i actually really like bard

When he works.

Sadly being a magical caretaker isn't the best thing to have on a job-hunt resume.

This is true, he is probably the funnest champion I've ever played, win or lose....

Despite that, it's probably smart to not take him into ranked UNLESS you've played numerous times with him and are a premade 5, and even then...

I'm quite enjoying playing Bard. However, here has been my experience lately:

• Mid lane steps on sll the shrines that were set up for jungler at 1:50 claiming "they didn't see them"
• I put a shrine in every lane only for them to step on it before the minions even get there
• ADC steps on every shrine right away even at full health
• I magical journey to set up a perfect double stun and the jungler and ADC take don't take it leaving me to die
• Ult the tower for a dive and everyone backs off
• GRAGAS ULTS .01 SECONDS BEFORE MY ULT WOULD LAND
• I ping to get a shrine from the tribush because I'm low on mana and ADC immediately dies

So yeah, little break from him for me.

Bard is fun to play but I would never do my teammates a disfavor by picking him in ranked queue.

I usually get sight stone, FQC, mobis then straight tank. I've been having a good time. Bard is a lot of fun, and you can definitely make plays. The buff to his base stats this patch were just the ticket.

There's nothing better than fighting in your base near the wall and putting a tunnel to the fountain right where an enemy was about to click to move.

I'm not saying he's bad, but I surely wouldn't want him as my support.

I saw Lustboy playing with him yesterday. I decided to watch because of AnnieBot, but then I saw this Bard dumping on everyone and I couldn't not watch him. What I noticed is that he really doesn't support elo mentality below plat. What I mean by that is this, everyone in solo queue has adapted to a general understanding of how to play the game. This way you can can expect and *rely on your teammates to behave a certain way. By minute 9 everyone was roaming and teamfighting over everything. Our common complaint about Bard is that his Magical Journey is shitty escape or rather, it isn't an escape. That makes him a niche pick for most of us who don't expect our teams to have total map vision and roam by minute 9. (Map vision, lol, yea right support wood noob.) Morons. Bard's team had all major traffic points on the opposite side of the map warded constantly, they always knew where the enemy team was. Using Bard, they jumped every enemy they found because they could cover a lot of ground stupid fast. Also add in the constant ult spams. The ult won them every trade almost single-handedly. There were a couple of trades early on that definitely would not have gone in their favor without that ult. It stalled until the rest of the team could catch up using Bard's portals. He kept the whole team together like a thresh lantern on crack, but what's more, he used it offensively. The only time it was used defensively was if they were baiting for a trap (which is still offensive,) but it always just scared the enemy team off because they were smart enough to not go near it. I won't be using Bard anytime soon I doubt I'll trust anyone outside a premade with him, but I did realize there's nothing wrong with Bard. He isn't the issue, it's our mentality as players. Bard requires the whole team to act as a unit. 99% of League games just don't have that. Add in the fact you need a little skill too and then you really have a niche pick. All that said though, I suspect we'll see a lot of Bard in LCS this year. I usually don't give a f%^& about pro players or LCS, but I'm mildly interested this year just to see how they've made due with all the recent changes. I'm bettin' Bard will be a common ban. Callin' it now.

*Not really rely on, but you should get the point.

I also like Bard (when he's not on my team.) His chimes remind me of Spyro sounds back in the day. :)

I also really like Bard, but he's just a bit too unreliable to play regularly. He's one of those champs that I keep on the shelf with Poppy that I break out when I want a fun game and am confident I won't hinder my team.