Boards›Gameplay

Why I Hate Sylas: He is a physical (or digital) embodiment of laziness.

HeroicSuitcase·1/10/2019, 4:36:13 PM·6 votes·1,757 views

Sylas has received quite a bit of hate since his reveal a few days ago. While this hate is certainly valid and warranted, I'd like to point out my personal reason for hating this champion. Simply put, Sylas shows just how lazy Riot has gotten.

Let's begin with his design. He is a human, and while there is nothing wrong with this (my favorite champions are Darius and Graves, both of which are humans), adding another human to the champion lineup is just redundant. Not to mention that humans in a fantasy video game are pretty lame innately boring because we are all humans; there's nothing really cool about seeing a human in a video game. Also, his prisoner design is very basic. It's like the design team thought "well he's a prisoner, what do prisoners have?" "Oh, I know! chains!" Yea really well thought out there champion design team, it definitely doesn't look like you're scraping the bottom of the barrel for champion ideas.

Next, let's talk about his actual gameplay design, and why it shows how lazy Riot is. His passive is essentially Nocturne's passive but without the heal. His Q is essentially Poppy's Q but with a more specific skillshot point with Jarvan Q range. His W is essentially Talon's Q, but it provides a heal and an execute (why both?). His E is essentially Riven E and Camille E combined (which is a big middle finger to those two champs). Lastly, his R is literally just other Champions' R's. There is literally nothing unique about this champion. Sylas does not bring any new gameplay mechanics to League, so there is literally no reason for his existence. The fact that he can hijack enemy champions' ultimates does not make him cool or interesting in any way, it just further emphasizes how much of a nothing champion he is and shows how Riot is either creatively bankrupt or lazy. Champions have the abilities they have for a reason. Most good champion kits allow for interaction between all of their abilities (Ex. Darius - all of Darius' damaging abilities apply a stack of his passive and his ultimate damage scales off of how many passive stacks he has on an enemy champion. All of his abilities work in tandem with each other, they aren't just there). Sylas just has a hodgepodge of abilities that don't make much sense together because they have just been copied and pasted from other champions.

Additionally, this champion will be impossible to balance, and you can find other discussions on this topic so I won't really go into it. My two cents on his balance is that the numbers on his basic abilities have to be over tuned because if he can't get a good ultimate he will be a 4 ability champion, instead of 5. Balancing his ultimate is also impossible because all the balance team can do is make the damage ratio insane due to his inability to make his ultimate interact with the rest of his kit like well-designed champions can (Look to Darius here again. Sylas can't stack Darius passive, so in order for a Sylas Darius ult to be at all effective, Sylas' ult damage ratio has to be insane.)

I simply don't see a legitimate reason for Sylas' existence. He brings nothing new to the game and was clearly rushed out the door by some higher up, or at least that's what it appears to be. Neeko was released on December 7 2018, and Sylas will be released near the end of January 2019. That's about a month and a half between new champions releases. It would be much more beneficial for the game if Riot focused on tuning the champions and gameplay mechanics they have already released, rather than introducing new champions and mechanics before they've even had time to address the issues already at hand.

6 Comments

Albus Rumbledore1/10/2019, 5:05:20 PM4 votes

Let's begin with his design. He is a human, and while there is nothing wrong with this (my favorite champions are Darius and Graves, both of which are humans), adding another human to the champion lineup is just redundant. Not to mention that humans in a fantasy video game are pretty lame innately boring because we are all humans; there's nothing really cool about seeing a human in a video game.

Well, he is mage, it isn't common in our world IMO.

Also, his prisoner design is very basic. It's like the design team thought "well he's a prisoner, what do prisoners have?" "Oh, I know! chains!" Yea really well thought out there champion design team, it definitely doesn't look like you're scraping the bottom of the barrel for champion ideas.

So what is your idea? I have only stereotypes in my head, muscles and tattoos. He has muscles and these magicly looking "tattoos". I can't think about anything better.

Next, let's talk about his actual gameplay design, and why it shows how lazy Riot is. His passive is essentially Nocturne's passive but without the heal. His Q is essentially Poppy's Q but with a more specific skillshot point with Jarvan Q range. His W is essentially Talon's Q, but it provides a heal and an execute (why both?). His E is essentially Riven E and Camille E combined (which is a big middle finger to those two champs).

You said that. Combination of 5 champs, we can do this process with everysingle champ that was ever released. Unique combination isn't enough? Ok. Plus his Q is kinda unique.

Lastly, his R is literally just other Champions' R's. There is literally nothing unique about this champion. Sylas does not bring any new gameplay mechanics to League, so there is literally no reason for his existence. The fact that he can hijack enemy champions' ultimates does not make him cool or interesting in any way, it just further emphasizes how much of a nothing champion he is and shows how Riot is either creatively bankrupt or lazy.

How in the hell is it not unique? Like wtf man. I mean, you can use 5 different ulties per match, if that isn't cool idk(MY OPINION).

