Pop-Up Advertisement Appearing on Nerfplz

January 24, 2014, 4:54 am

≫ Next: Big Miss Fortune Changes Coming Up!

≪ Previous: Lunar Diana Preview Released!

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Edit: Resolved! Thanks to the people who helped test :)

The Issue 

After posting up the Lee Sin video clip a few days ago, I received several complaints about a pop-up ad appearing on the site, similar to the one below.

Now, I hate pop-up ads as much as the next person, and I definitely don't recommend that you click on something like this by any means. If you did, please check your list of phone apps to see if there are any unusual apps on your phone that you weren't expecting. (Generally clicking on an advertisement like this just leads to the app store.)

Most of the time it's actually just an app maker with a subpar app trying to push to get it out to more people. Or just an app trying to get it out to more people (I see Candy Crush use ads like this all the time).

Thanks for the picture Steph

Resolving the Problem 

I think I've likely resolved the issue by migrating off the international advertisements from one of the providers, but please let me know if any of you are still getting adverts like this, as I never intend on putting anything of the sort on the site...

A screenshot of the advertisement along with any other information you think it useful would be appreciated! 

Anyway, thanks for visiting and I apologize for any inconvenience that they caused.

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Big Miss Fortune Changes Coming Up!

January 25, 2014, 8:02 am

≫ Next: Warring Kingdoms Tryndamere Skin Preview

≪ Previous: Pop-Up Advertisement Appearing on Nerfplz

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The latest champion to be targeted by a major overhaul is Miss Fortune, everyone's favorite ult bot with no escape. Check out ricklessabandon and company's plan on modifying our heroine!

RicklessAbadon says:

i'll probably finish her up over the weekend (i'll have lol on my mind all weekend thanks to the ogn finals starting in less than an hour). sadly, no one will get to play with her over the weekend, but i can at least post some numbers to sate your curiosity during the interim.

caveats:

• miss fortune changes aren't expected to ship live with 4.2, so these changes will have plenty of time for iteration while on the pbe (i.e., no rush on these)
• the list i'm going to type out is of course subject to change before hitting the pbe, and will still be subject to change for the entire time it is on the pbe (i.e., don't get attached to anything or panic about anything)
• i just recently woke up from sleeping, like, almost a full day. i'm still kind of groggy, so please forgive any typos and anything else that might be erroneous—i'll correct as needed :3

Quote:

Miss Fortune

• Double Up
  • Mana Cost reduced to 55 (from 70/75/80/85/90)
  • Cooldown changed to 7/6/5/4/3 (from 9/8/7/6/5)
  • Damage to 1st target changed to 110% AD (from 25/60/95/130/165 +75% AD)
  • Damage to 2nd target changed to 120/130/140/150/160% AD (from 30/72/114/156/198 +90% AD)
  • Criteria for 2nd target selection reworked*
• Impure Shots
  • Mana Cost reduced to 30 (from 50)
  • Cooldown changed to 15/14/13/12/11 (from 16)
  • Passive's damage changed to 6% AD per stack (from 4/6/8/10/12 damage per stack)
  • Active's Attack Speed buff changed to 20/30/40/50/60% (from 30/35/40/45/50%)
  • Grievous Wounds duration reduced to 2 (from 3)
• Bullet Time
  • Damage reduced to 45/75/105 (from 65/95/125)
  • Bonus AD ratio reduced to 30% (from 35%)
  • Now applies stacks of Impure Shots (does include bonus magic damage; does not include Grievous Wounds)

*This will be a fairly significant change—details will accompany the PBE post.

so, yeah, there's some info to digest for a bit. i probably won't get too deep into discussion until she's playable, but that's where i want to start with her.

Source

SSJSuntastic Says:

Seems like they aren't really changing the actual champion much, but a lot of her early game power is being shifted more towards her late game. The fact that her bullet time now applies stacks of Impure Shots sounds pretty OP, 

What do you guys think? Comment below!

Warring Kingdoms Tryndamere Skin Preview

January 27, 2014, 4:45 pm

≫ Next: January FOTM Report: Yasuo, Leblanc, Vi, Gragas, Elise

≪ Previous: Big Miss Fortune Changes Coming Up!

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Check out the third final of the Lunar Revel skins set for 2014 - Warring Kingdoms Tryndamere!

