League of Legends

[t1mm01994]

Uhm, so yeah. First post in here, 1500ish games played, and just came in for one comment:

Oh. God. Spectator mode. *squee*

[eeris]

I still wish they'd spend a bit more time on making solo queue match making more enjoyable. A pause option and game abandonment if a player is afk for at least the first 5 minutes would be awesome.

[Windowlicker]

I'd be happier if they'd just fix all the bugs. It's been really, really fucked up since the last patch. I wonder what they changed?

Also - just played my first game as support soraka for a very long time. Eventually I got bored and started splitpushing.. at one point they sent Kass, Blitz and Corki after me, just after I took their bot inhib. So, what did I do? Why, I scored myself a triple kill, of course!

[t1mm01994]

There's separate teams for anything... I think the recent bugs were somehow related to the upcoming spectator mode. I want it now ):

[Windowlicker]

Yeah, the spectator mode looks pretty cool. I'm glad they added it in, it's one of the things in DotA2 that I felt would really fit in. Though, I think the DotA system lets you spectate any currently running game, rather than only friends/'featured' games. It kinda requires the friend/chat system to actually be working, as well..

I can only think of two other things that I'd like to see added, and they're both about the shop. One is keyboard shortcuts to the different sections of the shop, and the other is something like a 'favourites' section, letting you create a section of items you commonly go for. Or maybe a group of items - 1 button click to buy boots and 3 health pots at the start of the game, for example.

[Laserdan]

So after almost a year long hiatus, I came back to LoL and my dearest champ and all-time favorite Irelia feels shitty weak. My other favorite, Shen, feels super OP, I seemingly never lose a top lane with him and carried 11 games in a row with him. His damage, poking and sustain is ridiculous, plus global ult. I'm quite good at solo top because, well, I played almost exclusively Irelia in ranked and normal, but a nominally full tank doing this kind of damage and ridiculous lane control through completely safe poking and sustain... just wow.

[Lostdreams]

So after almost a year long hiatus, I came back to LoL and my dearest champ and all-time favorite Irelia feels shitty weak. My other favorite, Shen, feels super OP, I seemingly never lose a top lane with him and carried 11 games in a row with him. His damage, poking and sustain is ridiculous, plus global ult. I'm quite good at solo top because, well, I played almost exclusively Irelia in ranked and normal, but a nominally full tank doing this kind of damage and ridiculous lane control through completely safe poking and sustain... just wow.

He was nerfed a little last patch and buffed a lot the patch before that. He isn't as OP as some of the other champs in top lane but he is very solid up there.

I'd be happier if they'd just fix all the bugs. It's been really, really fucked up since the last patch. I wonder what they changed?

Also - just played my first game as support soraka for a very long time. Eventually I got bored and started splitpushing.. at one point they sent Kass, Blitz and Corki after me, just after I took their bot inhib. So, what did I do? Why, I scored myself a triple kill, of course!

Soraka has been hidden OP since the change to her infuse. She was strong mid vs any AP champ and top vs a whole bunch of people before the change but is ridiculous now. As long as the enemy jungle doesn't camp you early(or does and you play passive and farm), your sustain/harass outpaces just about everything.

[Drumheller769]

This weekend was not a good weekend for ranked, after having gotten myself up to 1493 from about 1430 I'm back down to 1415. Its depressing when you get games spread out across the whole weekend where in all but one of them, you never had a chance.

Also, I can't decide if I want to save the IP I am getting from my IP boost for Varrus, or get Shen and Karthus instead.

[eeris]

That's not that big a fall to be honest. I went from 1650~ down to 1515~ in the space of a week and have only just started working my way back up. I'm considering starting a spreadsheet with the details of each game and how they've been won/lost, lane match ups and the like.

Irelia has taken a number of nerfs recently, none of them seem particularly damaging on their own but they add up. And to be fair, she did use to be the queen of solo top. Now she's just been replaced by Shen and I always make sure he's banned whenever I'm in charge of the picks and bans.

[Lostdreams]

Also, I can't decide if I want to save the IP I am getting from my IP boost for Varrus, or get Shen and Karthus instead.

