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Champions who missed the mark

Verdade··72 votes·5,066 views

Aatrox - Worst offender. His kit missed the mark both thematically and mechanically. Aatrox was supposed to be demon who mind controls warriors on battlefield to sink into bloodlust and leads them to victory. Bloody victory, that is. Lore just screams OFFENSIVE SUPPORT, but for whatever reason, he was made as solo laner. Mechanically, he is either too tanky and dealing 0 damage or he's full glass cannon who dies to first CC. There's no middle ground where he can use his lifesteal efficiently. This has something to do with his healing being too reliable, so adding more power makes him just too oppressive.

Swain - According to lore he's extremely determined and efficient general, master tactican and stuff. There are like 2 sentences about his bird, but nothing that seems imporant. In-game we got demon-possesed bitter man with all of his abilities centered around his birdo/demon. What. Also, what is even more weird, lore portraits him as front-line fighter (his duel with Jarvan back on crystal scar?!). So is he brilliant general or man/demon frontline fighter?

Leblanc - supposed to be using deception and trickery to win. Her passive and W already do this but its too defensive. She's extremely straight-forward offensive wise. She literally throws herself at her enemies... is this something she should do? Also, her passive has much more potential. What if LB gained health equal to damage taken by her clone (only when clone dies by damage), or if her clone accumulated damage taken, reflecting it back to attackers when it dies? Of course they would need direct impact of her abilities to allow this, but it would be VERY cool.

166 Comments

Sherogarth40 votes

Evelynn - this thing, none know what she is even supposed to be.

KogMaw - always talking about hunger and eating - vomits 24/7.

Nunu - Yeti is doing all the job....

Quinn - "great partnership between girl and her loyal falcon (or whatever this bird is)" - grab my ass and fly you lazy ass bird.

RekSai - "land-shark, born predator, Queen of her kind" - knock up bot and echo radar.

Shen - ninja - tank... (something is not right... but im not sure what)

Sion - "killing machine, undead beast killing both enemies and allies" - lately cheerful support

DarkRitual19 votes

Shen I'm a tank. Trust me. No, no, STOP LOOKING AT MY BASE STATS, THEY ARE LIEING!

arc9519 votes

Sion - "killing machine, undead beast killing both enemies and allies" - lately cheerful support

Yells COWARDS while running away from you with his ult :P

Phoenix Kotori 9 votes

Quinn hit the mark just fine post rework and she wasn't that bad before (she was just unbalancable), imo. All her abilities involve Valor showing their teamwork, meanwhile Wolf is involved with 2 abilities & Kindred's passive, so they have better teamwork than those 2.

Shen - ninja - tank... (something is not right... but im not sure what)

He's suppose to be a protector by his lore it fits somewhat besides do we need a 3rd ninja assassin or 4th Ninja damage dealer? That said he could certainly be better thematically than his he is with the spirit blade.

Zarvanis12 votes

Evelynn - this thing, none know what she is even supposed to be.

Some kind of goblin with the same hair dresser as Syndrome. http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/pixar/images/b/b3/Syndrome.png/revision/latest?cb=20150215211805

Evewynn18 votes

Riven was suppose to have a combo-oriented, fluid kit inspired by fighting games. All we got was another manaless button mash champ.

Critmaster Garen14 votes

[{quoted}](name=Celestial Bodied,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=btYFzEgE,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2016-08-26T11:42:02.866+0000)

Riven was suppose to have a combo-oriented, fluid kit inspired by fighting games. All we got was another manaless button mash champ.

i think when they said combo oriented fighter, they thought about increasingly stronger attacks (her 3 q hits), and hitting a lot of attacks in a row.

not mix matching abilities for different effects like ryze or brand.

though that would definitely be a possibility for a mini rework and could allow riot to keep her as a high skillcap champion and replace that goddamn animation cancelling mechanic.

Arcus Diabolus1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Critmaster Garen,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=btYFzEgE,comment-id=00000001,timestamp=2016-08-26T12:58:59.057+0000)

i think when they said combo oriented fighter, they thought about increasingly stronger attacks (her 3 q hits), and hitting a lot of attacks in a row.

not mix matching abilities for different effects like ryze or brand.

though that would definitely be a possibility for a mini rework and could allow riot to keep her as a high skillcap champion and replace that goddamn animation cancelling mechanic.

The animation canceling actually makes sense from a fighting game perspective. Its the go to mechanic for comboing in general in fact. If anything, I wish they made her combos slightly harder, in which that you can still animation cancel, but your timing has to be perfect like in a actual fighting game. And I'm talking near frame perfection here. And if you miss, you are forced to complete her entire recovery frames before you can make another action.

