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Hooks/Pulls/Grabs are an interesting design proposition...

Snowsprite·6/6/2015, 1:07:58 PM·1 votes·461 views

Yo, let's go over this.

Approximately every 7-10 seconds, "hook"-type skills enforce a binary win/lose scenario, which is astonishing given that they are a single, zero-risk, zero-committal skill possessed by the Thresh or Blitzcrank .

So 30-50 minutes of compound layers of decisions and plays and item choices and pressure across the early, mid, and late game, are reduced to the ability of one player to aim one skill which will wholly determine the outcome. Woah.

Such incredible power wielded by one character's skill, and the extremely forgiving cooldown means it occurs with such great frequency as to induce exhaustion in those for whom one misstep to this zero-risk skill means the end of everything.

There are many 'catch' skills in League upon which a favorably engage can be built, but they typically demand self-risk on the part of the champion, or have a lengthier cooldown... or both.

Nothing else creates remotely as much 'lose instantly' pressure with as little sacrifice on the user's part as hook abilities.

To me, it seems to trivialize the larger picture surrounding the match and all the players involved, hinging the outcome of a complex and multi-faceted game on something comparatively meaningless and arbitrary.

6 Comments

7ha7guy7776/6/2015, 1:12:32 PM1 votes

Dont forget the other 3 hook squad members Ahri Darius Nautilus

LordDarkshayde6/6/2015, 1:13:03 PM1 votes

Hooks are not the be all end all of league games that contain them. The easiest way to counter characters with hooks is to play tanky champions that will intentionally eat the skillshot. Have you ever seen the rage a Blitzcrank receives when he pulls an Amumu into the enemy team?

Mãge6/6/2015, 2:11:17 PM1 votes

Hey! I think your point is really interesting. Although, I have to say hooks are not without risk. When you miss a hook, you give up a lot of power. Say you have a scenario where it's just a 1v1, and both you and your opponent have 100 health, 0 armor/mr and 50 AD. A hook is usually a powerful ability, so let's say the hook deals 40 AP damage, sacrificing 10 damage for the hook/cc portion of it. Then say you have annie's Q, which straight up deals damage, 45 of it. If annie is ahead, she can Q and auto you for 45+50 damage + 5 damage from being ahead, and you have no say. But hooks have to be landed regardless of how ahead your champion is. If you miss, you're sacrificing a lot more than a champion that doesn't miss ever. In the end, skillshots still have a lot of counterplay, and it's up to you to move unpredictably to outplay your opponents!

khorney6/6/2015, 4:22:32 PM1 votes

So what exactly are you proposing if I may ask . and most of the time you lose games from 1 misplay not because of someone feeding tbh. But stuff like this usually winsgames

Sire Hippington6/6/2015, 7:58:52 PM1 votes

0 risk isn't really true. Blitz usually maxes his Q first, so if it's on cd, thats up to 300damage missing if you engage on him after the hook went off, which is huge in the early. Same with thresh, if his Q misses, some damage and his main cc are on a big cd. If you force an all-in now, he can't put much against you(and unlike blitz, he's really bad at running away him self).