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Champions who are in need of buffs and are under the radar

KalkiKrosah·6/3/2015, 2:06:24 AM·43 votes·5,494 views

I've been playing this game for a little over 3 years now. Here's a short list of champions who have been unpopular or handicapped for prolonged periods of time and need some sort of attention to get them on par with some of the power houses roaming the rift these days.

  1. Miss Fortune. Why the heck do her abilities scale off AP (especially her ult) and why does she guzzle so much mana. Also, the ability to manipulate her double up shot to go where you want it is extremely complicated.

  2. Twitch. When I started the game 3 years ago Twitch was one of the better ADCs. Now he is arguably one of the worst. He has short range, very low hp, and an unreliable escape mechanism.

  3. Warwick. Great noob jungler. But pre-6 its almost like not having a jungler due to his lack of mobility, lack of crowd control, high mana costs and poor ability damage. He farms and that's it.

  4. Twisted Fate. Picking him is like asking to lose your lane. He has no opponents who he has a favorable matchup against and he has never been a top tier pick. He has a crappy early game and an equally crappy late game. Something is not right there.

  5. Elise. This pick was predictable and probably the most deserving champion on the list. She was pretty strong maybe two years ago, but ever since they changed around how her spiderlings react upon her landing on the ground she is no longer as strong as she once was.

  6. Aatrox. He is touted as an immense lifesteal-centric champion yet he doesn't feel like he life steals as much as he should. And you can work so hard to max out your blood well to get back what... 1/4 of your health on reviving? He should at least get enough health back that the enemy can't just ignite him and run away to secure the kill. That's poor counter play.

  7. Olaf. There is something called Olaf tier that exists with Olaf in it. It's pretty low on the ranking ladder. I think he was a pick/ban back in season 2 but I wouldn't know since I joined after that. I think he's due for some attention.

  8. Malphite. I find him to be mana hungry. He has a very impactful ultimate... but it isn't up as often as some other hard engage champions (Leona, amumu, Annie). His shield takes forever to repair itself and his damage output is abysmal, especially against ranged targets.

  9. Soraka. She is a heal support that lacks damage output. I do like the revisions they made to her Q and the introduction of hard AOE CC to her E but the travel and activation times on these spells are so darn slow and too easily avoidable. Something needs to be done.

  10. Rammus. I actually don't think he's in a bad spot right now but he has just never been an OP champion. I guess thats both good and bad that he's one of the few champions who have remained balanced for all these years.

Comment on this thread. Tell me what you agree with and what you don't. I realize that nobody will agree entirely with what I mentioned in this thread but I would like to get some feedback about what you guys agree with and what you don't agree with.

166 Comments

ModAcademy Kayn6/3/2015, 2:50:56 AM19 votes

I really don't think Twisted Fate needs anything (Maybe a little bit) but not a lot. He's great when played properly, due to his Mix of AOE and SIngle Target damage. His gank potential is almost as good as Nocturne's, Pantheon's and Shen's while providing a great targeted stun.

I don't think its a fair thing to use as an example, but he still see's competitive play (ALONG WITH BARD LIKE WOW WTF)

AnArousedCactus6/3/2015, 2:36:29 AM15 votes

Wow, a legitimate balance thread that isn't biased or trollish. Where did this come from?

frostywontons6/3/2015, 6:53:09 AM8 votes

Olaf is in a bad spot because his character has no place in the meta. If you don't build tanky you will die, but if you do you won't deal as much damage. Olaf is simply outclassed by most champs. Why play tanky olaf when I can go Sion, Naut, Gragas or Mao? Why glass cannon when I could play an assassin like Ekko or Kat, or even Lee?

Others I would add include Zilean and Veigar:

Zilean's kit is fine but he is so damn unpredictable. Landing a bomb on someone boils down to luck more than anything because no one with half a brain will get hit by a bomb.

Veigar is also in a similar boat because the change to his stun turned his previously subpar laning phase into a truly dismal mess. The stun is intended to help Veigar control space because he is weaker up close, but the delay all but nullified this intention. I mean there are really only a handful of champs that come out as a neutral matchup for Veigar. The stun is workable in teamfights but certainly leave a lot to be desired.

