Unpopular champions that should thrive in a tank meta

The Bearded Bard··5 votes·2,227 views

Anivia Sustained damage out the ass, zoning out the ass, the master of stalls and kiting. Brand Tank buster passive, main item is liandies, tons of aoe damage, two second stun for when tanks try to jump him, very good at kiting. KogMaw AP Kog is rapidly gaining in popularity and for good reason, but I figured I'd mention him. Kayle 3 seconds of invulnerability, aoe attacks, good at kiting. Karthus Even if he gets dove, he's still useful when he dies. Mordekaiser Thrives in long teamfights, tanks can't protect the carry from his ult. LeeSin Lee is probably one of the best champs at deciding where and when his team wants to fight, yet he's seeing less play than ever. Nocturne Wave to their front line as you bypass them completely. Rumble Tons of sustained damage, a lot of AOE, Liandries is core on him. Orianna Can't remember the last time I saw an Ori, and with the decline of assassins and rise of tanks, this is the time to do it. Trundle The Glass Cannon Tank. This guy steals their tank stats and steals their ad stats. Talon Can pretty much bypass all tanks. His damage comes out so fast and his engage range is pretty long. Vi Disregard frontline, acquire carry. Swain An insane amount of sustained damage, no tank will ever be able to kill him alone, kiting master, thrives in long fights. Vladimir Tons of sustained damage, no tank will be able to kill him alone, thrives in long fights, a lot of aoe, and increases the damage of all allies. Zyra Main item is liandries, tons of aoe, good range, a lot of sustained damage and zoning ability. Velkoz Long range, great at kiting, true damage, a lot of aoe. Varus Max health aoe damage, teamwide snare, healing reduction, kites and zones very well. Teemo Builds liandries, tons of sustained damage, huge power to decide when and where a fight is, kite master. Taric Makes everyone tankier and stronger, has a stun for peeling, reduces tank stats of enemy team, has a heal. Darius True damage, does a lot of damage regardless of what he's building, an aoe grab. Elise Sustained damage, catch out potential is huge, builds liandries, %health damage, execute. Olaf Gives no fucks about your frontline, true damage, aoe permaslow, can peel for carry or straight dive theirs. Malphite Bypass front line. AP malphite's burst is enough to kill any squishy regardless of any situation. Tank Malphite is tank Malphite. Ahri Kite master, true damage, aoe, high catch out potential. Diana Bypass frontline, tons of burst and sustained damage, pretty tanky for an assassin. Fiora Bypass front line, invulnerability aoe ult. Lissandra Buys liandries, stun locks everyone, large aoe. Malzahar Large aoe, a lot of burst and sustained damage, aoe %health, builds liandries, can lock down one champion while damage the rest.

There's probably more than what I've said, but you should get the point by now. Also, I used unpopular as a loose term, these are champions I don't see often. I don't look up their global stats because I don't really give a shit about their global stats.

19 Comments

MarkedOfKane3 votes

A good amount of the champions you listed are popular...

Nidalee SO NYAAA2 votes

I thought Ahri was popular :I

The Bearded Bard1 votes

{quoted}

I thought Ahri was popular :I

Like I said, I didn't look up their global pick rates and all that shit, these are just champions that I don't see often that I think would do well in this meta.

Idk how to reply to two posts with one, so I'll just say this reply includes you, guy that posted about Vi.

1000angrybees1 votes

Honestly, I use ahri like every other game (one of my two favorites) and I almost NEVER see another Ahri. I think Ive seen her about two or three times in a couple months.

I see more Zed after his nerf than Ahri.

Also Leblanc

theragingnerd1 votes

{quoted}

I thought Ahri was popular :I

she used to be idk why i still main her

Nidalee SO NYAAA1 votes

I love playing her still even after the nerf

theragingnerd1 votes

{quoted}

I love playing her still even after the nerf

me too she has great mobility great damage and u don't feel like cancer playing her unlike zed shes a better vel'koz u feel like u've earned things u've done

Sonasaurous1 votes

Does this mean Vi is no longer perma-banned?

