I made a comic to express my frustration with Vlad build paths, and mage builds these two seasons

Blood Magicks·Nov 10, 2017·71 votes·4,096 views

https://i.imgur.com/TqNPwpW.jpg

I think the comic says it all.

But on a side note for the most of last season a miracle happened and this nightmare of the balance department was fine: not overpowered in soloqueue, very fun, not oppressive in LCS. Despite that for one reason or another mage items keep getting gutted and as a Vlad main I keep finding myself out of build options that synergise with my playstyle. The removal of both Stormraider and Deathfire was the latest nonsense, and their replacements are not as suitable. I just don't see why I had to be forced out of the comfy balanced niche I was in.

109 Comments

sumerskaNov 10, 201719 votes

This is quite accurate...

RalanrNov 10, 201714 votes

Wait you actually did draw that?

Blood MagicksNov 10, 201719 votes

I totally have no artist friends...

I did the editing and idea they drew the cute Vladdy :3

HeimerLmaoNov 11, 20172 votes

I totally have no artist friends...

I don't have any friends... And? Does it change anything? Are you trying to pick a fight?

ThefrostyvikingNov 10, 20177 votes

Not certain but i think Malz and Aniva's are finding themselves in a similar boat.

Syndra seems to have seems to have gone into hiding due to sudden influx of strong assassins.

Blood MagicksNov 10, 201712 votes

Now that assassins are good a lot of control mages feel like assassin food.

Others, like mine, just feel like riot's trying to erase them.

ThefrostyvikingNov 10, 20172 votes

Well some are definitely looking for a place to go but does phase rush truly not work on vlad? I mean, it looks like it´d be easier to proc it over stormraiders.

And while melee get a additional benefit they also struggle more with kiting in general, vlad himself was one who liked to use Rylai for that reason as well x)

Not to mention, vlad can go untargetable, that's pretty big.

Blood MagicksNov 10, 20177 votes

It doesn't give the slow resistance and you need to aa to proc the speed, which is plain gimmicky and stupid. Vlad's aa is notoriously unfun and I'm usually busy pooling away after I EQ.

Stormraider was easy to proc because a good EQ on an ap Vlad chunked people really hard.

ThefrostyvikingNov 10, 20174 votes

Pool doesn't help proc phase rush?

That's pretty much just as bad as Lissandra's passive becoming a rune x)

Blood MagicksNov 10, 20177 votes

It does but you have to detour and pool under them which is also gimmicky.

I just want to sod off before they can trade back.

sad þoyNov 15, 20171 votes

{quoted}

Pool doesn't help proc phase rush?

That's pretty much just as bad as Lissandra's passive becoming a rune x)

oh my god you're right

PrinceOfStormsNov 11, 20177 votes

You need to land three spells/AAs to proc Phase Rush. The whole point of SRS was to gain additional MS and slow resist (which Vlad doesn't get from Phase Rush) to stick to your target while you combo. By the time Phase Rush procs, you're already done with your combo.

ThefrostyvikingNov 11, 20171 votes

But stromraiders needed you to chunk an opponent for like 30% health did it not?

Could vlad really do that with just 1 or 2 spells?

PrinceOfStormsNov 11, 20172 votes

Against a squishy Vlad's EQ could take out 80% of their health.

TheorexNov 11, 20172 votes

It not even vlad, its ryze as well. I have swapped over to Aery because Ryze now is just a poke mage instead of poke all in. Which is just sad. You either win really hard because the person doesn't know how to play against you or you lose really hard because you just do not have the mobility in the team fight to position yourself correctly for the maximum DPS. Thinking about vlad made me realize this post is more so true for vlad and ryze than any other champion that runs Phase Rush. They both need to position correctly for their spells to do damage. If vlad lays down ulti and can't get his E or Q onto the right targets. Then RIP

ThefrostyvikingNov 11, 20172 votes

But.....can't Ryze proc phase rush? I mean, all his spells together ought to proc it don't they? O_o

TheorexNov 11, 20172 votes

Yes Ryze can proc Phase Rush really easily. But the thing is, its just not a good rune. You can run pretty much EVERYTHING else more effectively.

Comet gets CDR from using spells. Aery can be proc'd from your EE spam. Electrocution is just higher damage. Finally Phase Rush. For 3 attacks/spells you get a weaker movespeed buff for a shorter duration with no slow resistance. Its just not good for Ryze.