Hakkuza6/3/2015, 12:27:54 PM6 votes

I think a good way to buff twitch is to strengthen his poison flask (w). Currently, it is barely a skill doing no damage itself and causing a small slow and it isn't even a persistent area effect. The only redeeming quality it has is applying 2 poison stacks which indirectly does some damage, which is much lower than most other skills. His ult makes him a very strong hypercarry, but unlike most other strong carries his ult lasts only 7 seconds on a greater than 100 second cooldown, so he definitely fits into riots philosophy of strong peak moments and visible moments of vulnerability. The closest other carries to this is ashe's new q, which isn't even an ultimate, and vaynes ult which is the only other ult steroide on a ranged adc. however, vayne still has her passive silver bolts which is mostly the real reason she is considered a hypercarry.

I think if twitch were ever to be buffed against, there are 2 routes. When he was nerfed most recently, they nerfed his base damage and his poison damage to emphasize his weak laning (when he was strong, he wasn't exactly a bully in lane but he was right under the big bullies, graves and lucian. Mf still countered him with her strong bullying and draven is a weird case of conditional strength, but twitch was kinda like jinx in that his laning had kill potential while not being considered a bully). However, at the same time that they nerfed his early damage, they made his q timer to enter stealth 6 seconds upon taking damage. Before, it was 3 seconds. Basically it was a minigame of catch the mouse, where he would try to escape using q. Before when it was 20-50 seconds, unless you had vision detection he basically disappeared and got away. To give him power in his kit, they severely cut his stealth time and gave him ms to make him healthier, but they cut the time low enough that even if you managed to enter stealth with enough teamwork on the enemy team it was still possible to catch you, let alone use true vision (the oracle and pink rework made this less reliable however). If they managed to hurt you, they would delay your stealth to 3 seconds which is adequate time to squish a rat, and if your team peeled properly or they somehow lacked damaged you could escape. At 6 seconds, if anything hits you it takes longer to enter stealth than you are invisible till lvl 3 q. A stray minion hitting you is pretty infuriating, and the minigame of catch the mouse basically just becomes a slaughter. The feel of this delay is very negative and I believe is the ultimate qol nerf, even moreso than the huge stealth timer reduction. Simply reverting this while keeping his lowish early game damage would be fine.

My idea for putting strength into his w is to make it a much more interesting skill. I believe the amount of poison stacks it applies should increase for each level, in addition to increasing the max amount of stacks in his passive. Currently, his w is obvious final max, but if it had a worthwhile effect then it could compete with his q for second max. This idea came to me as I was looking at kalistas e. It basically hurts more on the first attack and each subsequent attack, in addition to scaling with max ad instead of bonus ad. In addition to slowing all enemies similar to twitches old w being fused into his expunge, but it also refreshes mana and cd on kill. Not to mention it scales infinitely. I don't believe many of these ideas are conducive to twitch, he already has a slow in a different skill. The reset on kill kind of makes thematic sense considering expunge is now contaminate, but the real point i'm trying to make is that kalista's e can stack infinitely. This would obviously be problematic considering his poison true damage and his e, but if his w were to increase his passives max stacks per level, it could begin at 5 stacks and end at 10 stacks when w is maxed. This would make the maximum damage of expunge 430 + 2.5 bonus ad, approximately the same as a crit and around the same damage as a fully stacked tristana e, except without all the reset shenanigans. He would still have a vulnerable early game reliant on farming and his sup and jungler setting up any and all kills, but his mid and late game would receive a buff, make his w a funner skill and give him a choice of hyperscaling sooner by maxing q for the attackspeed buff or buffing his poison gameplay a bit more by maxing his poison flask.

Krys Star6/3/2015, 7:07:07 AM6 votes

I agree with everything except for Soraka and Twisted Fate. Twisted Fate never having a top tier pick moment is so false. He's still a good pick, just assassins wreck him. Soraka has her moments and her niche. Her purpose is to heal, that's the main reason you'd pick her. Her slow, snare, silence are just icing on the cake.

