Scrublord Rant
>whinybitchmode.exe activated
Disclaimer: This is all opinion and personal experience, but I'm sure there are some who resonate with me. Feel free to crap on me in the comments and/or offer constructive advice. I just got back into this game after a 4-month hiatus, so I may just be THAT bad.
I'm not good at this game. Despite being around since the end of Season 3, I don't play often enough to get better, but that doesn't bother me. I'm fine being silver, and if I drop down to bronze I've no qualms getting back up. In short, I'm fine with being bad. I enjoy this game with friends, and of course being able to win. Most importantly to me, though, is playing my favorite champs. However, I have a hard time enjoying this game. Let me explain why.
In my experience, recently champions are either really good, or really bad. Despite whatever meta may be in play, there is one and only one factor in how good a champ is: kit extremes. What do I mean? Well, there are 4 things that make a champ good. These are what they are and my personal spin on their definitions:
- Damage - the ability to push lanes or murder champs/objectives
- Tankiness/Sustain - ability to take damage and not die
- CC - Ability to damage a crowd or control them, via silence, stun, slows, w/e.
- Mobility - A champ's capability to move around the Rift, either in battle or in transit to objectives
In order for a champ to do well, they need to do either one of these things EXTREMELY well (which invites nerfs) or, more commonly, good stats in combinations of these. This is what defines how good a champ is, in some cases allowing them to defy the meta.
Scale: No < Moderate < Decent < Good < Great < Excellent < Stupid
Example of a well-rounded and always good champ:
Lee Sin
Great Damage Good Tankiness/Good Sustain Moderate CC Excellent Mobility
The only downsides to Lee is his "difficulty level." I use quotes since I really haven't ever tried to play him. More on why later.
An example of a good champ because of "Extremes" (and one of my personal favorite champs):
Release Illaoi
Stupid(the good kind) Damage Decent Tankiness/Great Sustain Moderate CC No Mobility
She was good because her damage was astronomical. You all know what I mean, she was a monster of a bully on release, then got hit with the nerf hammer and was never heard from again.
Example of a "Bad" champ:
Current Illaoi
Decent Damage Decent Tankiness/Sustain Moderate CC No mobility
Her bullying powers have been cut, and so has her sustain. Yeah, her ult is nice, but just walking away or cc'n her during the ult rectifies that problem. If you try to build her tanky, she won't do enough damage to be a threat unless she lands a 3+man ult, and even then she can be easily dealt with if her team doesn't respond accordingly. Combine that with her nerfed sustain and no real CC, and her point as a tank is negligible. Build for damage, and while yes you can tear the enemy team apart, you won't be able to get close unless your team is built for Illaoi's kit. Building her as intended, off-tank style, results in an even worse performance than tank illaoi. Yeah sure you CAN kill the enemy adc, but you won't do it fast enough before they get through your hp. Late game is where off-tank illaoi is finally great, but more often than not you won't make it to late game.
With all this in mind (and with the examples I've provided, I hope you all understand what I'm getting at), the main reason for my struggle with fun in League is this: All of my favorite champions suck, have counters in the meta, or are easy to play against even when doing everything right.
Pantheon
Great damage no tankiness/sustain Moderate CC Moderate Mobility
Nocturne
Decent Damage No tankiness/Good sustain Moderate CC Moderate Mobility
Mordekaiser
Great Damage Decent Tankiness/Sustain No CC No mobility
Ashe
Moderate Damage No sustain Excellent CC No mobility
Varus
Decent Damage No sustain Great CC No mobility
The only champs I like that are good would be Garen, TF, Shyvanna, Susan and Maokai, but I don't enjoy them like I enjoy the ones mentioned above, or they're very, very basic and easy to play against. I play champs because I like their themes, their aesthetics. Beautiful frost archer? Sign me up. Greek God that is more testosterone than human? Hells yeah! Literal spirit of night and death? Oof. Metal incarnate? cumbs pants Edgelord archer? I'm down.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy winning as much as a champion's theme and aesthetic, but it's just a shame that the meta champs that are good are ones I don't... enjoy. I understand my situation is my fault. I know I just need to get good, and I plan on doing so, so long as I have friends to shoulder the burden.
Thanks for reading. Feel free to annihilate me or support me in the comments, I'm just here to vent anyway.
Peace and good luck!
Sincerely EeAyEss