Warring Kingdoms Tryndamere battles on

BY PABRO

Warring Kingdoms Tryndamere blazes the path of power, and the most haunting tales of the conflict are stained by the blood of his enemies.

One story tells of his single-handed defense against an ambush on a narrow bridge. Green and gold armor aflame, rage fueled his rampage through the opposing ranks. Word spread from those lucky enough to survive, it's not the edge of his blade that kills you; it's the weight of the dragon riding it. 

Crash through the front lines as Warring Kingdoms Tryndamere for 975 RP, available only during Lunar Revel.

January FOTM Report: Yasuo, Leblanc, Vi, Gragas, Elise

January 28, 2014, 5:13 am

≫ Next: How to Get Lunar Revel Icons

≪ Previous: Warring Kingdoms Tryndamere Skin Preview

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Good morning everyone! Noticed I wasn't producing any particularly unique content lately, half due to laziness half due to "dat ranked grind". Well I'm not challenger *yet* but let's talk FOTM!

A lot of the meta is shifting more towards the middle of the map, since most of the overwhelming AD carries were nerfed and top lane's pretty stagnant. Junglers are also starting to make a higher impact on the game as well, especially those that synergize with mid laners that can carry a game.

Vi/Yasuo:

I figured I'd put these two together simply because their synergy is OUTRAGEOUS. If you haven't realized already, Yasuo's buffs this patch( coupled with the fact that more people are simply better at playing him than before) have really jetted him to the top of the pick/ban/win rate ladder. At the moment, Yasuo IS the new Kassadin.

Meanwhile, with Vi's inescapable ultimate, any game with a Yasuo and Vi on the same team means extreme pain for just about any mid laner.

As for Vi on her own, it STILL means extreme pain for most mid laners.

Leblanc

I see a lot of people asking for Leblanc to be moved up to balanced or higher in the tier list. While Leblanc certainly has the ability to snowball and carry a game, a friend of mine says it well:

"If you don't die in lane to Leblanc, we've already won"

Although her ability to kill in lane is high, as long as you play safely mid lane and wait for your jungler to come, Leblanc simply doesn't have the waveclear to keep up with a lot of popular champions at the moment, which severely limits her farming and roaming potential.

Naturally, there are plenty of people at high levels who are amazing at Leblanc, and I'm sure I'll be getting plenty more feedback on how she should be god tier. As I love watching the videos, feel free to send them my way!

Gragas 

With squishy, high damage champions like Yasuo and Leblanc gaining power, along with the fact that Draven's back in play, it's no wonder that with his damage mitigation and attack speed reduction power Gragas has quickly come back onto the scene. Although his skill cap is somewhat higher than most other champions, he currently offers more than enough damage to compensate for the discrepancy.

Meanwhile, if he actually DOES manage to hit everything consistently, there's always the possibility of him instantly killing 2 members of your team and severely hurting the rest all by himself in a single combo.

Elise

Repeated nerfs to other junglers have allowed Elise to progressively get stronger and stronger. This, coupled with the fact that the game keeps shifting to earlier and earlier game champions, has empowered her the ability to snowball a team ferociously hard. Although she's still squishy early on, the damage she puts out is more than enough to send most opponents packing rather than fighting.

Got more champions you'd like some information on? Comment below!

How to Get Lunar Revel Icons

January 29, 2014, 5:24 am

≫ Next: Top Team Comps #37: Yasuo's Fantasy Comp

≪ Previous: January FOTM Report: Yasuo, Leblanc, Vi, Gragas, Elise

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The Lunar Revel is upon us, packed with new skins, wards, and best of all, tons of new summoner icons! Check out the possible rewards and how to get them below:

Basically, to get the icons this year you'll have to win at least two (2) games on each different map (AI and custom games don't count.)

