Why not bring back Stealth Wards

Jbels·Mar 3, 2018·4 votes·377 views

But make it so you can't buy them if you already have a sightstone-ish item. (As in, any of the support items) Makes it so Junglers can have back their ward control, and Lee Sin can have his ward hop on demand back

4 Comments

Teridax68Mar 3, 20181 votes

As much as this solution has been proposed in the past, I'm not sure that would really be the best way of going about things, especially in the current meta. Junglers are already influential enough in the early game as is, and do not need an additional source of control over lanes. Lee Sin's ward-hopping is becoming increasingly more of a relic at a time when Riot's been discouraging items giving champions totally new forms of power, and reworking previous ward-hoppers (i.e. Katarina), and generally the mechanic gives Lee Sin too much control over fights whenever he has good access to it. Wards in particular have also typically not been the most interesting way of conveying vision, which is why even now Vision Wards are being heavily underpurchased at lower elos. We often complain that pro and standard play are like two entirely different game formats, and the state of vision in the past has been a major reason behind this. I wouldn't object to more sources of vision in the game, including vision that comes from the jungle, but I don't think bringing back Stealth Wards would be the best way of going about that.

JbelsMar 3, 20181 votes

{quoted}

As much as this solution has been proposed in the past, I'm not sure that would really be the best way of going about things, especially in the current meta. Junglers are already influential enough in the early game as is, and do not need an additional source of control over lanes. Lee Sin's ward-hopping is becoming increasingly more of a relic at a time when Riot's been discouraging items giving champions totally new forms of power, and reworking previous ward-hoppers (i.e. Katarina), and generally the mechanic gives Lee Sin too much control over fights whenever he has good access to it. Wards in particular have also typically not been the most interesting way of conveying vision, which is why even now Vision Wards are being heavily underpurchased at lower elos. We often complain that pro and standard play are like two entirely different game formats, and the state of vision in the past has been a major reason behind this. I wouldn't object to more sources of vision in the game, including vision that comes from the jungle, but I don't think bringing back Stealth Wards would be the best way of going about that.

I am seriously not a fan of Lee Sin's ward hop. Hell, I hate Lee Sin because of it. However, I would rather deal with his Ward hop than any forms of new power they might put into his kit. I know that a lot of his flavor of the season has come from the fact that his ward hop even exists, but I shudder to think what they'll compensate him for now that it's gone.

From jungle item I mean

Teridax68Mar 3, 20181 votes

I don't think nerfing Lee Sin's ward hop means he needs to be given some new ability to compensate. In fact, paring his kit down to fewer strengths could allow him to be better at things he currently does that are healthy. Increasing his ability to shield allies, for example, could be one way to buff him in a manner that wouldn't necessarily be as frustrating as his current ward hop.