Riot, if you want mage botlanes to be a thing..

ReshiKillim·Apr 30, 2018·8 votes·5,228 views

Mages need to be able to carry harder than they currently can. As is, there are very few mages who have enough impact that could warrant a "Protect this Mage" team comp. Nerfing marksmen and supports will not make that happen, unless more mages have more power to carry the mid-late fights for their team.

Examples of some mages that can carry their teams if protected: and sometimes in a suitable teamcomp. All in all, that's a rather small pool of chamions, and there's not enough synergy in botlane for teamcomps focused around them. Maybe the new upcoming support and some new support items that help mages such as an AP equivalent to ardent could fix that. But as is, the main issue with mages in botlane, is that supports are not equipped to support mages in the botlane.

9 Comments

Teridax68Apr 30, 20187 votes

I'd add Karthus to the list, as he's meant to be a mage carry as well, though even then, the fact that he's not included is enough of a sign that mages as a class aren't really considered carries.

Personally, I think the issue isn't simply that mages themselves don't carry hard enough, but that marksmen as a class carry far harder than anyone else. Champions like Veigar and Nasus were once considered hypercarries, yet they don't really have that moniker anymore, because their own capacity for infinite scaling pales in comparison to the sheer amount of raw power marksmen earn fairly quickly over the course of a game. When even a non-marksman literally designed to carry (which at this point includes Cassiopeia as well) still can't carry as hard as any marksman, then there is a severe balance problem at hand. Because of this, while I'd definitely support greater carry potential on mages, I also think marksmen need to be moved away from being the carry-by-default class: it should make sense for some marksmen to carry, e.g. Kog'Maw, Vayne, Twitch, etc., but carrying should be specific to champions and how well they play, not simply given to a whole class. This should likely mean targeting marksman itemization to offer fewer amounts of raw stats, while adjusting individual champions as needed to be strong early, mid or late.

KyazaApr 30, 20182 votes

Anivia, if protected with a siege/tank comp can carry pretty well.

FrostQueensPlaneApr 30, 20182 votes

you know that was just a meme by riot right?

5050BSApr 30, 20182 votes

Dont forget teh cancer

BeersteinApr 30, 20181 votes

What if they don't?

ZT XperimentorApr 30, 20181 votes

Then the game will more than likely continue it's spiral into stale suffocating repetition.

KaìjuApr 30, 20181 votes

Sol is a little debatable because he scales kinda poorly but he makes a good secondary carry. The rest I agree with, but Sol I know doesn't scale well damage wise. To double his W damage he needs about 450 AP or so, which is a lot for a champion that has to build somewhat healthy to not get blown up due to short range and telegraphed damage patterns.