Ralanr8 votes

Well in a fighting game, you're actually fighting against people with the same controls.

This is weird to fight against.

Arcus Diabolus2 votes

{quoted}

Well in a fighting game, you're actually fighting against people with the same controls.

This is weird to fight against.

Thats fair. No one quite moves like Riven does. Still, as a fighting game player that kills some time in League every once and a while, Riven is a godsend. Everything else is too rigid, to be honest.

Zerenza1 votes

That's true but in every fighting game every fighter doesn't always have the ability to cancel animations or chain abilities together. The biggest one with this is Street fighter, i hate this game but every character in it is extremely well versed and hard to play in their own way, having different combos and cancels for each one, so in a sense they do not have the same controls.

In league of legends most FIghter's have animation canceling and combo's that they can do but riven has the most, the trade off is that it is absolutely necessary to learn these in order to play her. Comboing and animation canceling is a huge part of the Fighter class in league of legends.

Small List of Fighter's:

AD: Riven, Fiora, Yasuo

AP: Ekko and Diana

These champions all have animation canceling and combo's that while might not be different for situations (Such as with Diana's main combo) but exponentially increase the champions performance once learned and perfected.

The top Challenger player in NA for a very long time this year was Arcsecond, he mained diana and did not build her full AP instead he built her like a Fighter/Bruiser.

Alleo2 votes

Regar has animation canceling, so does Elise, and Jhin, and Miss Fortune, and Ezreal..

GULAG 4 U24 votes

Try to faceroll on riven and tell me the results xDdddd

hoes and bows62 votes

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FREGD9vbx-M/hqdefault.jpg

Eclipse133714 votes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTNzYZVTL4U

SpookyNeedle1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Celestial Bodied,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=btYFzEgE,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2016-08-26T11:42:02.866+0000)

Riven was suppose to have a combo-oriented, fluid kit inspired by fighting games. All we got was another manaless button mash champ.

There are lots of combos with riven, such as double casting. Double casting lets you use 2 abilities at the same time, like E R Q and E W Q, it has to start with E and end with Q.

Also, you can E W animation cancel for a stun and instant dash away

SpookyNeedle2 votes

{quoted}

There are lots of combos with riven, such as double casting. Double casting lets you use 2 abilities at the same time, like E R Q and E W Q, it has to start with E and end with Q.

Also, you can E W animation cancel for a stun and instant dash away

Just looked at your previous comments on things and determined that you don't care what people say, you just hate Riven

Zonkman13 votes

Zed When you misclick your ultimate on the Cho instead of Tristana

FiliusCanumSum6 votes

http://img.pandawhale.com/post-14251-Eddie-Murphy-I-see-what-you-di-PAQX.jpeg

legionnaire9912 votes

Swain he is not fighting in the modern day. when sword shield where the fighting type you commaned from the front line

Akesgeroth9 votes

{quoted}

Swain he is not fighting in the modern day. when sword shield where the fighting type you commaned from the front line

Is this what they teach in history now?

Kings and their generals stood far behind the frontline, away from harm. There were couriers whose sole job was running back and forth between the front line and the commanders to tell them how the battle was going.

Ralanr5 votes

Granted this is Noxus, but it would be stupid to constantly risk your main idea guy dying on the frontlines.

Kadavik13 votes

If he dies in the front lines that means he isn't strong. If he's not strong he is by default not worthy of leading Noxus in the first place.

Xaihady2 votes

Makes sense due to Noxian culture

FiliusCanumSum9 votes

Well most kings and generals aren't wizards that can transform into giant demon birds. I'm sure we can give Swain some leeway seeing as this is a fantasy world where magic exists and the concept of a 'frontline-sorcerer-general' is not as out there as it is in real life.

Ralanr2 votes

But isn't the bird thing meant to be a secret in Noxus?

Baron of Bread4 votes

Maybe in the current lore, but in the lore of the time it certainly wasn't thanks to his membership in the League.

Sassmast3r9 votes

Karma - Despite having what I consider to be a fascinating ultimate where she even says one of her key lines each time she uses it, nothing in the rest of her kit is that interesting. As someone else said on the boards last night (that I can't remember the name of, sorry): Her entire kit is just lumps of jade frankly. Her W has the potential to be fascinating, but gameplay-wise it feels pretty janky. Her Q is such a bland mechanic - skillshot that does AOE damage when it lands, and, when Mantra'd, the exact same thing, but more damage. Her Mantra'd E in fact was my favorite part of her kit until the shield-bomb was removed, despite it doing virtually no damage (and even less when you played her in the support role). It made her feel much more unique, and it feels as if they have to keep stripping away these unique functions due to abuse or meta-shifts. It sucks :c

Votable Jester3 votes

If you play much Karma, you will figure out the more interesting parts of her kit.

