Why Pick Anyone Else? (AD Carry)

PunkDisorder·3/17/2015, 1:27:52 AM·2 votes·1,251 views

Recently, I've come to a realization (this is primarily being written from the perspective of an AD/Support player) that's been really discouraging me from playing League of Legends lately. The realization is "In the AD carry role...I have NO incentive to pick anyone who isn't a psychopath Jinx , a sell-sword Sivir , or a grizzled outlaw Graves ." The champion diversity has become incredibly stagnated for AD carries, while other roles seem to be thriving. My secondary role I main is support, and every game I play it I feel I can look at my team then look at my champion pool and think "What support can I pick to best contribute to this composition?" That's an awesome feeling, and I wish I could say the same about my primary role.

The reason I feel it's come down to 3 choices out of 17 (no, Teemo and Urgot are not AD carries or marksmen as the game has them claims them to be in the attribute filter) is because of how much each of these kits have.

First, you have a self peeling, cross-map executing, good from a range, even better when close, multi-purpose powerhouse Jinx who literally has everything you could want in an AD carry kit and more. Now I know the #1 argument "She has no hard escape!" is going to come up...but as someone who plays AD carry often and has positioning down well, I feel safer when I am playing Jinx, than I feel when I play Caitlyn or Ezreal. I know that when someone gapcloses with me, I have 3 (possibly 4 options) on how to get them away. A 70% slow, a wide AoE snare, a huge movespeed boost from KSing something REALLY far away with either Q rockets or ult, or just flat out killing the assassin with the minigun since I'll probably kill them faster than they can kill me. I really came to this realization a few days ago when I ran straight into 2 enemies (Kog'Maw and Janna), and using absolutely none of my abilities, only autos, 2v1ed them. While I did make use of stutter stepping and moving around to avoid Kog'Maws Q and R, it just felt unfair. To sum it up with Jinx, she has so much, why pick anyone else?

Sivir is less problematic, but for me, I think "Why pick just an AD carry, when I can pick an AD carry AND a support?!? Free assists = Free Gold. Money in the bank, pimpin' ain't easy." She has waveclear, damage, good laning, good late game, utility, defense, once again, I can blind pick her without having any regard to what I may be against.

Graves' problem, from what I've observed, is that he's the sustained damage of an AD carry with the burst of an AP caster. While his kit does include more counterplay than the other 2 mentioned, he still feels like the only other option available.

Overall, I want to see the AD role get out of the pits it always gets itself into of having 2-3 playable champions and the rest being nonexistent. Support is doing really well as a role right now, providing diversity and situational options for every match. I love the concepts of so many AD carries, but I feel that picking them in ranked is just resigning myself to a loss.

TL;DR Rebalance everything in the AD carry role (like they've done with jungle and support) to make it so a meaningful choice has to be made in picking one AD over another.

16 Comments

4nth0l0gy3/17/2015, 1:56:01 AM3 votes

Oh please, ADC is the most wide-open role in League right now. Caitlyn Corki Draven Ezreal Graves Jinx Kalista Lucian MissFortune Sivir Tristana Twitch Varus Vayne and even Ashe are all viable.

2000boxes3/17/2015, 1:45:36 AM1 votes

vayne and kog maw seem to be the adc's for me

MrPerson103/17/2015, 1:47:39 AM1 votes

DravenTristana you forgot Draven and Tristana, both are more than viable.

Joey Lumberpile3/17/2015, 1:56:41 AM1 votes

How could you forget about Kalista

The only ADC's at current time I have a problem with is Ashe and Quinn. Quinn needs serious QOL love, bugs are simply way too rampant for his tool kit. Though I feel like they should scrap quinn's Q "blind" and the entire concept as an ADC because better as a solo. However ashe just needs so much help. Making volley crit capable is a neat idea, since jinx has aoe crit there's already precedent. Give her a real E and you have a real champion. Blue trinket and sight stone have since been invented, there is no reason for this "exploration" mechanic on an ADC. On a jungler or support, sure!

Sailor Mint3/17/2015, 2:04:09 AM1 votes

As a Lulu player. Why would you play anything but KogMaw Tristana Jinx .

Sukishoo3/17/2015, 2:04:52 AM1 votes

The reason I feel it's come down to 3 choices out of 17 (no, Teemo and Urgot are not AD carries or marksmen as the game has them claims them to be in the attribute filter) is because of how much each of these kits have.

That's like the people that say Quinn isn't one and is more of a top laner. In the end, they are all Ranged Marksmen, heavily reliant on their auto attacks more then anything else. Just like how you can call Tristana an Assassin, or even a mage (along with Corki ) because of their high ap values. So, there's 19 Marksmen in the game no matter what.

Dark Nephthys3/17/2015, 2:10:28 AM1 votes

I generally do the best with Varus and Miss Fortune, which I guess is surprising since I've heard a lot of people say that they're to underwhelming. Honestly, they are both really good adcs and offer a lot more to a team fight then any other (Well...maybe not Kalista with her op ult)

PunkDisorder3/17/2015, 2:37:22 AM1 votes

I think some people missed the point of this thread. It's not that there's not enough "viable" AD's, it's the undeniable fact that, while many are viable, there's no REASON to pick them when you can get EVERYTHING and MOAR with picking one of these God tier champs. It's not the question of "Who can I pick?" It's "Why pick anyone else when I can get that stat + many other great perks from one of these"

Mal the Red3/17/2015, 1:44:23 AM1 votes

To each their own, when I ADC I go with Caitlyn

Greatest base range, a self-knockback combined with a targeted slow, a snaring trap that lasts a significant amount of time and an ult that cannot miss It will hit whoever you target unless an ally takes the shot for them.

Doogmi3/17/2015, 10:13:59 AM1 votes

There are plenty of reasons to pick other adcs. powerspikes, scaling, lane matchups, teamcomps.