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The many problems of Illaoi

Elýzium·12/18/2015, 5:29:01 PM·3 votes·1,304 views

I'm going to be honest here, I think Illaoi is the worst release Riot has ever made. I'm not talking about balance, I'm simply talking about the champ design and its gameplay. My problems with Illaoi are:

  • she is probably the most annoying champ to play against. Tentacles spawning everywhere and hitting you at random is already annoying enough, but then those tentacles AND her Q both have completely broken hitboxes, so even if you do try to evade them, you might still get hit. Her vessel thingy is even more bullshit, because no matter what you do after you get hit by it, you will lose. Either you ignore the free damage Illaoi deals to you, or you try to get out of range. Even if you manage to do that, you will still take damage (most likely even by another tentacle that spawns near you) and you are also forced out of the lane significantly, making you lose farm. It seems like Riot just took everything that players hate and jammed it into a champ: broken healing, the ability to 1v5, unpredictable damage, hard zoning and extreme pressure. As said, I don't think she is OP, but she is annoying as fuck.
  • She has no likeable character traits. She is just this "tentacle lady" that is boring as hell, she has no interesting story, almost no interactions and is barely connected with the Runeterra universe.
  • She isn't even fun to play. There is very low skill involved in what she does, because the tentacles do most of the work. Nothing separates a good Illaoi from an average Illaoi, because there are hardly any tricks to learn.
  • She has no real use. So far, I haven't seen a good teamcomp involving Illaoi. She has huge pressure and good turnaround potential, but this basically contradicts itself. She cannot engage, let alone follow up. The only scenario in which she is useful is in a pushing / poking composition when the enemy has heavy engage tools. I can't think of another scenario where you would pick Illaoi over someone else.

TL;DR: Illaoi is both unfun to play as and to play against. She unites every aspect of a champ that League players hate. She takes low skill to play and there is nothing to master on her. Lorewise she is a complete failure in my opinion. She just doesn't deserve to be a champ. In fact, the biggest factor of her actual creation might just have been so that reddit can make some semi-funny "tentacle jokes". I just don't see why she even exists.

This is obviously only my opinion. If you think I'm wrong then leave a comment and explain, but don't just randomly downvote.

7 Comments

Ralanr12/18/2015, 5:31:34 PM2 votes

How much of her lore do you even know?

AyRe CoNteMpT12/18/2015, 5:36:53 PM2 votes

well i agree with the point that she is horribly designed but i think kalista, tahm, yasuo and quite a few others are fighting for the crown here.

FurretHasAGlock12/18/2015, 7:08:54 PM2 votes

"TENTAKILL"

EcchiOtakuTM12/19/2015, 8:31:58 PM1 votes

She's weak and easy to deal with she only has damage but the flaws are ridiculous.

Her design, lore and gameplay are awesome but just doesn't work in a game played by humans who can abuse the flaws regardless.

She also falls off late game and super early if the adc isn't dumb and buys executioner as soon as lane phase is over to just fully counter illaoi.

She really needs a rework.

Erockandroll12/19/2015, 8:47:19 PM1 votes

Looking at her game play. I personally don't find them as Annoying. I think of her tentacles as Heimer turrets, only with a much limited timer on when they can spawn. Actually, when I played her, I found the CD on her passive to be some what underwelming. So it's easy enough to clear out the tentacles. Except when she ults, but that's suppose to be her strong point.

To say your dead after one tentacle grab is like saying your dead after a Blitz grab or a Darius apprehend. But if you go back to base, you should be able to get rid of the curse no problem. So the only unique thing about it is it's ability to set up a team engage. (with the vessel spawning tentacles.)

Yes, she does have some annoying aspects, But I simply find them over exadurated.

xGrizzlyManx7/9/2017, 6:56:36 PM1 votes

I am main illaoi ( diamond ) so i think u wrong ... because she is not so strong and she need skill aswell.. i like to play this champ. there are a lot of players playing that champ and they are still bronze silver so whatever that's my opinion.

ZapMyHeart7/9/2017, 7:25:59 PM1 votes

Have you read Illaoi's lore?

It's a pretty good read. Illaoi's not just a "tentacle lady". She saved Bilgewater from the yearly Harrowing of the Shadow Isles. On top of that, she inspires those who had potential. Weaklings are destroyed.

There's more depth in her character if you actually took the time to read between the lines instead of just whacking off to tentacle hentai on your computer.