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Is it just me or is riven broken

8bj2yMEanN·2/20/2015, 2:20:19 AM·16 votes·15,039 views

Over the years I've watched boxbox's stream a great deal and have played with and against rivens myself millions of times. It seems to me that riven is just ridiculously overpowered. And just to let you know I was gold last season and only play normals, and in my normals I'm with and against mostly gold and plat people, sometimes a silver or two and sometimes a diamond or two. I'm not saying every riven I see shits on everyone like boxbox always does, but I'm saying it seems to me like riven always easily has the potential to, whoever she's laning against and whether or not she gets fed.

It seems to me that riven's damage, however tanky her opponent may be, is just fucking ridiculous at all points of the game, whether or not she's very fed. For example, today I played top lane hecarim for the second time and was laning against a riven. It wasn't too bad of a matchup for me in lane. But at one point in the game, when I had over 3k hp and 154 armor, riven decided to all-in me near one of my inner turrets. It wasn't that late into the game. Riven had 7 kills, I think 3 deaths, and 3-5 assists. We had about the same cs. In 4 seconds she 100-0d me, despite my pushing her back with me E and my ulting away. And she lived with a good amount of hp left, due to her absurdly big, low-cooldown shield. What the fuck???? Do hp and armor serve no purpose at all? Is there any point in the game at which a not-very-fed riven cannot 100-0 a tank?

It seems like whatever champ I play, whether I'm gnar, jarvan, liss, or hec, if I'm standing in experience range rivens will nearly always start fighting me, and whatever champ I'm playing I cannot win a trade with a riven; whenever they're trading with me I'm either cced by their Q or W or they have their massive E shield on. So basically, I either get most of my hp taken out while riven takes very little damage or I get no experience in the lane. So yeah, pretty sure there's no champion who at any point in the game can duel a riven...

And, she's virtually impossible to gank. Her mobility is unmatched and she has an aoe stun. And, as my league games and boxbox's stream have shown me, its extremely easy for riven to win a 1v2. Back when I was just starting league I thought yi was op, I think pretty much everybody thinks that when they're a noob. Why did I think that? Because, I thought, if he has his ult up it's impossible to escape him and impossible to chase him. This is in fact true for riven, but she doesn't have to have her ult up. With her Q and E cooldowns as low as they are, it is completely impossible to chase or escape riven, unless you're one of the few champs who is anywhere near as mobile as riven.

Outside of lane riven's not so bad; since she has no blinks or untargetableness, unlike certain other assassins, you can peel for your squishies and simply focus her.

But in lane... seriously, how does this champion exist the way she is? There are a few matchups which aren't great for riven, but with most of them (them meaning all the games I've played in which there was a riven and the games I've seen watching high elo streams) she just facerolls her opponent. In case you reading this don't know boxbox is a high elo riven main, probably has played like at least 5000 games on riven, and had like 7 diamond 1 accounts in season 4, and probably a lot in season 3 too. And boxbox just fucking shits on his lane opponent in like 90% of the games he plays.

Somebody explain to me how riven's laning is NOT ridiculously overpowered. Because when I play against her, no matter how passive I play, I either get zero cs or I get killed.

27 Comments

MarkedOfKane2/20/2015, 2:29:27 AM9 votes

In my opinion, her shield is really stupid.

She can build full damage and then her shield is fucking massive.

In lane, you got to build tanky and just be an opportunist. Though I find that the Rivens I beat in lane do really dumb shit. Though once laning phase ends, they go and shit on anyone that is squishy.

Castanean2/20/2015, 3:09:13 AM6 votes

Well, basically, Riven trades nearly everything for pure, sheer damage. Sure, she has that stun, but it not only has cast time; It's also too short to get more than 1 basic attack in. Also, when I say "Trades nearly everything for damage," that includes mixed damage. Riven literally only deals physical damage, the defensive stat that is the easiest to build. In top, dealing with her is as simple as getting Ninja Tabi early.

So, as a checklist of what she has:

  • Lots of damage
  • Short duration shield, doubles as short range dash
  • Weak, but consistent mobility
  • AD Steroid ultimate, with an execute single-use active.
  • Short stun, also doubles as damage, but at the cost of duration.

