Why is Aurelion Sol not played a lot?

HudnofskiBleh·Mar 14, 2017·23 votes·10,389 views

So last week, Aurelion Sol was available in the free rotation. My friend told me he was pretty difficult to play, and I've heard many Youtubers talk about how boring, wonky, and/or hard he is. But when I tried him out, he ended up easily being my best champion and I found him extremely fun to play. He immediately clicked with me in a way my previous mains ( ) never could have. His moves all felt pretty smooth to me. And don't even get me started on his hilarious personality.

So, my question is really this: What turns people away from Aurelion Sol? Is it the fact that he is immobile? That he is not meta? I'm genuinely curious.

70 Comments

Hexs FortuneMar 14, 201724 votes

Meta will always be full of instant mobility champs that can blink into his inner circle and counter him Zed Leblanc Fizz Akali Talon Ahri

Or mages that outrange him

HudnofskiBlehMar 14, 20171 votes

[{quoted}](name=Hexs Fortune,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=uHbi9vXz,comment-id=0007,timestamp=2017-03-14T18:21:10.133+0000)

Meta will always be full of instant mobility champs that can blink into his inner circle and counter him

Or mages that outrange him

True. Although, I've figured out how to beat champions like Diana and Ahri, Zed and Talon still give me trouble.

TheSingularityMar 14, 20176 votes

But it is still this that turns people away. As people unfamiliar with asol get jumped on within the inner star circle and think "WTF AM I MEANT TO DO! I CAN'T Q/W/E AND THIS AKALI HAS A DASH FOR AFTER MY ULT!". This is the only thing that really feels shit when I play asol, granted it's awesome when I outplay the dash (espesh the ults mid dash followed by Q and hextech).

Add onto that how different he feels and plays, and how underwhelming his Q usually is (it ain't often you get the god tier sized Q's on 4+people) and you have a reasonably difficult champion to get into unless he instantly clicks as "THE CHAMPION!" for you.

FairyfleurMar 15, 20172 votes

If you ever play Aurelion again, you can cast your q and then ult an enemy that's in your inner circle into the stun, which can usually get you out.

TheSingularityMar 15, 20171 votes

Hmmm, never thought of that one.

I've always done it the other way around XD Thanks for the tip <3

FairyfleurMar 15, 20172 votes

Also, if someone is right on your tail, there's another technique to get away. Cast your q, and when it goes over the enemy, flash, so that it detonates on top of them for a stun.

Troll SlaiyerMar 14, 201719 votes

hes one of those champs where "you play him and not the game" Singed Teemo

dEAdbUsMar 15, 20171 votes

Have to agree

FairyfleurMar 15, 20172 votes

What do you mean? He has a lot more team dependence than Singed or Teemo.

Dancing FoxxMar 14, 201712 votes

I find playing him awkward. I don't like the rotating stars mechanic. Ult feels underwhelming also.

I had a couple okay games on him trying him out but he didn't click with me. There wasn't anything about him that I found super-fun aside from a big star stun once in a while.

ZT XperimentorMar 14, 201712 votes

He's unfortunately screwed over by anyone with; significant mobility, longer range, or sudden crowd control.

Papa AndreiMar 14, 201710 votes

So literally everything meta since his release

AlexisTheDragonNov 16, 20171 votes

Pretty much everyone in the game in general.

YokoNomiMar 14, 201710 votes

Well first off, I suck with him. So... thanks for the reminder.

General Esdeath Mar 15, 20176 votes

Zed I Talon have Ekko no Yasuo idea Fizz

IA9hRfpP5qMar 15, 20175 votes

there are many reasons, but ill give you one:

Katarina

Stars ShaperNov 16, 20171 votes

Even though it's funny seeing as she stands still after being knocked back form her ult in self-disappointment.

Jeanne fan clubMar 15, 20174 votes

He wasn't voiced by neil degrasse tyson

ProfirixMar 15, 20171 votes

Oh my GOD

I can see it. I CAN. AND ITS AWESOME.

LexyyMar 14, 20173 votes

They are afraid of the beast

Meep ManMar 14, 20173 votes

The way he plays is wonky for most and he gets crushed by people who can stick to him like a rock. Also, he wants to roam and roaming as a Mage that isn't centered around just 100-0 someone in a near instant is hard.

