. Assassins are excellent at inflicting incredible damage, sometimes enough to get a kill with a single hit or two.

However, in teamfights, going for the beefy tanks may not be the best due to the thick amount of armor, health and resistance they have. So instead, why not go for the most vulnerable ones? Like the hypercarry ADC in the backline or the irksome mage who keeps on throwing AOE abilities that can potentially one-shot your allies. After all, damage-dealing champions tend to be squishy.

If this is how the assassin or even bruiser from the enemy team thinks, you should probably start learning how to peel.

Peeling is the act of focusing on one of your allies, usually the carry, protecting them and brushing off threats away from them. This is because making sure that the carry, the one who deals the most damage or your most vulnerable teammate is safe and alive is one of the keys to winning teamfights. This can be in any form of protection for as long as you get them out of your enemy's reach.

During skirmishes, it only makes sense that assassins and bruisers would try to eliminate your carry as they are viewed as the greatest threat. On top of it, carries are usually easy to kill as they are meant to be squishy with low resistances. This makes them a prime target, and your enemy will surely do whatever it takes just to get their hands on them. Hence, making a counter-strat will ensure your carry's safety.

This is a simple concept, but holds a lot of misconception.

Another thing you should note is that, players should not only peel for the carry. The ally you should be peeling for depends on the situation and circumstances. For instance, if your ADC isn't being targeted and can self-peel, while the mid-lane carry is getting jumped on by assassins, that might be the best time to switch to another ally.

Which champions should do the Peeling?

Did you know that only support champions can peel for their teammates? Wrong.

While most of the time, it’s the supports, junglers and tanks who peel for their teammates, it can be done by everyone in the team and is not only exclusive to one role. Basically anyone who can heal, shield, apply debuff, tank and deal damage, and apply crowd controls can peel for allies. The game is not just about inflicting damage and increasing your KDA. Helping in keeping your teammates alive regardless of role can also become a catalyst in attaining victory.

What are the types of Peeling in League of Legends?

Crowd control

Crowd control is the most famous form of Peeling in League of Legends. A Kha’Zix can leap his way into your carry, and Alistar can just simply use Headbutt (W) to push the enemy away or use Pulverize (Q) to get him killed.

There are two types of crowd control that you can apply; hard and soft CC. Both of these can work, depending on how it will interact with an enemy. Using any crowd control to stop Olaf with an active ultimate from murdering your ADC isn’t going to cut it, so you’ll have to opt for another way to peel for your carry.

Healing, Shielding and Buffing

Providing heals, shields and any sort of buff is also counts as peeling as it prevents your carry from dying to attacks and abilities that may otherwise cause them their own demise. This improves their survivability, especially if your carry cannot peel for themselves. One can also increase their allies movement speed through abilities such as Sona’s E, Lulu’s W, Karma’s E or items such as Shurelya’s Battlesong.

Debuffs

On the other side, debuffs are the exact opposite of the previous one. It is a status that you apply to your target that eventually affects their stats and performance while it’s active. There are plenty of abilities and items that apply several debuffs including vulnerability, decrease in attack speed or damage, movement speed, decrease incoming healing and more.

Tanking

When all of your active items, crowd controls, heals, shields, and other abilities are on cooldown, is there a way to peel for your allies?  The answer is yes. Unbeknownst to some, tanking or taking the skillshots is one form of peeling. Tanks excel at this type of peeling, but anyone can accomplish it based on the circumstances so long as you can withstand the attack.

Aggressive peeling by damage

Sometimes, offense is the best defense. The last one on our list can be done by anyone who can deal any actual damage. If someone makes an attempt to assassinate your carry from behind, one of your allies can try to burst him down or at least input a significant amount of damage while he’s trying to assassinate your carry. If they’re low in HP, they will either retreat or die eventually. Cant hurt you if they’re dead, right?

How to actually peel in League of Legends

Peeling in League of Legends is a pretty daunting task, especially if you’re a beginner. This is because most of the time, you’ll have to get familiar or master every ability and how they interact with each other. On top of it, peeling takes a lot of things to consider but fret not as we’re here to help you make decisions.

Know your opponent

Understanding how they will carry out their attack and anticipating it is the greatest approach to peel. One of the first things you need to do is to examine their team composition and try to figure out which among them can reach your carry. These may include champions who can flank like Riven, Renekton and Fiddlesticks or with a gap-closer like Leblanc, Zed, Lee Sin. With the knowledge that you have about the champions’ capabilities, you can formulate a plan to make sure they won’t be able to lay a finger on your ally.

Additionally, you may get information about them by observing how they fight in your previous team fight. From there, you may try to determine which of your allies is their primary target, bringing us to the next step.

Set your priority

Most often, you'll find the enemy team trying to reach the backline and get rid of your ADC. Due to their low defense, eliminating them with a few hits can be a lot easier. Besides, ADCs are meant to deal consistent damage from a safe distance so targeting them further brings them closer to victory.

However, there are cases when your enemy would rather deal with someone who’s more fed than your ADC like Kennen, Annie, Syndra, or the enchanter like Soraka and Lulu. Peeling isn’t just for the ADC or who’s more fed but anyone who’s being targeted by opponents. However, this can change over time so be sure to switch to another teammate when needed.

Make a plan

See what you have in your kit that can peel for your allies and how it’s going to interact with your opponents. Hard CC on top of another can be very effective against most opponents like Tryndamere and Master Yi, but for Olaf’s Ragnarok providing shields/heal or movement speed to your carry so they can survive.

Positioning

The right positioning during team fights is highly dependent on team comps and the abilities your team’s about to receive from the enemy.

When peeling, one should be first mindful of what they are and what they’re capable of. If you’re an enchanter or a squishy champion,  it is best to position yourself around or behind your carry. Make sure that your abilities can still reach your carry while being unreachable to your enemy.

Secondly,  know your enemy. If it is a Kha’zix, it is best to stick with your carry so as to not make them isolated. However, if it is an AOE attack, make a small distance between you and your carry so you can prevent both of you from being caught inside it. There are instances as well where you’d want to stand in front of your carry when battling against skill shots like Ashe’s ultimate, Ahri’s charm, or Caitlyn’s ultimate, especially when dodging skill shots is simply not possible.

Conclusion

Peeling is a very simple technique, yet it can become intimidating especially for beginners. But, learning the basics of peeling and how to actually apply it in game will surely grant you higher chances of winning your games.

To know how well you're performing in League of Legends, you may check out League of Legends Stats Tracker to monitor your in-game matches, performance and other stats.

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