Shen/Karthus. <Insert champ name here> on release will be bugged, worthless or overpowered, either way the end result is that they will be unplayable. Play them free week after RIOT (hopefully) irons the bugs out and if you like them then buy them with the next round of IP.

[Drumheller769]

Yea, I also cant decide if I should get Cassiopia, I find that unless the Cass is really bad, at best I can turn the lane into a farm fest, worst I get rocked hard. So I figure why not play her, since I cant seem to counter her.

[Lostdreams]

Yeah, she has good range and a lot of control. Annie, Gragas and Kassadin(if he can get farm) will be a problem if played right but not much else. Annie's stunlock combo, Gragas' long range barrels and Kassadins silence burst combos will all work under tower but if you build health so they cant kill you in one burst, you can ult them under the tower and turn the tables.

[ProZac]

Also, I can't decide if I want to save the IP I am getting from my IP boost for Varrus, or get Shen and Karthus instead.

Shen/Karthus. <Insert champ name here> on release will be bugged, worthless or overpowered, either way the end result is that they will be unplayable. Play them free week after RIOT (hopefully) irons the bugs out and if you like them then buy them with the next round of IP.

Are you serious? What recent champ has this held for?

Yea, I also cant decide if I should get Cassiopia, I find that unless the Cass is really bad, at best I can turn the lane into a farm fest, worst I get rocked hard. So I figure why not play her, since I cant seem to counter her.

I would put Cass as one of those champs that can be difficult to learn to play well, but very rewarding to do so.

As a "how to improve my strategy" inquiry, what are 'good conditions' for doing dragon? Clearly if you've just killed bottom lane or won a teamfight, but is there a time you should get dragon when it may not be obvious? This comes from noticing that in high elo games, dragon's tend to go early, but at my level, they aren't contested much til late. It seems risky to engage frequently, so we don't, though we it's always 'contested'.

[t1mm01994]

@prozac: Said advice comes from a 1500 elo, so not too much. Think it's more due to mechanics than due to lack of vision. So, here goes:

In my opinion necessary requirements for dragon:
- a stealth ward/Oracle's elixir to clean out the enemy dragon ward
- The ability to pick a full-on fight, and win OR the ability to do dragon quickly enough that you can sneak dragon.

The first condition is fairly basic to check, so I won't really go into that.
The second condition can be achieved by several means though:
- Have more champions in place, or make it possible to have more champions in place at any time (Shen/Pantheon/Gangplank top/Teleport do the second)
- Have the opponent poked down to the point where they can't pick a fight anymore
- Have a stronger early-game team (Let's say.. Urgot + Ali + Shaco + LB + Shen should do the trick)
- Go at dragon when the opponents have recalled, or when their jungler shows up top.

Of these, the 4th is most likely, but warding is key. You can also "force" their jungler to go top by pushing top. If you ward well (tribush + bush near baron) you can safely overextend, and when the jungler comes in, stay far enough back that they can't kill you, but close enough that the jungler wants to wait it out. The jungler should be top, creating a 4v3 for your team at dragon. Get wriggles and/or Kog'Maw and/or a midlane that can do continuous damage, and all should be kay.

[Laserdan]

I was reported by the 4 man premade I unfortunately happened to be randomed to for taking the blue buff over mid Ezrael. As jungle WW at level 2. Then at lvl 14 (AD)Kennen and Ezrael almost died while trying to duo the golem.

I'm not a great player by any means, but man, I wouldn't have thought that it was possible for the LoL community to become even more ridiculously stupid during my time-out. It is seriously frustrating getting several teams in a row of the "double kill first blood for the enemy even before the creeps spawned"-class. And I found out the most frustrating part of jungling: the ganking. Why, you ask? A ridiculous number of people who call for ganks hold back their spells completely till the target is low enough so they get the kill. Which usually means the target gets away with ~5% HP.

I've come to the conclusion that simply ignoring any lane as a jungler that isn't completely falling apart, farming and farming and farming and then carry the game as an uber-fed champ.*

(Strictly solo games.)

Also, #1 of my features wishlist: a button or box to tick off having the effect that you only join random games which consist of completely random people. I'm sick and tired of a two-man team sporting a ridiculously stupid combo insisting on a certain lane no matter how bad it is for the team. I want an option to only participate in random games where all people are random.