Summoner Icons

Year of the Horse Icon

"Set out on the warrior's path by winning a matchmade game during the Lunar Revel and you'll earn the Year of the Horse icon. But soon you'll realize that although each began their journey alone, the greatest warriors of history were even more powerful as a team"

Icon of Dragonblade Riven

"Embrace freedom and play two matchmade games with your allies on the Howling Abyss to revel in the Icon of Dragonblade Riven"

Icon of Lunar Goddess Diana

"Join your allies searching for truth in darkness. Play two matchmade games in the Twisted Treeline or on the Crystal Scar during the festival to earn the icon of Lunar Goddess Diana"

Icon of Warring Kingdoms Tryndamere

"Seize power in two matchmade games on Summoner's Rift during these next weeks to claim the icon of Warring Kingdoms Tryndamere"

FAQ:
There are four icons to earn during Lunar Revel:

The Year of the Horse Icon: To earn this icon, you must play and win a game in a matchmade queue. Custom games do not count, but you do not have to play with friends to earn the Year of the Horse Icon. Games against AI or “bot” opponents will not count.

Icon of Lunar Goddess Diana: To earn this icon, you must enter a matchmade queue (not a custom game) with at least one friend and finish two games on Twisted Treeline or the Crystal Scar (Dominion game-mode). Games against AI or “bot” opponents will not count.

Icon of Dragonblade Riven: To earn this icon, you must enter a matchmade queue (not a custom game) with at least one friend and finish two games on Howling Abyss.

Icon of Warring Kingdoms Tryndamere: To earn this icon, you must enter a matchmade queue (not a custom game) with at least one friend and finish two games on Summoner’s Rift. Games against AI or “bot” opponents will not count.

Q: When do I get the rewards?
A: You should get your icons no later than three (3) days after the event ends. If you did not receive the rewards after three (3) days, please let us know.

Source

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Additionally, this year also features a new "Choose Your Path" icon, which will be available depending on what summoners vote for their region to get via voting at the Lunar Revel promotional site!

Log into your region's promo site to vote! NA, EUW, EUNE, TR, BR, LAN, LAS, RU, OCE

Path of Power

 Path of Freedom

Path of Truth

FAQ:
Q: What is the “Choose a path” experience?
A: "Choose a path" refers to a region-wide vote during the 2014 Lunar Revel (from January 28 until February 11). Players in each region can choose the Path of Truth, the Path of Freedom or the Path of Power. At the end of the Lunar Revel, we will announce each region’s chosen path, and players in the region who have been active within 90 days will be rewarded with a specially-treated summoner icon representing the path their region chose to follow in 2014.

Q: How does the vote work?
A: You must be logged in to the leagueoflegends.com website to vote. You’ll select one of the Paths by clicking on it. Then, click “Submit final vote” to lock in and send your final selection. We’ll tally the results, and announce the chosen path after the event ends.

Top Team Comps #37: Yasuo's Fantasy Comp

February 1, 2014, 10:18 am

≫ Next: Season 4 Support Starting Items: Doran Shield Meta

≪ Previous: How to Get Lunar Revel Icons

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With Yasuo's overwhelmingly strong damage and CC potential, he's quickly proved his worth this last patch as one of the strongest champions in the game. While he can still land his ultimate without the assistance of teammates, obviously having a high amount of knock-ups aids his cause.

Check out this team composition below that takes full advantage of Yasuo's abilities to the point where even a brand new Yasuo can succeed beyond his wildest dreams. Even if your team falls behind in lane, teamfights will likely still be in your favor.

SUGGESTED LINEUP Top: Wukong Mid: Yasuo Jungle: Vi AD Carry: Draven Support: Alistar

ADVANTAGES: - Extremely strong AOE - Amazing CC - Strong synergy - Takes advantage of black cleaver

DISADVANTAGES: - Low AP damage - No poke

Overall Strength: Very Strong
Difficulty to Counter: Difficult
Difficulty to Execute: Medium
Fear Potential: Very Scary

STRATEGY:

This team has an insane amount of engagement options, and almost every lane is a free kill once Vi hits level 6. Ideally, you'll want to try and camp the Yasuo lane, since well, it's the Yasuo comp.

On the other hand, top and bottom can potentially run into some troublesome match-ups, so depending on the enemy team composition lanes may want to play more passive and wait for a Vi gank. (Yeah right, passive Draven...)

In terms of items, definitely make sure to get a Black Cleaver on Wukong eventually, as it will greatly aid the team's damage once he uses his ultimate. If the enemy starts stacking armor, Yasuo may want to get an early last whisper in order to maximize his damage after Shiv.