Ryze went from being able to change up his positioning to barely being able to do that against teams and teams with AoE slow effects, you can't do that against. So We have discussed changing him to a poke mage. Its just more consistent that way.

Coldblooooded Nov 11, 20173 votes

I'm an Anivia main, and yea, i've noticed a negative difference. Out of each rune set there may be 1 or 2 useful runes while the others are just kinda.. 'there', so rather than building the champ I want that suits mine/their gameplay, i have to settle for whats available. Without a good jungle watching my back, I just get dove through walls, under turret by assassins... I used to laugh at Zed and Yi pre-6, now I feel almost useless. I know I can learn a new champ, but after 2 seasons Anivia has been the only champ that I really enjoy playing. I get that it's preseason and there will be changes, but still.... kinda bummed. I'll keep going Anivia though... On the quest to 1 000 000! I guess it's just more of a challenge now... Anivia

ThefrostyvikingNov 11, 20172 votes

My main marksman is Ashe so i kinda understand the feels x)

I can play lane perfectly then enemy Tristana Vayne Draven Twitch and i get dumpstered very shortly afterwards.

And as i see it there isnt any keystone rune that really fits anivia, she can't poke consistently to get good use of comet and electrolute is hard to get off for the same reason-

Thus you are kinda stuck without a keystone for nearly the entire laning phase while opponent has one at all times.

Not to mention there is a mini hexdrinker in runes x)

Troll for TrumpNov 11, 20171 votes

Nah, not malz, he's just always gonna be there it seems.

ThefrostyvikingNov 11, 20173 votes

He doesn't really have a good keystone though, same as Anivia.

It's difficult to get comet of consistently for him and his mana costs are too severe to keep doing it.

Not to forget, but a mini hexdrinker now exists among runes which makes you need even more damage to actually kill those using it.

Thus you need a stronger all in or better poke.

He doesn't really have enough of either x)

TeCoolMageNov 11, 20171 votes

Anivia's runes are pretty good right now.

ThefrostyvikingNov 11, 20171 votes

Anivia kinda shifts between light poke and sudden all ins, there is no keystone that really helps her with either.

Because she can't poke consistently in lane comet is kinda bad, but it's hard to get electrolute of in many cases as well which makes it a risky pick.

Phase rush and aery aren't her thing either as far as i know.

Coldblooooded Nov 11, 20171 votes

Yea, i'm having an ok time between comet and kelpto, but she doesnt feel like she has a set role now, you know? she just feels really off. Mind you i kinda one-tricked pony her so I might be more sensitive to it haha

ThefrostyvikingNov 11, 20172 votes

Vlad mains are saying the same thing more or less x)

Some champs are just a bit different and new runes are pretty specialized.

TeCoolMageNov 12, 20171 votes

Nah comet for sure is a really good rune, vs melee or very short range matchups you're meant to poke with unempowered Es like Kassadin does with his Q, proccing comet, or lowering its cooldown by a lot. Just be sure to do it when an enemy minion is low so they miss the minion trying to dodge the comet.

Against longer range or champs that can trade hits better you play passive and look for Q picks, the comet is always guaranteed if you stun. Either way, passive laners don't need keystones that are constantly useful (as you said when she can't consistently poke) because they try to avoid interaction until an opportunity presents itself, and no keystone should benefit you when you're not interacting with a lane opponent.

Aery is also okay, I know some people recommend it on poke mages like Xerath so it can't be that bad.

Just watch your mana, I make sure to start out slow with the Es and the start using it whenever it's off cooldown when my biscuit's going to come up (I take inspiration secondary)

ThefrostyvikingNov 12, 20171 votes

I´ve been hearing about Aery a lot but i am unable to figure out why it would be better than comet,,,,is it because it's guaranteed?

Some fellows told me to take it on Malz and MF too.

I am kinda confused.

And that combination of yours does not sound bad but i am a sucker for the healing you can get from domination tree, it's soo good mid/lategame at times x)

Ran it on malzahar, took a bad fight lategame and had to run away before i found a bunch of minions, managed to heal back up to 60-70% from 30%.

TeCoolMageNov 12, 20172 votes

The secret to aery's success is...

The cooldown

It's secret because when you read it in the client it just says 'you can't use it until aery returns to you'. It's dependent on distance from target, but in general it's less than 20 seconds (and this is in now way indicated at all by the tooltip).

