ADC is strong.

Bârd·Nov 10, 2015·4 votes·533 views

Throughout the history of League, only ONE ROLE has been absolutely core in every meta, and that is the Marksman.

Assassins? For a while they were a thing, but then they got nerfed, and they suffer in tank metas. Mages? They get destroyed in Assassin metas, and some of them are horrible in tank metas. Tanks? Off and on, depends on item changes.

but MARKSMEN?

Has there ever been a meta in which a marksman was considered "Optional"?

Even when they are considered "Weak", they are picked in every single game.

So, why on earth are there all these massive buffs to the role? Why are the other roles getting shat on? Why can't Graves get his cigar back?

4 Comments

MyyseNov 10, 20153 votes

You shouldn't confuse a role being necessary with it being strong. There's a solid difference.

Typically speaking, the game is designed around having a sustained DPS champion in the mix, and that's what marksman are for; that doesn't mean they are especially strong in general. In fact, most are currently garbage tier, overshadowed by Jinx, Vayne and Kalista.

You usually have a tank on your team too, does that mean they're crazy op? You have usually have mages as well, clearly they all need to nerfed.

Besides all that, most of the marksman champions feel like garbage to play, and are made redundant by the stronger marksmen because they're all so damned similar it boils down to which ones are the stronger ball of stats.

PartholonianNov 10, 20151 votes

In fact, most are currently garbage tier, overshadowed by Jinx, Vayne and Kalista.

Their tiering is defined by how they compare to other marksmen. Not to some other role you might consider putting in your comp instead, because nobody's that crazy. Well, aside from Morde in his 1-2 patches of stupid OPness.

If mages are bad you can run an assassin, or vice versa; there are even some marksman mids (although some are likely to build in a more mage-like way when going mid).

You don't have to have mages; you may or may not have to have a tank. (You'll probably teamfight worse without a tank, unless substituting a juggernaut works just as well; but you may be able to have a teamcomp that doesn't rely on teamfighting.)

Besides all that, most of the marksman champions feel like garbage to play

Well, if that's your opinion, then you should probably play a different role. But a fair number of players don't agree.

There is a decline in marksman popularity this season, which is pretty visible in teambuilder where the same two roles are pretty much always in the highest demand, marksman and support. But that doesn't mean they're weak; it doesn't even necessarily mean they're weaker than in previous seasons (and they were stupidly OP in some previous seasons).

RebonackNov 10, 20152 votes

Marksmen are getting their end-game AD nerfed by about 50 to 60 depending on who we're talking about and what they're building. They're also losing a sizable chunk of armor pen against Tanks and all their armor pen against soft targets. Riot is shifting Marksmen power from raw stats to the more interesting parts of their kits.

If you actually want to make Marksmen optional, all you need to do is make it so Towers get demolished not by auto-attacks, but via some Champion transparent method like how it works in Dominion. That would make all champs equally proficient at mashing towers from a distance and allow Marksmen to actually be optional. Because let's be clear, the main reason they're necessary is their Tower pulverizing primarily and their ability to not be utterly worthless at a level disadvantage secondarily.

Bouncemaster ZacNov 10, 20151 votes

This is exactly why I've decided I'm not giving Season 6 a chance. Once Preseason hits I'm done with League; maybe not permanently but for a good while. Game balance has always been nonexistent but their plans for S6 just sound outright stupid and laughable. My only regret is all the money I ~~wasted~~ spent on RP back when I found League enjoyable.