GankedByWindowsMar 14, 20173 votes

His learning curve is gigantic. The difference between a first time ASol and a 100th time Asol is huge. He also just has a very different playstyle to most other champions. Most people don't want to put all that time into one champion just for him to be a decent pick. Once you have a good grasp on him, he is a monster.

zeskgamesMar 14, 20173 votes

In my insanely limited experience, assassins with dashes and blinks (your Talon Ahri Zed Ekko etc.) can jump on and there's not much he can do about it unless he's willing to use ult just to get them off.

SckullzzMar 14, 20173 votes

Sitting at that perfect orb distance can be hard. Also you can't instant-activate his q to stun, so when gap-closers get on you, you're kinda screwed...

Alex h8721Mar 14, 20172 votes

I think its that his abilities are inconsistent, A- they are all skillshots, B- his ult and his Q stun are very narrow hitboxes (unless you power up the Q a lot).

He's usually picked for his roaming potential with E, but even then he's a very niche pick because an enemy mid w/ good waveclear will punish you for roaming and take mid turret first.

PennsMar 14, 20172 votes

He is strong but kind of hard and has no mobility + does his damage by.. just standing there lol.

TheHurricaneGamrMar 15, 20172 votes

I know. He's so fun to play. Soo fun that i made a video dedicated to him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE3hgho3050&t=14s

ThubanMar 15, 20172 votes

Because 90% of the champion pool counters him. I mean I get the design, but it will never work in Riot's blatant obsession for mindless spastic combat. The game is far too fast for him to even function.

I love him to such a degree I consider him family. But the current game state punishes him far too much.

And Akali is the #1 freaking pain in his ass. She needs a damn nerf on her ult. 1 less charge, that's it. She is practically infinite with that dashing.

CorvidMar 15, 20172 votes

As a former aurelion sol main, he is gutted right now. He takes too long to scale up, ever since his expansion was nerfed. His counters, (Zed, ahri, ekko, ect.) are just too strong to play against.

Mysticman89Mar 15, 20171 votes

If you really click with him, then great you can manage your stars well and push lanes like a boss and enjoy the mannerisms of a star dragon.

The concern I would have with him in solo queue though is that to really make the most of him, you want to push out your lane and roam to a side lane with your e. It takes some amount of coordination thats hard to come by in solo queue for that to reliably work out. Also, in a properly coordinated team, sol can function as a constant zoning tool for other carries, but again thats something that is somewhat impractical with randoms.

It's not so much his lack of meta-ness that would make me shy away from him, but the knowledge that achieving his true potential is somewhat more of a team effort than many other champs.

Flawless FetusMar 15, 20171 votes

For me it's nerfs and itemization. He was my main for awhile. He was strong. So they nerfed him. That's fair. He got nerfed 2 more patches, and they nerfed/changed some of his core items. He got sejuanied. Lol.

KingnewgameplusMar 15, 20171 votes

You have no option if somebody gets close range with you. You could say that about most mages, but lux has a snare and a shield, xerath has a slow, ziggs has a satchel, ect. But if somebody gets close to you as sol and you don't have your ult you are fucking done.

CasterGilgameshMar 15, 20171 votes

I love him i even added "sol" to the end of my name for him but in the end 1.He has no way out side of ult to get people off him 2.he gets destroyed by anyone who can get in his face 3.itemization sucks for him since mages naturally have the least options of any class besides support in this game 4.Not enough reward for his risk IMO

CasterGilgameshMar 15, 20171 votes

BTW can anyone tell me why no one but me buys item 3070 on sol i love it on his i can keep my stars up longer

ProfirixMar 15, 20171 votes

Clearly even Riot thinks he needs a Shyvana-level rework, whether it is because of balancing issues, or his kit just provides too high of a skill floor for your average player to want to pick him up. His sustained damage isn't all that high anymore (and for a champion that is supposed to maintain a sweet spot distance I can completely understand) and being able to juggle your range for long periods of time in League is impossible, given how mobility, gap close, and dashes have become a prominent figure of most play.

