Boards›Gameplay

Not all champions should be viable

AnubissWarior·2/2/2018, 8:10:34 PM·2 votes·819 views

This will get some flames up in the air, but few weeks ago I saw a post describing, than all champions should be viable in all elos- if champion is only viable in one elo, then the champion isn't balanced or designed good enough ( the user was talking about Sona- how either she is good in high elo and famine in low, or good in low elo, but trash in high).

My opinion is that trying to make all champions viable for high and low elo is misguided. First of all, it would be nigh impossible to achieve this, since the skill gap between low elo and high elo is so high, the ways champions are used are so different, that there will be seldom of a time, where champion will be viable in both. At the moment, there are some champions who are, but mostly that is because of their kits- their kits contain enough raw power to be viable and successful in low elo, and enough skill expression options to be viable up high. So you might ask, ''Whats the problem? Why not strive to change all champion kits to fit this description?'' My answer to that would be, that in to do so, some champion kits would need massive overhaul, which in the end would cost the champions identity. For example- my main Nasus will almost never be viable in LCS or high elo environment- he needs to scale in, which costs him the early game, he is prone to ganks and goon squads- he can function versus some comps, but as a spammable go-to champion? No. And I would never wish that he did- for me, why he is fun, is directly correlated to the reason why he is bad up high- its the lane game ( or mid game now) fantasy- that I can survive the horrid laning phase and sodomize the enemy irelia with my cane. I like the champion because he is easy and binary enough to play. There are other chamions like Garen Darius Udyr ( Im more than sure that some of boards members will explain why im wrong). Also, i believe we need easy to learn, easy to master, easy to cheese champions who would be gimmicky, but not viable as you start climbing up. These champions would function as entry level champion and a champion low-elo players like myself could have fun with. Not every champion has to be a playmaking beast, capable of jukes and massive skill expression, sometimes it is good to have a potatohead of a champion or two. In my opinion, the best balance is a roster with both high elo viable and low elo viable champions, and there isnt a bad thing about it. If I would climb higher up, and my Doge would start loosing his viability (kinda experienced that when I was in my plat 5 promos- which I lost), I would keep playing him, since my enjoyment in the game is from playing him- even If i get stomped. Of course the enjoyment is bigger, when Im the one who is winning, but it isnt big enough for me to start wanting to risk a rework of my champion. There are people for whom the fun in game is gained from winning, who might argue, that thats the reason why their one trick should be reworked- so they can keep winning more and climbing harder- to them i would say that since the fun from game is gained from wins, not from the actual gameplay of the champion, they should switch up champions instead of demanding that RIOT changes their preferred champion to their needs ( with a possibility that the reworked champion wont have the ''gist'' that the old version , so the played might quit him anyway) And to those people like me- who are hardcore OTPs and would never leave their champion- I would say that they should keep playing him and If they want to climb, they will find a way- as a reminder, last season there was a challenger Garen .

In the end, this came out a little bit rambly, but what are your thoughts?

20 Comments

Whisper872/2/2018, 8:57:17 PM1 votes

This is why Riot needs to stray away from the generalist philosophy of champions. They need to be good or at least decent at too many things to be viable.

If we lower that bar a bit, and then make them even BETTER at the things they are already good at...we are left with really interesting champions. And their usefulness becomes more dependent on situations than on scaling. For instance, even if your Yasuo is 0-7 and behind by 2 levels, his Windwall is still freaking amazing when used correctly. We need more stuff like that. Stuff that is so strong that even if they get counterpicked hard in lane they can still have high impact.

So like in my ideal world we would say for example:

Nerf Yasuo's passive shield and maybe even early damage a touch, making him easier to abuse in lane by ranged champs. BUT, in return you would have a windwall that lasts like 2 seconds longer and is like 10% wider so that you can still have fun and impact the game even if you get behind early, and a way to get to your scaling without having to have an inherently decent lane phase.

Or like say Thresh we make his ult even smaller size than it already is, but we add a mortal strike to it and maybe lower the CD a touch. Thresh is not really a top pick at team fighting, so let's just make him worse at team fighting but make his pick/dueling so strong that he has a real shot at ending the game before team fighting, or to secure picks even after you have gotten into team fight stages.

Or like take Azir, and nerf his damage back down to where it was after the Rylai's nerf and he was going pretty much unplayed. Maybe even hit his mobility a bit. Then you can rebuff his ultimate to it's original power because it becomes a skill based way for him to impact the game. He's got a decent early game and a bomb ass late game, and one of the coolest kits in the game. Why in the hell is it a requirement for him to also have a decent mid game damage curve to be played mid? Just really emphasize his identity as a emperor who stand his ground and issues commands as his soldiers sweep the battlefield and spear you to death.

STOP MAKING THE LAUNDRY LIST OF MUST HAVES FOR CHAMPIONS SO LONG - - when you look at the list of things a character could potentially excel at, NOTHING should be mandatory, and almost everything on there should be represented in at least one champion in a manner that is so strong it could be a potential win condition. News flash - - Specialized champions actually make the game more interesting. The only thing I can think of that is really negative about this would be that one tricks and new players would have a bit harder time but that's about it.

Milton Fletcher2/2/2018, 11:09:44 PM1 votes

the entire bruiser class is bad.

you really think this is acceptable?

Ahristocats2/2/2018, 11:28:37 PM1 votes

{quoted}

For example- my main Nasus will almost never be viable in LCS or high elo environment-

Speaks, as Nasus is being used in lcs and Challenger games

[sg-miss-fortune]