My two cents on his balance is that the numbers on his basic abilities have to be over tuned because if he can't get a good ultimate he will be a 4 ability champion, instead of 5. Balancing his ultimate is also impossible because all the balance team can do is make the damage ratio insane due to his inability to make his ultimate interact with the rest of his kit like well-designed champions can (Look to Darius here again. Sylas can't stack Darius passive, so in order for a Sylas Darius ult to be at all effective, Sylas' ult damage ratio has to be insane.)

They don't have to and I believe they won't. IMO this champ is about decisions from both sides. Do you like Karthus, eventhough Sylas is open, well be prepared, it is just another thing to have in mind. It is like, I will play thresh now, I better ban Morg etc. I have to agree that his ratios are kinda high, especially W, but it is PBE, so who knows.

iiGazeii1/10/2019, 4:55:46 PM2 votes

The cool thing about humans in a fantasy setting is that they AREN'T that special. They live in a world with monsters and magic and mayhem as just regular people, and not just surviving, but thriving. Humans in a fantasy setting let us imagine them in their shoes and place ourselves in that world through a character we can relate to. More humans are not "redundant".

Crossing skillshots that explode where they meet is unique.

Stealing ultimates is incredibly unique.

You can't just say "It's X ability but it does Y instead" and say the abilities aren't different. He's an AP melee mage that uses the chains that once held him prisoner as weapons and conduits for his magic. It's a cool concept.

MissMikasa1/10/2019, 5:09:51 PM1 votes

Agreed 100%.

I clearly don't see how this champ is okay and how they let him get past any part of the creation process.

Shows how far Riot has gone down the rabbit hole.

[sg-shisa]

Pandemic Punch1/10/2019, 5:09:56 PM1 votes

I saw Sylas teasers before I heard anything about Neeko. There is very little consistency in your post so it doesn't make much sense overall. "BUT WHY!?" Figure it out on your own cause I am not in the mood.

Hotarµ1/10/2019, 5:57:30 PM1 votes

Let's begin with his design. He is a human, and while there is nothing wrong with this (my favorite champions are Darius and Graves, both of which are humans), adding another human to the champion lineup is just redundant.

There's only a limited amount of fantasy monsters you could add before they started to get redundant, too. Sylas may be human on the surface but has more than enough going for him from his political/moral strife with Demacia, his anti-mage abilities, and the fact that he was (basically) betrayed by his place of birth to separate him from just another human.

#Edit: Also, a good portion of the champions in League are mythical beings or subhuman races, not specifically humans themselves.

Also, his prisoner design is very basic. It's like the design team thought "well he's a prisoner, what do prisoners have?" "Oh, I know! chains!"

If you actually read his lore (which I'm assuming you have) the chains aren't just chains. They're a symbol of his betrayal and imprisonmen. On some level it's vengeful irony because he's using the same chains he was shackled by to overthrow the place that once held him hostage. His art design fits with the lore and makes sense from a gameplay standpoint as his chains are used in his abilities.

I think we should also bring to light the fact that tons of champions have underwhelming or average base designs. Lux and Garen are just Demacian soldiers, Kassadin is a weird octopus-hybrid thing that doesn't look menacing compared to the terror the Void is supposed to be, Mundo is a buff, goofy looking dude, and Fizz is... well he's just a fish. Some champions just don't look like much on the surface and their personality comes out through abilities and lore.

There is literally nothing unique about this champion. Sylas does not bring any new gameplay mechanics to League, so there is literally no reason for his existence.

Except for his ability to completely reflect a champion's ult against them? If you take that away, then yeah, Sylas would be a little uninteresting. But so would 90% of the cast. If you take away Nocturne's Paranoia, he's just another odd fighter with no engage. If you take away Shyvana's ultimate, you're left with a woman in dragon-armor who has fire abilities.

In most cases the ultimate will make the champion, gameplay wise.

My two cents on his balance is that the numbers on his basic abilities have to be over tuned because if he can't get a good ultimate he will be a 4 ability champion, instead of 5. Balancing his ultimate is also impossible because all the balance team can do is make the damage ratio insane due to his inability to make his ultimate interact with the rest of his kit like well-designed champions can (Look to Darius here again. Sylas can't stack Darius passive, so in order for a Sylas Darius ult to be at all effective, Sylas' ult damage ratio has to be insane.)

#Let's wait until he's released to make any claims about his viability.

If the target's ultimate is balanced, generally it's safe to assume Sylas will be balanced in that scenario. He seems to be very squishy and his only mobility is from dashes that need a target, he won't be able to dash away or escape like Pyke, Zed, Ahri, etc.

Personal opinions about the balance team aside, if he's overtuned, Riot can always just nerf his damage output on a case-by-case basis.

Fraggleroc1/10/2019, 6:46:33 PM1 votes

it isn't terribly original... dota has a spell-stealer since forever.