Is darius still viable in LCS?

Tychusfindlay919·Mar 22, 2016·1 votes·712 views

Season 6 is getting well under way but top lane seems to have stagnated to either: Poppy (dat rework), trundle, or fiora (sometimes graves or gnar but not really).

Darius so far has 0 picks and bans in the LCS this season. Season 5 he had seen a good amount of play.

Is it too early, or has darius fallen off as a viable top laner in the LCS?

Is it his scaling? His relative slowness with short ranged cc (compared to poppy dash or trundle cone)?

Darius counters poppy's "in your face" kind of mentality with his heavy, unmatched, armor penetrating damage and ability to stick well once someone is near him but even in a niche matchup where their top laner goes poppy we still dont see darius picks

3 Comments

NahuiMar 22, 20161 votes

Kiting. Darius is only good as a juggernaut that gets focused due to his high damage, however low CD Q's keep him healed long enough to sweep the fight. The pros have learned how to effectively disengage and keep Darius outside of optimal Q range long enough to burst him down. He also lacks CC which is paramount in the LCS. He's no Gnar or Poppy who can make or break a team fight with a single spell.

lilpokflufMar 22, 20161 votes

I think Quinn and graves pushed him out of getting picked. And everyone countered those two with heavier tanks (malphite,poppy) that are able to catch them which is Darius biggest problem

Tychusfindlay919Mar 22, 20161 votes

He doesnt lack cc. Its just that his cc is very low range. Thats the thing. If a darius does get a hold on someone (because their positioning sucks which isnt usually the case in LCS), it is typically very hard for them to try and get away.

Typical darius' strategies are auto attacking and stutter stepping as long as possible and right when they get out of your aa range you w 90% slow them. If they have cleanse type abilities that they use on your W, and then try to dash or hop, a well timed E cancels all channel abilities (including those) and then slows them for 40% after.

The E is pretty strong (can cancel poppy ultimate mid channel as well as other important abilities).

Kiting comes down to speed, so maybe bring back the hemhorrage speed he used to have? I think most people would be fine with a heal nerf if he gets that back since it would allow him to possibly get close enough to do what he does best (10% healing maxed at 30% for a start). I could be biased, but then again, people have to understand that darius is a missing health heal, which is typically useless until hes under half health and is about to die (and in todays meta with hilarious amounts of bursty damage, its incredibly hard for a darius to heal with his delayed Q before going down).