[skeptical scientist]

In my opinion necessary requirements for dragon:
- a stealth ward/Oracle's elixir to clean out the enemy dragon ward
- The ability to pick a full-on fight, and win OR the ability to do dragon quickly enough that you can sneak dragon.

The pink ward/oracle is unnecessary, since it doesn't matter what the other team knows if they can't do anything about it (and that's what your second condition is all about). Relying on stealth is risky, since even if they don't have a ward on dragon itself, there's a good chance they can figure out that you're doing dragon by champion movements in places they can see. The only time you really want to make sure they can't see you is if you're worried about them stealing dragon with a long-range damage skill, like Lux's ult, or a tanky jungler with smite (who you can't cc).

What you really need, as you clarify later, is not the ability to win a full-on fight, but rather the ability to win a fight with whatever enemy champions are close enough to get there before you kill dragon and get away (always assuming, if you don't know where some enemy champion is, that it's close enough to be a threat).

* * *

I've been playing a lot of Lulu support lately, and really like her.

Lulu's shield feels very gimmicky to me and Whimsy should have a much stronger slow effect to make it worth using on an enemy instead of an ally.

Whimsy should generally always be used on an ally in a gank situation, and always used on an enemy in a teamfight situation (unless the teamfight is over, and the enemy team is trying to run). In a teamfight, it's best use is usually to stop an enemy champion who's going after your damage dealers, so they can do what they need to do unharassed.

Alternatively, if there's someone on the enemy team with a really annoying ult (like Morgana), it can sometimes be used to CC that champion long enough to kill them before they can get their ult off.

Thoughts on lulu as support after a few games.

1. Doesn't work too well against opponents with sustain.

I've had similar experiences

2. Her spells remain amazingly useful in late game. Don't think I really need to explain this in great detail. One thing I will say though, is that her ulti is likely to be more useful as an initiation tool on someone like Mao or Shyv and can cause havoc. I don't think it's so great to use on your carry unless it's as a last resort.

It's good on your carry if they have champions like Kassadin, Poppy, and Nocturne who can ignore your team and dash/teleport right at your carry. (Amusingly, if poppy targets your carry with diplomatic immunity, using your ult on the carry will still knock poppy in the air.) If you can protect your carry with good positioning and ccing people like Lee Sin, then you're generally better off using it as an initiation tool as you say.

[Drumheller769]

Another day, anther 3 ranked loses. Horray!

Why can't I seem to get a decent jungler on my team at all lately....enemy junglers have been so much more mobile and better at ganking

[skeptical scientist]

Why can't I seem to get a decent jungler on my team at all lately....enemy junglers have been so much more mobile and better at ganking

There's a natural solution to this problem...

[Drumheller769]

There is, ^^ Jungling also happens to be my worst role. I also only have a few decent junglers, and none of the ones who I feel really make a difference.

[eeris]

Another day, anther 3 ranked loses. Horray!

Same for me. I'm thinking it might just be best to cut my losses at 2, chances are that I'll now be in completely the wrong mind set for the 3rd game and a loss is just inevitable. I'm trying to be more philosophical about the whole thing now though.

Premades are definitely a problem, I rarely have good experiences of people that insist on going to the bot lane together. They tend to run aggressive lanes which almost always backfire and inevitably blame everyone else for their loss. Almost as annoying as duo-queuers are the people insist that they are in fact smurfs, and that we should give them the lane they prefer on the grounds that they will carry us to victory by their awesomeness. Hardly.

Spoilered for rantishness.

Spoiler:

My last game had 3 of these supposed smurfs who insisted on AD, jungling and middle lane. To be fair the AD player was pretty decent and we were marginally winning our lane. Until their jungler camped our lane, whilst ours mindlessly farmed ours (he didn't seem to be paying any particularl attention to the mid or top lane, he just seemed to be farming). Neither our mid laner or jungler warded the wraith entrance (we were the blue team) which allowed lee sin and ahri to gank our lane with ease, whilst our mid neither called SS or followed ahri down.