Since this team pretty much has no poke, I wouldn't recommend seiging mid for long periods of time. It's much better for this team to roam in 5 man squads and try and gank from behind enemy lines. Take advantage of choke points to maximize the small AOE CCs this team has. By continuously invading and roaming, this team can quickly snowball into a victory.

COUNTER-STRATEGY
Beating this team involves shutting down individual laners and avoiding fighting in the jungle. It also means keeping track of Vi, who can quickly get back into the game even if she's been counterjungled early and falls behind.

Here's a sample team that would do well:

Top: Lee Sin - Beating Wu is largely a matter of outsustaining him and knocking him out of teamfights before he manages to shred the entire back line. Lee's also got the added ability to see through Wu's invisibility.
Mid: Ziggs - Since this enemy team has no poke, bringing Ziggs in to the fray works very well. However, he needs to avoid getting outplayed by Yasuo in lane, which is easier said than done. I would try and take him out lvls 1~2 and then avoid fighting him for a while.
Jungle: Amumu - Amumu synergizes very well with Ziggs, and also gives the team strong turtling/initiation ability.
AD Carry: Ezreal - Fighting against a high dive team composition like this requires a champion with good mobility and escape.
Support: Leona - Ideal for peeling and engaging, also synergizes very well with Ezreal in lane and has a good chance of beating Alistar.

All in all this team comp is pretty hard to beat as the champions stand. Ideal for blindpick stomping.

Got more ideas for team compositions? Ways to improve on this one or counter it? Post them below in the comment section!

Click here for more team comps!

Season 4 Support Starting Items: Doran Shield Meta

February 1, 2014, 12:51 pm

≫ Next: Doran Shield Nerfs on PBE Soon

≪ Previous: Top Team Comps #37: Yasuo's Fantasy Comp

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Playing support in Season 4 Preseason started off as a relic shield spam game, with both teams trying to push as hard as possible to maximize the insane sustain and pushing power it provided.

However, with the relic shield nerf, a few more possibilities have come into viability. Here are the ones I find the best suited to the current meta at the moment:

1. Doran Shield + pots
2. Ancient Coin + Ward + Pots
3. Relic Shield + Ward + Pots
4. Ruby Crystal

Some people also like to get Spellthief's Edge, but I highly recommend against it. Its gold compensation isn't enough to make up for its lack of early game trading ability coupled with the fact that you won't be able to purchase a Talisman of Ascension later on unless you sell it. The chilling effect does look pretty though.

Doran Shield + Pots

Stats: +100 health +10 health regen per 5 seconds

Unique: Blocks 8 damage from champion basic attacks.

This is the start that you'll want to use about 90% of the time. Although it relies on your AD carry to use their ward at the right time to avoid jungle ganks, the sustain and trading ability that it provides is insane.

If you have any thoughts about fighting in lane, then this is the item you'll want to pick up. Without it, you'll be sitting at a great disadvantage against supports who start with it, sitting at their mercy until you get a jungle gank.

When I first heard about it, I was definitely a little skeptical, since without wards it seemed like bot lane would be extremely vulnerable to jungler ganks. However, the added tankiness combined with trinket wards actually deters the majority of jungler attempts.

Even though Doran's Shield is due for some upcoming nerfs on the PBE, definitely milk this overpowered start as long as possible.

Ancient Coin + Ward + Pots

This start is *okay* if you happen to want to play passively, maybe for a support like Janna or Soraka. However, there's still a chance to be engaged on, in which case you'll wish you had a Doran Shield instead...

If you do happen to start with this and want to win against a Doran Shield lane, the best way is to let the enemy team push against you and then ask for a jungler gank. If you accidentally start pushing up against a lane like a Thresh or Leona with Doran Shield, you're just asking to die.

Relic Shield + Ward + Pots

Stats: +50 health +6 health regeneration

UNIQUE - SPOILS OF WAR: Melee autoattacks execute minions below 200 health. Killing a minion by any means heals the nearest allied champion for 2% of your maximum health and grants them (kill + 5) gold. These effects require a nearby allied champion and consume a charge. Recharges every 60 seconds. Max 2 charges.

This start has fallen out of favor. Although it does give a decent amount of gold when you manage to utilize the gold passive to its fullest, you'll notice that the stats it provides is half that of Doran Shield, not even including the passive. However, it does provide a valuable ward to start, which is very useful if you're worried about jungle ganks.

