The tanky tidal trickster: Cinderhulk Fizz

Riot·Jun 12, 2015·1 votes·31,959 views

Anarchy support No "SnowFlower" Hoi-jong switches from Fizz to Rengar for top laner Kim "cvMax" Dae-ho. Top lane Rengar is simply another champion in cvMax's off-beat arsenal. At the last minute, SnowFlower swaps back to Fizz. cvMax locks in Smite and Teleport. Anarchy won the game, the set, and earned a spot in Champions Summer 2015 as a result.

At the time, Cinderhulk Fizz was simply another oddball pick from cvMax, who is known for his unusual champion choices. That is until Edward Gaming's Shek "AmazingJ" Wai Ho locked it in against Team King in their first match of LPL Summer 2015. Invictus Gaming's Liu "Zzitai" Zhihao followed suit shortly thereafter, and soon the tanky fish began to swim rampant across the region.

In a world where Teleport/Smite top Shyvana quickly ran her course, Hecarim is now a predictable meta staple, and Rek'Sai never really took off, Cinderhulk Fizz has become a crucial power pick for Chinese top laners. Now, the near unkillable fish has now been played in LPL, LSPL, Demacia Cup, Champions Korea, the LMS, and most recently, the European LCS.

The question is: Why?

Why Cinderhulk Fizz?

Facing a Fizz is always an obnoxious endeavor, even in the top lane. His passive ignores unit collision and Playful Trickster (E) makes him untargetable for up to 0.75 seconds. Urchin Strike (Q) and Seastone Trident (W) add bonus physical and magic damage respectively, while his ultimate Chum the Waters (R) deals true damage before an area of effect knockup.

[[{"fid":"16791","view_mode":"article_image","fields":{"format":"article_image","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/article_image/public/OriginalFizz.jpg%3Fitok%3DGwBFITBU","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-article-image","height":"315","width":"700"}}]]

Cinderhulk, with Challenging Smite, is a cost-efficient tanky addition to this build, offering true damage over time. And extended team fights give Fizz more room to continuously apply these bonuses. In previous iterations of top lane bruiser Fizz, Trinity Force and Frozen Heart were prioritized, boosting movement speed and cooldown reduction. The added health from Cinderhulk makes Fizz unkillable all while being occasionally untargetable and dealing more damage the longer the team fight or trade lasts.

Fizz was always an annoyance, and required early attention to shut him down. Now, with Challenging Smite, he can fall behind early and still be as aggravating as ever, recouping his laning losses by smiting jungle creeps.

A Love Match: Invictus Gaming's Zzitai

While Edward Gaming's AmazingJ first brought top lane Cinderhulk Fizz to 2015 LPL Summer, no other player fits the role of Cinderhulk Fizz quite like Zzitai. A mid-turned-top laner, Zzitai possesses a vast champion pool that naturally includes the wriggling trickster.

[[{"fid":"16793","view_mode":"article_image","fields":{"format":"article_image","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/article_image/public/zzitai.jpg%3Fitok%3DMJOEUWFc","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-article-image","height":"315","width":"700"}}]]

Zzitai's role on Invictus Gaming is a simple one: be pesky enough to distract opponents so mid laner Song "RooKie" Eui-jin and AD carry Ge "Kid" Yan can farm freely or push objectives. Frequently drawing enemy aggression to the top side of the map, Zzitai needs a quick, cost-efficient first item that will help him stay alive in 2 vs. 1 or 3 vs. 1 engages. As a flashy player who rarely backs away from a skirmish, even an unfavorable one, Zzitai benefits from Cinderhulk's bonus health and damage in a long lane. Invictus Gaming doesn't rely on Zzitai as much for team fights, so Cinderhulk first allows Zzitai self-sufficiency while leading opponents away from his teammates.

With RooKie and Kid as the primary carries on iG, Zzitai depends on Fizz's high base damage and Cinderhulk, while prioritizing Frozen Heart next for additional survivability and CDR on Playful Trickster -- which means more time to be as obnoxious as possible.

Snake's Flandre: The Original Top Lane Fizz

This rising tide of Cinderhulk Fizz in China -- started by AmazingJ and the aforementioned Zzitai -- began on Patch 4.8. In a recent interview, Snake Esports' Li "Flandre" Xuan-jun claimed that Fizz would be a must pick or ban following Patch 4.9.

An expert top lane Fizz player, Flandre drew target bans on the Tidal Trickster in the LSPL throughout 2014. It was inevitable that he would showcase his Fizz prowess in the 2015 LPL, and Cinderhulk Fizz's popularity presented a perfect opportunity. Flandre fans finally got their wish in Week 3 of 2015 LPL Summer in Snake's set against LGD.

[[{"fid":"16794","view_mode":"article_image","fields":{"format":"article_image","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/article_image/public/flandre.jpg%3Fitok%3DX5HzRUcT","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-article-image","height":"315","width":"700"}}]]

Interestingly, Flandre's Fizz cannot be called "Cinderhulk Fizz" immediately. While he built Skirmisher's Sabre for the Challenging Smite first, he then completed Trinity Force before purchasing Cinderhulk.

