League of Legends General Discussion Thread

[VoiceOfUnreason]

I'm expecting to concentrate on playing support during season 3.

But recent solo queue games are warning me that I shouldn't assume that I'm going to get the support role in every game.

Given my available time, I expect that one rotation of backup champions will take about two weeks (assuming one game per champion in each rotation). Given that, I don't expect I have any business adopting champions with a high skill cap, and I'd like to avoid champions that are likely to be banned.

What champions would be good choices to add to my rotation, in each role?

[spellman]

I've had success with Zyra operating as my backup for Mid and also acting as an excellent support. Doesn't scale quite as nicely as some other APs, but provides tons of utility. So she doesn't have to "win" her lane, just not let the opponent snowball recklessly. Plus her hardest part is timing everything, which you learn using her as Support. I've seen Lulu work in Mid as well.

For jungle Nunu is my usual default. Very safe clear, decent ganks, steroid got nerfed a bunch though. Not an ideal pick. I've also played around with Jungle Taric. Works surprisingly well, but not god tier jungle. If you want to get another champ exclusivley for jungle, picking up Garen for jungle/top can work out. Cho is also very good for both positions, but people tend to ban Cho in SoloQ for some reason whenever I'm stuck not-support. Jarven for Top/Jungle is also solid.

For AD I switch between Corki and Trist. Both have an escape, good output, and wave clear power. Plus they're pretty dead easy to play decently, and never get banned. They're not top tier unlike MF/Ez/Cait.


Take all of this with heavy salt. I'm currently ranked in Silver and am failing at carrying myself out. And I mostly just buy cheap champs.

[Deceptus]

I'd say that just about all champions in this game are viable so you could just play whatever you feel like feels awesome. I used to main jungle but then I realized that it's stupid to play every jungle champion in the game simultaneously and be unable to really carry with 1-2 of them, so I restrict myself to Udyr and Nocturne, and Udyr isn't even a popular pick, I just like to slap people and it works because you are strong at dueling, clearing and having a beard.

For support, again, just play favorites, even Volibear if that's your call. Otherwise, Taric is still the support-that-fits-every-team-comp but PBE nerfs are coming to screw over his jungle potential which might kill some of his support power. Otherwise, Lulu will poke you out of lane all day long, Zyra will either poke you out or just straight up 100-0 you, Alistar or Leona will grant you presence in the lane, dude. I know a guy who consistently gets to Diamond with Janna because he played only her since season 1, and Janna isn't popular anymore. Thresh and to a lesser extent Blitzcrank are extremely game-changing if you are willing to learn how to throw skillshots.

For ADC, Ezreal took a hit because he's supermobile but his scaling is kinda meh and the nerfs didn't help; I'd say Caitlyn is a safe pick since she's stupidly good at laning and then after mid game slump you're powerful late again. Graves should be okay as usual.

For APC, just pick something that can roam and is bursty. Even "unviable" stuff like Malzabro or Annie works. Twisted Fate as well.

For top lane, most jungle picks will be viable; I play Udyr there myself, but if you don't really have any top lane you like playing, just go for Renekton baby, he's mobile and pretty capable.

Basically I myself would restrict to like, 1-2 champions per role, so for me it'd be like
Jungle: Udyr, Nocturne
Support: Alistar, Lulu (wish Janna was more viable though QQ, I only don't play her cause my tournament ADC hates me playing her)
ADC: Ezreal
APC: Twisted Fate (lol I suck at him just a bit less than at other APs)
Top: Udyr
Guilty Gear XX: Bridget 4 lyfe

[v8mark]

Seyruun - Janna's fine. I play her a lot (she's my go-to peel/protect support) and am 6-1 with her in ranked. Her overall win rate is pretty high as well (something like 53-54% from what I remember)

For the topic at hand, I agree that Caitlyn is by far the easiest ADC to be reasonably effective with. She's also hella boring, which is why I barely play her Ashe has plenty of utility but is pretty hard to play well, as it requires kiting and attack-moving. Tristana is fun (and strong at the moment) but she has some quirks which take some getting used to, so I wouldn't recommend playing her.

I don't think Ezreal's a good pick for a non-regular ADC player... he has some mechanics and playstyle things which are Ezreal-specific, and he's not that strong any more since the barrage of nerfs.

For mid, Annie's a solid pick at anything silver and below, where people do stupid shit like move towards you at half health when you have Tibbers and stun up.

For top, Jax is really simple to learn, although I don't know how strong he is any more. Garen and Darius are both very easy to pick up and pretty ok at silver and below.

