What is with the balance in this game? I've lost FIVE promos in a row.

Niyumi··2 votes·619 views

... basically, the title. Last night, I lost my first promo because of a Master Yi who took on my ENTIRE TEAM alone, and killed all of us -- and he ended up with full health. Then every promo after that, it was because of Vayne, Riven, Warwick, Annie and so on who would just destroy everyone they targeted. I've gotten to my promos five times TODAY and lost every single one because of, honestly, retarded game design.

So, I'd sure love for anyone in Riot to explain how each of these types of champions is even REMOTELY fair or balanced to play with / against.

First, the most braindead, pathetic, simplistic champions in this game do the most damage, most of the time with targeted abilities / auto attacks. These are champs like Annie, Vayne, Tristana, Jinx, Yasuo, Riven, and every other champ who has no skillshots, has very simple mechanics, and has damage that's so beyond ridiculous, even at level 1, that they can just instakill people early game with little to no effort. To contrast that, we have champs like Azir, Ahri, Ekko, Jayce, Nidalee and the like, who have more complex mechanics and require a bit more thought / effort / planning, but their damage just pales in comparison. Not only can you easily dodge skillshots, but the damage values on all these champs are just so much lower than their easier counterparts, why would anyone even bother playing them? If you can perform better with less effort, why wouldn't you? I enjoy playing the harder champs because they're more fun, and playing something like Annie or LeBlanc feels like cheating because I can just annihilate people without even trying (my very first game with LB, I annihilated lane and went like 19/2). How is that fair? Less effort and less skill required but greater reward?

The next set of horribly designed champions is what Riot likes to call a tank. Braum, Malphite, Alistar, Garen, Rammus, Darius and so on. They are nigh unkillable unless your entire team is there to help out, but they can kill anyone who's not a tank with relative ease. A Garen can kill a squishy person in about two abilities, a Malphite can just Q you to death, an Alistar can throw you and then just auto you to death, and so on. It doesn't matter if you can kite them or outplay them, because you can't hurt them enough to make a difference, and they all move faster than most champs anyway thanks to Dead Man's. How exactly is it fair that you can be, for all intents and purposes, invincible, yet simultaneously incredibly bursty? Sure, most tanks lack mobility, but what does that matter when they can just CC lock you into infinity and kill you before you can even get away?

Next, I have a couple special cases:

Master Yi. He can turn invincible at will, he can lifesteal faster than any ADC can hurt him, he can kill tanks near instantly (and squishies don't even stand a chance), and he can turn his MS to light speed every minute or so. I've seen a Master Yi take on an ENTIRE TEAM and win with ~90% HP before, and most of his damage was auto attacks. I fail to see how someone so incredibly bursty and strong is balanced when the only way to kill him is to CC lock him so hard that he can't auto anyone even once ('cause then he'd start killing you).

Next up, Vayne. Once she gets a BORK, you may as well say goodbye to ever killing her with less than a small army. Lucian is an ADC built to be bursty, right? I was full build (Triforce, IE, Berserker's, Shiv, LW and BORK (50% crit, ~2.00 AS, ~300 AD), and unloaded EVERYTHING I had on her, and she still won. She was full glass cannon, and lived because she life stole more than I could deal (and I was critting for 1k + 500 with my passive, as well as Shiv going off)... How is that at all fair? She's squishy, but the way she builds makes her invincible unless you chain CC her -- and even that doesn't work well, since she can turn invisible at will every two seconds.

Finally, Warwick. Before Sated, he was already incredibly annoying, but now, he's just a god. He heals more than anyone can deal, he can push R and guarantee your death (even if you QSS, he can just kill you afterwards), and he marks you for your entire team (all while moving faster). I just... I don't even know what to say. He is literally invincible when he has a sated, and unless you chain CC him (gee, I'm seeing a pattern here), he's going to kill anyone he pleases.

So, maybe I'm just bad, but how is it fair that braindead champions can perform so, so much better than anyone else? How is it fair that someone can be simultaneously invincible and stupid bursty? How is it fair that the only way to "counterplay" a handful of champs is to spam CC at them (which you won't always have)? I just don't understand it. Does Riot actually try to balance their game? It sure seems to me like they don't.

I don't know, I'm just tired of losing promos because of champs that I can't even compete with.

7 Comments

Flœ1 votes

All i can tell you is that before you think a champion is "OP" just think about counterplay.

Vayne early (pre-6) is extremely weak to harrass, hard engage, ganks, and just about anything. Yasuo is the same. Warwick is the same. Annie is a tough one, but generally the same.

On the other hand, Tanks aren't op because "tank-fuckers" like vayne exist.

Azir and the other "hard" champions all have amazing scaling, extremely good utility, and FUN kits.

And the reason "brain dead" champs do so well is because the non "brain dead" champs are too hard for people to stomp with.

The higher your elo, the more annoying high skillcap champions get because u can't always expect what they do.

Niyumi1 votes

Vayne, even early, can kill someone if she lands a condemn or if her supp grabs you / stuns you.

Yasuo can out-trade anyone early game if he has crit runes (which is standard for him), so you can't go near him.

Warwick can heal for stupid amounts, even early game, but he's probably the most vulnerable pre-6.

Annie can be overpowered if you have a lot of HP / MR, but otherwise you can't get near her.

And, uh, actually, Annie out-scales Azir BIG TIME, she out-scales Ahri BIG TIME, and so on. All the easier champs do ridiculous amounts of damage with their abilities, and there's next to no counter since they're all targeted ablities. There's a reason the easiest, most broken champs are the highest pick/ban rates. >.>

Celebrimborr1 votes

The only way to beat an OP is to be the OP Fizz Katarina Leblanc Nasus Nautilus Poppy Zed

Niyumi1 votes

I wouldn't really call Nasus, Naut or Zed OP. Zed you can actually counterplay, since he isn't all targeted abilities that do 1/3 of your HP each.

The rest of them though, yeah, definitely broken beyond any kind of logical reasoning.

HopFrogger1 votes

Maybe you've found the rank that's ideal for you. Learn a little more, and then keep stepping up. :)

Niyumi1 votes

Whenever I do my promo series, every lane but mine just absolutely feeds, and I just get into a stalemate because all my champs are VERY easily played against, being skillshot and mechanics reliant, and then there's just nothing I can do to carry the game when I'm behind in farm. On top of that, whenever I do my promo series, the game is FULL of these broken as hell champions I'm talking about up above.

Me: 4/2/4 (an example of a score) -- The rest of my team: 1/12/1... that's how it usually is. The last promo series I lost (I haven't won a game since, and that was 8 hours ago) was 6 to 30 something. It's just ridiculous. I get paired with the absolute worst people in the game it seems.

Honestly though... I don't even think I belong in silver. >.> More like low bronze.

More from Gameplay

More by Niyumi