When I First Tried Drake Control
Man, I gotta admit, when I first heard about this Drake buff thing everyone’s screaming about, I kinda ignored it. Big mistake. Played like five games straight where enemy jungler just swooped in and stole Drake right from under my nose. Felt awful, like I was handing them free wins. My team? Oh yeah, they let me hear about it. “Jg diff” spam pinged nonstop. Realized I had to figure this crap out fast.

Actually Paying Attention To Spawn Timers
Started super simple: actually WATCHING that Drake timer. Sounds stupid, but before? I’d just wander around, farm camps randomly, and suddenly “ENEMY HAS SLAIN THE MOUNTAIN DRAKE” pops up. Embarrassing. So I forced myself to glance at that timer every few seconds. First real attempt? Drake spawns in 30 seconds, I’m sitting there at Scuttle crab like an idiot. Enemy Kayn walks right past me, kills Drake solo. My bot lane was still shopping. Lesson learned: need teammates nearby BEFORE it spawns.
Tried communicating too. Typed “Drake up in 1 min, please push bot” before recalling. Went back, bought sweeper and a pink ward. Swept the jungle entrance near blast cone, planted pink in the pit. Saw enemy support ward it? SMACK, killed the ward instantly. Felt like a genius for two seconds. Then realized… SMITE timing SUCKS. Tried to smite it at like 800 health? Enemy Jax jumped over the wall, smited it at 900. Pure luck for him, pure pain for me. Practiced smite damage over and over in practice tool later. Got better.
Figuring Out The Setup That Works
Finally found a rhythm that works okay for my play style:
- Clearing Towards Drake: When timer hits around 1:30 before spawn, I ONLY clear camps PATHING TOWARDS bot river. Clearing Krugs while Drake’s spawning? Nope, not anymore. Head straight to Gromp or Wolves instead.
- Pink Ward is Non-Negotiable: Always, ALWAYS buy a pink ward before Drake spawns. Drop it IN the pit as soon as we have vision control. Enemy can’t steal if they’re blind.
- Sweep Like a Janitor: Sweep every single bush around Drake pit like I’m being paid for it. That one sneaky ward in the river bush lost me so many Drakes early on.
- Baiting is King: Learned this from getting destroyed. Instead of starting Drake when we see enemies nearby, sit in a bush. Wait for them to face check. Melt their health bar first. THEN start Drake safely. Fewer enemies? Faster take.
Saw a huge difference fast. Went from maybe stealing ONE Drake a game to consistently securing at least three. Less random deaths near pit too. Teams stopped flaming me (mostly). Stats improved like crazy – my win rate spiked once Drake control clicked. Felt less like luck and more like I actually knew what I was doing down there.