Ruby Crystal

This start is pretty interesting, although you almost never see it. It gives you +180 health, no health regeneration, no pots, and no wards. However, it allows you to rush your sightstone much faster providing you don't lose your lane before then. 

I recommend against going this start unless you're positive you outskill your opponents are confident in your ability to secure a kill within the first few levels.

Thoughts

Although in a competitive environment lacking vision is a strong deterrent towards purchasing a Doran Shield to start, in solo queue the trading ability that it provides far outweighs any chance that a coordinated jungler will have the ability to recognize the exact break between the support and the adc's trinket wards.

TLDR; Start with Doran Shield if you want to win in solo queue!

Doran Shield Nerfs on PBE Soon

February 1, 2014, 1:16 pm

≫ Next: Effects of Lag on Champion Selection

≪ Previous: Season 4 Support Starting Items: Doran Shield Meta

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With the insane power behind Doran's Shield at the moment, (see this article about supports specifically) Riot's released some notes earlier this morning regarding upcoming nerfs on the shield in developmental stages.



Doran's Shield
100 Health --> 80 Health
10 HP/5 --> 5 HP/5
8 Block --> Unchanged

SSJSuntastic's thoughts on effects:

It seems like these changes still leave it better than starting with relic shield, but may open up the Ruby Crystal start for supports. In regards to top and mid laners, we might see a trend back towards Doran Blades/Rings.

For champions, these changes may make Riven and other top lane glass cannons strong again, and is an indirect nerf to melee mid assassins like Akali and Katarina since they'll be more easily poked down by "conventional" mages.

 Official Riot Post by RiotXypherous:

Just a quick note because this will hit PBE soon (Monday) and will probably require some decent scrutiny / input. I also wanted to provide a quick heads up to head off the storm of conjecture these kinds of things usually do.

Testing some fairly severe Doran's Shield nerfs - going kind of ham on the initial testing numbers to try to quickly find the point where it makes or breaks things.

Doran's Shield is warping the bottom lane matchups and pick structure right now fairly significantly. The relative power of the item has also dramatically increased due to the mastery / vision / support changes and so the item is just better in every respect this season compared to last.
What this means is that certain harass based characters are basically in a weird twilight state where they get stomped heavily and also have to pick up shield in order not to get counter bursted by the same ones using Doran's Shield.

Doran's Shield
100 Health --> 80 Health
10 HP/5 --> 5 HP/5
8 Block --> Unchanged

The idea behind hitting just the Health / HP/5 is to enable magic-based harassment still effective while also keeping Doran's Shield strong against ranged attacks (I.E. I am fighting Caitlyn and Lulu and I hate my life.)

We like the item's niche - but at the moment it's just too generically good against a wide array of matchups at the moment and shuts down both counterburst and harassment strategies a little too hard.

I suspect that the HP/5 nerf is a bit much and we'll have to reassess the strength of some mid-laners who rely on the item. As for 'Why do this now?' kind of issues - We're in the middle of some tier 0.5 item cleanup and Doran's Shield also kind of warps all of those issues, making tier 0.5 items kind of dance around the fact that they'll never compete.

Source

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Effects of Lag on Champion Selection

February 8, 2014, 7:19 am

≫ Next: Official Patch 4.2 Notes Released!

≪ Previous: Doran Shield Nerfs on PBE Soon

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Ever wonder why certain champions like Lee Sin seem insanely good and highly contested in tournament play, but have dismal win rates in solo queue?

Or how about Nidalee, a precision champion that's great at higher leagues, but awful in lower leagues?

Sure, skill plays a huge part, but there's also another aspect that people often ignore - Lag

Check out this old chart from below from Elophant:

Although it's a simple correlation, there's an old adage that rings true here:

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

In this case, it means that while there might be other reasons why your team lost a game (e.g. bot lane fed, trolls, afks) you should always put yourself at the most advantageous position.

If you play a high precision, squishy champion, a single missed spear or sonic wave could decide the outcome of the game (and everyone knows how many we miss...)

Meanwhile, with Riot servers getting hit by massive lag spikes as of late, sometimes lag will come on suddenly and without reason, resulting in maybe just a second of failure.

