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@Meddler @Riot. So is there really any substantial difference between "Burst Mage" and "Disruptor"?

Solideus··5 votes·825 views

After seeing the subclass list, I've noticed that many champions from the Burst Mage-list and Disruptor-List seem entirely interchangeable.

A few outliers seem like Hybrids (Lux, Brand, Lissandra) or to fit better in different Subclasses (Annie, Ahri, etc.), but other than those most of the Burst Mages and Disruptors seem too similar to put in different categories.

From the recent Subclass List:

Burst Mages: Syndra Veigar Annie TwistedFate Ahri Lissandra Lux Viktor Brand Disruptors: Anivia Zyra Heimerdinger Orianna Morgana Teemo Taliyah

Looking at those lists and the definitions on the Subclass Devblog, I really doesn't see a clear-cut way they are fundamentally different.

  • They all mainly use CC to catch people and opportunistically use their high damage output.
  • They are all squishy and most of them lack mobility.
  • They are all played Mid and/or Bot; The Disruptor-listers are no more likely to be played bot than the Burst Mage-listers.
  • Both subclasses commonly have zoning tools.
  • Many Disruptors have pretty great burst. One could make an argument for a difference in reliability, but both subclasses seem to have a mix of reliability and unreliability.
  • Even the archetypical Burst Mage Veigar rely on his W and E to succeed, which are both very Disruptor-like abilities.

I don't know, am I missing something? Is there really any substantial difference between the two subclasses? At this point I'm inclined to think the Burst Mage-listers should just be rolled into Disruptors and do away with the Burst Mage subclass. It doesn't seem useful to have two subclasses that are virtually the same thing?

What do you think?

8 Comments

Elewd2 votes

I think the lines for burst mage and disruptor are very "blurred' in a sense, but at the same time it may take to how they are played in teamfights. Disruptors are exactly what the title claims, they disrupt fights with cc and utility buffing and hindering teams. if you look at the burst mages and compare them to the disruptors you would notice a trend, they have 1 cc used to pick a person off and then they have to wait a couple of seconds before they can do it again. They also have an element of "zone control" in their kits, they have very definant " i want to fight here and i will do better than you if we fight here" in their kits. Teemo wants to fight in his shroom field, Zyra wants to fight near her plants, Heimer near his turrets. the Burst mages are very much a "i don't care where we fight i'll just blow you up" I think the only exception is Morgana who kind of fits all of the mage/support roles of Burst disruptor and enchantress, Hell even battle mage fits with her. Burst mages are also very 1 and done in a fight, the best example would be Syndra, she bursts 1 target then just uses filler spells for the rest of the fight, whereas someone like Orianna after she has used her "combo" her Q W and E come back off cd pretty quickly and provide a ton of utility during the fight. The longer a fight goes on the stronger a disruptor will feel over a burst mage where if the fight is very short a burst mage will come out on top.

Solideus1 votes

Well, generally Disruptors also only has one hard CC, and most Disruptors don't have much more utility than the Burst Mages on the list; Veigar's E is one of the strongest area control abilities in the game, Syndra has long-ranged pickoff and a slow, Lissandra has slows & roots & her ult, lux her Q, W & E, Viktor his W, etc etc.

Also Burst Mages generally have to catch someone with their CC to get access to them, just like Disruptors; for example, Veigar needs to hit his E because of his W, while Q and E are pretty short range. Syndra has to catch someone with E, Annie with a stun, TF with his yellow card, Lux with Q, etc etc. That's the same thing Disruptors like Anivia, Taliyah, Zyra, etc have to do. So Burst Mages also want to wait for the right place and time to go in.

Elewd2 votes

well to be fair, all champions want to wait for the right time and place to go in. however with most burst mages there big "power moment" in the game is much more about using their abilities to delete 1 or multiple people in a short span of time, while Disruptors are perfectly fine with a fight going on longer than the first rotation of abilities. Disruptors are more akin to "controlling" the fight, while burst mages are more to "turn the fight into a 4v5 in my favor as quickly as possible." Veigar can Definitely fit into a disruptor as well, his stun cage is hands down one of the strongest basic abilities in the game, aoe 2.5 second stun that blocks dashes? its called a 2nd ultimate for a reason. Anivia Taliyah and Zyra, although they can make picks with their abilities they play more around controlling the area they are in and punishing those that enter their zone. Syndra, TF, Annie can take the fight anywhere and anytime (barring cooldowns and not doing stupid things that will result in them dieing)

I'll try to throw a random example out here. Orianna vs Syndra. in teamfights they both want to do completely different things, Syndra wants to get her stun on as many targets as possible then use her ultimate to force a target out of the fight Orianna wants to land a good ultimate to CC as many people as possible, then use her abilities to support her team throughout the rest of the fight. Yes Syndra can provide utility as well to support her team, but to this certain extent Orianna will supply MUCH more in a fight the longer it goes on due to shorter cooldowns.

Remember not every character only fits into 1 role, Look at Karma, shes an enchantress but shes also a battle mage at the same time. Lux i believe, is also both a disruptor and a burst mage. she has elements of both but she excels the most at bursting a huge portion of the enemy team.

Very Hard Engage1 votes

riots subclasses failed, just ignore them and read up on what each champion can do.

Charmed by Ahri1 votes

Alot of what you said has truth to it.

From the subclass descriptions there is definently a major difference between burst mage and a disruptor. But both subclasses carry similar traits.

Burst mages seek out and isolate vulnerable targets. Then blow them up. Syndra, Ahri, TF, Annie, viktor etc all excellent at this. Then the team capatilizes on the low health target or if their smart an objective if the target is dead.

Not saying anivia, orianna or zyra are not capable of the same thing. But they tend to use their kit to zone enemies by creating a battlefield only foolish players would enter. IE anivias R/W. Zyras garden and standing near an enemy oriannas ball. Thus disrupting the enemy team. Which even then they just zone a lot, either agrressive or defensive seiging or doing baron/dragon.

But in the end I feel like all mages have zoning power. Just some have distinct tools in their kit that keep people from entering a certain portion of an area. And when the disruptor uses or move the tools in their kit around a fight the enemy team needs to react/respect the zone or pay the price. Like no one is really going to fight in a heimer turret zone. But at the same time lissandra disruptes fights as well, because everyone is concerned as to whether or not she decides to ult someone or she ults herself for aoe. Same with Viktor, as his w has disruption power too. Either move out of that area or get stunned.

I just think the sub clsses were created from collection data about the champions and what they tend to do more, zone or try to one shot/burst.

deadlychuck1 votes

I think the difference is pretty simple.

Burst mages: Have competitive numbers on their abilities

Disruptors: Have terrible numbers

Disruptors have burst damage patters, but require more time to actually kill targets.

Seenan1 votes

Disruptor have tools to help allies directly, defensively or offensively, which disrupts the enemy? Idk. Though Lux I guess is an outlier.

BloodyTompon1 votes

Disruptors are basically what everybody used to call control mages. Burst/damage patterns on disruptors are slightly extended and not as high. Disruptors have higher utility than burst.

I do think liss teemo and victor are better in other classes though.

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