My favorite champion right now is 
Irelia but honestly shes stupidly well designed. So I'm probably just going to say Leona instead and face peoples opinions.
Her W is good so I have no problems with that.
Her E just seems to be stupidly overpowered in lane. It's about a quarter of bot lane in length and cant be blocked by the support. Like really. And then it just serves as a way to use your Q on people, which has a cooldown so you cant use it twice on people in the same teamfight but it comes off CD immediately afterwards.
Her R is honestly pretty cool too.
I think the problem with Leona is that you can't really do a lot in teamfights because you have an ult that serves as an initiate but if you get initiated on, you have a short stun, an ultimate that's prone to missing, and then honestly nothing else in your kit.
It just seems a little underwhelming at times to have blown half your kit to disable one guy for 3 seconds.
Irelia but honestly shes stupidly well designed. So I'm probably just going to say Leona instead and face peoples opinions.Her W is good so I have no problems with that.
Her E just seems to be stupidly overpowered in lane. It's about a quarter of bot lane in length and cant be blocked by the support. Like really. And then it just serves as a way to use your Q on people, which has a cooldown so you cant use it twice on people in the same teamfight but it comes off CD immediately afterwards.
Her R is honestly pretty cool too.
I think the problem with
Leona is that you can't really do a lot in teamfights because you have an ult that serves as an initiate but if you get initiated on, you have a short stun, an ultimate that's prone to missing, and then honestly nothing else in your kit.It just seems a little underwhelming at times to have blown half your kit to disable one guy for 3 seconds.
Basically MOBAFire.
^ I think you really underestimate leona's out of lane potential. She can put a stop to an initiation with her let or, better yet, temporarily isolate an initiator giving your team time to deal with that diving assassin/tank/bruiser. There's almost no point in blowing R-E-Q, specially because the E will be chained with R, losing you like 0.5 CC duration effectiveness. Also, leona with 40% CDR is constantly Q'ing <3
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It's no secret that my favorite champion to play is Swain, and that I think he is really well designed as a champion but not necessarily as a character:
Lore: Swain's game lore is extremely boring and vague. It's intended to give him some sort of "evil" or "creepy" feel, with some underlines of
evil mastermind. It sucks, shows no motivation, context or even an explanation for his abilities. Even the writing sucks. However, he has some interesting tidbits here and there from the Journals of Justice (or whatever it's called), as well as lore fragments for other characters including the recent Sion remake. He's basically this really ambitious Noxian lord who goes great lengths to extend his power and influence with a weakspot for detonating Demacia and a clearly ****erotic genocidal fixation with the Jarvan line. I only really like to read his exchanges with other characters, because everything written just about him is very uninspired and generic.
Appearance/Model/Voice/Skins: Traditional Swain isn't, at a first glance, nearly as interesting in design as, say, a Syndra. Part of this has to do with model limitations at the time (yay Ironstylus working on an update <3 ), part of it has to do with uninteresting choices. I think traditional Swain's color palette had some interesting ideas to it, but the lack of contrast/saturation ultimately makes him very bland on the League maps. However, there are various ideas about it that I like: the bulky clothing that combines a lord-ish feel with war thematics, not exactly serving as traditional armor but still giving him some imposing presence, the bird landing thingy (although IRL it'd be kinda sucky, all dat bird poop), Beatrice's presence, the way his cane never really gives him a crippled feel (his base MS does tho :^) ) and the way he turns into a giant monstuous demon bird out of nowhere. Also, his animations all look like a command being issued, which is very well thought.
Swain's voice is, I think, extremely well designed. It sounds impatient in the sense that he dislikes being ordered around, it has that scratched undertone that connects very well with the demon bird thematic. His lines aren't particularly memorable though (maybe the bird form jokes).
In terms of skins, Swain only has one that I feel is kind of subpar ( Bilgewater Swain
) although it's mostly the splash art (the Chinese is beautiful) because the ingame palette is pretty good, even though demon form could have traces of other colors. Northern Front and Tyrant are great skins.
Kit: I really like Swain's kit. It has a very decent playmaking potential; it's not at the level of Lee Sin or Orianna at all, but it is deceivingly demanding in terms of cooldowns: when to ult/turn off the ult, saving W to farm/minion wave control or try to engage in lane, casting Torment on what target (because it increases the damage swain deals to the afflicted target, and thus influencing how much more healing benefits he gets from the target picked, making it important to try and hit champions with less defenses to increase said damage exponentially).
He also has this great support tank role vs frontline threat decisions you have to make, how you can cast Decrepify and Nevermove for a bold engage or save both to peel for your marksman (Swain is very decent at peeling), going all in vs soaking damage, etc, and how you must really know how much your mana, items and ap allow you to sustain through the fight[/b].
