League of Legends: How to dominate lane with Caitlyn

Caitlyn has the longest basic auto-attack range in League of Legends, making her perfect for winning lane. Here’s how to do it!

Quite often you’ll find that League of Legends solo queue is a case of win lane, win game. Relying on your teammates to get the job done in rotations and team fights is not recommended in the hectic, random environment that is the ranked ladder.

Instead, you should opt to win games by stomping the opposition bottom lane and snowballing your lead around the map with the unstoppable force that is Caitlyn. Find a duo partner, force them to pick an aggressive support, and roll through the enemy bot lane game after game picking up free LP like there’s no tomorrow.

Is it really that easy? Yes, as long as you’re an adept Caitlyn player and have a half-decent support by your side, you should always be leaving lane with a kill or CS lead in almost every match-up. From there, you can go on to push your advantage to other parts of the map, getting the rest of your team ahead, and building an unsurmountable gold lead for the enemy team.

So, what makes Caitlyn so strong? And how can you ensure you dominate your lane with her in solo queue? Here’s our quick guide to playing Caitlyn followed by our top tips for winning lane with the marksman:

Runes

Primary Tree
Precision: Fleet Footwork, Triumph, Legend: Bloodline, Coup de Grace.

Secondary Tree
Inspiration: Magical Footwear, Biscuit Delivery.
or
Sorcery: Absolute Focus, Gathering Storm.

Skill Order

R -> Q -> W -> E.

Build Path

Core Build: Stormrazor, Berserker’s Greaves, Infinity Edge, Rapid Firecannon.

Second Zeal Item: Statikk Shiv, Runaan’s Hurricane, or Phantom Dancer.

Sixth Item: Guardian Angel, Maw of Malmortius, Mercurial Scimitar, Bloodthirster, Mortal Reminder, Lord Dominik’s Regards.

How to DOMINATE Lane with Caitlyn

Ultimately the information above doesn’t matter unless you know how to abuse Caitlyn in lane to pick up an early advantage in the bottom lane 2v2. As stated earlier, find a duo partner who can play aggressive supports – ideally a Morgana, Leona, or Zyra for easily layered crowd control – then head into game and instantly look to secure a lead with these tips:

Trade Effectively

Easier said than done, but trading effectively in lane is the most important factor in winning a 2v2 and coming out of the early game with a gold lead. Rather than blindly abusing your superior auto attack range and permanently harassing the enemy ADC without much thought, instead look to trade without response, slowly reducing your opponents HP to open up opportunities for an all-in.

To do this, stand close to your minion wave and wait until the opposing marksman steps up to farm. Then, as they begin their auto-attack animation, right-click them to get in a free hit as its impossible for them to respond.

This method is possible with every AD Carry, but easiest with Caitlyn due to her high early auto attack range. Position yourself on the same side of the lane as your AD counter-part and always be ready to trade if they step into range.

For added damage, throw out a Passive – Headshot proc and Q – Piltover Peacemaker (ideally without minion damage reduction) to ensure you win the trade and are set up for an all-in.

Use Traps

Usage of W – Yordle Snap Trap is what separates the good Caitlyn players from the great Caitlyn players as they can often be the difference between a won and lost 2v2.

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Take a quick look at a Caitlyn trap guide to discover the best positions to place traps both in lane and through the later stages of the game to punish your opponents for not remaining vigilant of the Piltover marksman’s long-range stun and damage amplifier.

The most efficient use of Caitlyn’s traps is to layer it with crowd control from your support. For example, if your support picks Morgana for complete lane control, always keep one charge of W available for moments when she lands her Dark Binding to extend the CC duration and increase your damage on the target.

One of the easiest and most popular methods of utilizing Yordle Snap Trap is to place it behind towers, almost invisible to the enemy bot lane, so they accidentally step on it while farming under tower. While this won’t be enough to kill an opponent, the harass is enough to pressure them off the minion wave and force a few wasted minions.

Play around your Jungler

The most important aspect of playing any role in League of Legends is playing around your jungler and the enemy jungler’s positioning on the map. Constantly check your mini-map to maintain a strong understanding of the game state to enable extended trades and all-ins in the bot lane.

If you know your jungler is on the bot side of the map and the enemy jungler is on the top side of the map, you have free license to fight and force plays in the 2v2 as the opponents have no jungle support and zero threat of a 2v3.

If you’re pushed up to the enemy tower, ping your jungler to dive to pick up some free kills and tower plates. If the enemy is pushed up too far in your lane, ask for your jungler to gank and make it a 3v2.

Ultimately, you shouldn’t be making any plays in the bottom lane without knowing the position of both junglers. If you can master this area of your game, then climbing will become a simple task.

Are you ready to hop into solo queue with Caitlyn? Are there any stronger lane marksmen in League of Legends at the moment? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!