Most people that play him seem to main him. His pick-rate is less than 3% despite being capable of going either support or mid. He also doesn't have the snore kit of a Nasus or WW so I don't understand why almost no one plays him.
junglerboy162 votesbecause he isn't incredibly OP. He's balanced, and in a game of imbalance, that leaves him a generally sub par pick in the minds of most players, even though he is pretty good.
WalkingInACircle2 votesWhat I find makes Vel'koz special is that he most versatile attack options of any mage I know of. I feel like people categorize him as an artillery mage without knowing how many offensive options he has. Its not wrong, but he can do more. Champs like Xerath or Lux basically use only poke and burst. But for Vel'koz,
Q - poke/slow Q > W - Kite combo. Damages and slows in a line while moving. W -> W - instant waveclear E - Peel E -> W - AoE. The overlapping area of these AoEs takes a lot of damage. R - DPS/Snipe. Even tanks can be melted if they try to stand in his ult. But he can finish off kills with the tip of it as well, because it reaches its long range instantly. EWQR - burst. Alpha Striking someone with all his skills usually causes them to explode.
I don't know of another champ that can attack in so many ways.
Matt The Hero1 votesIn this meta of high-mobility champions, he's kinda slow. I like him a lot, but never play him.
NemeBro1 votesThere's nothing wrong with Vel'koz.
I used to main him and he was the first champ I bought. I just don't play him too often anymore because there was a point where I literally played no one else but Vel'koz.
I guess that he might fall prey to popular mid-laners like Ahri, Zed, or LB, but there's nothing inherently "wrong" with him.
Very Hard Engage1 voteshe has no mobility and hes all skill shot based, that makes him a prime target for ganks and cc. his damage is fairly good, but not enough to warrant being picked over someone with even more range like xerath/ziggs, or someone whos more reliable like ahri.
djjomon1 votesHe's not broken, easily abusable, or super safe. There's nothing wrong with his kit, there are just better champions to do what he does right now.
1000angrybees1 voteshe's one of the more balanced mid laners, but he sees more support play. Kind of like annie. But I think he's in the same boat as lux, really. They're good, but not mobile and arent great at escaping.
Abyssphere1 votesI think he just has a really crowded niche honestly. I love him, he's really cool, but he's competing with Lux and Xerath and some people are just gonna prefer them more. Power level aside (which I think is fine), Vel is one of the game's "really long range poke" mages and there are other popular champs in that bracket. If he had a more unique role he'd probably see more play but he has a lot of competition for players's love. He's my poke mage of choice (though that Lux skin...) but I can understand people preferring others.
WarlockLaw1 votesIt probably has to do with xerath having longer range and lux being much safer. Also vel'koz isn't rewarded as heavily for going full ap unlike other long range poke mages as he relies my so on his bases and his passive for kills