In terms of stats, Swain is offered really good AP scalings (with the exponential damage growth from Torment) but his kit naturally demands you to choose between going full-hard AP with obscene damage versus a high DPS oftank mage. He is one of the most interesting champions to itemize with, because you REALLY gotta build appropriately, more so if you're behind. I've used to think that Rod of Ages was agreed as a core item at the highest level of play, but not even that. I think the only item 99% Swain mains agree only in Zhonya's Hourglass, and the greater majority in the necessity of Liandry's Torment.
I also think Swain's kit is thematically cohesive on itself: abilities and passive chain well together and interact well both in and out of lane.
tl;dr: fanboy
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It's no secret that my favorite champion to play is
Swain, and that I think he is really well designed as a champion but not necessarily as a character:Lore: Swain's game lore is extremely boring and vague. It's intended to give him some sort of "evil" or "creepy" feel, with some underlines of
evil mastermind. It sucks, shows no motivation, context or even an explanation for his abilities. Even the writing sucks. However, he has some interesting tidbits here and there from the Journals of Justice (or whatever it's called), as well as lore fragments for other characters including the recent Sion remake. He's basically this really ambitious Noxian lord who goes great lengths to extend his power and influence with a weakspot for detonating Demacia and a clearly ****erotic genocidal fixation with the Jarvan line. I only really like to read his exchanges with other characters, because everything written just about him is very uninspired and generic.
Appearance/Model/Voice/Skins: Traditional Swain isn't, at a first glance, nearly as interesting in design as, say, a
Syndra. Part of this has to do with model limitations at the time (yay Ironstylus working on an update <3 ), part of it has to do with uninteresting choices. I think traditional Swain's color palette had some interesting ideas to it, but the lack of contrast/saturation ultimately makes him very bland on the League maps. However, there are various ideas about it that I like: the bulky clothing that combines a lord-ish feel with war thematics, not exactly serving as traditional armor but still giving him some imposing presence, the bird landing thingy (although IRL it'd be kinda sucky, all dat bird poop), Beatrice's presence, the way his cane never really gives him a crippled feel (his base MS does tho :^) ) and the way he turns into a giant monstuous demon bird out of nowhere. Also, his animations all look like a command being issued, which is very well thought.Swain's voice is, I think, extremely well designed. It sounds impatient in the sense that he dislikes being ordered around, it has that scratched undertone that connects very well with the demon bird thematic. His lines aren't particularly memorable though (maybe the bird form jokes).
In terms of skins, Swain only has one that I feel is kind of subpar (
Bilgewater Swain
) although it's mostly the splash art (the Chinese is beautiful) because the ingame palette is pretty good, even though demon form could have traces of other colors. Northern Front and Tyrant are great skins.Kit: I really like Swain's kit. It has a very decent playmaking potential; it's not at the level of
Lee Sin or Orianna at all, but it is deceivingly demanding in terms of cooldowns: when to ult/turn off the ult, saving W to farm/minion wave control or try to engage in lane, casting Torment on what target (because it increases the damage swain deals to the afflicted target, and thus influencing how much more healing benefits he gets from the target picked, making it important to try and hit champions with less defenses to increase said damage exponentially).He also has this great support tank role vs frontline threat decisions you have to make, how you can cast
Decrepify and Nevermove for a bold engage or save both to peel for your marksman (Swain is very decent at peeling), going all in vs soaking damage, etc, and how you must really know how much your mana, items and ap allow you to sustain through the fight[/b].In terms of stats,
Swain is offered really good AP scalings (with the exponential damage growth from Torment) but his kit naturally demands you to choose between going full-hard AP with obscene damage versus a high DPS oftank mage. He is one of the most interesting champions to itemize with, because you REALLY gotta build appropriately, more so if you're behind. I've used to think that Rod of Ages was agreed as a core item at the highest level of play, but not even that. I think the only item 99% Swain mains agree only in Zhonya's Hourglass, and the greater majority in the necessity of Liandry's Torment.I also think Swain's kit is thematically cohesive on itself: abilities and passive chain well together and interact well both in and out of lane.
tl;dr: fanboy
Zyra:
Lore, well... She has no real reason or motivation for joining league, but I feel like a stale old plant given a new form of life to experience the world through a new body, in a more risky way with no second chances at life does fit her character well enough.
Appearence wise, I really like the classic model if only it wasn't so... skimpy? I love the splash though. Can't say much skin wise, but I do like undead zyra (or whatever her name was) over fire elf zyra (lel skinnames)
Voice is really, really nice.