SpongebobIsLife6/3/2015, 2:11:14 AM5 votes

I do not agree on the ramus as he had a 60 percent win rate last season, and the nerf to his taunt duration (I think that's what it was) really helped balance him out. I also do not agree on the olaf as he pretty strong atm with Righteous Glory and Cinderhulk. His early and mid game, even late game is absurd, he has even seen a good amount of lcs play. Malphite is already getting some changes, but I completely agree with the rest.

stochastic426/3/2015, 11:51:40 AM4 votes

Miss Fortune. Why the heck do her abilities scale off AP (especially her ult) and why does she guzzle so much mana. Also, the ability to manipulate her double up shot to go where you want it is extremely complicated.

I dont see the problem with her abilites scaling off ability power as well as ad, and i dont think her q is too complicated at all, I read the wiki and understood in no time. Still I agree she is in a bad spot. Right now ADC's that lack a mobility skill tend to have massive advantages to compensate. Jinx with her absurd damage, Ashe with her vision and lane control plus great ult. Only thing MF has going for her is a pretty good ult for teamfights which is really not shining in this tanky meta at all.

Twitch. When I started the game 3 years ago Twitch was one of the better ADCs. Now he is arguably one of the worst. He has short range, very low hp, and an unreliable escape mechanism.

Same problem as MF, sure he has a great teamfight ult and highest attackspeed i can think of in the game, but it's just not enough to make up for his weak laning phase and his immobility.

Warwick. Great noob jungler. But pre-6 its almost like not having a jungler due to his lack of mobility, lack of crowd control, high mana costs and poor ability damage. He farms and that's it.

Pre 6 is the first 5 minutes of the game only, and some champs dont shine there, it's a key part of having champion diversity. WW is unquestionably one of them. Fortunately he is able to farm to 6 in even less time than some. His ult is borderline ridiculous and he is a monster late game. I think he is in a good spot and I dont ever want to go back to having ww jungle one shot me every game regardless of what role i play and how well i do in it like it was when new jungle items first came out.

Twisted Fate. Picking him is like asking to lose your lane. He has no opponents who he has a favorable matchup against and he has never been a top tier pick. He has a crappy early game and an equally crappy late game. Something is not right there.

TF had a 100% pick/ban rate in OGN champion spring 2013 (the most competitive league in the world by far at that point in time) so I really dont know where your coming from with that statement. Losing his global gold passive was a massive nerf however and he is not that great now. I think he could use a slight buff, like a short speed boost when he selects with his w or something, but his ult can totally dominate games and think riot is being intentionally careful not to let him get out of control.

Elise. This pick was predictable and probably the most deserving champion on the list. She was pretty strong maybe two years ago, but ever since they changed around how her spiderlings react upon her landing on the ground she is no longer as strong as she once was.

Elise was nerfed to the ground. Ok she was nerfed through the ground and straight to hell. She has the lowest win rate of every champion by a significant percent, currently sitting at 43.59% win rate, almost .5% lower than the next champ. Her current level makes me question riots ability to balance champions significantly, especially the quality of life nerfs they stacked on top of everything else such as lowering spiderling vision. I think an elise main must have pissed off Morello because there is no logical explanation.

Aatrox. He is touted as an immense lifesteal-centric champion yet he doesn't feel like he life steals as much as he should. And you can work so hard to max out your blood well to get back what... 1/4 of your health on reviving? He should at least get enough health back that the enemy can't just ignite him and run away to secure the kill. That's poor counter play.

Vayne's passive gives her 20 ms, and only in a very limited circumstance. For a passive aatrox is not doing bad. When I play aatrox I regularly have people comment that my lifesteal is absurd. He is a champ that falls of hard when he gets behind not being able to get enough damage to be a threat or enough tankiness to survive but I dont think he should be in the top 10 of champs to buff, maybe a slight base attack speed buff.

Olaf. There is something called Olaf tier that exists with Olaf in it. It's pretty low on the ranking ladder. I think he was a pick/ban back in season 2 but I wouldn't know since I joined after that. I think he's due for some attention.

I don't enjoy playing him, but boy does he seem to faceroll if played well. Still he is one of the least winning champs and i feel like he could just use some better base stats and base scaling cause everything he's supposed to do he does fairly well if he doesn't get shut down in lane.