What Riven LACKS:

  • ANY type of damage not mitigated by armor
  • Range
  • Decent Utility that helps someone other than herself
  • Sustain. Seriously, her health regen is terrible.
  • Quick gap closers

Riven is a duelist. She's not supposed to be easy to beat 1v1. Beyond that, she doesn't really offer much.

If you find Riven hard to deal with; Here are some tips.

  • DON'T trade with her. Trading is Riven's specialty. Keep your distance and make sure she can't dash to you too easily.
  • Poke her. As said before, Riven's sustain is absolute garbage, meaning poking her early will leave her low and Riven's naturally low HR will keep her low.
  • Most importantly; DO NOT LET HER SNOWBALL. Don't give her a single kill. Ever. If you're not playing a champ that can beat or at least poke her, ask for a lane switch with someone who can. Most likely the mid-laner.
Pollyanna Wright2/20/2015, 2:31:34 AM6 votes

It's just you

ShinTwist8/17/2015, 4:10:32 PM4 votes

Boxes is usually smurfing on stream, he crushes people because he's a master tier player dicking around in plat or low diamond.

GG Beers2/20/2015, 2:24:26 AM3 votes

I didn't read past the first line, so fuck me but....

Box box has OCD, he plays one champ and one champ only, has for years. Yes Riven's lane is strong, but if you turtle and buy armor your fine and most normal top lanes can get away with that. Really popular top lanes like lissandra and Gnar can farm and keep their distance, I like swain too.

**edit okay I've read your whole post.

Sounds like you've been around a while, so have I. You really can't compare boxbox's riven to the game, the guy as you said has played thousands and thousands of games as riven. I doubt there is a single player out there that is that brain-dead to play the same champ over and over, the guy obviously has issues.

Outside of lane she's way easier to deal with than you're leading on. Riven's don't build any kind of defense and are easily locked down and obliterated, an exhaust simply destroys a riven coming in to a fight.

Riven is also not what you want in a top lane, stop watching so much boxbox.

MrPerson102/20/2015, 2:30:36 AM3 votes

Sooo I didn't read that because it's a novel and more of a text wall that I'd like, and probably full of needless complaints.

Bring a ranged top if you're afraid of her gap close.

Yes, she's strong and a great pick against a lot of super annoying top lanes Nasus

However, she's also one of the few top champs that requires a fair amount of skill to really reap the rewards of and despite her mobility she can also be shut down with hard CC fairly easily.

Madnesmasacre8/17/2015, 4:06:36 PM3 votes

Just fuck that broken as fuck champ , bro. Atleast kata has a weak early game unlike this bitch who just button mashes Q for days and don't get me started when they have their black cleaver and cdr boots ... free barrier every 3 seconds

Crett8/23/2015, 10:06:18 AM3 votes

It seems simple. Buy armor. She has for me without fail responded with this abomination of a build item 3134 item 3142 item 3071 item 3035 item 3074

Weathered10/3/2016, 8:10:59 PM1 votes

Probably just you. Using a Riven only main to justify Riven is broken is kind of skewed. Potential for possibly op is there, but the actual champ isn't broken.

PoroKingBlank10/3/2016, 8:05:50 PM1 votes

RIVEN IS OP AS FUK

Calabok10/3/2016, 8:06:45 PM1 votes

Its just you

One Punch Μan10/14/2017, 5:37:06 PM1 votes

I just saw "LAST SEASON I WAS GOLD AND NOW I PLAY ONLY NORMALS" and i stopped reading from then on...

I Relax You Baby11/16/2016, 11:43:48 AM1 votes

Always block and report all riven,kata,yasuo,nida,akali,ezreal,zed players, they are toxic anyway and it will reduce their popularity.

The Un4given6/23/2017, 10:17:40 PM1 votes

rito plz read this just rework riven dmg is stupid insane two shot me with her ulti when playing yasRiven fck her man.

thenineironman1/29/2016, 3:38:45 AM

Being a Riven main: I can say it took me months to learn how to fully utilize her potential. She has a very difficult learning curve; one of the worst in the game in my opinion. She is very squishy and tends to perform poorly against tanks like Garen or Malphite. Probably her most crippling flaw is that if she does not do well in the laning phase, she is pretty much dead weight in team fights. She is a very all-or-nothing champion: if she does well, she does REALLY REALLY WELL; but if she does poorly, she can be the worst person on the team by a very very large margin. That all being said: the risks of a lousy Riven more than dignify the insane capabilities she could have when played well.