For poke mages, they use one ability every 10 ish seconds on an enemy from a huge range away, so both suck (close range champs have better aery cooldown, ability spammers have better comet cooldown) but Aery has the less bad cooldown and is guaranteed, which is a big advantage when you're Xerath, Lux or Ziggs whose main poke abilities don't have CC attached after the damage is dealt

For mages like Anivia, they walk up when using Q to follow up E so they get Aery off cooldown very quickly.

However I really don't like Aery on Anivia. Late game you're not Qing every 14 seconds, you'll probably hold onto your Q to look for a pick or to catch someone out, early game it's really kind of the same unless you E spam like me, or unless you never hold onto stun so there's not much of a tradeoff, comet just seems outright better imo. The two advantages, being guaranteed and low cooldown, don't come into play with a mage who had led onto their abilities and has CC. Aery is good on poke mages because they buy a lot of CDR (I mean, you can Q as Xerath multiple times to get comet up again but it should be better to just have an Aery every Q) and can miss comet

ThefrostyvikingNov 12, 20171 votes

Ah you make several good points.

So comet would be better lategame for those who all in and for those who like to spam early.

Whilst Aery is better late for those who poke consistently, almost whenever possible, like Xerath or look to harass heavily in lane early, also against mobile targets.

Then i get why some Korean MF's have been running it too.

You wouldn't happen to know why Diana suddenly started going upwards as well would you? I recall her being further down the list for midlane picks but she rose up to 51% winrate since the patch hit.

Might just be Koreans running her as a counterpick though.

TeCoolMageNov 13, 20171 votes

I'm not a Diana expert but looking purely from what the runes do and not looking into what Korean Dianas actually take:

Diana benefits heavily from sudden impact, it either lets her do more damage, or relieves the pressure off getting sorc shoe size to get defensive boots (which is huge since she was designed as a diver, not an assassin.)

Electrocute is very easy to proc on her

She's an AS and AP champ so she has domination, sorcery and precision to benefit off, if one tree ever becomes trash she can just take one of the other two. Inspiration is okay on everyone, divers like defensive stats but resolve doesn't really seem particularly to Diana but it's there and it's not 'trolly' for top/jg at all in fact.

I can see bruiser Diana really liking precision tree, giving damage to her entire team with press the attack and having tenacity, while burst Diana will love domination with sudden impact.

I don't know, she doesn't seem to be particularly bad with whatever combination of rune trees.

She counters some immobile mages and a lot of ADCs though why she'd be above any other diver, I don't know.

ThefrostyvikingNov 13, 20171 votes

From what i can tell the KR Diana players are running phase rush O-o

Might be that they have some secret strategy for success.

Or that i am much to terrible at the champ and can't figure it out >.<

TeCoolMageNov 13, 20171 votes

Oh phase rush for sure is good for Diana I guess, her main weaknesses is that she has no escapes when played as an assassin, or that she can't stick if she plays bruiser and the ADC just life steals off her lower damage after she uses all her abilities.

ThefrostyvikingNov 13, 20171 votes

I guess i just don't play the champ well enough to understand the reasoning x)

I am kinda the type that always thinks "more damage is better" on the rare occasion that i play an assassin.

On Diana i usually think that my target has to die within the timespan it takes to Q-W-R-R most of the time.

A few rare cases you can afford to auto attack and wait with the second R to throw in a extra Q to do a double R after.

Otherwise i´d get blown up myself x)

But phase rush could make sense if Diana is being played as a counterpick against mages with slow skillshots that are important to dodge, for it does provide a lot of speed.

Like say veigar or anivia.

TeCoolMageNov 14, 20171 votes

But Diana's supposed to auto attack a lot, she has her passive and her meta builds almost always either use lichbane or nashor's tooth

QWRR only sounds like the enemy buys no MR or you're extremely fed

ThefrostyvikingNov 14, 20171 votes

The higher elo Diana mains in Korea don't actually build nash anymore, Lichbane is grabbed they they are ahead.

I guess it's because there just isnt enough time to stand and auto attack, you´ll die if you try.

The more damage you can do in the shortest timespan possible seems to be the preferred way over there as well.

Which i can understand, its just the choice to grab speed over damage that confuses me.

But i guess it might be possible that they use a combo like Q-W-R-AA (stack 2 autos first) then they use the speed to back up a bit until Q goes off CD to go in again.

.....That actually seems good now that i think about it.

TeCoolMageNov 15, 20171 votes

Yeah that's generally the idea, you auto attack raptors or wolves on your way to flank the enemy team to get 2 stacks then QWR-AA

I think LoL slow motions did a video on diana's combo and talked about this specifically

ThefrostyvikingNov 15, 20171 votes

Ah maybe they did, i have some memory about it.