So what should you do about it?

Solo queue is all about consistency. I've got two champions for you folks that are not only insanely strong, but the majority of people almost never bother banning them (even though I've put them in God tier for about 6 patches in a row, nobody believes me).

1. Wukong

It's only until recently that people have come to accept the fact that he's really good, although he's played more in jungle than top now. He's still only banned 3% of all games, even though the monkey's got the 3rd highest win rate in the game. 

Wukong has invisibility, a gap closer, % based armor penetration, and an insane AOE knockup. If you manage to get Yasuo and Wukong on the same team in solo queue, it's basically an autowin.

Meanwhile, in jungle the new item changes have been very kind to him, and let him make up the gold difference between laning and jungling.

Gogo gadget monkey!

2. Amumu

Ah yes...Amumu. The "Bronze Elo Champion". Also known as the "too easy to counter-jungle", "useless without blue", and "weak" champion at silver and gold Elo. Let's break down these common misconceptions:

1. Too easy to counter-jungle: Be ready to get counter-jungled, if I can jungle Fiddlesticks and Malzahar, you can jungle Amumu without fear.

2. Useless without blue: Actually, you can easily start red. If you get your buff stolen from you, then yes, like every other jungler you will be behind and your clear time will be slower.

3. Weak: Well, this is just blatantly false. His late game is one of the strongest in the game, and with his percentage based damage and insanely short late game cooldown on his bandage toss, the damage he can put out with liandries (although I don't recommend you rush this item), is absolutely off the charts.

TLDR; Play easy champions, win more games since when you lag it won't make a huge difference. Wukong and Amumu are OP and can easily carry you through to platinum.

Thoughts? Got more champions you prefer? Comment below!

Official Patch 4.2 Notes Released!

February 10, 2014, 4:10 pm

≫ Next: New Champion: Vel'Koz, the Eye of the Void + Battlecast Skin!

≪ Previous: Effects of Lag on Champion Selection

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Check out the official release for Patch 4.2 below!

Summary:

Buffs: Ashe, Maokai
Nerfs: Mundo, Teemo, Thresh, Yasuo, Yorick, Ziggs
Item/Spell Nerfs: Statikk Shiv, Perseverance
Tweaks: Xerath, Skarner, Evelynn, Kayle, Riven

Patch 4.2 Notes

BY RIOT PWYFF

Hey Summoners,

Riot Pwyff here with another League of Legends update! There’s a lot of new content in this patch, including the newly reworked Skarner and Xerath, so we’re taking it light with our other champion changes.

Looking at the overall content of this update, our goal is to create healthier gameplay patterns with champions who are particularly strong. Look at Kayle or Riven and you can see more optimal ways to play as (and against) them. At the end of the day, some of these changes are nerfs, but hopefully you’ll try to understand them (and try them out!) first. Anyways, on with the notes!

LoL Client Updates

Repair System

With our improved repair system, any 3rd party modifications to the League of Legends client are at risk of being deleted if they cause the game to crash. Be careful!

• If you crash out of the game due to corrupt or missing data, the League of Legends patcher will automatically fix that bad data the next time you open it (so you don’t crash again)
• Soft Repair will not delete custom item sets while repairing your install

Ticker

The League of Legends ticker is an important communications tool for service status, so we’re upgrading it to deliver information better, faster and more clearly.

• Upgraded the notification box to handle more service status messages while also providing more information where necessary

Game invites

We’re taking a closer look at game invites and making some general quality of life buffs when it comes to setting up premade games.

• Updated the layout of the invite, start game, and quit buttons in the team invite lobbies for better clarity

Journal of Justice

Since the Journal of Justice has been out of publication for a while now, we're removing its link from the client. While the JoJ will be missed, we're exploring future storytelling methods for League of Legends.

• The lore tab (aka the feather) has been removed from the front of the LoL client

Leagues

Pick Order

We’re making pick order more consistent in ranked play. In most cases the skill gap between players on a team is not significant enough to justify granting the top player first pick. Basing pick order on a behind-the-scenes number isn’t a great experience - not to mention there are some odd side effects for duo queue players - so we’re taking a different approach.