Malphite. I find him to be mana hungry. He has a very impactful ultimate... but it isn't up as often as some other hard engage champions (Leona, amumu, Annie). His shield takes forever to repair itself and his damage output is abysmal, especially against ranged targets.

He has a 51% win rate and one of the best ults in the game. It's way better than leona and annies ult, and way less predictable than amumu's. I played vs a support malph and was surpised by how much his q poke did with no AP. I cant agree here.

Soraka. She is a heal support that lacks damage output. I do like the revisions they made to her Q and the introduction of hard AOE CC to her E but the travel and activation times on these spells are so darn slow and too easily avoidable. Something needs to be done.

Again over 52% win rate. Her q is only easy to dodge at long range, where she is taking no risk, and if you use it when the adc is farming it's pretty much guaranteed hit or you deny farm even better... her healing potential is absurd to the point where she is often focused in teamfights. Her E is extremely strong for disengage and chaining after other CC + it's a silence. Her ult can change an enemy first blood into an allied first blood and get you numerous assists throughout the game. She is currently one of the winningest champs in league and i think you just need to practice with her a bit more.

Rammus. I actually don't think he's in a bad spot right now but he has just never been an OP champion. I guess thats both good and bad that he's one of the few champions who have remained balanced for all these years.

He was in top 5 winrates in season 4, and is still a very viable CC tank who's ganks are almost 100% kill if opponent extends to far and you dont gank when minion wave is blocking your q. He isn't that dynamic, kinda like warwick and malph: he is really good at what he does, it's just that he doesn't do much else.

rtbf2216514126/3/2015, 3:46:15 AM3 votes

Twisted Fate can one shot multiple minions if you build him properly. He has a huge safe zone as well because of his card throwing distance. If you go close to an enemy, you can stun them with a gold card. His ult signals enemies only because it isn't really fair to not know he isn't where he was before. Yes, you can bring stealth up as an issue, but no stealth champion travels across the map as fast as that. His red card farms enemy minions. His blue card restores mana. You can troll the enemy team with him by building a Rylai's Crystal Scepter and Frost Queen's Claim. What is wrong with him?

Biffolo6/3/2015, 5:45:38 AM3 votes

Tf is fine lol. You lose power for that ult, and his late game damage potential is pretty damned high.

HaIlMonitor6/3/2015, 2:37:02 AM3 votes

I dont know if this is the truth but sometimes champions fall out when they have a real niche. Take Warwick who is all about late game hyper scaling but people dont play him because he cant baby sit lanes like Vi LeeSin Gragas . So people think he is weak because his kit doesnt have super strong ganking and a hyper carry style late with zero weakness. So after the hype train people stop plaything the said champ and thinks they suck.

stealthfox946/3/2015, 3:14:17 AM3 votes

Twitch TwistedFate and Rammus are fine Malphite just needs his mana cost changed and some mild number tweaks. The rest of these champs could use a rework.

Vesper1176/3/2015, 6:20:53 PM3 votes

Jesus they better not buff Soraka without doing something to her laning.

I think the range on her Q is too large for what it does. If she's low there should be some risk coming from her trying to heal back up, instead she can sit out of range and spam it until 2-3 land and she's fine again.

Kuroi866/3/2015, 9:25:23 AM2 votes

MissFortune Her AP scaling was added a while back to open her up to non-meta builds, since then though the hype has died and she is again in need of tweaks to make her more reliable at higher level play.

Warwick He's actually not under the radar, last word I heard on him is that his rework is currently on hold until they can come up with a good kit for him.

TwistedFate I honestly love playing TF. No he doesn't have the burst to handle assassins and mages are going to give you a heck of a time in lane. But he just brings so much to the table and if I've a good team that coordinates with me, I can wrack up kills and assists with my ult and teleport. And his siege, just plain hilarious wrecking minion waves and the enemy back lines all with one Q.

Elise While I'm not a fan of her appearance, I've come to love her kit, it has so much untapped power in it. I honestly think a few QoL changes would put her back into the fray. She just offers so much.

Olaf He needs a minor rework, at current he's either death incarnate to his opponents or a drunk viking running into walls depending on the skill of the laner.