[Drumheller769]

Yea, I dont mind if a jungler farms a lot, but at some point they need to come out of the jungle and make a difference, before its too late. I know if im supporting and bot is having trouble, I will try to fall behind on other items to keep up pink wards or oracles to make sure bot lane is gankable, but sometimes it just doesnt matter because your jungler has waited too long.

[omgryebread]

I usually jungle on Shyvana, so when I stop farming and gank it's generally along the lines of "force them to lose CS" until level 6, and then it's still not great, especially top and mid where there's always escapes top or a painfully short lane. That can still be useful for a lane to get ahead or come from behind a bit.

That being said, there's points, on any jungler, at which I'll just /ignore a lane that's begging for ganks and keep farming. If you fed Riven and she's 4/0, I'm not going to go in and get myself killed. If I gank for you once, get them low, and instead of taking all that free CS, you tower dive and die, I'm a lot more reluctant to gank next time. At some point it just seems like you aren't going to be a serious contribution any time soon, and it's more useful for me to get farm and to help other lanes. The worst is when people expect me to camp their lane and the enemy jungle gets one of my buffs.

I don't like playing jungle much.

[ProZac]

The first condition is fairly basic to check, so I won't really go into that.
The second condition can be achieved by several means though:
- Have more champions in place, or make it possible to have more champions in place at any time (Shen/Pantheon/Gangplank top/Teleport do the second)
- Have the opponent poked down to the point where they can't pick a fight anymore
- Have a stronger early-game team (Let's say.. Urgot + Ali + Shaco + LB + Shen should do the trick)
- Go at dragon when the opponents have recalled, or when their jungler shows up top.

I think it's possibly that I tend to be more cautious than need be, and don't watch enemy positions to get dragon. Really the only time I consider getting the team to do it is when the enemy has no chance of even showing up.

I'll be different and say "I'm on a 3 ranked win streak!" Granted, I rarely play ranked, but it's nice either way. I'm starting to realize solo queue is more about an individual's ability to carry than ability to work with a team, and it's helping me win more. When I first picked up Nautilus, I was winning like 80% of my games with him. In ranked, I've played 4 and lost 3 of them, as he gets shut down too easy. I'm also starting to think the easiest way to win is to shut down the enemy jungler.

[eeris]

I usually jungle on Shyvana, so when I stop farming and gank it's generally along the lines of "force them to lose CS" until level 6, and then it's still not great, especially top and mid where there's always escapes top or a painfully short lane. That can still be useful for a lane to get ahead or come from behind a bit.

It really helps shyvana's ganks if you've got laners who can force the enemy to flash / have hard CC / high burst. Always run exhaust as well, you really need that slow. I hate jungling too, not so much because of the rage from teammates or the role itself so much as I hate playing melee champs that are expected to initiate. I always muck one up from being over eager and if you lose one team fight everyones morale just plummits.

[Windowlicker]

I'm never sure about junglers like Shyvana and Lee Sin in solo queue, since they don't have any hard cc (ultis aside). I think in a proper team you can factor this in, and have as many reliable stuns/slows as you can in lane, but with a bunch of strangers it's unlikely to happen. In general if I'm forced to play jungle I'll go Maokai, as he can clear pretty fast and has a strong gank in almost any team comp.

[eeris]

I think you can still do very well with either of them, you just have to adapt your style of play more and focus more on denying the enemy jungler / counter ganking rather than expecting your teammates to set up kills. Lee Sin in particular is very effective at punishing people with bad positioning as he can appear from just about anywhere and all it takes is some form of stun / disable and its an easy kill. I tend to prefer Shyvana just because it's really hard to catch up with Lee Sin if you don't have a great start.

[Windowlicker]

I think you can still do very well with either of them, you just have to adapt your style of play more and focus more on denying the enemy jungler / counter ganking rather than expecting your teammates to set up kills. Lee Sin in particular is very effective at punishing people with bad positioning as he can appear from just about anywhere and all it takes is some form of stun / disable and its an easy kill. I tend to prefer Shyvana just because it's really hard to catch up with Lee Sin if you don't have a great start.

Bolded the relevant part. I'm not suggesting they're either bad junglers, just that if I have to choose I'll go with Rammus or Mao so that I don't have to rely on the idiots I'm teamed with to keep a bitch away from their tower. Also on that note, tanky (/tankier) junglers give for easier diving.

