I've seen this phrase multiple times on these boards, and I'll admit I still dont understand the essense of it.
What makes a champion fall off? How does a champion fall off? Is there a way to tell just by looking at a champion's kit to know that they would fall off?
Very Hard Engage1 votesit usually means they're good in one portion of the game but when everyone finally catches up in items they aren't as effective as another choice.
look at leblanc, shes relatively effective without items. but when late game hits you dont want a leblanc on your team. she has to dive for the bulk of her damage and when she does go into a 5v5... she just dies.... she would much rather 1v1 in lane.
veigar is the opposite. hes worthless until at least 20mins, or some very unusual circumstances have happened. after 30+ minutes veigar starts turning into a powerful asset for the team. having him in a 5v5 setting is great.
1wolfpack1 votesex. Jayce vs Poppy top lane jayce is good early game, he can poke poppy down if she goes for CS, and he can CS pretty freely and get ahead. but as you reach later in the game once poppy starts getting items she just becomes too tanky for jayce to kill her 1v1. there fore in this example Jayce falls off late game.
Deep Terror Nami1 votesThey have a better early game than late, possibly due to high base numbers and low ratios or reliance on a stacking mechanic. You'll have to talk to someone better than me about who exactly this applies to.
BluePolarizer1 votesWhy can Vayne with 6 items 1v1 kill a Pantheon with 6 items easily?
Pantheon falls off.
In case you think it's due to being an ADC vs. melee: how come a 6 item Jax destroys a 6 item Lucian?
oSEXYPLATYPUSo1 votestake 
as an example of a champ who falls off
and take 
that scales as the games goes
lee is strong 1-6 and due to scaling on abilities be worst then other champs ( cuz of strong up front base damage/ strong kit ) he gets out scaled by other champs and "falls off"
vayne is the polar opposite she is best with levels based on scaling of her abilities and items empower her more and her scaling is best after lvl 9 ( if maxed W 1st) and she is a late game hyper carry who is punished and weak early
CerealBoxOfDoom1 votestheir team contribution begins a steady decline that is not going to pick up again
For example, blue build 
will dominate the midgame if he did decently early which may allow him to snowball into a team gold advantage so huge there is no way to recover realistically.
But what happens if the game goes past midgames and he gets stalled out? He will fall off.
Blue ezreal depends on onhit effects to function which are best early to midgame since they tend to not scale. He'll still be strong lategame sortof but his damage wont be enough to deal with strong defensive scaling or just any champion topped off with some defensive itemization since he's relying on onhit effects rather than scaling with his abilities and autoattacks.
So what happens is during midgame blue ezreal dominates or gets shut down or just gets stalled out, regardless of what happens midgame if lategame is reached he is going to essentially burn out.
This phenomena where a champ is really strong is called a "power spike" and the end of that power spike is called "falling off" and the continuation of the game tilting results of that powerspike are usually known as "snowballing" which some champs do a lot better than others to the point its worth referring to as a power spike to begin with and thus said powerspike ending will be called "falling off" assuming they do.
Some more examples
spikes early midgame, spike is based on items built and his ult
earlygame spike as she get her abilities
midgame spike if he gets AD
earlygame spike, believe it or not he's actually really strong at level 1 but his pushing power isn't great, try dunking some noobs with lane hec sometime but he will fall off as the enemy gains defense passively and with gold
midgame spike, his power spike is actually pretty long but what people fail to realize is that later in the game his damage and defense stop scaling too efficiently and he turns into an opportunist rather than a solid threat.
If he goes sololane and gets ahead at all you are never going to kill him
can also become incredibly hard to kill but in this case he can stop you from teamfighting properly. Lasts through midgame
TyrekGoldenspear1 votesThanks for the answer. This really helps me get it. So it's not only scalings and items, it's also where champion strengths lie and what state the game is at the moment. Gotcha.
