What is “cheater recall”? Understanding laning intricacies of League of Legends’ professional play

Laning in professional games is vital for the success of a match in League of Legends.

As a result, pro players spend a lot of time learning the minor aspects of laning to outplay opponents. Every player needs to manage their minion waves, ward the lane properly, and push meticulously to get the most in terms of gold and experience.

Hence, the exact time when a player should teleport back to base or the time when they should stick around changes depending on wave position.

Don’t overcommit yet LS, get your cheater recall off then you can come back with an advantage https://t.co/yNvgaFGljo

— jinx you owe me a kiss on the lips (@WeepProph) August 3, 2021

One such crucial aspect when it comes to wave management in League of Legends is "cheater recall."

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Cheater recall is an essential mechanic in League of Legends often used by professional players

The idea of a cheater recall depends heavily on the wave clearing speed of players. In League of Legends, every third wave that comes into the lane in the early stages consists of a cannon minion.

Cannon minions are hard to clear due to the low damage of the champions in the early stages. As a result, it can stall out the minion wave for quite long.

Apart from that, the damage that a cannon minion does to the tower is also greater. This makes the task of getting early tower plates easy as well.

Cheater recall is something where the bot lane basically clears the cannon minion of the opposition faster. This allows them to crash the ally wave into the enemy tower. As a result, it makes last-hitting minions harder for the enemy.

However, by the time the enemy clears the waves, the ally bot lane can teleport back to base, get a full reset and come back. But the advantage is that they will not lose anything in terms of gold and experience.

This is a massive tactic that most players in high-elo know very well. However, pros are looking to do this quite often. In most cases, if it happens in a professional match of League of Legends, the bot lane can be called as won for the ally.

You know bot lane not needing to leash means they can cheese the wave get a push and cheater recall right? obv not going to matter in piss low but your clear being hyper efficient in piss low also doesn't mean shit because you aren't going to do anything with that scuttle anyways

— Kindred (@Kindred50430652) May 16, 2021

The enemy ADC falls massively behind in experience and ultimately damages their game. However, in low-elo League of Legends games, this idea can be put to use quite a lot to rank up fast.

Most low-elo gamers do not know about wave management, and if someone masters it at that level, they can almost solo-carry games.

For those wondering, the term “cheater recall” was coined by LS, considered one of the most knowledgeable players within League of Legends.