Like Zzitai, Flandre draws enemy attention top side, but he also plays a large role in Snake's team fighting. While his Fizz in LSPL was more of a split-pushing threat than a team fighter, Trinity Force first now gives Flandre the best of both worlds. He pushes waves when able and has the additional true damage from Challenging Smite should an enemy appear. If Flandre gets into trouble, he is slippery enough to stick around and duel against his opponent, often taking them down with him. When he Teleports to join a team fight, Flandre immediately jumps into the enemy backline, allowing teammates better target prioritization.

Against LGD, Snake relied on the movement speed and damage from Flandre and his Cinderhulk Fizz. Even when Flandre eventually died in late game team fights, he softened opponents up before handing janitorial duties over to AD carry Yang "kRYST4L" Fan's Sivir.

Chumming The Waters

Following Week 2 of 2015 LPL Spring, Cinderhulk Fizz was everywhere in China as a priority pick or ban in both the LPL and the LSPL. From there it spread to the top lane of Champions Korea. Recently, nerfs to both Cinderhulk and Skirmisher's Sabre on Patch 5.9 have somewhat dampened China's enthusiasm for Cinderhulk, but not the fish.

The latest LSPL matches that were played on Patch 5.10 saw the return of top lane Fizz with Ignite instead of Smite. However, in the most current LPL Week 4 matches, Fizz remained a high priority ban. Vici Gaming's Choi "DanDy" In-kyu was the only player allowed on the fish, and he still chose the tankier Cinderhulk build.

[[{"fid":"16795","view_mode":"article_image","fields":{"format":"article_image","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/article_image/public/soaz.png%3Fitok%3DbpeI8Orc","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-article-image","height":"315","width":"700"}}]]

Now, the cult of Cinderhulk Fizz swims elsewhere, far from Chinese shores: The Tanky Tidal Trickster was played in the LMS by Hong Kong Esports' Wang "Stanley" June Tsan, and Origen's Paul "sOAZ" Boyer made a splash in his first game of Cinderhulk Fizz while Elements' Jesper "Jwaow" Strandgren faltered in the European LCS. Both opted for a more defensive build of Spirit Visage and Frozen Heart without Trinity Force, indicating that different regions are still experimenting with the Challenging Smite fish. If Chinese Solo Queue, and Korean jungler Bak "TusiN" Jong-ik are any indication, Fizz will next make waves not in the top lane, but in the jungle.

What's your favorite way to play Fizz? Let us know in the comments!

28 Comments

Earl EulrichJun 13, 20154 votes

this is litteraly the worst thing that ever became meta - the only thing Tankfizz can do later on is force a fight, so if you don´t snowball from the get go the game just turns into a 4v5 and that´s it. It´s actually the main point why Origen lost to Roccat...they had to force the fights cause that´s all tank-fizz can do, but if you are too far behind to fight it just means you´ll lose fast. Even Teemo would be a better competitive toplaner.

jbs984Jun 13, 201511 votes

Fizz is actually really strong in the right matchup. One of the reasons this trend started is because of Hecarim's popularity in LPL, and Fizz does incredibly well against Hecarim, being able to dive backlines (essentially what hecarim is made for) earlier in the game, and can use his ult slow/knock aside to keep Hecarim's damage to his team as a minimum. It's also really strong in pick comps, because of his ult's low cooldown and how he can manage to stay safe while assassinating an enemy. OG lost the game to ROC for a variety of reasons, one of them being that, yes Fizz is a very snowbally pick. But the Cinderhulk being such a cost efficient item, as well as the Frozen Heart, the item you usually get next, makes it easy to complete some core items even if you fall behind, so it never turns into a 4v5 as you said. That being said, he can fall behind pretty far, but he is usually picked as a carry top laner where you try to get him in a 1v1 against the enemy laner to avoid this from happening.

Earl EulrichJun 13, 20154 votes

Fizz is pretty strong, sure - but not as a tank. He just falls off incredible hard, as he doesn´t offer good cc or dmg later on. The one thing he can do is forcing fights with his ult - but that doesnßt mean much if your team already is behind. Cinderhulk top is really overhyped.

And that Fizz for OG had a 2lvl lead +50 cs on rumble, if he would have gone offensive he could have just dove rumble over and over instead of throwing the game away in unnecessary teamfights, doing nothing.

jbs984Jun 13, 20153 votes

It's more of a bruiser than a tank, as you always get Trinity Force later in the game, and as I don't remember if it was Loong or Flandre did, if you're ahead you can also get a BotRK. While he isn't an insane late game champion, his late game is pretty mediocre and doesn't necessarily fall off. IMO a large part of the issue in the OG game was Soaz's build. In both games, he got a Spirit Visage even though Fizz has no lifesteal, and it seems like he could've built better. He also should have finished his Frozen Heart earlier, and probably gotten Ninja Tabi. Whether or not you agree with me, those are things that LPL Fizz players do, and I think the issue was the way Soaz played Fizz, not the champion itself.

wowmolatioJun 13, 20152 votes

Lol this comment is way more useful than the whole "article"

Action JäcksonJun 13, 20154 votes

Worst thing to ever become meta? Drama queen much?

