For example, the Lethality META made a few champions OP. Mainly 
and 
or champions with super long poke, hard CC, and high burst. Meanwhile Lucian slowly fell off of the "good-OP" pick list. But once that whole shit-storm was over, Lucian is instantly topping said list again. Just something I noticed.
ProfDrDeath9 votesLucian is too strong currently, true.
But even as someone who hates that bastard, I have to admit that his high playrate comes from the fact that he is rather fun to play.
For his balancing, I honestly think that Riot take a hard look at his mana costs next, and make his mana usage scale up aggressively into the later stages of the game. Basically, he needs to be balanced in a way as to make Essence Reaver a very good choice. Simply having his E cost 40 mana at rank 1, 60 mana at rank 5 would, imo, do the trick.
Anags1 votesMore like he is fun to play when he is strong.
He was played very little when he wasnt. Once people found out he was good again his playrate went way way up.
He's like any champ. "Fun" when strong. Not so "fun" when weak. So that isn't really an argument for him specifically sorry. Thw data on playrate proves it is BS.
Salron8 votes"Very little" LOL Dude had a 10% playrate when was universally considered garbage before the buffs
charge attack8 votesDude people literally smurfed just so they could play Lucian. He had a 15% play rate when he had a 44% win rate.
Troll for Trump8 votesADCs as a role are broken
ChaddyFantome7 votesBecause that is what happens with ADC's who are generalists. The problem with champs like Lucian is all he offers to the team is damage.
JavelinJoe2 votesIf all he offered was damage, then I would find him better. But he also has wave clear and the ability to kite and has a gap closer.
A Basic Island6 votesi mean... without his ult he doesn't really offer that much more waveclear than other adcs
and having a dash doesn't give his team anything other than that lucien has a dash.
Jinx and cait for example at least provide their team with traps. Lucien all he's really doing is doing damage
JavelinJoe1 votesYes, but with Jinx and Cait we see notable weak points in the game. Jinx scales very hard but has a very poor early game and has a prerequisite on her passive which must be met before she can use it to compensate her late game hyper-carry. She also struggles greatly if behind. Cait is strong early and somewhat mid, but plateaus and somewhat falls off as the game goes on. Cait is also pretty reliant on combos for her to be able to deal her hard hitting damage. Also, both Cait and Jinx are more or less immobile, save Caits trap which, if we are being honest, is almost always used offensively for her Headshot combo.
Lucian gets his strength at level 1 and just continues to increase it as the game goes on with no real point of weakness, even if behind.
Nuparu1 votesLevel 2*
charge attack5 votesWhat??? Have you ever even played Lucian?
First of all Cait scales into an absolute fking monster late game. Her range + 1K+ crits and safety net (lol) as well as traps make her impossible to kill. Jinx can use her rockets to do 1K + crit damage poke at 700 range.
Lucian falls off late because his Bork cleaver build isn't nearly as strong as a crit build, and if he builds essence reaver he gives up his mid game to be LESS strong than cait and Jinx late game (still strong). His range also gimps him late game where he's squishy as fk and anything blows him up. He needs to crush you mid game to win which is why Bork/Tri or Bork/Cleaver are considered on him
JavelinJoe1 votesJinx can use her rockets to do 1K + crit damage poke at 700 range.
Sure, in late game. I clearly said she had a weak early game though to compensate this.
ChaddyFantome1 votesIf all he offered was damage, then I would find him better. But he also has wave clear and the ability to kite and has a gap closer.
Point just flew over your head there. His mobility isn't something he offers to team. It is just something he possess. And all ADC's have waveclear. Hell, wavclear when you get down to it just translated to Damage.
Lucian doesn't provide anything to the team besides flat damage. His mobility provides him chase and disengage so he can deal more damage. He doesn't give the team any real benefits outside of that.
In comparison, Ashe provides slows, vision control and Stuns, Tristanna provides hard CC knockback, slows, and powerful turret siege, Vayne provides Tank shred , hard CC, Jhin provides long ranged poke and slows, Executes, snares, Kogmaw provides slows, Long ranged poke and executes % HP dmg and resistance shred, , Graves has Vision reduction, Caitlin has slows and zone control, Jinx has long ranged slows poke and reveal and long ranged execute and snares, Quin has Vision control, Vision reduction and a Knock up, etc etc.
The only thing Lucian brings to the table is his damage so the only time he is strong is when he can deal far more damage than other champs.
