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What is a Juggernaut Mechanic/Steroid? Explained.

EbonyBladeJ88·12/6/2019, 12:11:26 AM·87 votes·18,027 views

There seems to be some kind of argument or disagreement on what a Juggernaut Mechanic/Steroid is. So, I'm going to try to explain it as best I can.

A Juggernaut Mechanic/Steroid is something in a Juggernaut's Kit, usually their passive, or something connected to their passive, that allows the Juggernaut a temporary boost in power, to become a Melee Carry.

Back in the Juggernaut Gameplay update post from back in Season 5, which introduced the idea of Juggernauts...

(https://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/page/gameplay-update-juggernauts)

...They were described as the following: When you think brute force, these champions should come to mind: powerful, durable, immobile and melee.

So Juggernaut Mechanics/Steroids are what ALLOWS them to fulfill this description. It provides the "Brute Force" that the Juggernaut needs to do their job and smash anyone that gets in their way.

Most Juggernaut Mechanics/Steroids work as follows:

Fulfill X, and gain Y for a period of time; Examples are Darius with Noxian Might or Morde with Darkness Rise. These types of Juggernaut Steroids are on the passive of the champions in question.

Granted, not ALL Juggernaut Mechanics/Steroids work this way, but it functions as a good rule-of-thumb for how you can describe them.

While he may not have it anymore, let's look at Garen's as an example:

Back in the Season 5 post up there, the Justice Man was one of the people that got changes as part of that update. He got the clunky and sometimes useless (Because I'm not denying it had problems) Villainy passive.

"Passive: Garen identifies the enemy champion with the most recent kills as the enemy team’s Villain. Judgment ticks and basic attacks on the Villain deal an additional 1% of their max Health as true damage.

Active: Garen calls upon the might of Demacia to deal a finishing blow to a targeted enemy. The more health they’re missing, the more damage Demacian Justice will deal. [NEW] Demacian Justice deals true damage to the enemy team’s Villain."

I believe it's also where he got the "Gain Spins every 3 levels" thing too, but it doesn't specifically mention that in the post.

This was to be Garen's Juggernaut Mechanic/Steroid: To destroy any foe, regardless of how strong they are, bringing the vile criminals that kill his friends (Allies) to Justice. It was also intended to be fitting to his character, as a protector of the weak.

So, what can we glean from this?

That Juggernauts, while often having Damage, Durability, Survivability, those things aren't what is intended to be the "Raid Boss" style power boost that lets them do their thing. That is fulfilled by their "Fulfill X, and Gain Y" Steroid, whether it's 230 AD for 5 seconds (Darius ) A Constant Swirl of Damage for 5 seconds (Mordekaiser ) A former boost against the deadliest member of the enemy team (Garen Old Villainy) or something else.

Thank you for reading, GL and HF in your games.

https://i.giphy.com/media/rv3vUN7M4uXv2/giphy.gif

49 Comments

BigFBear12/6/2019, 1:38:23 AM9 votes

The group of Juggernauts can even be sepperated again into two sub-groups. We have a very immobile group of Juggs which are called "Raid Bosses". They pull their enemys to them (Darius/Illaoi) or nail down their enemys with devastating slows or arenas (Nasus/Yorick/Mordekaiser/etc.) and we have those mobile Juggs which are called "Freight Trains" who run or charge into their enemies and are focused on Autoattacks (Voli/Shyvana/Udyr/Trundle/Garen/Olaf was also one of them).

Idk if the term "Freight Train" is official but the User DragonShea made an an superb thread on boards 2 years ago defining those terms, which i recommend to read:

https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/5Lj6oXPe-long-post-what-are-juggernauts-an-introduction-to-the-class-and-each-champion

"Juggernauts are the titans of the rift, capable to dealing colossal amounts of damage while also being hard to kill due to their durability and sustain, making them powerful frontliners that excel in the thick of things. Due to their ability to both deal and take a lot of damage, people will often be forced to between bursting a juggernaut down fast or risk having them run rampant and winning teamfights. Juggernauts are further divided into two groups. Freight trains, who in a burst of speed, will charge at their target and chip away of their health at an alarming rate with rapid attacks. And Raid bosses, who lack the means to sprint but are a slow moving beast that will kill nearly anyone that comes too close to them or is out of position."

Traits both share:

  • High damage and tankiness.
  • Sustain of various degrees.
  • Predictable/highly telegraphed gameplay.
  • Vulnerable to kiting.

Exclusive to Freight trains:

  • AA and AS focused (Garen is the exception but he deals rapid damage with his Spin)
  • Can gain a burst of MS to mitigate their weakness to kite.
  • Most have decent AoE damage or are powerful single target fighters/duelists.
  • Better at engaging/ganking and can even get past the backline to to maul down the ADC.

Exclusive to Raid Bosses:

  • Some ranged abilities.
  • Some utility (can peel decently).
  • Conditional damage. Once they have fulfilled that condition, their damage skyrockets.
  • Better CC than Freight Trains.
The thigh guy12/6/2019, 12:40:14 AM6 votes

58 upvotes. 1 reply before me. Hmmmmm. Found a bot.

Weiner the Pooh12/6/2019, 12:41:57 AM6 votes

Juggernauts are "powerful, durable, immobile and melee" which is why Aatrox has dashes and Swain is ranged.

Riot can't even follow their own design philosophy.

Paroe12/6/2019, 12:30:03 AM3 votes

You mention raid boss, and i just want to say; A raid boss type champion is one who scales well and scales infinitely.

