If you love watching professional League of Legends like the LEC or the LCK, you will often come across the game casters using terms like “front-to-back comp”. Such terminologies can be pretty difficult to grasp for those who are very new to the LoL esports scene.
A front-to-back team comp is one of the more popular playstyles in competitive League of Legends. So if you are looking to learn more about it, the guide below will help you out.
League of Legends front-to-back explained
In League of Legends, a ‘front-to-back” strategy features a team comp or a playstyle that relies on attacking the enemy’s frontline first when a team fight kicks off. Once the enemy tanks are taken out of a fight, they then move onto the back line which comprises of the carry champions who are much more vulnerable to incoming damage.
In the LoL competitive scene, you will find this approach being implemented by teams who have picked champions who are great at prolonged skirmishes. The playstyle comes into effect against a comp that has a very strong frontline who are difficult to get through by champions that rely on burst damage.
Key features of a front-to-back style in LoL
Here are a few key features that you will need to keep in mind if you are looking to master the front-to-back playstyle in League of Legends:
1) Focus enemy tanks first
When a team fight breaks out the first thing that you will need to focus on as a team is to melt the enemy frontline. So if the enemy team has strong tanks and bruisers who are capable of getting onto your backline, you will need to take them out first.
2) Consistent DPS
This composition will feature champions who have sustained damage. Picks that have a lot of burst built into their kit are not a good option for a front-to-back playstyle as they will have a very hard time chunking through the health bars of the enemy frontline.
3) Carries are safer as they have more room to kite
The ADCs and mages usually have a much easier time navigating team fights in a front-to-back comp. This is because they usually stand behind their own frontline and deal a consistent amount of damage to the enemy.
Disadvantages of a front-to-back style in LoL
A front-to-back team comp will not do well against:
1) A dive comp
Front-to-back teams struggle against comps that have champions who love to dive the enemy backline. This is especially true if the dive comp is ahead, and boasts an assassin that can instantly melt your carry.
So a pick like a LeBlanc will do really well against a front-to-back style if she is ahead in kills and farm. It will be hard to go for a controlled and methodical team fight setup if she is constantly dashing in and threatening your backline.
2) A comp that has champions that love to flank
Champions like Twitch, Evelynn, Shaco, and more (Corki and Taliyah can flank too), love to flank the enemy team during a skirmish. Their ability (when properly played around vision) gives them easy access to carries, and if they are fed enough, they will be able to instantly pop an ADC even before a team fight begins.
Front-to-back comps rely on a slow methodical playstyle that forces the enemy to overextend and waste their cooldowns. This allows them to focus on the frontline and makes it impossible for the tanks to peel for their carries.
So if you introduce picks that have easy access to the backline, the strategy of a front-to-back comp will fall apart.
How to make a good front-to-back comp in League of Legends
Here are a few things to keep in mind when making a reliable front-to-back team comp in games:
1) Have a Mid and an ADC with consistent DPS
The first thing that you will have to make sure when building this comp is to have an ADC and a mid lane that deals consistent damage. These picks should scale very well into the late game and can melt through the frontline when their items are live.
Hence, hyper carriers like Jinx, Tristana, Kai’Sa, Varu (on-hit), and Sivir are just bot lane picks for the comp. As for the mid lane you need some one with burst, CC, and good bit of sustained damage, hence Ryze, Viktor, Azir, Galio, Corki, Ahri, Syndra, Yone, and Taliyah are really good options.
2) Have at least two champions with powerful CC tools
Apart from having carries that have reliable DPS, you will also need at least two champions who have a lot of CC built into their kit. One should preferably be in the support role, while the other can be in the top, mid, or jungle.
If you have Ashe as your ADC, she is also a good CC pick with her slows and ultimate. This allows you to focus on having more DPS in the other roles.
3) Have at least one initiator
You will also need to have at least one strong initiator who will be able to kick off and engage and start a team fight. Someone like a Leona, Alistar, or Rakan are great initiators in the support role. Xin, Vi, Sejuani, Wukong, and Amumu are examples of some great initatiors in the jungle role.
For the top lane you can have someone like Ornn, Sion, and Sett as an initiator if your team lacks enough engage tools.
4) Have at least 1 tank and 1 bruiser
You will need a reliable frontline wh will peel for you carries. So make sure to have ne good tank and one good bruiser on the team who will b able to soak up damage as your carries kite around a skirmish.
This tank and bruiser will ideally fulfill the role of an initiator in a fight.
5) Preferably have one champion with dive and flanking potential
This one is optional, but if you can have one champion who is great at accessing the backline, then you will be able to perfectly round out the front to back comp.
For example if you have good CC and initiation tools on your jungle and support, you can have Aatrox in the top lane who can completely destroy an enemy backline if he gets his combos right. You can also have a LeBlanc or an Akali in your mid lane to constantly treaten a backline dive when your team is already kiting the enemy frontline.
