What’s a freeze in League of Legends

What is Freezing?

Freezing is a wave management technique where you maintain the minion wave in a fixed position near your tower without letting it hit the tower. This strategy helps you control the pace of the game, deny your opponent farm and experience, and set up gank opportunities for your jungler.

Why Freeze?

1. Deny Farm and Experience: By freezing the wave near your tower, you force the enemy to overextend if they want to farm. This puts them at risk of ganks and reduces their gold and experience gain. For example, if you are playing against a champion like Nasus who scales well into the late game, freezing the wave allows you to farm safely, gives you space to trade or all-in Nasus. This technique also denies his stacks from Siphoning Strike (Q) by putting him in possible danger if your jungler ganks.
2. Safe Farming: Freezing allows you to farm safely without fear of being ganked, especially when you’re behind or facing a strong laner. Champions like Vayne or Kassadin benefit from this as they are weaker early but become powerful later. By freezing, you minimize the chances of getting bullied out of lane.

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3. Set Up Ganks: Freezing makes it easier for your jungler to gank your lane, as the enemy is forced to move closer to your tower. If you’re playing a champion like Darius, freezing near your tower can bait the enemy to overextend, allowing your jungler to come in for an easy kill.
4. Maintain Lane Control: You can dictate the flow of the lane, forcing your opponent to react to your movements. This is particularly useful for champions like Malzahar or Anivia who can use their strong wave control to keep the enemy in an unfavorable position.

How to Freeze

1. Let the Enemy Push
   • Allow the enemy minions to push towards your tower without hitting the tower. You can also bounce the wave to achieve that, but it’s a more advanced technique.
   • Avoid auto-attacking or using abilities on the minions unnecessarily.
   Example: If you’re playing as Ornn against a ranged champion like Teemo, let Teemo push the wave by not engaging with the minions, and only last-hitting them. You can also allow him to auto-attack you which will trigger your minions to attack him thus pushing the wave towards you.
2. Start the Freeze
   • Last-hit enemy minions at the last possible moment to keep them alive longer.
   • Match the enemy’s damage on minions to maintain the balance.
   Example: When playing as Fiora, if the enemy Renekton is Q-ing minions frequently, you should try to match the total damage done with your abilities and attacks to keep the wave near your tower.
3. Zone the Enemy
   • Position yourself between the enemy and their minions to deny them farm.
   • Be ready to engage if they try to break the freeze.
   Example: As a Riven, stand between the enemy Rumble and his minions, using your mobility to threaten him and prevent him from safely farming.

Maintaining the Freeze

1. Keep Extra Minions
   • To keep the wave frozen, you need to leave a few enemy minions alive outside your tower range. Typically, 3 caster minions are ideal for mid-lane two minions can also do as the lane is shorter.
2. Monitor Minion Health
   • Be precise with your last-hitting to maintain the freeze. If you notice the wave is starting to push towards the enemy, stop auto-attacking and let your minions die faster.
   • Example: As an Ashe, use your basic attacks sparingly and only to secure last hits, ensuring the wave stays in place.
3. Match the Enemy Damage
   • As previously mentioned you should match the damage done by the enemy to your creeps to maintain the freeze.

When to Freeze

1. When Behind
   • If you’re losing your lane, freezing allows you to farm safely and catch up. For instance, if you’re playing a champion like Veigar who needs farm to scale, freezing can prevent you from falling behind and allows you to get more stacks on your Q.
2. Against Strong Lane Opponents
   • If the enemy laner is stronger, freezing minimizes your exposure to their aggression. A champion like Lux can use her range to safely farm while freezing the wave near her tower.
3. To Set Up Ganks
   • If your jungler wants to gank your lane, freezing makes it easier for them to approach without being spotted. Freezing near your tower can create the perfect setup for your jungler’s gank.
4. Denying the Enemy
   • If you’re ahead and want to starve the enemy of resources, freezing is an effective strategy. Champions like Draven can use their early game advantage to freeze and deny farm to the enemy ADC.

Tips for Effective Freezing

• Maintain Vision: Always ward to protect yourself from enemy junglers who can try breaking your freeze or to catch your laner roaming. You will also not be able to move match while maintaining the freeze so place wards in the river or jungle entrances first.
• Adapt: Be ready to switch strategies if the enemy attempts to break the freeze or starts roaming. If they start using abilities to clear the wave, you might need to push back or call for help.
• Communicate: Inform your jungler when you’re setting up a freeze for potential ganks. Good communication can turn a freeze into a successful kill.

Breaking a Freeze

If you’re on the receiving end of a freeze, you can break it by:

• Calling for Jungle Assistance: Your jungler can help push the wave and break the freeze. For example, if you’re playing as Yasuo and getting frozen out, ask your jungler for help to push the wave.
• Using AOE Abilities: Clear the wave quickly with area-of-effect abilities. A champion like Anivia can use her Glacial Storm (R) to push the wave and disrupt the enemy’s freeze. This only works if you have a priority in your lane.
• Force Trades: Engage the enemy laner to disrupt their control. If you’re playing as Irelia, you can dive onto the enemy and force them to back off, allowing your minions to push.

Freezing is a powerful tool in your wave management arsenal, providing safety, control, and strategic advantages. Mastering this technique can significantly impact your performance and overall game outcome.