The Rules of Champion Creation- As Learned Over the Years

Generalists Will Always Be Required to be Weak to the Average Player Due to their High Mastering Payoff This is seen with Kalista and Azir, as they have been forced to be nearly unplayable for the average player due to their insane payoff if mastered to near computer levels of efficiency. Therefore, champions need clearly defined strengths and weaknesses to be healthy for the game. 1a. On the other hand, too big of a weakness makes for the champion being binary and failing in champion select. This can often cause the champion to be considered poorly designed since countering them can shut them entirely out of the game. Aurelion Sol, for example, becomes almost irrelevant when someone dives onto him and there is almost nothing he can do about it. This makes him very binary in how a situation can play out since, therefore, what he can do to opponents outside of the stars has to be equal to how he feels when an opponent is inside his "No No Zone". Otherwise, he becomes weak and/or unsatisfying to play for most.

Champions With Hard to Hit Abilities Are Binary If They Don't Have a Way to Set Up the Ability By Themselves Simply put, hard to hit abilities without another ability to set it up make for a champion that is incredibly binary since in situations where they do land the move, it has to be incredibly overbearing due to how hard it is to hit. On the other hand, it is hard to hit so it will most of the time miss. 2a. On the other hand, champions with only one way to set up the hard to hit ability becomes repetitive and boring to play. Therefore, hard to hit abilities often have to be made and balanced in such a way to where the ability itself can be landed without help, but only through smart and correct use of one's environment and game knowledge, aka mastering the champion.

Champions Need to be Unique In Order to be Played Champions need to have a unique kit in order to be played often. Otherwise, people will flock to the one champion who can do the output the best. It is good to note that the kit ITSELF might not be unique, but the OUTPUT of the kit needs to be unique. This means that however the champion is impacting the game, it should be unique to them and little to no one else. If a champion's thing is "Roaming Assassin", they need to be the very best at it and hopefully no one else should be balanced around also being very good at that. 3a. However, should two champions share the same goal, they need to be made to where they do such things VERY DIFFERENTLY. For example, if both champions are "Roaming Assassins", then perhaps one would use invisibility or some sort of tunneling mechanic to travel unnoticed while the other uses walls to travel across the map more quickly.

The Opponent Needs to Not Be Suppressed by the Champion A recent uprising, a champion should not make his opponent lose their sense of agency in the game if they are mastered or played. An opponent should always feel like they have a chance to start, win, or lose a fight. Perhaps even avoid fights for certain champions. This is especially true during the laning phase since individual champion interactions are shown much more often there. This can be done through the magical word COUNTERPLAY. Used too often, but it is there. Counterplay is great, but be sure not to add too much since then we venture into Rule #2 and Rule #5a territory. 4a. At the same time, the opponent should always feel the pressure of an enemy. NEVER should an opponent feel like a certain champion is just a slab of meat on the battlefield unless, of course, that is how the champion... sees other champions... like Sion. ANYWAYS, champions should always create a little bit of pressure for their opponents, even if behind.

A Champion Needs to Have Holes in Their Kit to be Filled This isn't the same as weaknesses. Weaknesses are innate traits that a champion cannot fix. For example, a champion is very short ranged. You can't really do anything about that. Holes, on the other hand, are small features of a champion's kit that seem like they SHOULD be there, but are not. For example, if you look at, say, Fiddlesticks, you would think he wants mobility to stay near his opponents correct? However, the mobility he has in his kit is quite limited and situational, making him more or less immobile in combat. That is a hole since it can be built around through items, runes, and masteries. A good way to see how late game a champion is is how many holes there are in their kit. A lot? Likely late game since they are probably balanced around their current kit without the holes and, once the holes are filled in, they become insanely strong. Not a lot of holes? Likely early game bullies since they rely a lot less on items to fill in missing pieces of their kit. Some holes, but not too many or too little? Can vary, but often middle game since they are balanced to hit a power spike once those holes are filled in, but afterwards will fall off since they are just building luxury, not as "Power Spike"y items afterwards that give them a ton of power. 5a. It is important to not have too many holes in a kit, since then the champion feels really crappy. If they are going to be late game and have a ton of holes, they need to have a recovery mechanic in their kit since otherwise the question comes up "Why am I gambling for a safe early game, when I can just pick a champion with less holes in their kit that can function without SO MANY items?"

Niches are Fun, But Be Careful It is ok for a champion to be not played too much if they play style is unique, yet only fits certain players. For example, certain players love controlling/commanding minions, so Yorick, Malzahar, etc. sound great to them. However, majority of players do NOT like doing such, so they will not play them. This is OK. Niches are great as long as it isn't a.) too niche or b.) frustrating to play against. If a niche is "Extremely Long Range Artillery", that is ok, but sometimes such a play style can be frustrating to play against since it feels the enemy is so far away that they are never at any harm. This is a huge issue especially if the game designers then make more extreme niches that force them to balance others to counter these niches. This becomes power creep and can kill the entire game. Basically, a niche is OK, but treat them well or you might just set off a Game Killing Nuclear Bomb (GKNB, can that be a phrase now?). An easy way to see stuff like this coming for a champion with a niche is asking yourself, "Can a champion in the game realistically deal with such an enemy? How many resources are they forced to expend to do so?" If it is too much, then the niche is TOO MUCH.

Fun Is Important Lastly, a champion needs to be fun. Otherwise, no one will play them. This isn't just for the player playing them, but also everyone else. A champion should make the game fun for everyone, not aggravating. If a champion is making people angry or bored, they need to be looked at and changed quickly, because a video game that makes people angry/not have fun is a bad video game. If find yourself constantly getting angry at a video game, there are two reasons. A.) You yourself need to chill a bit since your emotions may be getting the best of you (Reflect on yourself) or B.) the video game is poorly designed. Be sure to know the difference in the two through maturity. Anyways, fun. Make sure a champion is fun for all parties or else the champion is bad. We don't need anymore 45% Win Rate, yet 65% Ban Rate champions that are banned simply because they are a headache to look out and go against.