Most Traditional Mages Not Valuable at Competitive Level?

There has been a lot of discussion coming out of Worlds about how weak melee champions are right now. The numbers certainly bear this out, but strangely I am not seeing nearly as much discussion regarding the similar lack of presence of most mages at Worlds.

The only traditional mages that were repeatedly picked and did not fail were: Orianna - One of the three viable immobile mages, mainly because of her great ult combined with utility. Syndra - One of the three viable immobile mages, mainly because of her long range stun combined with great burst from ult. Twisted Fate - One of the three viable immobile mages, mainly because of his ult. Ahri - The mage/assassin hybrid, and insanely mobile.

Notably, all of these champions have some form of stun or displacement, two of these champions have a very unique ult that is very powerful (Ori and TF), one has a triple dash, and one has a super long range stun.

The other three "mages" who saw a lot of play/bans and are undoubtedly viable (maybe too strong in some cases): Ryze - Usually played top, and we'll get to more on him in a second. Zilean - Played for his ult and only his ult. Kassadin - Insane mobility; in at least some instances played top as a counter to Ryze.

There were several other mages who made either a niche appearance or were unsuccessfully played: Lissandra - Picked once and got a win (I believe as a counter to an assassin mid). Swain - Played top. Ziggs - Picked once; didn't go great. Xerath - Picked six times with two wins; arguably viable.

Instead of traditional AP mages, Zed was picked or banned in 48% of games, Yasuo was picked or banned in 38% of games, Fizz was picked or banned in 32% of games, and Jayce was picked or banned in 25% of games. Notably, Jayce seemed to gain momentum as Worlds went on and probably would have been picked/banned even more if the tournament had gone on longer.

Anyone who has ever played solo queue at a lower ELO knows that whenever you enter a lobby, there is a good chance half the lobby will yell out their preference for mid. I have long believed that one of the reasons for this is that there are a huge variety of champions you can play in the middle lane, many of whom are mages that have fun and engaging abilities. What Worlds showed us is that most of these champions aren't currently considered valuable at the highest level of play.

The following is a list of mage champions not picked or banned at Worlds: Anivia Annie Brand Cassiopeia Heimerdinger Karma Karthus Kennen LeBlanc (the only mage assassin not picked at least once) Lux Malzahar Veigar Vel'Koz Viktor Vladimir Zyra (could be termed a support - probably not picked because Janna does peel better right now)

All this being said, just because a champion isn't valued at the highest level of play doesn't mean they aren't viable in solo queue, especially at lower levels of play. In point of fact, all of these champions are (except you Kennen and new Cass), but I think the reality is that the fact that they generally aren't played at the highest level of play does say something about the state of mages right now.

Almost all of them are squishy and great targets for a gank/dive. Many AoE mages don't exert much kill pressure on an opponent, and even for burst mages who do, they frequently have to expose themselves to a gank to go for a kill. If they blow all of their burst and the opponent lives, they are usually dead. They can't really roam safely to apply pressure around the map as their lack of mobility leaves them vulnerable without complete vision. They generally can't take towers quickly.

At first blush, except for the last, these are the exact same things you can generally say about an ADC early game. The difference is that an ADC is obviously worth protecting and is generally what a team comp is built around. There simply aren't that many mages who get strong enough to be worth playing with limited mobility. It's even worse than that though, because most of the ADCs that are played ALSO have mobility. Lucian/Corki/Trist all have mobility. So the most commonly played ADCs can still roam around a bit safer than an immobile mage, especially with a support.

At the end of the day, most mages have many of the vulnerabilities of an ADC, without the late game power. Further, there is often no need to worry about having a source of AP damage as (1) you can play Ryze top, and (2) last whisper exists.

As a bonus that no one who has read this far wants, I've attempted to briefly categorize all the other champions that were not played at worlds. I expect absolutely no one to read or pay attention to this.

Tank Junglers That Get Destroyed by Lee Sin

Amumu Hecarim Nautilus Sejuani Skarner Zac

Other Junglers That Aren't as Good Early as Lee Sin and Can't Deal with CC

Master Yi Nocturne Shaco Udyr Warwick (could be listed as melee top)

ADCs That Aren't as Mobile as Lucian/Corki/Trist and Can't Stealth and Spray N Pray

Ashe Draven Miss Fortune Quinn Sivir Urgot

Tanky AP Things That Aren't Ryze

Cho'Gath Diana Mordekaiser Sion (old Sion)

Teemo-like Things

Teemo (please someone play him competitively)

Melee Tops That Can't Deal With CC

Darius Fiora Gangplank Garen Gnar (maybe should be hybrid) Jax Malphite Nasus Olaf Poppy Shen Renekton Shyvana Trundle Tryndamere Volibear (could be listed as a jungler) Wukong Xin Zhao (could be listed as a jungler) Yorick

Vanilla Supports That Don't Have Enough CC

Soraka Taric

Congrats to the one person who read this far. That's all I've got. I wish I had a point so that you could take something away from this post beyond my ramblings.