When introducing new Champions, why is there no part on counterplay anymore?

darkdill··15 votes·833 views

We used to get sections on Champion Synergy and Counters when new Champions were released or we got Champion Reworks, but those seem to have vanished.

Why? Heroes of the Storm always adds in ways to beat a hero when they add a new one. For instance, when Ragnaros came out, their suggestion to beating him was for his enemies to stay spread out and force him into 1v1 fights, which prevents him from utilizing his wide array of AOE attacks. Or for their newest hero, Alexstrasza, the suggestion is to put as much pressure on her as possible so that she can't keep up her strong healing, or to use displacement effects to keep her away from her healing zones.

The reason for having these counterplay segments? It keeps people from bitching about a new character being "OP!" by shedding some light on a new Champion's weaknesses or areas where you can outplay them. It shows you've done your homework by ensuring a new Champion isn't going to be game-breaking.

13 Comments

Critmaster Garen4 votes

probably because its not taken into consideration upon creation of the champions kit. they just care if the kit is in itself mechanically and aesthetically consistent and fun to play with.

its more about "how many combos can i pull with this champion?" and no "how do i deal with this champions combos?".

this has been a thing since thresh.

remember how azirs soldiers can zone you from getting cs as a melee champion and there is absolutely nothing you can do against that, since his soldiers are indestructable? but hey, he can do fun shit like shurmia shuffle and be more mobile than you.

make of that what you will.

Teridax684 votes

I agree with this criticism. It would be immensely helpful to have this official reference everyone could use to identify the counterplay of a champion, and even just for the dialectics of Gameplay, it could help address those one-sided threads that just lay out a champion's entire strengths and pretend they have no counterplay or weaknesses whatsoever. Riot has taken steps in the past to help us increase our design literacy as players, and counterplay is still an essential topic to discussions on any champion. It would also help with accountability, too: if a champion is said to have a particular kind of counterplay, we could evaluate if they truly fulfil this, and if they don't, that would be a much clearer sign for Riot that they need to take steps to implement it harder.

RewardWanted3 votes

Lol, you think riot wants counterplay? They just have busted things as long as they get shits n' giggles from it then they nerf it into the ground. Examples are the many reworks, upcoming galio balancing, zoe, etc.

If you DEMAND hard counters: soraka and malzahar are the most reliable lockdowns yet. Just play them. Don't bother hoping riot keeps anything more than pure skill as a hard counter to anything, it's not in the game philosophy, unlike some others...

Sex With Annie7 votes

What's your deal lmao.

RewardWanted1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Lewd Ripe Loli,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=z0FHJTfK,comment-id=00000000,timestamp=2017-11-06T20:38:11.431+0000)

What's your deal lmao.

If you want to claim it's not true, do tell me more, but if it's one thing I dispise and get heated about in connection to league, it's counterplay. Or rather the lack of it. Buying zhonya's versus zed is probably the height of counterplay you'll get.

Isilio1 votes

[slayer-pantheon-thumbs]

Kloqdq3 votes

Good question actually. Kind of weird that it is no longer there.

bàn2 votes

"Counterplay" is just a word Riot uses every now and then. Same for "fun and interactive." Alot of these champs don't have clear counterplay other than to "don't feed them!" or "just hug turrets and wait for ganks." not a top lane main btw xdXDXDX

HungryAngry2SPP1 votes

Come to my mind 2 cancers champions: Teemo and Fizz others seem fine.

i cant move wtf1 votes

Because there is no counterplay on this one.

darkdill2 votes

See, this is a prime example as to why we need those counterplay segments.

NTrumpWeTrust1 votes

Because there isn't any. The counter play for this type of extremely power creeped garbage is for the person playing them to mess up.

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