Sir Yamazuki1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Le Kaikai,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=eq9YXfA5,comment-id=0001,timestamp=2015-05-28T18:30:26.276+0000)

Does this mean Vi is no longer perma-banned?

She isn't but she's not unpopular.... she's been the 2nd most picked jungler a while now, with Lee being first still.

Tsunday1 votes

Elise has a lot of trouble in the jungle ATM, Vlad is a popular pick in the current meta, Liss recently got nerfed but was a popular pick and is still sometimes picked. Fiora and Diana are pretty much screwed because longer teamfights and hard for them to escape means that the longer teamfights paired with more tanks with more CC means that they are two squishy champions who easily get blown up. Taric is outclassed by most supports. Even if he fit into the meta well Braum is still a better Taric, Leona still has better CC, someone like Janna ties with him in sustain and has more CC.

A lot of the bruisers you posted don't have good engage and would suck in teamfights before a righteous glory which would be almost a requirement. Tanks are also really strong right now which makes assassins weaker.

Vi, Liss, Vlad, Rumble, Ahri, and Kog all see a lot of play Vi gets banned all the time some of them are only seen competitively most of the time but they are already established as picks around the top tier.

The Bearded Bard3 votes

{quoted}

Elise has a lot of trouble in the jungle ATM, Vlad is a popular pick in the current meta, Liss recently got nerfed but was a popular pick and is still sometimes picked. Fiora and Diana are pretty much screwed because longer teamfights and hard for them to escape means that the longer teamfights paired with more tanks with more CC means that they are two squishy champions who easily get blown up. Taric is outclassed by most supports. Even if he fit into the meta well Braum is still a better Taric, Leona still has better CC, someone like Janna ties with him in sustain and has more CC.

A lot of the bruisers you posted don't have good engage and would suck in teamfights before a righteous glory which would be almost a requirement. Tanks are also really strong right now which makes assassins weaker.

Vi, Liss, Vlad, Rumble, Ahri, and Kog all see a lot of play Vi gets banned all the time some of them are only seen competitively most of the time but they are already established as picks around the top tier.

Honestly the reason none of these champs are played very often is because most of the community are people like you. You only care about champs that see competitive play, you're sheep. You follow whatever is popular and refuse to see the value of something that isn't. People like you are the reason there is little variety in a game with over a 100 different characters to choose from.

Tsunday1 votes

Hi I'm a support main. I never played or condoned playing Annie support. I can't stand Morgana support. I was a fan of Janna support before it became popular and pre-rework Ashe and MF are my go to ADCs. Don't call me a sheep because I was explaining why champions are and aren't played.

Again a lot of the champions are played often which is what I said. I don't know how you making a list of champions that should be played and me saying that they are played is considered being a sheep. On top of that I've played every champion in my role in the last year. Including Taric support which still sucks and overnerfed Sona and post rework Soraka. I pretty much only play support I don't have 100 characters to choose from to begin with but I don't appreciate me taking the time to explain your list being blown off with you calling me a sheep because you didn't realize Vi has been holding one of the highest ban rates which is why she isn't seeing play.

PiVoRx1 votes

ahri belongs to cancer mid trio ahri-lb-zed

Erockandroll1 votes

I do have a few disagreements, but you do make some good points.

item 3151 Is not really a tank buster, but rather a slow tank melter. It can work with some poke mages that have the CC to make full effect of the item. But a tank can shrug a good amount of the damage, and as the APC your still vulnerable to engage from the tanks. Before taking Brand, Teemo, or what ever because they can build Liliandrie's Ask yourself whether you can shred the tanks quickly enough and can you evade the tanks engage?

Kayle Her ult is really more useful against damage comps because she prevents a LOT of damage this way. It's also less useful when the ulted champ gets CCd and losses the usefulness of the ult. She still may make a good split pusher.

