The State of AD Carries
Riot·4/22/2014, 11:55:31 PM·1 votes·3,871 views
As the 2014 season began, massive changes to gold generation left many wondering about the state of AD carries. For years teams had been funneling as much gold as possible into this one position, building entire team compositions around protecting their one source of reliable damage. With damage now coming consistently from the jungle and support roles, some carries feared that their importance in the game would become severely diminished. However, with a full spring split now behind us, it is safe to declare the demand for AD carries is alive and well.
Regardless of what champions become favored in the mid lane, jungle, or support, champions selected by AD carries will always provide one thing better than anyone else on their team—consistent damage. While a mage or assassin might deal more damage in a sudden burst, AD carries favor champions that deal their damage through basic attacks. Even with all their abilities on cooldown, an AD carry will still dish out damage until there is nothing left of their opponents. Whether in team-fights or tower sieges, the reliable damage provided by an AD carry is often what swings the momentum of a match. In a heads up, five-on-five team-fight, positioning is critical for an AD carry.
Below is a clip of Genja’s pentakill against Copenhagen Wolves from the EU LCS playoffs. Notice how, at the beginning of the fight, Genja is safely away from the majority of CW’s damage dealers.
As Xin Zhao initiates the team-fight, Genja does not try to attack CW’s back line. Instead, he maintains a safe distance and focuses on Xin Zhao. As the jungler falls, Genja is positioned in such a way that he is still safe, but is within range of Lulu. After Lulu is down, Genja immediately moves to the next available target, Morgana. Genja does not even touch either of CW’s damage dealers (Ryze and Varus) until they are the only available targets left. A veteran AD carry like Genja knows that it is more important for him to be constantly attacking something, than it is to be trying to attack priority targets. Through solid positioning and constant damage, Genja secures a Pentakill and a win for Gambit.
While racking up kills is important (and fun to watch), a match does not end until the enemy’s nexus is destroyed. To do that, a team must destroy towers, which can only be damaged by basic attacks. While certain champions like Jax and Nasus can take towers quickly, they do so with a serious drawback. Jax and Nasus are melee champions, meaning their basic attacks require them to be standing right next to a tower. While this is less dangerous in a split pushing scenario, it becomes much more difficult when five enemy champions are defending the tower. This is where the AD carry truly shines. This clip is from a match in Week 10 on the NA LCS between CLG and TSM. It shows how a skilled AD carry can break a siege, and change the course of a match.
CLG is trying to break through TSM’s top lane tower. They have the Baron buff, but TSM have a 2,000 gold lead, so diving the tower and forcing a team-fight is extremely risky. Trundle does kill towers quickly, so CLG could try to rush down the tower while Ziggs keeps TSM away, but this plan has inherent risks as well. TSM have LeBlanc and Leona, two champions with very strong burst damage and crowd control respectively. Should TSM decide to focus all their power onto Trundle underneath their tower, CLG could suddenly find themselves down a member in a disadvantageous team-fight. Instead, CLG make the smart, safe play that secures them the tower, the ensuing team-fight, and the game.
Using the slowing abilities of Trundle and Ziggs, CLG keep TSM’s main threats (Leona and LeBlanc) at a safe distance. While the team keeps the enemy at bay, Doublelift moves in with each wave and focuses his damage onto the tower. As the minion wave is eliminated, Thresh is always ready with his lantern, allowing Doublelift to move away to safety. This also provides the AD carry with a shield, preventing any damage TSM might get past CLG’s zoning efforts. Repeating this strategy wave after wave, TSM cannot find a way to push their opponents back, and Doublelift singlehandedly destroys the enemy’s tower. TSM try to force their way onto Doublelift as their tower falls, but CLG were already so focused on protecting their AD carry that TSM fails, and it costs them the game.
While mid laners will always make the highlight reels with quick reactions and sudden picks, League of Legends will always be a game that revolves around two key components—team-fights and towers. As long as this remains true, teams will always need an AD carry to put down consistent reliable damage on champions and objectives. The glory days of “protect the Kog’Maw” may be gone, but LCS pros know they still need a man at the back of the fight, right clicking things until they fall over.
While racking up kills is important (and fun to watch), a match does not end until the enemy’s nexus is destroyed. To do that, a team must destroy towers, which can only be damaged by basic attacks. While certain champions like Jax and Nasus can take towers quickly, they do so with a serious drawback. Jax and Nasus are melee champions, meaning their basic attacks require them to be standing right next to a tower. While this is less dangerous in a split pushing scenario, it becomes much more difficult when five enemy champions are defending the tower. This is where the AD carry truly shines. This clip is from a match in Week 10 on the NA LCS between CLG and TSM. It shows how a skilled AD carry can break a siege, and change the course of a match.
CLG is trying to break through TSM’s top lane tower. They have the Baron buff, but TSM have a 2,000 gold lead, so diving the tower and forcing a team-fight is extremely risky. Trundle does kill towers quickly, so CLG could try to rush down the tower while Ziggs keeps TSM away, but this plan has inherent risks as well. TSM have LeBlanc and Leona, two champions with very strong burst damage and crowd control respectively. Should TSM decide to focus all their power onto Trundle underneath their tower, CLG could suddenly find themselves down a member in a disadvantageous team-fight. Instead, CLG make the smart, safe play that secures them the tower, the ensuing team-fight, and the game.
Using the slowing abilities of Trundle and Ziggs, CLG keep TSM’s main threats (Leona and LeBlanc) at a safe distance. While the team keeps the enemy at bay, Doublelift moves in with each wave and focuses his damage onto the tower. As the minion wave is eliminated, Thresh is always ready with his lantern, allowing Doublelift to move away to safety. This also provides the AD carry with a shield, preventing any damage TSM might get past CLG’s zoning efforts. Repeating this strategy wave after wave, TSM cannot find a way to push their opponents back, and Doublelift singlehandedly destroys the enemy’s tower. TSM try to force their way onto Doublelift as their tower falls, but CLG were already so focused on protecting their AD carry that TSM fails, and it costs them the game.
While mid laners will always make the highlight reels with quick reactions and sudden picks, League of Legends will always be a game that revolves around two key components—team-fights and towers. As long as this remains true, teams will always need an AD carry to put down consistent reliable damage on champions and objectives. The glory days of “protect the Kog’Maw” may be gone, but LCS pros know they still need a man at the back of the fight, right clicking things until they fall over.
does so much unfair attack speed and damage. but the thing that seperates jinx from other adc's like caitlyn
is the range difference