- Support
Peeling is using your crowd control and body to stop enemy divers from reaching your carry, rather than going after the enemy yourself. A carry who stays alive keeps dealing damage, so a good peel is worth more than a risky engage.
What it is
Peeling is defensive crowd control with a target: the enemy champion who is diving your ADC. You are not trying to kill them. You are trying to stop their path, interrupt their attacks or push them far enough back that your carry gets free damage again. Different effects do different jobs. A knock aside moves the unit perpendicular to your cast. A knock back moves it away from you. A knock up holds it in place. A pull drags it toward you. All of these make the target airborne, so it cannot move, attack or cast until the effect ends. Stuns and roots stop a dive just as well, and a slow shortens its reach.
Two rules decide which tool to use. First, airborne effects are not reduced by tenacity and cleanses cannot remove their disable, so they are the most reliable stop. Second, any unit that is displacement-immune, such as a diver with an unstoppable effect, ignores the knock effects entirely, so you need a stun, root or slow for them.
Peeling is a decision, not a reflex. Before the fight starts, work out whether you are engaging or peeling. If your carry is the win condition, your job is to stand between them and the enemy's diver and keep your crowd control for the threat, not for the first target you see.
How to do it
- Decide your role before the fight
Look at both teams as the fight forms. If your carry is the main damage and the enemy has an assassin or bruiser, you are peeling. Say so in your head and keep your key crowd control for the diver, even when a juicy engage target appears.
- Stand where the diver must pass you
Position yourself on the line between the enemy diver and your carry, slightly in front. A diver who walks around you wastes time, and your crowd control is already pointing at them. Standing behind your carry means you can only react after the dive starts.
- Match the tool to the diver
Use a knockback or a knock aside to push a melee diver out of range, a stun or root to freeze a dash target in place, and a slow when you want your carry to kite away. Janna's ultimate knocks back all nearby enemies, though not through terrain. Alistar's Headbutt dashes to a target and knocks them back and stuns them. Lulu's polymorph turns the target into a harmless critter that cannot attack. Even a carry can peel: Draven's E knocks enemies aside and slows them, so it shoves a diver off you or off your support.
- Cast as the dive commits, not before
Wait until the diver uses their gap closer or Flash, because a unit that has committed to a dash is easier to hit than one that can still walk sideways. Crowd control cast too early gets dodged or burned by an escape. Watch for the dash animation, then cast.
- Layer your crowd control
Fire one effect, then follow with another a second later when the first expires. A slow or knockback after a stun holds the dive off for much longer than two spells at the same moment. Keep a second tool, such as Flash or a shield, ready for a diver who survives the first.
- Reset your position as soon as it works
Once the diver is stopped, step back into the line between them and your carry. Your carry deals damage while the enemy is disabled, so check their health and be ready to peel again.
Watch it
What to watch for: Explains the two kinds of peeling with examples; watch where the support stands relative to the carry.
Video: ✍ LoL School Mastering SoloQ: How To Peel & Peeling Explained — Zadarkus
Common mistakes
- You spend all your crowd control on the first enemy who is visible. Hold the best spell for the diver, because that is who kills your carry.
- You cast two crowd-control effects at the same moment. Stagger them so the disable covers more time.
- You use a knock effect on a target with displacement immunity. Check for the unstoppable effect and use a stun or slow instead.
- You stay behind your carry. Walk in front of them so the diver has to come through you.
- You chase the diver after the peel. Return to your carry and let them finish the fight.
Practice drill
- In a custom game, ask a friend on a melee champion to dive your ADC from fog. Peel without moving your carry. Repeat until you stop the dive five times in a row.
- In the Practice Tool, play your main support and time your crowd control on a dummy that dashes at you. The aim is to cast in the first half second after the dash starts.