[Laserdan]

I generally jungle with WW or Alistar; both are not on the fastest side of jungling but have hard CCs and are relatively safe junglers. And diving from level 6 on with Alistar is easy as pie thanks to his ult.

That being sad, I like jungling (I generally prefer melees, just as in World of Warcraft), but agree with omgryebread. And if you're autoattacking all the time in lane, pushing it to no end, the chances that I will come ganking are very, very slim. I understand that not everybody started in dota where last hitting /denying gave you a much bigger advantage over an autoattacker to the point that autoattacking leads to 10:1 ratios of CS, but it's really not hard if you know the ground rules of last hitting.

[ProZac]

Rammus is not an option in ranked solo queue though, at least I've found. I've played him thrice, and made the other team sorry for not banning him each time. Winning the jungle doesn't have to be done only through ganks either. I've recently had success in being 'not afraid of the enemy jungler'. Works great on champs like Shyvana. I've had a Lee Sin do it to me very effectively... stupid Lee Sin... really wish I was more effective with him.

I hate jungling too, not so much because of the rage from teammates or the role itself so much as I hate playing melee champs that are expected to initiate. I always muck one up from being over eager and if you lose one team fight everyones morale just plummits.

Funny, I love jungling because it's generally the role that gets to decide when to fight. Even when not jungling, I prefer Ashe as an AD carry as her ult still lets me make that call. I really need to try Leona as a support (b/c I'm a bad Alistar).

[eeris]

The problem is I've always taken the "sniper" role in games, or positions where I can outmaneuver the opposition. I never really feel confident that I'm going to be backed up by my teammates either.

[Laserdan]

I really need to try Leona as a support (b/c I'm a bad Alistar).

Do it! I love Leona, and people heavily underestimate her. On early levels, her full combo does quite a bit of damage, and if you got a carry with you that attacks or casts spells (or a combo thereof) reasonably fast, her passive is strong. Plus you can dive really early. If you're good at aiming into fog of war, you can snipe with her ult like a boss, especially because it has ridiculous range. Overall with her I have a 8:1 K/D ratio (I try to give the kills to the carry but it often happens otherwise because when I dive for example, many randoms don't get that I intentionally take tower aggro so they could freely act).

You need to have good ping and reaction time with her, though, and a very good sense of movement speed. Two skillshots (one with awkward aiming), a positional skill and a stun that activates on-hit require that. In ranked it's a lot harder though - people generally know somewhat what to expect (surprise factor is huge with Leona) so kills/assists go down; she has no farming potential - her exploding shield does nice damage, but early game it only pushes the lane and she is very item-dependant because she needs a bit of mana, movement speed (because all of your skills are heavily position-reliant), and I personally use CDR blues and a bit of CDR items because you can control teamfights very effectively with it; without it, you're a one-combo-wonder.

And last but not least, she has one of the best looking models in-game imho.

One caveat: if you dislike Alistar, Leona may not be that much for you; they have very similar roles (tanky support with heavy disruptive power), and Leona is even more in need of positional awareness than Alistar - though you can't ruin a fight the same way a bad Alistar can (saving enemies by an... "unsophisticated" headbutt, in worst cases not even executing the headbutt/pulverize combo correctly when called for).

I would play her much more often, but sadly, in general Soraka (or Sona or Taric) works better because Soraka irons out carry-stupidity through ridiculous buffs, heals and a strong silence and by being a mana fountain.

[omgryebread]

I would play her much more often, but sadly, in general Soraka (or Sona or Taric) works better because Soraka irons out carry-stupidity through ridiculous buffs, heals and a strong silence and by being a mana fountain.

Soraka did get nerfed some. Leona has an advantage over Soraka and Sona with her ability to be insanely aggressive early. W->E->proc W->Q is really strong as soon as you hit level 3, if you're not up against a lane that can kill you. It's obviously suicide against a lane that has Ali or Blitz on support, or even a good Janna or Lulu.

Taric is Taric. With Leona you'll be reduced to derping around throwing the occasional R late game unless your lane wins hard and you get some assists. Though if your kill lane works out and you get fed, Leona is still useful if she can get some items like Frozen Heart to be tankier. Taric seems kind of incapable of being successful late game.