Karthus Probably works well with more so than against the tanks. cinder hulk Scales late, most other tanks scale late, Karthus scales late, and he has some level of wave clear that can stall out a game.

Also Diving the back line with a more reliable tool is less effective because of the increased amount of CC. Vi, Diana, Talon might be able to dive the back line, but their less likely to secure the kill before getting CC'd to death. If this was not the case, assassins wouldn't be loosing as much ground as they are.

With Tanks being Late scaling monsters. The best strat to complement tanks is stalling and scaling late game. Against tanky teams, you would more likely want to try and snowball with early game bullies.

The Bearded Bard1 votes

{quoted}

I do have a few disagreements, but you do make some good points.

item 3151 Is not really a tank buster, but rather a slow tank melter. It can work with some poke mages that have the CC to make full effect of the item. But a tank can shrug a good amount of the damage, and as the APC your still vulnerable to engage from the tanks. Before taking Brand, Teemo, or what ever because they can build Liliandrie's Ask yourself whether you can shred the tanks quickly enough and can you evade the tanks engage?

Kayle Her ult is really more useful against damage comps because she prevents a LOT of damage this way. It's also less useful when the ulted champ gets CCd and losses the usefulness of the ult. She still may make a good split pusher.

Karthus Probably works well with more so than against the tanks. cinder hulk Scales late, most other tanks scale late, Karthus scales late, and he has some level of wave clear that can stall out a game.

Also Diving the back line with a more reliable tool is less effective because of the increased amount of CC. Vi, Diana, Talon might be able to dive the back line, but their less likely to secure the kill before getting CC'd to death. If this was not the case, assassins wouldn't be loosing as much ground as they are.

With Tanks being Late scaling monsters. The best strat to complement tanks is stalling and scaling late game. Against tanky teams, you would more likely want to try and snowball with early game bullies.

You're right about liandries, but it is supposed to be the AP equivalent of black cleaver, unfortunately since imo black cleaver is a much better item. It's good on more than just poke mages, though. DOT mages like Brand, Malz, and Swain use it better than most.

I listed champions that play well with tanks as well, like Orianna. I didn't just list champions that play well against tanks.

If Vi, Diana, Talon, etc can kill the carry before dying, their death is almost always worth as they just killed the enemy's main damage. I see your point about how once they get there they get cc'ed to death, but that's the beauty of it. Assassins can't just unload all their damage on a carry and die in a blaze of glory anymore. People have finally figured out that if you protect and peel for a carry during an assassin's unloading time, they'll actually live. I predict assassins won't be popular again until the majority of people relearn how to play them. You have to be patient. You can't just dive straight in and expect a kill anymore, people have learned how to counter that, now we've got to learn how to counter their counter. It's an evolving game, stale tactics won't be enough to consistently win.

Against tanky teams I like to use a poke and disengage comp. Champions like Ziggs/apkog mid, Ez/corki and Nami/janna bot for the disengage, lee jungle would be nice, and maybe a jayce top. Provides tons of poke, able to wave clear and take towers quickly, and if they're engaged on they can easily disengage.

ccseancc1431 votes

Talon is hard to play int he tank meta cause getting caught out or cc'ed means wasting your ult to escape and with team fights lasting longer now a days he pretty much becomes usless quickly after his intial burst

Axests1 votes

I disagree with a lot of the champions you listed being unpopular and also with some of the ones you claim to be strong flies away

The Bearded Bard1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Lord Knife Cat,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=eq9YXfA5,comment-id=0006,timestamp=2015-05-28T19:46:13.939+0000)

I disagree with a lot of the champions you listed being unpopular and also with some of the ones you claim to be strong flies away

And that's okay. My opinions are just that, opinions.

hgjkdlsaf jeldvb1 votes

Noc actually has a lot of trouble with front liners that actually bother to come back and peel him, and once he's peeled, he's done.

More from Gameplay

More by The Bearded Bard