There IS gameplay to auras and buffs/debuffs. LOL has rarely seen the counterplays

TL;DR people were tricked about these things having "no counterplay" simply because the counterplay was never implemented. These mechanics would/could add a lot of value to champions who need it without making them more effective against everyone like current LOL balance is basically forced to do.

I'd like to argue the case as to why these things are good and why they're done wrong in LOL. I'll try to keep it brief because I want to start condensing my points a little better. I'll start with the topics, and then their counters, using DOTA as my frame of reference because the only other MOBA I play is 2D.

• **Auras ** create passive zones around a champion or object that empower allies around it. This can be anything, really; it can be buffs, which we already have in J4's flag synergizing well with attack speed allies; and Taric and Sona used to be potent aura champions. It doesn't need to be entirely passive, either; some auras activate on a condition. They can be temporary or permanent, etc.

Why Auras are good: Auras give champions strong reasons to be picked either as a soft-counter or synergy with enemies/allies respectively. Because they are less "engaged" in mechanical terms auras usually serve niche purposes, like lowering enemy AD or attack speed around you, raising magic resist (old locket), giving allies offensive steroids, or even doing DoT damage passively.

What's their counter? Dota2 has a mechanic called Break, which disables all heroes passives for the duration it's applied. This, again, gives heroes valuable strategy as a counter to heroes who depend heavily on boosting themselves or their team through their passives. There are added caveats to this in regard to stacking champs, but that's a lot more writing than I want to do.

• Buffs and Debuffs are just positive or negative status effects. We actually have quite a lot of these but they're generally generic; slows would be considered a debuff, anything stronger than a slow is considered a disable. Niche things like AS slows, AD reduction, and so on are quite rare. But we also have a lot of buffs, particularly from enchanters when it comes to giving them to teammates; pretty much every enchanter has either an on-hit, AD, or AS steroid to give to an ally, and then Ardent Censer is much the same way. Partially related, Dota2 is far more generous with buffs and debuffs; a ton of carries and tanks have both passive and active buffs for teammates that give themselves immense value to their teammates beyond their damage output, and while supports have those things, too, it's not nearly as much the focus of their kit as it is in LOL.

What's their counter? Dispels. We actually have a couple of dispels/immunity effects in LoL already, but they only apply to debuffs set upon themselves. Garen's Q dispels slows, Yi's R makes him immune, Olaf R dispels everything including disables and so do GP oranges. We do not, however, have a champion that can remove debuffs for other allies, or strip buffs from enemies. This would be fantastic means of allowing champions to add strong countering to steroid-based enemies (a much-needed counterplay to marksmen that isn't "burst them in half a second." Of course, not all of these things can be dispelled and it's usually a case-by-case basis; most ultimate buffs, for example, cannot be dispelled, or can be dispelled until that opponent buys an Aghanim's.

If we had champions capable of utilizing dispels in more varied ways, I don't think the Ardent meta would ever have been a problem.

These mechanics don't need to be used excessively, of course, but they'd at least make for a nice few add-ons to existing or new kits and a refreshing change of pace. A tank bring a strong buff/debuff could have an ability that isn't adding even more hard CC to their kit; we could have an enchanter designed to wreck steroid-abusing Tristanas, you know, lots of possibilities with it to help elevate LoL's gameplay especially for the classes that need it. It gives you more balancing levers in the strategic sense, and I think we really can't have enough of those.

I'm aware some people don't like this philosophy. But personally I'm very much in favor of champion select and the drafting process being a significant part of the game, more so than it is at least for soloQ purposes, and stuff like this really appeals to me which is why I've been wiggling more DOTA into my very limited schedule lately. Could just be LOL burnout, though.