She's one of the most played ADC's in solo queue.
...yet she's considered garbage tier in competitive play and is almost never banned.
What is it about Caitlyn that makes her so good in solo queue but so terrible in competitive play?
Togekiss244 votesEh...?
Not a pro player myself, but Caitlyn is generally treated as a counter-pick more than anything else. She has the highest base range of all ADCs (base, not scaling), which allows her to easily faceroll the likes of 
due to their low attack range and she can kite for days.
She has flaws, however. In exchange for having a dominating early game, she actually starts to fall off a bit in damage around mid/late game. Another thing to consider is that the tank meta is back, and the lack of %damage moves, coupled with very limited escape options, means she kind of struggles against beefy team comps. That's the only reason why she'd be considered "trash." (I believe LCS players over-exaggerate sometimes)
LaowPing1 votesShe was used in LCS by Keith when he first shined. Other than that, she is just a counter pick. Pro's know how to survive the early game where as in solo que people make more mistakes and Cait can easily go 3-0 by 10 minutes.
Only Play Darius2 votesBecause she has the longest AA range and easiest time last hitting due to the mechanics of her animation.
Critmaster Garen2 votesin competitive play, other ad carries bring more damage, utility and the same mobility. people position better and use the full brokeness of these champions.
if both are played correctly, cait is a bit less broken, than jinx, kallista, or other poplular ranged ad cancers.
Rustling Bush1 votesi heard her damage is mediocre compared to most adc late games
Skyfox01 votes[{quoted}](name=Summoner Grey,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=UnV41Lq0,comment-id=0002,timestamp=2015-04-01T19:07:05.549+0000)
i heard her damage is mediocre compared to most adc late games
Actually, no. Her mid game is where she struggles. Her late game is terrifying - especially with red buff. She is such long ranged that she can stand back and auto people to death without having to be in the thick of the fight.
IcyPepper1 votesShe's a "safe" pick due to her range, allowing her to farm more safely and zone out adcs with low aa range. Her damage isn't the best, but she has tools to zone people out so she can farm (remember, laning is about the cs, not the kills). A combination of her traps and her Q poke her opponents and zone them out, and a good Caitlyn player will get more gold early and keep the enemy adc from reaching their powerspikes first (since her weakness is no hypercarry damage, this is a very bad thing).
I tend to pick her against low mobility, short range burst adcs (Graves, Vayne), but not against high mobility, dps/burst adcs (Ezreal, Corki).
WolfChases1 votesThe only reason Cait is one of the most played ADCs is her safety. Jinx is better, Graves is better, Vayne late game outdamages Caitlyn, but for example, If I am not an ADC player and I am forced to go bot, I would always pick Caitlyn. Safe range, has an escape, kinda free ward...blahh. But If I am an ADC player I would never pick Caitlyn over Jinx, Sivir, Corki, Graves or Kalista for example because they bring more to their teams somehow. Sivir is just awesome, Corki deals good amount of mixed type of damage which is always good to have, Jinx is just a Jinx, Graves burst is insane and Kalista...well.....
Drunk Rummate1 votesA lot of soloqueue boils down to the momentum that comes from winning lane, and Caitlyn is good at winning lane.