[Lostdreams]

Also, I can't decide if I want to save the IP I am getting from my IP boost for Varrus, or get Shen and Karthus instead.

Shen/Karthus. <Insert champ name here> on release will be bugged, worthless or overpowered, either way the end result is that they will be unplayable. Play them free week after RIOT (hopefully) irons the bugs out and if you like them then buy them with the next round of IP.

Are you serious? What recent champ has this held for?

WuKong: Bugged
Yorick: Banned even while bugged

Shyvana: Underpowered
Viktor: Underpowered
Riven: Bugged (still bugged)
Lulu: Banned
Vayne: I "think" she was ok
Xerath: Underpowered
Fiora: Bugged ult
Volibear: Banned, if I recall correctly
Ahri: Banned
Talon: Underpowered
Leona: Advertised as a tank and played as a tank was/is underpowered, relegated to support
Skarner: Bugged and Banned
Ziggs: Played a lot the first 2 weeks and now no one plays him. I'm not sure if he's underpowered or he just doesn't fit right
Sejuani: Underpowered


Shen: He wasn't new but the "new Shen" rework left him banned
Jax: He wasn't new but the "new Jax" rework left him useless

[ProZac]

One caveat: if you dislike Alistar, Leona may not be that much for you; they have very similar roles (tanky support with heavy disruptive power), and Leona is even more in need of positional awareness than Alistar - though you can't ruin a fight the same way a bad Alistar can (saving enemies by an... "unsophisticated" headbutt, in worst cases not even executing the headbutt/pulverize combo correctly when called for).

I used to always support with Soraka, but realized my win rate wasn't that great with her and I couldn't do anything to 'win' the lane with her. More recently, I've taken to Nunu as a support and like the more aggressive/harass style. One of the main reasons I hate Alistar is because of the headbutt/pulv combo. If you can't pull off the 'malphite ult' reliably, people don't want you playing Alistar. I'm convinced that the abilities shouldn't even be able to interact like that, but eh, whatever.

WuKong: Bugged
Yorick: Banned even while bugged
Shyvana: Underpowered
Viktor: Underpowered
Riven: Bugged (still bugged)
Lulu: Banned
Vayne: I "think" she was ok
Xerath: Underpowered
Fiora: Bugged ult
Volibear: Banned, if I recall correctly
Ahri: Banned
Talon: Underpowered
Leona: Advertised as a tank and played as a tank was/is underpowered, relegated to support
Skarner: Bugged and Banned
Ziggs: Played a lot the first 2 weeks and now no one plays him. I'm not sure if he's underpowered or he just doesn't fit right
Sejuani: Underpowered
Shen: He wasn't new but the "new Shen" rework left him banned
Jax: He wasn't new but the "new Jax" rework left him useless

This is just delightfully cute! Outside of Yorick (who was the 'new release' when I started playing), I can't tell you how any of those champs are 'bugged'. But apparently they're unplayable. I should tel all those people I see playing them. I'm also amused that anyone who isn't OP is 'Underpowered'? Xerath? Really? That's why he got nerfed slightly since release. He may not be one of the best mages, but he's from from 'underpowered'. Volibear? Banned? Not even close. Speaking of banned, apparently 'banned sometimes', means they're overpowered? I haven't seen Skarner banned in ages. I've never seen a Lulu ban, but eh, I won't question it, as I could see it. Have you ever actually played Leona as a tank? If she builds for tank, she becomes nigh unkillable, but since she really can't 'win' a lane on her own, she's relegated to support. Also because she tends to do fine without farm (farm can be better used on someone else). However, my FAVORITE part of this list is Shyvana: Underpowered. As a "release day Shyvana" player, I'd LOVE to hear how Shyvana, who has undergone 1 change since her release that was a NERF, is underpowered. Let's not forget how she's seen play in nearly every tournament since her release. Personally, while I've nothing to back it up, I believe Viktor is in the same boat. He's fine, but people haven't seen him put to good use yet. No one knew how to use him on release, didn't do well with him, so he was deemed useless and not played.