Chogath Veigar Senna Nasus are "raid boss" type champions. Within the raid boss type theres also raid mini bosses; champions who scale infinitely but not well. Sion Thresh would be raid mini bosses.

This being said, raid boss is not a champion type riot supports. Its simply a name for the collective group of infinitely scaling champions.

Saevum12/6/2019, 7:12:21 AM3 votes

New aatrox is some sort of hybrid (between jugger and diver) with a disruption trait. He has the potential to be durable, but it is inconsistent. That's why some boards users pointed him out as a diver more than a jugger. Very few juggers have aoe disruption, and Aatrox trait is basically kill anything caught in his tremor kit.

His damage and relevance kinda plummets if he is not capable of snowballing the game. And he kinda has a better mobility than other juggers. Kinda.

3TWarrior12/6/2019, 4:13:12 PM3 votes

to be fair, while this is a reasonable point, it seems to exclude champions that are threats just by being themselves and not upon a massive steroid

Illaoi Chogath (he may gain health, but it's usually not chogath's health that you're worried about except in the case of his ultimate) Aatrox Urgot

etc

typically what involves a juggernaut is that they have massive innate power and involve some method that is simple enough to play around. Take darius, you know that you want to avoid his Q at all costs, so you either go for the handle or evading it entirely (though his combo has a way around that)

Dr mundo may be powerful, but he can only focus one target at a time and is slow while his ultimate is not procced and is vulnerable to grievous wounds and is entirely melee except for his Q

Illaoi is part of her character where she teaches you not to fight her at bad times. If you try to fight her during her ult, you are either massively ahead or doomed to fail

etc

Volibear for instance may be one of the strongest melee characters around, but his primary strength is finding his opponents out of position. If you are not, there is very little chance he can even get to you, much less inflict damage

Velasan12/6/2019, 8:00:39 PM1 votes

Interesting read.

  • points for the old school juggernaut gif. Well, the word juggernaut is literally something that is unstoppable or: "a huge, powerful, and overwhelming force or institution." It comes from a mythological use that I believe was the chariot of a Hindu god that couldn't be stopped from moving, although I don't know the rest of the story or why that was the case.

In League it usually refers to a champion that must be kited out to win because of their no mobility, but otherwise is high durability and high damage at same time. A champion that will not just run into a wall and get forced off the enemy team (hopefully). You list some good examples already, but for me Darius and Nasus immediately come to mind.

Although frankly the sub classes are just useful for helping to understand what a champion wants to do without actually defining that sub class. Many tanks breach the concept of a juggernaut when you build a damage item on them. Rammus for example certainly has damage with his ultimate active and only has move speed to engage so he's pretty close. Skarner has at different times been considered a juggernaut. The lines are blurry.

A lot of that lack of definition also rises from the fact that newer champions frequently break the mold.

This is my long winded way of saying mostly agree with you just think Riot needs to re-do these sub classes or put them into better definition and clarity. The sub classes are vague at best and they often don't follow the rules they set out for them.

Having those rules is also useful both for creativity and to keep the game functioning. It helps set the creative space available and defines what the champions goal is thus helping to understand what they should be able to do and NOT be able to do as well. Understanding those goals then further helps to see if a champion is functioning as they should.

PopcornBunni12/6/2019, 9:09:34 PM1 votes

Fun theory.

But it isn't the connecting trend of Juggernauts. What Juggernauts offer universally is "stickiness," that is, the ability to prevent an opponent from disengaging through pulls Darius Mordekaiser Urgot Singed Aatrox Volibear Mordekaiser, running targets down with repeated slows/locks on low cd DrMundoOlafUdyr, powerful long-lasting slows Nasus, trapping them in place Yorick Trundle, preventing the opponent from using their disengage tools at all Garen Chogath, or punishing the opponent for trying to run away Illaoi

Shyvana is the only character classified as a Juggernaut that does not fit this "anti-disengage" mold, and she's really more of a Diver akin to Kled or Vi with her ult engages anyway. There are also a couple of non-juggernaut characters that fit the bill and could easily be classified as such: Rumble, classified as a battlemage, has an extremly potent, long-lasting, and retreat-punishing ultimate as well as the melee-range of the others. Skarner who has been classified and then taken off and then back on then off the juggernaut list, with the most iconic pull in the game.

Raffyk12/7/2019, 5:30:46 AM1 votes

Thanks for your post. This was a very interesting read, and as a Juggernaut main, I feel I understand the game design behind my favorite champions better as a result of reading. Wish you luck in your games!

Salty Mc Feed12/7/2019, 3:40:34 PM1 votes

Just sucks that THE undead juggernaut isn't even a real juggernaut. Sion. I consider Nasus a Juggernaut and he gets damage from stacks so there are other unqiue ways to create a juggernaut. The most important aspect is that they are immobile, that usually means no dashes and a speed boost at best. At least that is how it started until we eventually got Urgot who is Ranged and has a dash but kinda played like a Juggernaut (with unfair advantages)...until he got nerfed (to shit). Now I'd say the defining trait for juggernauts is that they are frequently picked by kids with fragile egos who are also constantly shit talking in chat to brag about their skill... actually just kidding... a juggernaut is a champion that is just overpowered but has some kind of weakness you can play around, most of the time it's immobility. That's not really convincing though, I think the line between juggernauts and other fighters is kinda blurred, sometimes you just can't tell if a champion is a slightly stronger bruiser or a slightly weaker juggernaut. But at the end of the day why is it that important to put a label on a champion? It doesn't change anything.