Why are there so few taunt (CC) Champions right now?

darkdill·Aug 23, 2014·3 votes·415 views

At present, only 3 Champions can completely force someone to attack them: Rammus, Galio, and Shen, all of which are extreme niche picks. (Ahri doesn't count, as her Charm doesn't make her target attack her.)

It makes me wonder why only 3 Champions exist right now who can force enemies to attack them via CC. We sure could use another one. ;)

And just so we're clear, Teemo doesn't actually taunt. He's just obnoxious enough that you are COMPELLED to attack him.

7 Comments

PryotraAug 23, 20143 votes

Riot actually came out and stated it was a lazy way to make people focus a character, and wanted tanks to be threatening enough to not need a taunt.

Though I agree, it would be a really cool thing to do if used right. Like put it on a hyper mobile off tank, and have the taunt give the enemy it's applied to a speed buff. Something that isn't "lol, I taunted you, time for you to come at me."

67chromeAug 23, 20141 votes

Riot actually came out and stated it was a lazy way to make people focus a character, and wanted tanks to be threatening enough to not need a taunt.

Yeah, I remember that too.

Forcing enemies to attack you for 2 seconds and then ignoring you afterwards is one thing, actually being disruptive and problematic enough outside of taunting to actually merit focus is another - and the later feels more rewarding.

WheatloafAug 23, 20142 votes

They have to have the right theme/kit to support it. Rammus wants people to attack him, because all they're doing is hurting themselves, while Shen and Galio are both Protect and Serve characters.

You've got a pretty neat thematic concept going there on that champ concept, I like the passive, and the idea of pulling enemies off to the side into a forced duel is cool. My one suggestion, though, is that you take a second look at her abilities; the way I see it, her W is the most powerful skill in her kit. It's an AoE damage reduction spell, and her E gives her a way to deliver it herself. You might want to try replacing it with something that helps her pick her target somehow, maybe a small AoE knockback that doesn't affect anyone under some stage of her passive effects, so that during normal battle, she'll be able to stick with whoever she's going after, and she can still use her Ult to do what it seems it was designed for: drawing as much fire as possible.

+1 For the Dark Saber pics, too c:

darkdillAug 23, 20141 votes

Damage cripples are honestly something we don't have enough of, but I can see your point on the matter. I'd like to keep the cripple, so I'm thinking of gating it a bit more.

The idea I have is that it will only cripple your damage if she triggers her passive with W. Basically, if you hit someone with 4 stacks with W, they deal reduced damage for a short time.

This way, you can't just dive a team and instantly cut all of their damage down unless you somehow stacked all of them up prior. However, with the cripple still in place, players have a reason to attack Nephree to stop her from using it.

The5lackerAug 23, 20141 votes

Probably because the identity of "Force enemies to attack me and impale themselves on me" has already been done significantly better by Rammus and Galio, and the identity of "Force enemies to attack me to protect my allies" has already been done better by Shen and LUDICROUSLY better by Braum.

OmnipheriousAug 23, 20141 votes

Probably the same reason there are so few Fear and Silence champs.

Presumably, Riot are just being their wary selves. This has resulted in the whole mess of slows and displacements we see today but I digress.

As far as I can tell, they would rather give a champion a slow/stun/displacement instead of fear/silence/taunt because it doesn't feel as bad (even though they are all CC effects, the latter often garner much harsher reactions). However, I'm sure they would give a champion a fear/silence/taunt if it would make more sense thematically. That's my theory.