1 Champion's counterplay is another's "0 Counterplay"

One of the most common phrases I see on the boards is "X has 0 counterplay."

Since I'm really tired and I don't feel like playing right now I think I'll tackle the concept of "counterplay" as a whole, focusing mainly on items and champions.

Lets start off with a champion that gets a lot of complaints, (Keep in mind that I am not saying that he isn't overturned or overpowered, I just want to focus on his W as a proof of concept kind of thing) (and yes, I know that his W isn't what people complain about)

So vladmir's W will make him untargetable for 2 seconds. Vladmir has no movement abilities, no dashes, no hard cc. In this hypothetical, he is attempting to not die to a... uhh... lets go with Neither champion has a completed item

Fizz throws his ult out at vladmir. Lets assume that all cooldowns are up. Since vladmir has no dashes, he has 3 options

1. Try and dodge with movement commands
2. Flash
3. Use his pool ( I know some smart-A in the comments is gonna say "one shot him" but just work with me here. )

Dodging with movement commands is very risky, and can go very wrong very fast, so that can be erased from the 3 options. If he flashes, that option of counterplay will be removed the next time that fizz has his ult up. The most preferable option of counterplay in this situation is to use W. Now, from fizz's point of view, there is no possible way that he can land his ult on vladmir because his w has "no counterplay." On the contrary, if vladmir did not have a W, then it would be almost impossible to dodge fizz ult without flash.

What I am trying to say with this hypothetical is that one champion's counterplay is another champion's "0 counterplay." What may seem unhealthy to the game given the lack of interaction is actually the only form of interaction that champion can make in a given situation without dying, or giving up a huge advantage. I understand that some champions "0 counterplay" abilities may be stronger than others. If you compare a to a , It is very clear that Vladmir has an easier to execute form of counterplay than lux. On the other hand, lux has a form of counterplay that isn't necessarily an ability, but a playstyle. "poke with long range abilities." Lux doesn't have a 2 second untargetability, but on the other hand she has a better chance of avoiding situations that require one. Sure lux has a W, which can also be considered a form of counterplay, but I think that the point still stands that her counterplay comes in the form of "stay far away."

Now lets take this a layer further.... v "What is lux's counterplay to a talon when he jumps on her" Well, you could say "stay far away," or you could say point blank Q or use W, but what also needs to be addressed is "whats talon's counterplay to lux if her counterplay to him is to 'stay far away?'" You could say talons invis during ult, or his Q.

This doesn't even consider the fact that all exist, and are valid forms of counterplay.

Talon jumps on you? is counterplay to that

Talon needs to jump on lux but is binded? this is all counterplay to that

Both champions have some sort of counterplay around each other, however, the effectiveness of one's counterplay can be greater than the effectiveness of another champions counterplay. No one is arguing that "stand far away" is as effective in every circumstance as invisibility, or that invisibility is as effective as "stand far away" in every circumstance. What is true here is that there are many forms of counterplay, both abilities, play styles, and items.

Lets talk about items now.

I bring up dashbelt again because I want to go back to the v example. Lets say in the hypothetical Vladmir has his dashbelt completed. Now he has 4 ways of counterplaying the Fizz ultimate, as he can now dash out of the way of it. With just one item he managed to come up with a new form of counterplay that was never in his base kit to begin with.

Now how on earth is fizz going to be able to hit his ultimate? This is the dilemma that really bothers a lot of people, and its not just limited to v This can be attributed to any champion in the game.

Lets go v here, and lets say that brand has nothing but a . Before he got the zhonyas, there was very little that he could do after being ulted by Zed. He had 3 options

1. Go for the stun and see what happens
2. Flash away
3. Use the other summoner he has assuming its not ignite or teleport. Two are situational, so if both summoners are down all he has is the EQ Combo which does not leave a lot of options for surviving the zed ult.

But now that he has Zhonyas, he can avoid the Zed damage. He finally has a form of counterplay to zed.

But from zed's perspective, how is he going to be able to ult and kill brand? That items active completely counters zed. Thats one less person that Zed can effectively ult and kill. Zhonyas counterplay is Zeds "0 counterplay"

Or how about from the perspective of

If someone builds then he effectively cannot ult them for the rest of the game, but on the other hand he can click on anyone who doesn't have it and they are at his mercy.

is counterplay to 's "0 counterplay"

I think we really need to be more specific when we talk about strengths of counterplay and "0 counterplay" abilities. Its a common argument on the boards that there isn't enough counterplay in the game regardless what patch it is, but then riot go along and do something like adding to the game, and suddenly the boards is fuming with anger now that a new "0 counterplay" item has been added. But isn't this supposed to be an item that allows counterplay? See, it gets really confusing trying to analyze what the community means by "add more counterplay" when what is counterplay is perceived to be "0 counterplay."

I didn't even factor player skill or other things like teammates or positioning into this argument because its easier to talk about items and abilities.

Look, if there is anything you take away from this short novel written by a sleep deprived diamond player, I hope its that one champion's counterplay, is another champion's "0 counterplay"