CerealBoxOfDoom1 votesmost champs have a set power curve
vayne is going to be strong as shit after 40 minutes or earlier if fed. That means its probably her kit. There isn't much you can do about lategame hypercarries aside from not waste time and take advantage of other phases of the game. There aren't many of these though
The only real lategame hypercarries are 
and really neither of these are traditional hypercarries, its just an exaggerated nickname. A real one doesn't exist in this game but basically when times up you are at a huge disadvantage no matter how well you think you did, against these who don't really fall off you need to just end the game faster before it goes way too long for a normal match anyways
But then you have have champs like and 
. Both feel really strong midgame and many noobs will swear they are hypercarries. But what makes and hypercarries isn't based off shallow observations like how yasuo and ekko duel really well. Those two get kills when they are fed but they "fall off" eventually. Vayne and kog just decide the game when the clock runs out, BIG difference.
But back to yas and ekko. Each has a point where they fall off. Something you need to remember is that When a champ actually falls off isn't based strictly on when they begin to decline. You wont even see or notice this probably, its just something you need to know is happening. If a 100ft tall snowman attacks you in summer while he's melting you may want to wait till he's more like 10 ft tall and melting not while he's still 99ft tall and melting. He's melting yes but you've gotta wait for the effect to become meaningful. That said, the actual fall off point will be something like 10-20 minutes after some point is reached.
For that comes from his passive and the nature of his kit. Yasuo scales with attack speed but as you build more attack speed you'll find that you get less out of it after laning phase and some other stuff you use it for. But then he also gets full crit chance after like 2 items so he can't build whatever he wants but then on top of this he only deals 90% critical damage so as you approach the late game where everyone has all the crit they were ever going to get and everyone has enough defense to deal with critical damage out of necessity as normal yasuo is now just a normal melee champ with gimped critical strike damage. But this is full glass yasuo. The tankier builds have a dip in power midgame then get back on but will never be as strong as they were around laning phase time.
For he has a midgame spike which is normal for AP champs and then falls off or he can be tanky and have a few spikes, same as yasuo. But then he will have new weaknesses from being tanky instead of a big damage dealer.
For any given champ you should memorize what triggers and ends their power spikes AND which builds they give them what kind of power over time curve.
Athenes Lulu1 votesStrong early = high base values, good at 1v1's, and/or not item reliant (also means mediocre scalings)
Strong late = usually low base values or are too resource costly to be efficiently used early, not good at 1v1's, and/or are very item reliant (also means good scalings)
Just a general idea.
Slythion1 votesIt means that the difference between strengths often decreases between X champion and the enemy team. Usually this is because the flow of the game transfers from skirmishes/1v1's and laning -> teamfights/objective control as the game progresses, and they both require a different set of strengths to succeed in.
Take Pantheon as an example: His kit is great at harass and providing a constant threat to a single target near him. His range limits aren't hindered in lane because his opponent is forced to come close to his ranges in order to grab cs, while his passive blocks an auto which is incredibly significant if there is only one source of damage to threaten him (aka his enemy laner), especially because attack speed is low in the early game as well. This is were it's maximum damage prevention can be found.
Come to late game where teamfights and objective control is prioritized more, you'll see that Pantheon's kit tends to "fall off". This is because there are multiple sources of damage that will be directed at a diver like Pantheon, so the significance of his passive is reduced dsignificantly (and higher attack speeds in the late game mean that the dps that it blocks is negligible as well). His single-target damage is preventable due to there now being a frontline to tank his damage and zone him out from the squishies he would like to dive, which is not a factor in the early game because nobody has built resistances yet and Panth starts out with high base stats. There are also champions that can peel him off as well. The lack of a needed resource (cs) makes his range limitations much more significant because now he is the one being punished for getting too close, unlike early game where his laner is the one to be punished.
"Falling Off" is usually attributed to a champion's kit's limitations becoming more apparent or highlighted in the late game where new rules or aspects of the game is introduced.
This is the reverse of a champion who is known for a strong late game. I won't be as detailed as before, but take Vayne as an example:
Her W is a huge part of her kit's damage. Early game, when her attack speed is low, her damage is inherently lower because she lacks the items to build attack speed. Late game when she has max attack speed, she now makes full use of her W and so her damage output is at it's maximum.
So unlike Pantheon, who loses efficiency with his kit, Vayne (and most adc's who are designed for consistent damage) scale well into late game because they gain efficiency in their kit with attack speed.
TyrekGoldenspear1 votesWow, this detailed explanation helped me out the most. Thanks so much.
Slythion1 votesnp man <3
[slayer-pantheon-thumbs]
TyrekGoldenspear1 votesThanks for the replies everyone. I completely understand the concept now.