Kit wise, I think zyra proves to be one of the most unique champs in league. It feels extremely satisfying when you spawn the correct plant at the exact correct place. Being able to bodyblock skillshots with your plants is also quite satisfactory :D Her E provides extremely potent CC and extremely strong lockdown when paired with her ult. Her q is a bit of a simple spell but it does bring some complexity in the sense that it's expensive and forces you to take a heavy glance at your mana and keep the numbers managed tightly. Her kit works extremely well together, and she has to chain a lot of features together to make it work the best it can. Her ult, despite being a damage tool is also a steroid for her plants, and not to mention CC. Do you want to make the most out if it and get the nice 600 damage on each enemy team member? do you want to use it as a disengage and plant it between you and the enemy team? Do you want to use it at the beginning of a fight to buff your plants, or near your end to catch your enemies by surprise with the damage? Do you want to use it in a space where it most likely won't hit the enemy, but will knock them up?
Also, you really have to know how much damage you can do and how quick you can do it... Zyra has quite a few damage factors to look out for: E damage, Q damage, Plant damage, Frenzied Plant damage, Ult damage and then she has to calculate: How many hits can melee plant get on a slowed target? How many hits would a ranged plant get instead? Do I need the slow to help landing my ult easier? Can I finish them with a max ranged ult instead? etc
I'm indeed a fanboy and enjoy playing zyra a ton 8)
Lore, well... She has no real reason or motivation for joining league, but I feel like a stale old plant given a new form of life to experience the world through a new body, in a more risky way with no second chances at life does fit her character well enough.
Appearence wise, I really like the classic model if only it wasn't so... skimpy? I love the splash though. Can't say much skin wise, but I do like undead zyra (or whatever her name was) over fire elf zyra (lel skinnames)
Voice is really, really nice.
Kit wise, I think zyra proves to be one of the most unique champs in league. It feels extremely satisfying when you spawn the correct plant at the exact correct place. Being able to bodyblock skillshots with your plants is also quite satisfactory :D Her E provides extremely potent CC and extremely strong lockdown when paired with her ult. Her q is a bit of a simple spell but it does bring some complexity in the sense that it's expensive and forces you to take a heavy glance at your mana and keep the numbers managed tightly. Her kit works extremely well together, and she has to chain a lot of features together to make it work the best it can. Her ult, despite being a damage tool is also a steroid for her plants, and not to mention CC. Do you want to make the most out if it and get the nice 600 damage on each enemy team member? do you want to use it as a disengage and plant it between you and the enemy team? Do you want to use it at the beginning of a fight to buff your plants, or near your end to catch your enemies by surprise with the damage? Do you want to use it in a space where it most likely won't hit the enemy, but will knock them up?
Also, you really have to know how much damage you can do and how quick you can do it... Zyra has quite a few damage factors to look out for: E damage, Q damage, Plant damage, Frenzied Plant damage, Ult damage and then she has to calculate: How many hits can melee plant get on a slowed target? How many hits would a ranged plant get instead? Do I need the slow to help landing my ult easier? Can I finish them with a max ranged ult instead? etc
I'm indeed a fanboy and enjoy playing zyra a ton 8)
Oh we're doing their lore too. Alright. Lemme add on to mine. Aatrox's lore is cool and the reveal for him was awesome and actually a bit exciting. Ezreal trying to determine what all the artifacts meant, being hassled about Lux. It was all mysterious fun. But of course I was heavily disappointed with his lore's translation (or lack of it) into his kit.
His lore suggests that he's some kind of blood frenzy demon that shows up to a fight where 100 guys are losing to a massive horde and starts slaughtering the winning side, which invigorates the losing side and somehow makes them win. They even state that while he's probably borderline evil or something, to the people he "saved" he looks like some kind of Angel (hence his release skin).
But What does Aatrox actually do? Nothing to directly help anyone. He's a pretty selfish champion in terms of damage, and his only real benefit to allies is being focused for them and having some decent CC. I would love if he had some literal turn the tides mechanic for his team, like "Aatrox creates a blood aura around him, granting AS, AP and MS to all allied champions based on how much health they were missing for X seconds".
As for his voice and looks. I prefer to assume his release skin is lore cannon and use that rather than his default cause it looks plain silly rather than intimidating. He's got some massive odd spikes on the side of his head and he just kinda looks awkward. I'm told his stance and fighting style is modeled after someone from lord of the rings, but I'm not sure who.
His voice is pretty killer though. It reminds me of an older, raspier version of Optimus Prime. He talks slowly to really sell his lines and he has a few of my favorites in the game.
"Cut the courage from them"
"Pain is temporary, victory is forever!"
"True warriors are born in blood."
"Nobody understands me! They called my work a hack job!"