Asayake 5150glow1 votesBecause that is what happens with ADC's who are generalists. The problem with champs like Lucian is all he offers to the team is damage.
But Luci aint a generalist.
He's a duelist ADC with low range and no utility who is strong at dueling (aka laning) if he isn't outranged by a certain other lane bully.
ChaddyFantome1 votesBut Luci aint a generalist.
He's a duelist ADC with low range and no utility who is strong at dueling (aka laning) if he isn't outranged by a certain other lane bully.
Lucina is very much a generalist. He has no real niche outside of dealing damage. That's pretty generalistic and Rito has dubbed him as such themselves.
Asayake 5150glow1 votesLucina is very much a generalist. He has no real niche outside of dealing damage. That's pretty generalistic and Rito has dubbed him as such themselves.
Many ADC's have no real niche outside of dealing damage 
You're gonna have to be a bit more specific than that.
ChaddyFantome1 votesCorki's niche is his Mixed Magic and Physical damage scaling, his Reveal with his Q, his logn ranged Poke and his Passive Pakage utility.
Ezreals Niche is his team attack speed boost, his poke.
Missfortune's is her Large amount of Physical AoE for wombo combos and her Heavy Slows from E.
As I said before, Kogmaw provides vision with his ultimate, Resistance shred, %HP shred and slows with his E.
In contrast Lucian doesn't provide anything. hell, his one "utility" spell makes everyone HIS support bu giving him speed for others hitting the target.
He is a very selfish champion through and through in that regard, and i say that as someone who enjoys playing him.
You're gonna have to be a bit more specific than that.
Idk how more specific i need to be for you to understand that Lucian doesn't fulfill any niche or provide anything to the team in terms of usefulness outside of his damage, lol.
Every Marksman, Every Single one has at least some kind of utility outside of doing damage. All except for Lucian. All of them have a clear identity, every single one, except for Lucian.
Right now, the closest thing to an identity he has is just that guy "that dashes alot when he autos", but that is hardly exclusive to him.
Personally, I'd like to see his W give the MS boost to his entire team instead of just him. That would be a neat start.
Asayake 5150glow1 votesCorki's niche is his Mixed Magic and Physical damage scaling, his Reveal with his Q, his logn ranged Poke and his Passive Pakage utility.
Ezreals Niche is his team attack speed boost, his poke.
Missfortune's is her Large amount of Physical AoE for wombo combos and her Heavy Slows from E.
As I said before, Kogmaw provides vision with his ultimate, Resistance shred, %HP shred and slows with his E.
In contrast Lucian doesn't provide anything. hell, his one "utility" spell makes everyone HIS support bu giving him speed for others hitting the target.
He is a very selfish champion through and through in that regard, and i say that as someone who enjoys playing him.
Idk how more specific i need to be for you to understand that Lucian doesn't fulfill any niche or provide anything to the team in terms of usefulness outside of his damage, lol.
Every Marksman, Every Single one has at least some kind of utility outside of doing damage. All except for Lucian. All of them have a clear identity, every single one, except for Lucian.
Right now, the closest thing to an identity he has is just that guy "that dashes alot when he autos", but that is hardly exclusive to him.
Personally, I'd like to see his W give the MS boost to his entire team instead of just him. That would be a neat start.
Fine, Lucian's niche is his AoE vision (W), long range safe damage from ult in teamfights, and poke in lane from Q.
Dashing alot when autoing is VERY exclusive to Lucian, especially as an ADC. The only other champion with a similar mechanic is Ezreal, who's E's cooldown gets lowered with each Q he hits.
ChaddyFantome1 votes[{quoted}](name=Cant Hold Me Now,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=WLTe9vz3,comment-id=000000010000000000000000,timestamp=2017-04-05T20:58:56.758+0000)
Fine, Lucian's niche is his AoE vision (W),
That doesnt even provide vision outside of the initial hit, and is hardly a "niche" when Ashe, Kalista, Corki and Quinn all have proper Vision tools.
You are reaching dude.
long range safe damage from ult in teamfights, and poke in lane from Q.
It is neither that long range nor particularly safe..... nor is that particularly a 'niche' when Ezreal, Caitlyn, Jinx and Missfortune exist... and Lucian ulti only hits the first target struck...
Dashing alot when autoing is VERY exclusive to Lucian, especially as an ADC. The only other champion with a similar mechanic is Ezreal, who's E's cooldown gets lowered with each Q he hits.
, 
, and especially 
say hi.
