Vision: where the ward goes, and why

01Two wards, two jobs

The observer shows you the map. The sentry shows you what is hiding on it, and takes away the enemy's observer. They are not interchangeable and they are not bought for the same reason: the observer buys you information, the sentry buys back the information the enemy took from you. A team that only buys observers is playing with one eye closed, because every ward it places gets removed for a fraction of its cost.

02Defensive, offensive, objective

Every observer falls into one of three jobs. Defensive: it watches the path an enemy would take to reach your farming hero. Offensive: it watches the enemy's own jungle so your team can walk in. Objective: it watches Roshan, or the lane you are about to push. Before you place one, say which of the three it is. If you cannot, you are placing it out of habit.

• High ground sees further than low ground; a ward in a pit sees the pit.
• A ward nobody looks at is gold on the floor.
• When you take an objective, deward first: fighting inside enemy vision is fighting a man down.

03Vision is a team habit

Wards are bought by the supports but used by everyone. The moment a ward reveals a hero, someone has to act on it — back off, rotate, or start the fight. The habit worth building is the cheap one: glance at the minimap when you hear the ward sound, and say out loud what you saw. Most of the value of vision is lost in the two seconds between the information arriving and anybody noticing.