[Laserdan]

I would play her much more often, but sadly, in general Soraka (or Sona or Taric) works better because Soraka irons out carry-stupidity through ridiculous buffs, heals and a strong silence and by being a mana fountain.

Soraka did get nerfed some. Leona has an advantage over Soraka and Sona with her ability to be insanely aggressive early. W->E->proc W->Q is really strong as soon as you hit level 3, if you're not up against a lane that can kill you. It's obviously suicide against a lane that has Ali or Blitz on support, or even a good Janna or Lulu.

Taric is Taric. With Leona you'll be reduced to derping around throwing the occasional R late game unless your lane wins hard and you get some assists. Though if your kill lane works out and you get fed, Leona is still useful if she can get some items like Frozen Heart to be tankier. Taric seems kind of incapable of being successful late game.

The nerf didn't hit Soraka very hard, and she has still ridiculous heal power. You can actually even go mid with her, as seen in the IP4 Tournament, with dignitas vs. mm. The thing with Leona is, Alistar can do pretty much the same stuff, but is tankier and has a very low cd heal and can, if needed, reposition the enemy to protect your carry. In the current meta, Leona just doesn't work against a good team because she needs farm to be of any use, while the classic supports sometimes get 1 or 2 CS the whole game and are still effective - meaning, you've got some superfarmed carry that decides the game.

As much as I love Leona, she is just completely outclassed by Alistar who does everything better (but sniping), even in the jungle.

And I'm sorry to say it but Lostdream's list is simply ridiculous. Most of the "bugged" champs are regularly played at the highest levels of LoL. Especially Shyvana - have you seen her at IP4, played by Saintvicious?!

Viktor does great damage in and of himself; it's just that the two probably most played mid lane APs at the moment (LeBlanc and Anivia; and Morgana if is she isn't banned) counter him hard - he needs to come really close to CC effectively; LeBlanc can nuke him in her combo and Anivia will first control him away and then just push the creeps to the tower, leaving him pretty much no farm. Great damage you can find on many champs, what you want additionally is great safety.

[Lostdreams]

One caveat: if you dislike Alistar, Leona may not be that much for you; they have very similar roles (tanky support with heavy disruptive power), and Leona is even more in need of positional awareness than Alistar - though you can't ruin a fight the same way a bad Alistar can (saving enemies by an... "unsophisticated" headbutt, in worst cases not even executing the headbutt/pulverize combo correctly when called for).

I used to always support with Soraka, but realized my win rate wasn't that great with her and I couldn't do anything to 'win' the lane with her. More recently, I've taken to Nunu as a support and like the more aggressive/harass style. One of the main reasons I hate Alistar is because of the headbutt/pulv combo. If you can't pull off the 'malphite ult' reliably, people don't want you playing Alistar. I'm convinced that the abilities shouldn't even be able to interact like that, but eh, whatever.

WuKong: Bugged
Yorick: Banned even while bugged
Shyvana: Underpowered
Viktor: Underpowered
Riven: Bugged (still bugged)
Lulu: Banned
Vayne: I "think" she was ok
Xerath: Underpowered
Fiora: Bugged ult
Volibear: Banned, if I recall correctly
Ahri: Banned
Talon: Underpowered
Leona: Advertised as a tank and played as a tank was/is underpowered, relegated to support
Skarner: Bugged and Banned
Ziggs: Played a lot the first 2 weeks and now no one plays him. I'm not sure if he's underpowered or he just doesn't fit right
Sejuani: Underpowered
Shen: He wasn't new but the "new Shen" rework left him banned
Jax: He wasn't new but the "new Jax" rework left him useless

