Reign of Gaming

The first impression I got from him was thinking of Kain: Defiance. If you know Kain, you'll see the similarities. This automatically puts him pretty high on my to-get list, although with the first week 7800 IP price I might just wait until his free week to test him out.

The name could be better, but ah well.

He looks viable top or jungle to me, and definitely gives off a melee ADC feel. I'm hoping the revive actually lasts about as long as Zilean's ult revive however - so that he can eat all the focus, then return while his team are taking care of enemies that all blew their skills on Aatrox. THEN you ult and start clearing up.

It's only a hunch I have, but I REALLY hope that Aatrox is the first champion to pull off Bloodthirster + Ravenous Hydra core. I'm talking dive 1v5 into enemy team, then hit Massacre and slaughter EVERYBODY while healing up with Lifesteal for all of their burst damage. Short of a knockback or other CC, if you can't keep him off you, he'll pentakill. And with his ranged E for poke and Q kept for disengage until the enemy team is weakened enough to slaughter them, I could see him being rather viable. But yes - the sheer factor he has Health costs puts him more on the bruiser scale than an assassin.

Imagine Morde with a gapcloser knock up. I just really like this champion, his abilities feel like they have synergy enough, though it IS all in the numbers. And Ignite should counter his passive quite well, plus it ought to build up slowly, I hope. But otherwise - like Katarina, powerful with/against the right team. Imagine Aatrox with Morgana's Black Shield to slaughter your team... although for that instance Tryndamere already works pretty well, heh. No reason not to carry them both for two Black Shield targets to bring along though.

I think Quinn top is the closest that an AD Carry will get to being a viable top, thanks to her excellent kit. Still, it's true her damage is inadequate against enemies building up armor. Still I think with the right setup and item build she can come out on top, but you have to really extend the harass - come out ahead in trades when their abilities are on cooldown by scoring more auto-attacks. Just beware not to overextend while at it.

Her roaming and assassin functions are very good indeed and she is certainly unique, just, the playstyle to make full use of her strengths hasn't been discovered yet. Food for thought.

I don't know about the pros' reasons to pick up Morellonomicon, but I love Athene's and will keep buying it on all the champions when it makes sense. Most of my mana-using mids can use it well.

Still, nice breakdown Bystekhilcar. Maybe some people will change their ways after seeing this.

I don't appreciate warding enough. You guys might say that's why I'm stuck at my Elo. People here die regardless of map awareness and a support roaming the map to place wards is a free kill.

I tend to buy wards to last me through the laning phase, Philo first, SightStone next, Boots, upgrade to RubySightStone to last me after the laning phase and then the occasional pink for baron. I build the auras right afterwards. I ward the key locations like dragon/baron and/or jungle entrances in the river. Mainly I stick by the team for whatever instead of roam, because it's dangerous to roam, you might die.

Though I'll have you know, there are games where I don't see the jungle warding as that important - it's when the enemy team groups, every single time, and hard pushes one lane, say mid. Unless my teammates group to defend by then, it's like a done deal, and even so, I need to have the auras to provide them bonus stats for the sieging/teamfights, or we go down. That's one scenario when I think vision can take a backseat - because the enemies are all visible and pressing you on hard. Hell there's games at my Elo where enemies go double top and pressure that tower first, so without a jungler there's no ganks (I still get wards just for the lane bush then though, but I save mine mainly for dragon control or the roaming mid).

I dunno, just have an alternative opinion from me, guys.

You totally forgot Nami.

People forget her a lot. She's a fun support, similar to Janna in many ways but with a higher skill cap because her passive's speed boost isn't an always-on thing. But she's a very viable and fun support, in the right team comp.

Otherwise, one of your better articles lately, hashinshin

Sunfire Cape + Abyssal Scepter is a very strong combo on Shen. Add a Bulwark if nobody else buys it, he can use it well.

Instead of Witt's End or Static Shiv I tend to buy Zephyr on him instead, and instead of Triforce I just go full on Frozen Mallet to stick to targets after I taunted them, Frozen Mallet's slow plus Zephyr's 10% movement speed means you're really hard to peel, and Attack Speed + Health + Attack Damage makes your autos + Ki Strikes hurt more.

