LoL Brush Guide: Concealment Rules and How to Check a Bush

Brush isn't stealth. A ward beside a bush can't see into it, and walking in is the worst available way to check one, so below is how the grass works and five better ways to find out who's in there.

League of Legends Guide

Brush

How the Grass Works

There are 39 patches of brush on Summoner's Rift (the Ocean rift grows more). Almost every ambush in the game happens in one of them, and most players only know one thing about how they work.

The useful version is a set of rules about what concealment actually protects you from, and about the five ways to check a bush that don't involve walking into it.

Not Stealth Why They Can't Click You What Gives You Away Vision Runs One Way Checking a Bush FAQ

Brush is not stealth, and the difference matters

Standing in grass puts you in the fog of war. It doesn't make you invisible. Anything that grants sight of that area reveals you instantly (nobody needs a counterplay item to do it).

So your protection is entirely a question of what the enemy currently sees. A stealthed champion has to be detected. You just have to be looked at.

Knowing where you are doesn't help them

Targeted attacks and abilities need a target the enemy can see. While you're concealed they physically can't input a command at you (however confident they are about which patch you're in).

That's the real value of the grass in a duel, and it's worth more than the surprise. They can know exactly where you are and still do nothing about it until they walk in.

What gives you away

Attacking from concealment lights up a 300-unit circle around you for two full seconds after the cast. That's long enough for somebody to walk out of range, or for their jungler to see exactly which patch you're standing in. A botched ambush is worse than no ambush at all.

A few of the biggest wind-up animations in the game are hidden while their owner is in an unexposed patch, so the telegraph that normally warns you simply doesn't play. The champion who doesn't want you seeing a long channel has a place to stand, and you walk past it every game.

Vision only works from inside out

A ward inside a bush reveals the bush and the ground around it. A ward beside a bush reveals the ground, but it can't see inside. It doesn't run both ways. That's the most common warding mistake in the game: the ward you dropped next to the river bush isn't watching the river bush.

Turn that around and you get the better way to think about warding. While a ward sits inside a patch, the enemy can't use that patch to hide from your team at all. It stops being cover and becomes ordinary ground, so what the ward really buys is a tool taken away from somebody.

Five ways to check a bush that aren't walking into it

• Ward it. One charge removes the patch as a hiding spot (for as long as the ward lives).
• Throw something non-targeted in. A hit sound, an effect landing on something, a stack appearing on your bar: any of those confirm somebody's home.
• Try a proximity-based ability. If the game lets you cast it while standing beside the patch, that's your answer.
• Watch the minions (non-champion units only aggro onto something they can see). A wave calmly ignoring an enemy in the grass tells you that grass isn't being revealed by anything.
• Look at what your team already has. Anything granting sight of the area reveals whoever is in it (no sweeper required).

Walking in is the option every one of those exists to replace. Entering a patch yourself does get you the information. You just get it at the exact moment it's no longer useful.

---

Frequently asked questions

Is brush the same as stealth?

No. Brush hides you in the fog of war, so any vision of the area reveals you. Stealth has to be detected.

Can enemies target me in a bush?

Only once they can see you. Targeted spells and attacks need a visible target, so they've got to see you first.

How long am I revealed after attacking from a bush?

Two seconds, in a 300-unit circle around you.

Does a ward next to a bush see inside it?

No. Vision only runs from inside the patch outward. That's why the ward has to go in the grass.

How many bushes are on Summoner's Rift?

39 (the Ocean rift adds two by the dragon pit and enlarges several others).

The short version

Concealment protects you from being clicked. It doesn't protect you from being seen, and it ends the moment anybody has vision of the patch. Ward the grass rather than the ground next to it, and check bushes with an ability instead of your face.

For the wards themselves, our vision guide covers placement and trinket timers, and our ward locations list has the specific spots worth taking.