Aatrox's lore is cool and the reveal for him was awesome and actually a bit exciting. Ezreal trying to determine what all the artifacts meant, being hassled about Lux. It was all mysterious fun. But of course I was heavily disappointed with his lore's translation (or lack of it) into his kit.His lore suggests that he's some kind of blood frenzy demon that shows up to a fight where 100 guys are losing to a massive horde and starts slaughtering the winning side, which invigorates the losing side and somehow makes them win. They even state that while he's probably borderline evil or something, to the people he "saved" he looks like some kind of Angel (hence his release skin).
But What does
Aatrox actually do? Nothing to directly help anyone. He's a pretty selfish champion in terms of damage, and his only real benefit to allies is being focused for them and having some decent CC. I would love if he had some literal turn the tides mechanic for his team, like "Aatrox creates a blood aura around him, granting AS, AP and MS to all allied champions based on how much health they were missing for X seconds".As for his voice and looks. I prefer to assume his release skin is lore cannon and use that rather than his default cause it looks plain silly rather than intimidating. He's got some massive odd spikes on the side of his head and he just kinda looks awkward. I'm told his stance and fighting style is modeled after someone from lord of the rings, but I'm not sure who.
His voice is pretty killer though. It reminds me of an older, raspier version of Optimus Prime. He talks slowly to really sell his lines and he has a few of my favorites in the game.
"Cut the courage from them"
"Pain is temporary, victory is forever!"
"True warriors are born in blood."
"Nobody understands me! They called my work a hack job!"
My favorite champion at the moment is Taric.
I like Taric because he fits my favorite playstyle, which is tanky utility support jungler. (Similar champs would be Warwick or Gangplank, but with less utility and a bit more damage)
Taric's appearence in the game is kinda outdated, but it actually fits his character really well. Who doesn't like
Armor of the Fifth Age Taric
? But for that, he has one of the best voices in the game.
His design is rather poor, as his damage scales of resistances which kinda isn't balanceable, an outdated point+click stun, which is rather cool, and the rest of his kit are just auras. This means, Taric actually adds a lot of hidden power to his team and this is why most players don't understand why the teamfight suddenly turned in Taric's favor. Or they run while they could fight on with Taric. But this also leads to overaggressive enemies, not knowing how much more powerfull Taric makes his team. (basically Baron Buff + huge physical damage reduction) This is why I like him mostly to play, the legendary surprise ******** combo finished with gems.
His lore is ****...
Taric.I like
Taric because he fits my favorite playstyle, which is tanky utility support jungler. (Similar champs would be Warwick or Gangplank, but with less utility and a bit more damage) Taric's appearence in the game is kinda outdated, but it actually fits his character really well. Who doesn't like
Armor of the Fifth Age Taric
? But for that, he has one of the best voices in the game.His design is rather poor, as his damage scales of resistances which kinda isn't balanceable, an outdated point+click stun, which is rather cool, and the rest of his kit are just auras. This means,
Taric actually adds a lot of hidden power to his team and this is why most players don't understand why the teamfight suddenly turned in Taric's favor. Or they run while they could fight on with Taric. But this also leads to overaggressive enemies, not knowing how much more powerfull Taric makes his team. (basically Baron Buff + huge physical damage reduction) This is why I like him mostly to play, the legendary surprise ******** combo finished with gems.His lore is ****...
Vapora Dark wrote:
Absolutely not, Talon was a very stupid design and that's what I love about him.
I barely remember what his lore is, so I can't comment on that.
I barely remember what his lore is, so I can't comment on that.
He's like Kat's dad's personal stabby-stabby.
OTGBionicArm wrote:
He's like Kat's dad's personal stabby-stabby.
Yeah, something about being a poor boy
Vapora Dark wrote:
Yeah, something about being a poor boy
Can't look bad on an assassin's resume, I suppose.
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It's an interesting question that many people don't actually answer to themselves.
"I love playing
So go on, tell us your favorite champion, and your honest opinion of whether or not your favorite is designed well or not.
Some choice questions to ask yourself would be;
Do this champion's abilities offer you multiple outlooks on how you can play the game?
Does this champion fit a variety of scenarios? If not, which scenarios do they actually fill?
Do I feel rewarded on a strategic level for playing this champion.
Be in depth, be honest.
I'll start with mine. I had to think a bit to think of which champion I enjoy playing the most. And honestly it isn't
However, why do I actually like playing
I enjoy his 'false' tankiness. It often takes people by surprise, or they will make ballsy plays to kill him only to drop his passive and not actually gain anything while using multiple resources like ultimates or summoner spells.
I simply like attacking fast, which
I love tower diving, which
So basically, I only like
I'm curious to see you all dissect your own favorite champs. :p