This is just delightfully cute! Outside of Yorick (who was the 'new release' when I started playing), I can't tell you how any of those champs are 'bugged'. But apparently they're unplayable. I should tel all those people I see playing them. I'm also amused that anyone who isn't OP is 'Underpowered'? Xerath? Really? That's why he got nerfed slightly since release. He may not be one of the best mages, but he's from from 'underpowered'. Volibear? Banned? Not even close. Speaking of banned, apparently 'banned sometimes', means they're overpowered? I haven't seen Skarner banned in ages. I've never seen a Lulu ban, but eh, I won't question it, as I could see it. Have you ever actually played Leona as a tank? If she builds for tank, she becomes nigh unkillable, but since she really can't 'win' a lane on her own, she's relegated to support. Also because she tends to do fine without farm (farm can be better used on someone else). However, my FAVORITE part of this list is Shyvana: Underpowered. As a "release day Shyvana" player, I'd LOVE to hear how Shyvana, who has undergone 1 change since her release that was a NERF, is underpowered. Let's not forget how she's seen play in nearly every tournament since her release. Personally, while I've nothing to back it up, I believe Viktor is in the same boat. He's fine, but people haven't seen him put to good use yet. No one knew how to use him on release, didn't do well with him, so he was deemed useless and not played.

You might have missed the context of my first quote since I didn't include it. This list is the state of the champ for the first week upon release when there are still plenty of bugs and the champs aren't "balanced" yet. (not that they are ever perfect) I am not talking about the champs now, except for Riven whose Q? is still bugged. If you spam it, it can refresh after the third hit sometimes.

Leona as a tank? If she builds for tank, she becomes nigh unkillable, but since she really can't 'win' a lane on her own, she's relegated to support.

She not only can't win a lane, she gets shutdown hard.

Shyvana I may be misremembering but I'm pretty sure burnout got a buff? That and at release people didn't know what to do with her so she was naturally underpowered as a result.

Admittedly, I do need to look over some patch notes for citations.

[Laserdan]

I also really hope they dramatically up the sanctions for certain behavior and people should lose their account to a perma ban much quicker when they do certain things more than like 3 times.
For example, so many people are announcing they are feeding intentionally now or that they won't attack the enemy team anymore. For that, there's "surrender". But intentionally ruining the game for 4 other people should be a x day ban on first offence if it's obvious (chat etc.).

Another option I'd really like is kind of a box in the after-game-screen that you can tick on so you will never again get this player on your team; I'd be glad to accept longer waiting times to never again get certain people on my team.

I'm actually not even raging anymore, just disappointed at the loss of a small part of lifetime because some jerk thinks he's invulnerable.

[omgryebread]

I also really hope they dramatically up the sanctions for certain behavior and people should lose their account to a perma ban much quicker when they do certain things more than like 3 times.
For example, so many people are announcing they are feeding intentionally now or that they won't attack the enemy team anymore. For that, there's "surrender". But intentionally ruining the game for 4 other people should be a x day ban on first offence if it's obvious (chat etc.).

Another option I'd really like is kind of a box in the after-game-screen that you can tick on so you will never again get this player on your team; I'd be glad to accept longer waiting times to never again get certain people on my team.

I'm actually not even raging anymore, just disappointed at the loss of a small part of lifetime because some jerk thinks he's invulnerable.

The first one probably would mean less automation, more work for Riot.

The second would skew matchmaking towards people who've been around longer. Given two players, equal in skill, they should be equally likely to win. If they could reject teaming with some people, the one who's been around longer to hit that button on people would be more likely to win any match, because he's going to have less of a chance of getting feeders. His ELO will rise as a result. To add some complications, it's feasible that that will inflate his ELO to the point where he's beyond his skill level. Now he feeds, gets rejected by his teammates. Now he's causing them to inflate up as well, since newer people who are at that higher ELO level have to end up with him on their team. And so on.

[Laserdan]

The first one would be a huge quality of life change though, and while where at it, they could stop that stupid randoming a champion for people who are AFK in the selection screen. Once I got a Soraka and Taric in my team because of this.

Yeah, didn't think the second one through obviously; I didn't actually have ELO or bad players in mind, but people who you don't want to play with again due to i.e. spamming, obnoxious behaviour / insulting etc. How about if you tick that box, you won't get that player on your team, and neither in the enemy team (hence, if you do this often enough you will be more likely playing against better players)?

[Windowlicker]

I think I saw someone once say that if you reported someone for being an "unskilled player," it would be less likely to match you with them in the future. I can't imagine what else that option would do (since it doesn't go to tribunal), but I also have no evidence to support that.

About the increasing ELO: if it works like that, won't it just inflate the ELO of everyone, and spacing will eventually sort itself out? Granted it would take longer for a new player to settle into their correct position, but I can see it not going horribly wrong.