Physical or Illusion?

The Ecdysiast·Apr 4, 2015·1 votes·426 views

Is it a clone or an illusion? Most of them say illusion, so it makes sense you can attack them if your champion can fall for it.

My point: Pink wards and red trinkets shouldn't just reveal stealthed enemies, they should erase any illusions of champions. It's easy enough to spot the face Wu, LB, or Shaco when they have a blue or red buff, but that doesn't stop them from putting the "illusion" in front of them to abuse the birds-eye type view of the game and make it impossible to click behind the clone.

Just as well, Auto Attacks should definitely be able to target illusions, but skillshots should pass through. You can fool a champion, you can't fool an arrow.

Lovin' the backlash from the clone-champ players who don't want counterplay or sense to their champions.

6 Comments

Adrian UmbraApr 4, 20152 votes

Leblanc might leave an illusion, but Shaco absolutely leaves a physical clone that deals damage and explodes into shards when killed. A similar deal with Wukong, who appears to leave sort of an empty shell, something tangible but fake behind to fool his enemies. Pink wards shouldn't do anything to these clones simply because they DO exist. They're fake, but their also a physical thing, like a puppet or statue.

And even with LeBlanc, you might want to make a gameplay and story segregation. LeBlanc might well be able to make illusions so real that they WOULD fool inanimate objects like arrows and from a gameplay prospective, it would be REALLY easy to figure out which LeBlanc it was that wasn't taking any damage or blocking skillshots. The abilities function well as is, no real need to change them, especially when two of the characters are already countered by anti-stealth mechanics.

The EcdysiastApr 4, 20151 votes

Fooling enemies shouldn't be part of a kit. It should be left to strategy. It doesn't take skill to fool an enemy into thinking the thing that looks exactly like you, takes hits, and attacks is really you. Defeats the point of this being a strategy game.

Adrian UmbraApr 5, 20152 votes

Why not? There are some rather significant ways to figure out which one is the real one in every single case (wukong clone can't move, Leblanc clone can't deal damage or use abilities, Shaco clone takes a lot more damage and cannot use abilities). Deceiving someone well with these champs requires a LOT of skill, in micromanagement, mind games, and planning. If you control the information your enemies get and make sure they get the wrong information while you wait for the right moment to strike or make your escape is an aspect of using these champions properly and anyone telling you that's not strategy is a moron.

And yes, deception is part of strategy. Any card game player, from CCGs like Magic the Gathering to poker can tell you that. From your opponent's point of view every card you hold looks the same, so deception becomes an integral part of your strategy.

The EcdysiastApr 6, 20151 votes

In the time it takes to find that the LB clone isn't dealing damage to you, the real one's already gone. No one's going to wait around to be attacked. Same with Shaco's. The point is moves are wasted on them before there's time to find the real one, since these champions also have very significant escape abilities.

And it may be a strategy, but it is not one that takes any significant thought. Any other champion runs the risk of actually being hit be abilities and attacks, where having a clone simply lets the game do the hard work of avoiding attacks or having the right build for a 1v1 for you. Anyone who tries to tell you it takes skill to "time your clone" is a moron.

And if you've ever played a card game, you'd know that's not true. Save for a cardgame in an anime, where the characters all have unique cards that others don't know about. In the real game, competitive players know all the cards so well that they require no explanation or deception. A poker face isn't deception, it's the same as not saying in /all chat "Hey I'm in the bush and I don't have the HP to fight you."

Adrian UmbraApr 6, 20151 votes

First, these are ways to figure out which clones are which. Memorize them and it's usually pretty hard to get fooled. Those escape abilities aren't without cooldowns and figuring out which one is a clone is sometimes a significant part of catching a champion.

Second, you've obviously never played any of these champions. You CAN control Shaco or Leblanc's clones and making sure that your opponents never know which one's real takes a LOT of thought and effort. Same with timing a Wukong S key juke and figuring out how to fool your opponents that way.

And as a blue control player in MtG, keeping three mana open to play a counterspell is one of the greatest mind games out there. Your opponent has to figure out whether or not you have a counter in your hand, whether or not they can afford to spend a bunch of mana on a card when you could just come in and negate it, and has to do it before you play a big win condition while they're agonizing. There's an enormous amount of strategy and deception there even if you know all the cards in a person's deck and a single bluff that you're holding on to a counter can win you the game.

The EcdysiastApr 9, 20151 votes

The fact you CAN control them means it takes LESS thought to fool the enemy. If they had a set action, it'd be easier. but since you can make them run away as well. And no, there are NOT differences that can be memorized. None that can be shown in the time it takes the two assassins to kill you.