For instance, if her Mantra Q hits a unit, it'll center the delayed circle explosion on that unit, rather than where the spell actually hit them. It will also pop when it reaches max rank, making it possible to manipulate where it lanks (this can be useful for stealing, zoning, harassing, and clearing waves).

I admit her W on its own is rather bland, but the way it combos with her passive makes it even more vital to keep it on an enemy during fights.

Her E still has interesting uses for team shields/movespeed buffs, though I miss being able to use it on minions (made each minion tank 1-2 extra turret shots, which was great for pushing. Ofc could also be used to deny cs which was fairly unique to her).

Her ult has a little trick of its own that not many people seem to realize. The buff from it lasts 10 seconds, but the cooldown starts as soon as you activate the ability, not when another ability is amplified. Thus, if you know you're going to want to Mantra an ability in the next few seconds, you can activate it early to have it up a bit sooner later on. This is fairly situational though, as the opponents can see you activate Mantra if you're visible, and then back off.

While her abilities individually can be rather plain, she does have interesting interaction with her abilities to her passive/ult and back again. There are some other little aspects of her, but as their uses become increasingly situational, I'll end this here (unless someone asks for some more).

Sassmast3r2 votes

Oh no, I main Karma, I personally find her fun to use, just in need of some modification if we want her to actually feel better to use. I love very basic champions, don't get me wrong, but thematically she's not very advanced and could use some work to really solidify that.

I agree that the more you use Karma, despite the very basic functions of her kit, you can find some wicked combos with her that just make her so rewarding to play. I just want her to see some positive changes outside of number increases among other things to keep her in line.

Votable Jester1 votes

She already has a ton of utility, so it would have to just be a change in delivery method to her abilities...

I can't really think of anything specific that I'd like to be done to her though.

Supreme Senpai692 votes

I'd just like some variation in her kit. Right now she just hides in a bush and pokes the living shit out of you with Q. Whenever she can she'll W you and E herself to run into you.

It's pretty binary, like Blitzcrank or Soraka. Which isn't necessarily bad, but with Karma, there's a lot to work with

ForeverLaxx5 votes

The original Karma was far closer to her design and story, then Riot took her off the free rotation to justify a rework and completely ruined everything interesting about her. Now she's a generic mage with nothing remaining to allude to her original identity with nearly all her damage loaded into a single skill, making her a balancing nightmare.

CasterGilgamesh3 votes

lets not forget she lost her fans

GULAG 4 U8 votes

Aatrox's kit is a complete failure. Nothing else to say.

Troll for Trump8 votes

Aatrox shouldn't have been an offensive support; Should've been solo top laner who should be team-fight based as opposed to duelist.

His ult is the worst offender imo

Ralanr4 votes

{quoted}

Aatrox shouldn't have been an offensive support; Should've been solo top laner who should be team-fight based as opposed to duelist.

His ult is the worst offender imo

Wut?

Troll for Trump4 votes

Like, I assume he means support support, a la Sona/Soraka. As an offensive Support, He'd be leaning closer to I guess Trundle or Blitz Support.

Ralanr2 votes

Which honestly wouldn't be bad.

Chatillon7 votes

Ekko - he is great and fun as a champion, but he is so linear and I feel the concept of rewinding time was wasted on him

ForeverLaxx6 votes

Riot tried the Time Manipulator champion once before and called him Zilean. He wasn't quite right either, so they reworked him into a Clock Mage.

General Esdeath 4 votes

Swain Super tactical

His ult is made for him to just run into the enemy team

Great tactic

FiliusCanumSum7 votes

To be fair, running in like a madman and fucking shit up is a pretty solid combat tactic.

ProvidenceNox2 votes

New Malzahar Malzahar

kile14710 votes

He's not bad thematically. He's definitely problematic for balance but functions as a summoner of voidlings and madness inducing magic, which is what a prophet of the void should do.

Knoyle1 votes

Kindred The embodiment of death has ultimate that prevents death ...what?

Ralanr24 votes

Ever heard of the reaper deciding it isn't your time yet?

Death doesn't always have to take you (mythology).

Faustavian1 votes

Honestly, imagine if Aatrox Aatrox was an offensive support. His ult giving him an aura for 15 seconds (he'll still fly, thats just so badass) that gives his teamates Attack speed and lifesteal.

TFBaam1 votes

Ahri Diana Sona thx man needed that wifesteal

OHminus4 votes

Thresh fking stole my job m8

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