Oelyk3 votesLucian is a dueling type ADC, like Vayne but more general specific rather than just "Destroyer of HP" and "you can't see me."
Basically, when he gets in a meta where he doesn't get poke bursted and dueling items are all the rage, he benefits.
FYI, It's all in the items, the fall of lethality(High AD poke) and the second coming of Blade of the Ruin King(Dueler/auto heavy item) made him strong again.
Glîtchy2 votesLucian is literally the one ADC Rito struggles to balance properly.
Ik this sounds weird but he's actually broken in URF his dashes are literally replacing his walking, so he's impossible to hit unless something locks on.
PhDs Nuts6 votesLucian is literally the one ADC Rito struggles to balance properly.
were broken like one month ago for the exact same reason Lucian is: An item he builds is currently broken.
JavelinJoe4 votesBut they are fixed now. Lucian is either the OP or is replaced by a current broken META OP. He never is just OK, decent or alright. For example, Jinx is one of those champions who is just OK. She has her strengths and her weaknesses. She is not OP or awful. Lucian, on the other hand, usually is either you first pick him or forget that he even exists.
Personally I blame his passive more than anything else for his inability to be balanced.
charge attack1 votesHe was actually "OK" after his nerfs when GB + Cleaver was still good on him last season. He was sitting around 49%-50% win rate and was in a decent spot (playable, but outclassed in a lot of areas).
However when they nerfed armour pen and then buffed lethality - that's when Lucian went back and forth. Also changes to Cleaver hurt him. Only thing making him strong is Bork (he really isn't OP, just stong). OP means something is so strong that it's ban worthy, Lucian is no where near ban worthy.
Glîtchy1 votes
Kindred, Ez and Tristana are fine, the others I have not seen enough to have an opinion on or are actually busted. cough graves and Corki cough
JavelinJoe1 votesGraves is more a Jungler than he is an ADC while Corki is more of a MID laner than an ADC.
Asayake 5150glow1 votesKindred, Ez and Tristana are fine, the others I have not seen enough to have an opinion on or are actually busted. cough graves and Corki cough
I think those are champions Rito has had trouble balancing in the past. Thus the Kindred, Kalista, and Kog.
GankedByWindows2 votesLucian: He has a high playrate even when he sucks as a champion because he is well designed in terms of fun. People love playing Lucian, and when he is good that makes him incredibly popular
Specific Kinds of ADC: Itemization changes. The most effective build path is utilizied by similar champions. When lethality was busted, the best users of lethality shined like a star in the sky (Jhin, Varus, MF).
JavelinJoe3 votesYes, but there is never any time where there is just balance. Either current META picks who are borderline, or are, broken, or Lucian. If no one else is the current OP, it always defaults back to Lucian being OP. I get it, he is fun. But he also is one of the champions who really have no weak point in the game, has multiple builds, and who can chase, kite, wave clear without needing a Hurricane or a Hydra item, maintain a solid DPS, and burst when needed.
GankedByWindows1 votesSure there is. He is never LCS meta unless he is broken because he is a generalist. He isn't the best at anything unless he is overtuned, and LCS strategies are all about taking the strongest champions and abusing their strengths. When you don't see him in pro play when he is balanced.
Two things I think you have wrong: Lucian's wave clear is actually quite poor without spells, which suck a lot of mana and even with them it isn't great. Compared his waveclear to someone with strong waveclear like Sivir. The second thing is that he does have a weak point in the game: late game. Compare his late game to a Jinx, Vayne, or Caitlyn. He doesn't even come close to outputting the same amount of damage that they can.
JavelinJoe1 votesLucian's wave clear is actually quite poor without spells, which suck a lot of mana and even with them it isn't great. Compared his waveclear to someone with strong waveclear like Sivir.
Sivir has the same single target waveclear unless she uses spells too. Tristana (her E) is the only ADC with a wave-clear modifying passive built into their basic attack, which has no costs. (Graves too, but he is more a Jungler than an ADC).
GankedByWindows1 votesThat is why that isn't the full statement. It is qualified with the last part: "which suck a lot of mana and even with them it isn't great". Sivir's waveclear with her Q or especially her W is leagues above lucian's, which also has no way to do it from range either.
Bodkins Odds1 votes
W + 3 Autos = "what wave?"
