Patch 6.9: Dragons are not that important. Towers are.

Valkorea·5/11/2016, 8:50:51 PM·3 votes·1,129 views

Pre 6.9 Win teamfight = Go baron or push towers

In 6.9 Win teamfight = Go get drake.

Sure, getting drake is a buff but towers will have a much larger impact in the game. Getting towers will open up more and better opportunities to teamfight because the enemy will either have to lose tower to a huge minion wave or have to split and lose a teamfight. (and maybe another tower).

I've been noticing that a lot of people are playing 6.9 as if League was a new game. I get that there were major reworks and changes but the object of the game is still the same.

Blow up the enemy nexus. And how do you do that? You have to destroy the towers and inhibs before you can get to the nexus.

If you lose a tower, even an outer turret, for a dragon, that is a loss.

5 Comments

daemanic5/11/2016, 8:53:32 PM2 votes

wow i would post some stats on the damage and work you can get done with even a few but since you have that gold emblem not even gonna bother

Communist Toast5/11/2016, 9:06:16 PM1 votes

if it's air drag I agree, but earth/ocean and even fire are much better

ValyrianBlade5/11/2016, 9:43:35 PM1 votes

Really depends on the drake, the team comps, the situation of the game, everything.

Cloud drake: ALWAYS go for the tower Earth drake: debatable. probably go for the tower. If you expect a long game where the enemy can defend for a long time though, an Earth drake will provide a lot more pressure than an earlier tower which was a foregone conclusion would (i.e. a good waveclear champion or two still can't do much to stop you taking bot lane outer turret eventually, so why take it over a drake?)

Fire drake: 50-50 here. If the enemy team outscales you, take this one. If the enemy team will have a better teamfight, probably take this one.

Ocean drake: Currently, take this one. It's OP AF. It's getting nerfed and won't be as worthwhile afterwards, but right now it's insane.

Biggest problem? People expecting an Ocean drake to spawn and getting a cloud drake instead. Lack of clarity FTL. Spend a lot of resources setting up for the best drake, only to get the worst.

In general: I think outer towers are overrated. In most circumstances they're a foregone conclusion. I don't think I've ever seen a game where top or bot outer turret failed to be taken and the game wasn't a stomp. It's very rare, but I do see non-stomps where a team fails to get mid outer. Overall though, outer turrets are pretty easy to take. So dragons can be more important than these unless you really need that gold advantage. Often a good idea to get some damage on the turret then turn to Dragon before it's too late. The dragon, especially non-Cloud drakes, will apply more overall map pressure and overall turrets-taken on average than directly taking one outer turret (and at times even one inner turret). Of course, an inhibitor turret is ALWAYS worth more than any elemental dragon.