Before engaging in a large team fight, what two things must an expert player quickly weigh to assess the 'risk'?

An expert player must quickly weigh two primary factors to assess the risk before engaging in a large team fight. The first factor is the Probability of Winning the Fight. This involves a rapid evaluation of both teams' immediate combat readiness and strategic advantages. The player considers the relative combat power of each team, which includes assessing current health and mana levels of all involved players, the availability of critical abilities (often called cooldowns, meaning when an ability can be used again), the strength of each team's equipment (items), and any experience point differences (levels). For example, if your team has recently used all their most powerful abilities, their current combat power is significantly reduced, decreasing your probability of winning. The player also considers numerical superiority, meaning if one team has more active players present in the engagement than the other, like a five versus four situation, which provides a clear advantage. Positional strength is also crucial, assessing whether your team has a more favorable setup on the map, such as holding high ground or being near defensive structures, which can provide a safer fighting ground or an easier escape. Finally, vision control, or knowing where all enemy players are located, prevents ambushes and allows for more precise engagement, further impacting the win probability. The second factor an expert player must weigh is the Strategic Cost of Losing the Fight. This evaluates the negative consequences that would impact the entire game if their team is defeated in the engagement. This includes the potential for objective concession, meaning what critical map objectives like towers, inhibitors (structures that prevent enemy minions from spawning), or powerful neutral monsters such as Baron or Dragon, would be undefended and highly likely taken by the enemy team while your team is dead or forced to retreat. For instance, losing a fight near Baron often means the enemy team will secure the Baron buff, which provides a significant temporary power boost. The player also considers the loss of map control, which is the amount of strategic territory your team would forfeit, allowing the enemy to safely farm resources and exert more pressure across the map. Furthermore, the expert player assesses the enemy's snowball potential, which refers to the significant gold and experience advantage the enemy would gain from the kills. This advantage makes the enemy stronger, making subsequent fights much harder to win. Lastly, they consider the game-ending potential, evaluating if losing this specific fight could directly enable the enemy to push into your base and win the entire game, making the risk exceptionally high.