I'm not going to pretend to be a jungle expert in any way, shape or form...

[VoiceOfUnreason]

I'd say that just about all champions in this game are viable ...

Yup, I'm just not sure that viable is the right selection criteria (please note, I'm groping for the right ideas, in addition to finding the champions that fit them).

For instance, I've been considering Singed as an option for top lane. For one thing, he offers a global silence on the "we need a tank" whining that I hear in low ELO. He's really hard to kill, doesn't require any clever skill shots, isn't too dependent on coordinating with the rest of the team (I'm expecting to land in Bronze, after all). Running off on his own to counter attack in a side lane is available as an option.

If you get a sense that I'm more looking for a champ to not lose with, rather than a champ to win with... I'm not sure that's wrong.

Hmm - maybe Teemo?

I like the idea of using the same champs top as for jungle -- twice as many chances to practice.


Mid, I've primarily been reaching for Morgana (camp under tower and farm), and Lux (not a great fit for my original criteria because of the skill shots, but I've got some experience with her). Maybe Ryze? Karthus? Honestly, I'm not too worried about being "forced" to mid.

ADC: Caitlyn (range) and Graves (tanky). Not sure why I haven't reached for Corki or MF as often. Agree with the assessment that EZ is a bit too different for casual use.

Support: well, I'm maining here, so I've got to think about a wider spread anyway. My thinking for somebody maining a different role would be Taric/Sona/Soraka.

[v8mark]

For instance, I've been considering Singed as an option for top lane. For one thing, he offers a global silence on the "we need a tank" whining that I hear in low ELO. He's really hard to kill, doesn't require any clever skill shots, isn't too dependent on coordinating with the rest of the team (I'm expecting to land in Bronze, after all). Running off on his own to counter attack in a side lane is available as an option.

Yup, Singed is a good choice. He's not very strong early, but once you get some levels and a couple of items he's a huge pain to deal with. Beware of splitpushing as a strategy at low Elo though... your team WILL fight 4v5, and they WILL die. (Run TP at the very least, I think.)

Mid, I've primarily been reaching for Morgana (camp under tower and farm), and Lux (not a great fit for my original criteria because of the skill shots, but I've got some experience with her). Maybe Ryze? Karthus? Honestly, I'm not too worried about being "forced" to mid.

All of those are fine -- all strong farmers with easy mechanics (but limited big-play potential). Annie's similar, and is better than people think.

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[spellman]

Oh, right, I just picked up Morg. SHE'S SO FUN

Haven't taken her out on a real Ranked game yet though.

Singed is excellent for your criteria. Plus he can jungle. But as v8makr pointed out, take TP if you're going to split push. Idiots will be idiots and try to 2v5 the enemy team sometimes. Under the enemy tower. I kid you not. *rage*

Fighting competent mids I shy away from Ryze. He has great kill potential, but you HAVE to master his combo, and the relatively short range puts you in serious danger against some of the other popular mid laners.

[Sir Bruce]

The most important thing is that you like playing the champs you choose. Unless it's something really underpowered like Karma you'll do better if you're comfortable and having fun than trying to do the OP thing. (and Karma's probably okay too )

Here's a quick list of my suggestions:
Top: Singed
Mid: Ryze/Annie
Jungle: Nocturne/Hecarim
AD: Caitlyn/Graves

All of these champs can carry games and are mostly point and click and they build tanky enough (except the ADs) so that you can 1v3 or whatever if you get fed early.

One other slightly less conventional pick that I think is fantastic for silver level is Sion mid. He is low-skill cap ez mode for silver imo. Point and click stun plus wave clear plus shield tankiness plus 100-0 roam potential.

[Sir Bruce]

Doubleposting to say that I think Morgana is a not a good champ at all for climbing silver levels unless you are very proficient at landing dark bindings. Morgana is a skill-shot reliant champ and playing her as a farm-under-tower-bot is a good way to let other lanes lose and get your jungle stolen. Effective Morgana's push-and-roam and hit their skillshots when they roam. Landing good black shields is high skill cap too. Her win rate hovers at 46-48% in silver. Imo I'd rather have an Annie on my team. Or if you love skill-shots I'd try Lux (safe farmer) or Ahri (better roamer/bigger playmaker).

That being said, if you love playing Morgana and her skill set clicks for you, then go for it! Anything is viable.

[spellman]

For some reason I'm surprisingly competent at skill shots. No idea why...

And then I totally fubar them to initiate the teamfight.