ForgiveColour2 votesso like the same for every other role? k nice analysis 10/10
TheHappyReaperz1 votesBecause ADCs aren't the greatest, so when one rises out of the pack, its normally the best. Once one rises to the top, the others can't compare, so it quickly becomes the best.
arcinex1 votesDepends on patch notes
New Tool Album1 votestime for a rework, maybe change the passive to something that is less aids
Big Lincoln1 votesbecause riot deciding that any ADC should ever be good early game was one of the worst ideas they've ever had
DunkinNoobs1 votesLucian is too binary to be good but not overbearing. Literally all he's good for is doing lots of damage at close range; his complete lack of utility and reliance on snowballing put Lucian into 1 of 2 categories: Either he dashes in, wins the trade/all in, and Lucian is strong and oppressive. Or, he dashes in, loses the trade/all in on the way out, and Lucian is weak and garbage. It sounds weird to say for a champ with so many dashes, but Lucian simply lacks gameplay and opportunities for the opponent to outplay him, making him the most stats check 1v1 adc in the game. It's a slightly different story when melee champs get involved, but in pure ranged vs. ranged, Lucian is either oppressive or terrible because he always needs to be in the enemies threat range to do anything.
HateDaddy1 votesSafety + Scaling + Consistency
charge attack1 votesRight now it's because of Bork. Every non-Bork ADC is absolute garbage right now and Lucian uses Bork the best
Yaskamasandwich1 votesIt's because every marksman has the inherent problem of having their main damage source being he same, their auto-attacks. Some may be different with relying on their abilities more so like Varus, and MF, but even then their auto-attack will still hurt and is still important.
What makes both Lucian and Jhin different is that they rely on both, and both of their abilities and auto-attacks are devastating when used to their full potential. Lucian using his passive fully will bring out the pain. Jhin planning out his abilities and dancing with his auto attack reload will hurt. They also share the same patterns being safe picks and are at a constant good power. They both are good early, mid, and late game. They are the Jack of all phases of the game, good at every phase, master of none.
Now Jhin will always be meta due to the raw power and utility he brings. Only when it's a heavy on hit meta he might drop out. BUT ENOUGH ANOUT JHIN, this is about Lucian. Reason Lucian jumps from up to op is because of his design of being second best. Since his kit is pretty stable he won't receive many changes. Instead things change around him. So when a meta-op-marksman-god thing changes he flies under the radar since he's 2nd best. When the god tier marksman of the meta get nerfed, he jumps to being op. This lasts until a new item meta change happens since he will usually receive no changes, and thus Lucian's cycle continues.
Weasel Kensei1 votesHe didnt magicly get good again, the changes to 
.
He was in a worse spot at one point, then got some buffs to move him up to "bad" as opposed to "basically griefing." The change to a combination of items is all it took to push him up to "hard to deal with."
For those wondering how it helped him so much:
Unique: Basic attacks deal 8% of the target's current health (min 15) bonus on-hit physical damage (max 60 against minions and monsters).
Passive abv: After using an ability, Lucian's next basic attack within 3 seconds shoots twice, dealing 40 / 50 / 60% AD physical damage on the second shot, increased to 100% AD against minions, which also applies on-hit effects...
Lucian was always ok early game, but the new Bork + BK end up meaning his damage sees a small improvement over the course of a 100-0 situation all while him having a bit more health than he used to. This means more damage and more survivability with the same items after their changes.
The changes to those items may not seem like enough to boost Lucian as much as they did, but the on-hit minimum damage of the new Bork working with his passive really helps him.
SteelMankind1 votesProbably because ADCs aren't expected to have anything but damage, so whichever ADCs do the most damage are the best.
Also, ADC abilities, in general, facilitate or complement autoattacking rather than being significant in their own right, so the difference between any two ADCs is generally less than the difference between any two midlaners or any two junglers. Less diversity = more reason to pick ADCs by damage output.
Kaioko1 votesTo answer the original question; because until the meta changes there will always be an ADC on each team. The only way to compare ADCs is against each other and because of that whatever items or meta is in favor there will always be one that rises above the others.
Acheron161 votesWhen a role's job is literally tied to their auto-attacks, in the end, the one who can deal the most auto damage most reliably climbs to the top.
Also, Lucian is a fun champion to play, feeling sleek and fast, more like an AD caster and less like a classic ADC (imagina Ashe) who can be very very stressing to play as, due to the positioning and mechanics required to play them correctly. On top of the general squishyness that means that if you fuck up ONCE you are 100% dead (and sometimes you dont even have to be out of position, as an ADC you will die, a lot)