Ganking



Ganking is the act of actively moving around the map in order to kill enemy Heroes.

Heroes
Most ganking Heroes have the ability to either slow or stun their enemies, making it easy to set up kills for their allies.

In general, there are two different types of gankers:

Item-independant Supporters like Vengeful Spirit or Crystal Maiden can roam around the map to help out their team. These Heroes are well-suited for ganking because their spells are powerful in the early game. As they do not heavily rely on good farm and items, they don't have to spend much time lasthitting creeps in the lane, giving them plenty of time to gank in the early game. Experienced players can gank very early with these Heroes, even at level 1.

Item-dependant gankers like Queen of Pain or Pudge usually spend the first minutes of the game farming their core items and gaining some crucial levels. These Heroes will mostly be played in the middle lane, so that they can control runes and gain a level advantage. After this initial period of farming, these Heroes can easily gank the other lanes. Rune control, good vision of the map, as well as communication are key aspects of successful ganking. Item-dependant gankers are most powerful in the midgame and should have a heavy impact on the game during this time. If successful, they can acquire strong items and transition into the lategame, acting as Semi-Carries.

Preventing enemy Ganks
To prevent the enemy team from ganking successfully, a team should make sure that they have vision of key areas of the map by placing Observer Wards. Furthermore, Town Portal Scrolls can be used to help out allies that are ganked on the other side of the map. Always carrying TP-Scrolls and watching the minimap can quickly turn a 3v2-situation into a 3v4-situation, effectively turning the gank into a countergank.