No one will argue that this works in every situation, but it is a pocket pick that certainly can work in certain team comps vs certain team comps. You can't name a pick for any lane that I couldn't tell you a scenario where they'd be a drag on your team. CinderFizz is no different.

Earl EulrichJun 14, 20151 votes

it works if you snowball, it doesn´t work when you fall behind, simple as that, 1 dimensional as that. shouldn´t work in pro play at all for that reason.

ShadowLordHadesJul 7, 20151 votes

I mained Fizz up to level 30 and when ad fizz started getting played I took him in the jungle quite often, if you get a trinity and a BOTRK then you can still pretty much delete the adc especially when you throw in challenging smite. The point of tanky or bruiser Fizz is to just soak up damage while diving the back line to eliminate carries. Fizz remains one of my favorite champions simply because he can play so many roles and have so many viable build options.

Dao78Jun 16, 20152 votes

I still feel assassin ap fizz is really good. He didn't get nerfed since MSI and mid fizz was pretty common there. I don't see why people only focuses on bruiser Fizz nowadays.

Kiyo CrescentJun 12, 20151 votes

mid :c pure cdr assassin Fizz

Cripple OracleJun 12, 20151 votes

Fizzzzz izzzzz goooddddzzzzz!!!!

DarkStrike1008Jun 12, 20151 votes

Jungle Fizz CHallenging smite, devourers BOTRK TANK

ArcticWolf24Jun 13, 20151 votes

Fizz ult does true DAMAGE?!?!?!?!?!?

Khellendros223Jun 13, 20152 votes

Yeah, that has to be a typo... Chum the Waters does 200/325/450 + 100% AP magic damage, not true damage. Maybe they were already thinking ahead to the application of the Challenging Smite true damage effect.

Jozie ColeJun 23, 20151 votes

I think they're talking about the "inceresed damage done by Fizz to champs in area" effect.

Action JäcksonJun 13, 20151 votes

Yes, but only like 2-3 true damage. It's a dot that's applied when the fish hits you and lasts until the shark pops up. I don't feel like looking it up, but its like a damage every .5 seconds or something. I believe it was added to keep champs attempting to stealth revealed longer (they're taking damage).

It's a small perk that's hardly even worth mentioning, which is surprised when I saw it mentioned in this article.

JenzoahJun 13, 20151 votes

Riot Fizz Ult NEEDS to deal TRUE DAMAGE - This is a FANTASTIC IDEA.

KIM JONG REEEEEEJun 13, 20151 votes

No, what's a fantastic idea is Riot Fizz. :] Think Fizz decked out in scuba assault gear. :]

Artorius81Jun 13, 20151 votes

and here we go again, EU copying KR picks 4Head

DemonXKDJun 14, 20151 votes

A wise man once said: "Learn from the mistakes of others, you don't live long enough to comit every mistake". In this case you just need to adapt it to the game and you understand that your comment is just a waste of space.

PS: it's not like NA players don't do the same, the only difference is that the EU LCS comes before the NA LCS. if you watched the NA LCS today you should have noticed that both Balls and Gamsu played top lane Fizz.

Gilded BladeJun 15, 20151 votes

Fizz ult doesn't deal true damage lmfao. I'm bronze and I know more about the game than these writers, that's sad. Try playing the game before telling players how to play it.

KäptnKnäckebrotJun 23, 20151 votes

The countdown on Fizz ult does true damage. 6 true damage over 3 procs.

Gilded BladeJun 24, 20151 votes

Yeah. 6. 6 whole health points, used as more of a timer than the actual AP nuke/knockup component of the shark's hit. Whereas how they worded it in this article has it sounding like your ulti does 200 / 325 / 450 (+100% AP) true damage. An honest mistake, but one that would all too easily insinuate another unneeded round of incessant whining and reddit circlejerks.

Jozie ColeJun 23, 20151 votes

item 3726 jg Fizz is best imo. He can clear his jg so damn fast and when he invades he has a few tools to escape so you can farm up and shred late game.

Fizz 's Q applies on-hit effects so the more item 3726 stacks you farm the more damage it does.

So item 3153 , the + melee damage from item 3057 items, ect.

the final build will look something like: item 3726 item 3078 item 3153 item 3110 item 3158 item 3156

Only thing that sucks is if you have to spend too much time ganking and helping your lanes you'll lose time to get item 3726 stacks, and fall behind... and his pre-mid (lvl 2-3 damage is decent) game damage is nonexistent untill you get a item 3153 or a item 3078 . As long as your laners dont suck or get countered you should be fine.

Once you get about 65+ stacks You'll be able to dive into the backline and kill just about anyone before hopping back out or dying and setting up a winning teamfight. And since his w does % hp dam once you get a item 3153 youll be shredding tanks too.