Malphite Malphite is a niche pick, always has been, but in that niche, he is a god of destruction. He's currently got a minor rework to his Brutal Strikes on the PBE, could really be interesting to see how it goes. As for mana, this is an example of mana gating done right. If Malphite could just spam abilities without worry of cost, he would be insanely overpowered.

Soraka One of the few supports I still really enjoy playing as. Sure she doesn't pack the damage of a mage, but what she brings is utility that few can beat. Two heals, a fairly strong damaging ability on a low cooldown that heals her for champions damaged, an AoE silence that can root multiple enemies. People really take her too lightly.

ElJanitorFrank6/3/2015, 3:11:36 AM2 votes

You don't seem to know what you're talking about on a few champions.

Olaf. There is no "Olaf" tier. You're talking about when a champion get's "Olaf'd". Olaf used to be ridiculously overpowered, so they nerfed him a LOT. That is what getting "Olaf'd" is. You can still be the best champion in the game, but have been "Olaf'd" in the past.

Twisted Fate. Well, he used to be a top tier pick, actually. I see him win lane all the time (note; not EVERY time), as well as do decent enough in late game. The thing about Twisted Fate is farming. His passive and wave clear make it easy to get gold faster than any other champion in the game. This means that while he doesn't have the best late game, he can get 6 items before anybody else.

Aatrox definitely needs a buff, though. His stats aren't good, his ability aren't amazing, he needs something more. Although, you mentioned the bloodwell only giving 1/4 of his hp back, I don't think that's the issue. It's simply the fact that he isn't useful enough. Aatrox is designed to be a split pusher, and the meta doesn't favor that right now. That's one of the biggest reasons he isn't played as much, but also because he isn't the best duelist champion in the game. Which is one of the biggest pros a split pusher has.

I disagree about Malphite. Consdiering his ultimate is considered to be top 5 in terms of best engage in the entire game, it's on a very low cooldown. He is mana hungry early, but he isn't designed to be an early game champion, he's a tank. I personally find that maxing E or W make him one of the best traders in the entire game, with little mana consumption.

WW is getting reworked, in case you weren't aware. And I think him being weak pre-6 is perfectly reasonable, because of his point-and-click supression when he hits level 6. It's almost always a guaranteed kill on a gank.

I ordered that horribly, but whatever. Besides those, I agree completely with everything you said.

Frius6/3/2015, 12:24:07 PM2 votes

you forgot kayle ,has no damage ,neither sustained dps ,neither burst ,same thing as aatrox

HeraldOfDemacia6/3/2015, 12:24:50 PM2 votes

I agreed with almost everything you said until you said that Malphite and Soraka do no damage. You have never seen a good Malphite top or a good Malphite or Soraka support have you? I'm not meaning that in a negative or condescending way I am just genuinely curious. I myself have played Malphite and Soraka support to great success rather reliably. Their laning is fairly strong, and their team fighting is amazing. As long as you play in the right matchup then you're fine but that's how it is with most champions in my opinion.

I also have no issues with Mss Fortune except maybe her passive. If it could not be disabled by minion damage, and maybe come back up faster, then she would be a wonderful adc. I have no trouble managing her mana or landing her Q, but it's something that requires practice.

VesperNadal6/3/2015, 2:13:18 AM2 votes

No clue who the heck you are but a lot of the champions on your list are good champions to focus in on. You want a job at Riot?

ModAcademy Kayn6/3/2015, 2:43:06 PM2 votes

Oh yeah, and Varus. He doesn't have the cc (Like ashe) the tank busting (Like Vayne) or the ability to stack mana (Like Ezreal) to be able to siege, to make up for his immobility.

fractalfantasies6/3/2015, 11:49:35 AM2 votes

Twitch and MF definitely. I play adc so these are the ones which grab my attention, but I really think it's time to mix up botlane and let some other champs than Jinx and Sivir shine.

TwoD6/3/2015, 8:01:46 PM2 votes

Aatrox Varus Syndra

Elise Bring back the queen!

WillHealForHonor6/3/2015, 10:21:21 PM1 votes

i really dont understand the upvotes.. not at all.. not at all,,