I guess i´ll go around checking it and other stuff x)

Dragon MasterNov 11, 20177 votes

I really don't know what Riot was thinking. Stormraiders was completely fine.

THE RlVER KlNGNov 10, 20176 votes

holy fuck i love this hahahaha

(vlad tertiary after tahm and urgod btw)

NocturnalSheildNov 10, 20174 votes

Aww tank vlad doesn't work anymore?

I thought full tank vlad was fun

Blood MagicksNov 10, 20177 votes

it hasn't worked for a year-ish now. I tried it a week ago, was fun but not viable.

NocturnalSheildNov 10, 20174 votes

Ouch. Did they lower the health ratios?

Blood MagicksNov 10, 20175 votes

by a lot, in 6.13 and then in preseason I think.

PrinceOfStormsNov 11, 20175 votes

He went from 1 AP per 25 HP to 1 AP per 40 HP and his HP ratio on his E got reduced.

The damage of empowered Q also got reduced from double damage to 85% increased damage.

kasfasNov 11, 20174 votes

Well I'm sorry, but a champion with point and click, ranged, resourceless heals isn't exactly fair and balanced. It's best for game health when he isn't viable tbh, especially in the toplane.

If he didn't heal so much for free then I'd be fine with buffing him, but right now it's impossible to ever push him out of lane and impossible to win against him because he also scales decently.

Don't even bring up executioners, because it's a massive gold sink for any champion just so one guy doesn't roflstomp your entire team, and bramble is almost totally ineffective against him.

I say remove GW, lower healing, and poof, problem solved.

ZT XperimentorNov 11, 201710 votes

First line, now you know why people complain about marksmen so bloody much! To make it worse, the new runes allow them to gain even more lifesteal for free the more fed they get.

For free? Vlad's only free abilities are his Q & R, his Q has pathetic scaling when it's not charged and his ultimate has a lengthy cooldown. His other two abilities cost significant health to cast regardless of build.

Executioner's is a massive gold sink? Oh yeah really difficult to save up for a 800 gold item, that reliably screws over anyone that heals. The nomicon is more of a gold sink and isn't even reliable.

The last however has been thoroughly debated for years, but like critical hits, have been kept for the 'thrill' to sum up a rioter's comment in that discussion.

PB4UAMENov 12, 20173 votes

It's only 800 gold, and builds into the second, or third most gold efficient item in the game, in the form of item 3033

Also, is healing really free when he has the highest %hp costs of any champion in the game?

its 10% of your max hp to use your E Its 20% of your current hp to use your W

No one has costs anywhere near that, and no, his Q heal is not fucking free.

ZT XperimentorNov 12, 20171 votes

I misread that, and will correct it. Though how often do you see people rushing mortal reminder? It's not uncommon to build a fragment of something to get it's basic effect, and save the upgrade for after collecting more important items. A tactic that's been used for years. The free healing is being refereed solely to his Q, which is without cost and benefits both from the gunblade and spirit visage. Anyway it's why I pointed those out in his comment, that his combo-ing requires landing everything otherwise he suffers damaging himself.

PB4UAMENov 13, 20171 votes

His Q does not exist in a vacuum though, it is the management for his health costs which are incorporated into other abilities.

Are Annie, GP, and Irelia manaless cause they have mana refunds on their Qs? Of course not, that's how ludicrous saying Vlad's healing is free sounds. It's also his only reliable damage spell, on a pretty significant cooldown, and he NEEDS the Q 3 heal to stay alive in teamfights and skirmishes.

ZT XperimentorNov 14, 20171 votes

What does exist in a vacuum? Nothing! Jokes aside; annie's Q refunds it's mana cost and half it's cooldown if it kills the target, irelia's refunds half mana and it's cooldown is reset. It's how they both farm effectively indefinitely with timing, though the reason why was for entirely different reasons, which I won't get into now. I can agree he needs the heal entirely, since his other abilities cost health; however I'd rather his Q be reverted, the movement boost from bloodrush is often useless from being so choreographed and outran while having such a short window to use. I'd prefer to have a reliable mediocre heal, than a severely conditional strong heal that's pathetic otherwise. Problem is riot plays favorites; as the poster pointed out they've kept him down, while marksmen have had lifesteal to draintank through anything that doesn't instagib them.