Feeding: What, Why, and When?

What is 'feeding'? Feeding is assisting a champion in getting gold and experience. This term can be used from several points of view, the most common is probably when someone is yelling "OMG STOP FEEDING HEIMERDINGER YOU NOOB1!1!1!!!!" In this case, we would assume that there is a player or players continuously dieing to Heimerdinger, giving him extra gold and experience. Of course the person yelling could also just be an elitist douche, which could quite possibly be the case. Of course there are several other uses of this word that are prevalent in LoL.

1. The first is of course dieing to a champion. It could be said that you are "feeding" the enemy champion. (The proper response to death is "Worth!!!" this denotes that your death wasn't in vain and people should praise you for your noble sacrifice.)
2. The second usage is from a teammates view point. When a jungler comes to gank a lane and allows the carry to get the killing blow, it would be said that 'Maokai' is feeding 'Vayne'.
3. Feeding doesnt have to consist of champion kills either, a support could help feed a carry by ensuring that he gets minion kills.

Why Feed? Feeding is an important part of the game, and is vital to understand in order to be successful in any position. If you begin to feed an enemy champion it can cause him to snowball, having a very negative effect on your team. However when you either assist someone, or you yourself begin to get fed it, helps out your team in a positive way for the same reasons.  To understand the full benefits of feeding, you have to understand who benefits the most from kills, and when its ok to take kills or feed which I will explain next.

When is it ok to feed or get fed? Well by now it should be obvious that you should try your best to not feed the enemy team, as it will always end up poorly for your team. But when is it good to feed a teammate and when is it appropriate to take kills? I'll explain it by each role, however there are a few universal rules that should be followed no matter what.

1. If the champion is going to get away, SECURE THE KILL. Even if you are Soraka, take the kill if the champion is getting away. An assist and part of the exp and gold is better than none.
2. If you are godmoding or hardcore snowballing, let someone else get the kill. Its better to distribute the wealth instead of concentrate it in one place. This is because if one champion is fed and the rest of the team is underfed, all the enemy team has to do is focus the one fed champion and its game over.
3. If you are an underfed ADC and the game is heading towards late-game take the kill. ADC are the major damage source of late game fights.

Part two will explain the roles.