Lich

Lich's laning identity is zoning and harassment via Frost Blast while keeping allies alive with Chain Frost and early magic resistance items. Winning Lich players prioritize securing the safelane pull camp and maintaining vision to prevent enemy rotations. Avoid overextending for kills—focus on denying enemy farm and positioning to threaten the enemy carry. The data shows Lich struggles before 15 minutes (29–42% win rate), so play defensively and scale into the mid-game.

Lich's first spike arrives around 20–25 minutes with Blink (21 min avg, 53.5% WR) or Aghanim's Scepter (25 min avg, 58.7% WR). Once Blink or Scepter is complete, winning Lich players initiate smoke ganks (ambushes with smoke of deceit) to create kill opportunities and rotate to push objectives before opponents can defend. Pair item completion with map control—deward key areas, stack ancients for your carry, and use the mobility to catch out-of-position enemies. The 25–30 minute window is critical; win rate jumps from 42.6% to 46.2%, indicating Lich's power timing.

Lich's late-game win condition is disruptive teamfighting and initiation via Chain Frost and Blink positioning, combined with defensive utility (Force Staff, Ghost Scepter) to keep high-value targets alive. Position behind your carry and frontline, use Blink to enter fights with Chain Frost into clustered enemies, then immediately kite backward to avoid retaliation. The data shows Lich's win rate steadily climbs past 35 minutes (48–52% from 30–55 min), meaning the longer the game goes, the more valuable your crowd control and team preservation become—close by forcing 5v5 fights where your ultimate shuts down enemy mobility.