Why I dislike the concept of "Bruisers" and "Tanks" in League.
So, I just would like to start off by saying that originally this was going to be a thread about me complaining that I think Mundo is way too strong in ARAM. I began to analyze a bit more however and realized that the things that make me feel that way about Dr. Mundo, apply to just about every Tank and Bruiser in League. Thus, instead of just writing about how much I hate Dr. Mundo, instead I would like to discuss why I think these two designs do not belong overall as a concept within League.
- League of Legends is a very versatile game.
This is a fairly general idea, but basically players have control over quite a few things including their runes, Items, macro, champion skill progression, and interactions with other allied champions. Every champion should rely on these aspects, but naturally strong (high resistance) and high health champions tend to defy the basic design concepts because they start with something other champions do not have from the get go. If you looked at this idea from the other end of the spectrum, it would be like giving a small pool of champions 300 AD at level 1 and calling them "Anti-Tanks".. It's something that really doesn't make any sense.
- Tanks & Bruisers have no inherent weaknesses.
This is why in the past, Riot killed off Tanks and the Tank meta from League. The majority of Tanks, and not just tanks but Bruisers as well, end up becoming generalists with their all encompassing skill sets. Being a MOBA, every champion has to deal damage in order to be useful, this being the case Tanks have a natural advantage being already stronger than every other champion, and who would have guessed that this makes them better than everything else? No one, right?
But no, in all seriousness, Riot gives every tank high base damage and a lot of CC in some form. If you look at Mundo, he perma slows and is basically unkillable 1v1. Nasus is the same. Galio has a taunt and two knockups, while also being very hard to kill. Every Tank or Bruiser follows this same pattern all the way down the line and it's really the biggest reason why League of Legends can never be a balanced game. Tanks are the master generalists of the game and there are no good methods of dealing with them.
- DPS champions are over-compensated to deal with Tanks and Bruisers.
Ah yes, the topic of the century that everyone complains about, but no one realizes why the problem exists.. OMG RIOT THERE IS TOO MUCH DAMAGE. Guess what you'd be complaining about instead if Riot didn't do this? That's right, you'd be complaining how hard it is to kill champions like Sion or Mundo. I mean, you're probably already complaining about that anyways, but it would be a lot worse if Riot decided to start toning down damage across the board. The good ole cycle of Rock-Paper-Scissors... Tank too strong? Let's make everyone else stronger (because you just absolutely need to have Tanks in a MOBA right?).
You're most likely tired of reading, and you want to know what my point is? Well you see my good friend, Tanks and Bruisers actually don't need to exist in a MOBA. You're an idiot and have no clue what you're talking about., yes I know that's what you're thinking but it's true. Look at the past three Seasons of League of Legends and this is what all the evidence points towards.
Tanks absolutely can't ever be balanced properly because they don't belong in a MOBA (at least not League of Legends). The only way to properly balance a Tank is to give them no damage, except that's not possible because of my first point above. Players have so much control over systems and actions within the game that even if Riot put absolutely no scaling or damage on any of a Tanks abilities, players will still be capable of dealing damage with it. In cause and effect, this will always lead to points 2 & 3.
And this is why I really do not agree with the idea of having Tanks (or even Bruisers) in League.
