At what point does a poor item build constitute trolling?

Tempist·10/27/2017, 10:42:40 AM·1 votes·392 views

When I speak of bad item builds, I don't mean off meta or not ideal.

ADC Twisted Fate, on-hit lulu, AP Trynd, full damage Garen - - those are all fine, for a given definition of it at least. None are ideal, and while you would in most cases put your team at a disadvantage picking them, their kits support those builds.

But what about the particularly egregious cases. AP Riven, AP Talon, stuff like that. Champions that have zero synergy (and in this case, no AP ratios either) with their item builds. Are people who build stuff like that fair game for reports?

Just asking because I just lost a game mostly due to an Ivern who thought it a good idea to use thunderlords and rush Randuins first item. [slayer-jinx-unamused] Ultimately I decided they were simply incompetent rather than trolling and chose not to report. But it got me thinking, and that led to this post.

5 Comments

Kythers10/27/2017, 10:49:34 AM1 votes

You can troll build but still try to win, in which case I wouldn't report unless it was a ranked game

but if they're also feeding on purpose or just not trying at all go for it

archerno110/27/2017, 10:54:48 AM1 votes

Depends really. Going AP on champ without ap scaling would be allowed if he built nashors and lich bane(watch ap zed). Would be stupid but allowed for testing purposes. Also it would depend on players elo and level. Diamond Kennen building Manamune, Roa and Warmogs would be trolling. 1-29 or Bronze/silver maybe even low gold wouldnt necessary be trolling. Lack of knowledge isnt trolling.

Fargo7910/27/2017, 11:28:56 AM1 votes

since when can u tell someone how to build their champ?? whether its ranked or not... IF they feel they can play it that way then fine.. if it fails and they feed then fine.. but just cause they dont build they way u feel they should doesnt mean they are trolling u...

Chermorg10/27/2017, 12:20:00 PM1 votes

There are some AP items that combined would work well on champions with no AP scaling whatsoever. As an example, Riven is CD based, does not use mana, but would benefit from the faster AS of Nashors, and because of the amount of spells she uses (frequently) she'd also benefit from Lich Bane. If she bought those, she may as well buy AP and go for the on-hit effects of the Lich Bane as her primary source of damage - it'd surprise the hell outta me, that's for sure.

The bottom line is that item build alone is almost never enough to be trolling on its own (except for things like Mundo's Shoe Shop or someone who's crying six tears all game). In combination with other data, however, it can certainly be considered (and is considered) by Riot.