Build him too squishy and he dies too fast to be useful. Build him too tanky, and his damage is poor. Somewhere in the middle he does ok damage and is decently tanky, but the setup Sol requires to shine is a bit extreme given the average level of play in solo queue or even flex.

That, and some of his core items have been nerfed pretty hard on top of the nerfs his kit received shortly after launch.

Ale non è maleMar 15, 20171 votes

Easy to learn, hard to master. Has clear weaknesses that can be exploited and he is not as flashy as other champs as other with similar or lower learning curve. Some people can find him a bit boring because a lot of his damage is tied to orbs so you got to micromanage your movement in a counter intuitive way

But you can just ignore those people and enjoy him a ton

BlackOnyxAltearMar 15, 20171 votes

I enjoy his design and theme but he is rather underwhelming. Enemies getting in your inner circle aint that much of a problem if you have some experience with him.

yesnobananaMar 15, 20171 votes

Because he is an A.sol

Ill leave now

idiot482Mar 15, 20171 votes

I like the dragon but I suck at hitting people with his damn star passive, that's like half his damage :(

Stars ShaperMar 15, 20171 votes

Anything that can get instantly in melee range nullifies Aurelion Sol if he doesn't land Ult+Stars with Rilay+Stun, he is also really exposed to ganks unless you are prepared for the worst (which isn't that hard once you get a grip on him). Farming is also not so easy for the first times.

He really shines in teamfights though, it is true that he needs a rather stable teamfight (aka tanks should be there in both teams) but the damage he deals is really high and subtle.

SSJTribeMar 15, 20171 votes

I love playing Sol, but as a lot of people already have mentioned, he struggles with most matchups in mid lane. Either the enemy mage outranges him, or the assassin can get into melee range where Sol can't fight back.

He has barely any range, the only other similar champion I can think of is Annie, but even she has a mana refund on her Q and damage reduction on her E. Not to mention that she can 100-0 squishies within her range, something Sol cannot do.

He heavily relies on mana / hp items so that he can stay in fights longer, but most of those are not in a good spot right now.

I think he's a great champion, but there's not really an effective role that he can play as of now imo.

Supreme Senpai69Mar 15, 20171 votes

Riot sorta gutted him because he was really good in pro play. Afterwards he was still good in pro play though so they didn't really accomplish anything. He was already countered by nearly everybody and was hard to play at the start, before all the nerfs

LanghofMar 15, 20171 votes

To be honest, when I first played him in a normals match I struggled a lot with farming with him. It was super wonky trying to not only angle his passive/W for farm and harass, but trying to do that while simultaneously dodging the massive amount of damage coming in from the jayce I was laning against made the experience very un-fun

Stars ShaperNov 16, 20171 votes

First time farming with him is a pain in the ass-(bad pun inc)-assin and it seems like it's a spread experience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU1QUSrgp4E

RákãñMar 15, 20171 votes

I personally like and enjoy him. But I haven't unlocked him as a champion yet. Can't play what I don't have. xD

deadlychuckMar 16, 20171 votes

Because like most mages, he falls into a situation, where if they enemy knows how you play against the champion.

Then you are left almost completely incapable of outplaying them, as the player.

Stars ShaperNov 16, 20171 votes

Welcome in the Star Forging club boy/girl/attack helicopter/whatever (and only now our hero realizes this is a master piece of a necro).

Aurelion Sol is a character like no other and completely based on his positioning and decision making to succeed, the absence of bursty/flashy plays (except for his ult) and his weakness to divers make him not desirable to a lot of ppl and that's basically all. Managing his optimal range can be a chore with some matchups but overall he is one of the strongest characters in League.

Titanium70Nov 16, 20171 votes

Mostly since you can't FP him. He has the hardest counters in the game rendering his lane impossible. Besides that he's similar to Shen - great with a Team you can Support, but if your bot is 0-2 before you can put a single point into your E game's usually over since he doesnt scale.. at all.

He's great picked into a good Comp and can Solo Win the game by snowballing both Sidelanes but his team has to allow him to do that which - in SoloQ - is ALOT to ask... sadly.

CatastropNov 16, 20171 votes

Hard to play so why bother. Not joking btw, for most people it's just easier to use someone else who accomplishes what Sol does without all the hassle of managing your position in a fight all the time.