Is freezing top lane a bad idea early on in a League of Legends match?

With many laners across League of Legends' player base, freezing a wave can be the best way to maintain a steady income of creeps without overextending and drawing too much attention from the enemy jungler.

Recently, professional player C9 Ibrahim "Fudge" Allami was condemned by other players around his skill level for his tendency to stall the minion wave in the top lane early in the game. As his opponents roamed, Fudge kept the wave instead of pushing to the tower for plates or counter roaming to aid his team. This led to an overall deficit for his team. In such a scenario, opponents typically gain more gold and experience in League of Legends matches.

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Freezing top lane during the laning phase in a League of Legends match could hurt more than it helps

A Reddit post pointed out the critical flaw of freezing top lane at the professional level.

When C9 Fudge held his position as TL's Alphari roamed in Round 1 of the LCS Playoffs, TL gained more gold with tower plates and kills due to Alphari's presence. With Fudge staying dormant in the top lane, TL focused their manpower in other areas, leading to a massive differential in map pressure and early-game rotations.

Probably should not freeze Top that early #LCS

— Jack Charles (@kayyslol) August 8, 2021

TSM's Kayys, a League of Legends Head Scout and Strategy Coach made multiple comments on Fudge's actions in the first minutes of C9's games against TL, creating a disagreement between 2 players at the professional level.

As everyone saw, C9 lost to TL 3 games to 1, and Fudge's lack of pressure in the beginning in the top lane may have contributed a considerable amount, even while playing a top-tier champion.

The main argument lies within the gold distribution. Fudge was able to farm risk-free for the most part, accumulating gold and experience faster than his enemy laner. However, TL gained the same amount, if not more, just spread over 4 or 5 members that balance with Fudge's peaceful farming.

C9 also decided to fight without Fudge on multiple occasions, so the losses in other lanes aside from the top lane weren't entirely due to his freezes. Fudge acquired a fair amount of gold and experience and was allowed to snowball in some instances, but his team suffered in other areas as a result.

Even the first can result poorly but C9 made it look way worse by choosing to fight

— Jack Charles (@kayyslol) August 8, 2021

C9 forced many fights when they didn't have to, punishing Fudge's lack of presence even further without him having much say.

Knowledgeable League of Legends commentators mentioned how freezing a lane is more of an individual mindset. It can only work when the entire team synergies and creates a plan for everyone to balance the flow of the rotations. The goal should be to prevent any chaotic team fights without members who choose to freeze.

As the meta of League of Legends fluxuates, freezing follows the same pattern by coming back in style with the changes made in the game's dynamic. This season, hardly any other region favors freezing, instead relying on roaming team fights where objectives are scored. With the additions of new drakes, the soul, and elder buff, playing for objectives has become a much larger part of the game.

Tower plates also favor constant movement in the lanes since League of Legends players and teams are rewarded for the pressure they apply. Freezing essentially takes away the ability to play for objectives and tower plates by telling the enemy team, 'I'm okay where I am, let me be.'

Freezing doesn't fit in League of Legends early on, in many cases among professional players. With such highly coordinated movements, staying idle in the lane hinders the gameplan of many League of Legends Esports teams. While it's unclear if Fudge made these decisions on his own or if his team agreed, the tactic didn't work for C9 as TL rolled over them.

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This article reflects the opinions of the writer.