Zephyr is the better choice over Spirit of the Ancient Golem for an alternate source of Tenacity, and you don't waste stats that way. For CDR I definitely go Spirit Visage, then Zephyr and Locket puts me at 40% max. Warmogs is a luxury but if I am going full tank it's in.

Quote from Inxplotch »

I would like to include taric in the list of "easy support that teach you support." He's very safe, very forgiving, and has a reliable stun.

Amen. And is cheaper than Sona at 1350 IP.

Also, Soraka has a global ult but Gentleman mentioned only Karthus and Shen. She also takes map awareness but is available for just 450 IP. She deserves a mention.

As do GP and Ziggs for the not-truly global ults, although they are a different case for having to aim far, but not moving themselves into position to fight like the other three.

Quote from Clashje »

Quote from Jorose »

Actually her passive is much worse then an 8% damage boost lategame since it doesn't crit. Any full build ADC aside from Sivir and Ashe will be dealing at least as much damage (not sure about sivir) as Caitlyn. For Caitlyn to remain useful lategame she has to use her positioning with better range to survive longer then the enemy ADC. And no, as Ive said several times there are plenty of lanes she will lose vs competent opposing laners, so she wont be ahead in gold.

Sivir definitly out deepses Cait, because 60% attackspeed buff and AA reset, but she wont live long enough to really benefit from it.

I think Caitlyns current problem are her traps. Thematicly they make some sense because they catch thieves (maybe?), I guess they are based on claymores which sort of fits her because of her sniper like kit. BUT the problem is that they give Cait a ton of bush control which gives her an easy time against agressive supports like Ali, Leona and Taric because they really need the suprise element from that bush to get close to Caitlyn. Snaptraps are also really nasty in teamfights because they are easy to place but require a ton of attention from the enemy team to move around and can easily turn tides if the wrong guy steps on them, while sometimes they are just so darn useless because the fight happens where you didnt place any traps yet. My Idea: Make them stackable (you can carry 2 or 3) but make caitlyn only able to place them at her own feet. So if you want to control a bush you will have to walk into it, and in teamfights you can easily drop a few near you to hopefully stop chasers.

If her traps worked that way her current play pattern would change radically. Part of her main utility I rely on is setting the trap ahead without having to facecheck brushes, which is risky whether you're ADC or any other squishy. And the Root on her trap combos with her Q (albeit by lategame her autos are worth more anyway).

Supports like Taric and Leona are still my bane (especially with a Draven or Graves or Ez). They just have to boldly step into the trap, take its damage, then before it returns off cooldown surprise Cait by going aggressively. Just don't take too much damage while exposed. Taric and Leona's stuns all refresh shorter than rank 1's Cupcake anyway.

There are risky champions and then there are safe champions. Like Irelia top, or Morgana mid when they were very viable.

I've played this game for over a year and remember when early in Season 2 Caitlyn was considered trash and in need of buffs. The metagame changed around her and now she, Miss Fortune and Varus are enjoying their period of popularity. Let them.

I used to hate Caitlynn for being 'Ashe v2.00' but I've fallen in love with her gameplay since I picked up her Officer Caitlynn skin. She's good, you just need to play to her strengths. It's true that her damage isn't on the level of other ADCs, no steroids in particular, but that's what I like about her. The poking gameplay. The traps that join wards in brush for safety. The Ace in the Hole snipes.

She's balanced right now. The problem isn't with Caitlynn, it's the metagame around her being extremely in her favour. And the 2v1 lane can be shut down it's happened in the LCS before. I love what Shen plus Volibear did to that lane, man. XD

The others said it already, but my favourite is probably Pantheon. He can ult directly into base while the enemy might be caught in a teamfight or baroning, Aegis Shield helps him tank the turrets, and if they send just one champ after him he'll stun and run (if it's a bruiser or tank) or burst them down (if it's a squishy). There's others I'm sure, but Pantheon is who I'd go with - but for the build you'd want some durability next to your damage, to tank the towers.

So, something like Bloodthirster + Infinity Edge + Frozen Mallet + Atma's Impaler (gives armor) + Phantom Dancer + Boots of your choice (Mobility for map positioning before ult, Swiftness for better running from tower to tower or escaping if caught, defensive or Zerkers obvious otherwise). You might also want a bit more mana instead unless it's late game already, in which case Trinity Force is acceptable on him as well, but I don't consider that one ideal, leaves you too squishy.