• All players will now have an equal (random) chance of being first pick
• For players in a duo, if either player is chosen as first pick, the team captain will be assigned first pick and the other member of the duo will get whatever position the captain received from the randomizer

Vision System

Improving the in-game vision system is on our current hit-list, so you will see more updates to the vision system in the future.

• Fixed a bug where units in the same brush would sometimes be invisible even if they were in your line of sight

Additionally, we’ve made some progress in our long battle against the minimap visual bug demons. Completely solving the issue is a larger project we’re hoping to tackle, but these changes should significantly improve the situation.

• Fixed a number of minimap visual bugs. While this isn’t a complete fix, it should improve things overall.

General

We’re continually updating the visual fidelity of LoL across the board! In this patch, we’ve buffed up a few icons and spells.

Icon Updates

The following icons have been updated:

• Soraka’s ability icons
• Ashe’s ability icons

Particle Updates

The following summoner spells have been updated:

• Flash (particles and sound)
• Clairvoyance (particles and sound)
• Ghost (particles)
• Revive (particles)

Reworks

Xerath

Xerath is getting a complete overhaul of his kit along with new particle effects, ability icons, VOs and some new animations. Read below for the full details.

This rework isn’t driven by a concern for power levels. Instead, like a lot of our reworks, it’s focused on delivering a unique, cohesive champion theme. Xerath’s theme has always been the arcane sniper with huge damage potential. Give him time and the right target, and he can precisely pick off his victims. That said, with Xerath’s old kit, he had so much spell penetration and rapid-fire abilities that players would often just dump all of his damage on the nearest target. We believe his new kit delivers on a better champion fantasy.

General

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BASE MANA :: 250 (+45 per level) ⇒ 238 (+47 per level)

BASE MANA REGEN :: 7 per 5 seconds (+0.6 per level) ⇒ 6 per 5 seconds (+0.65 per level)

ATTACK RANGE :: 550 ⇒ 525

VISUAL :: Attack animation has been shortened slightly

Passive - Mana Surge

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Every 10 seconds, your next basic attack restores between 30 and 195 mana. The amount it restores scales with your character level.

EFFECT :: Attacking an enemy champion restores double the amount of mana

Q - Arcanopulse

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FIRST CAST :: Begin channeling, gradually increasing the spell's range from 700 to 1400 while slowing down movement speed by up to 50%. Xerath can move while channeling.

SECOND CAST :: Damage all enemies in a line for 80/120/160/200/240 (+0.75 ability power) magic damage

COOLDOWN :: 9/8/7/6/5 seconds

MANA COST :: 80/90/100/110/120

RANGE :: Channeling increases the ability's range from 700 to 1400 over 1.5 seconds

EFFECT :: Xerath can hold a full range Arcanopulse for an additional 1.5 seconds

EFFECT :: While channeling this spell, Xerath gradually slows his movement speed by up to 50%

W - Eye of Destruction

---

AOE DAMAGE & SLOW :: Calls down a ground-targeted blast of energy, dealing 60/90/120/150/180 (+0.6 ability power) magic damage to all enemies caught within the blast and slowing them by 10%

CENTER OF BLAST :: Enemies caught in the middle of the blast instead take 90/135/180/225/270 (+0.9 ability power) magic damage and are slowed by 60/65/70/75/80% instead

COOLDOWN :: 14/13/12/11/10 seconds

MANA COST :: 70/80/90/100/110

RANGE :: 1000

E - Shocking Orb

---

SKILLSHOT NUKE :: Fires an orb of raw magic in a straight line. The first enemy hit takes 80/110/140/170/200 (+0.45 ability power) magic damage and is stunned for between 0.75 and 2 seconds (the stun duration is based on how far the orb traveled)

COOLDOWN :: 13/12.5/12/11.5/11 seconds

MANA COST :: 60/65/70/75/80

RANGE :: 1000

R - Rite of the Arcane

---

ULTIMATE :: Xerath roots himself in place and gains three shots of Arcane Barrage, a very long range magic artillery that does 190/245/300 (+0.43 ability power) magic damage to all enemies hit. Xerath can cancel this effect early. Half of the cooldown is refunded if no shots of Arcane Barrage were used.

COOLDOWN :: 130/115/100 seconds

MANA COST :: 100 at all ranks

RANGE :: 3200/4400/5600

Skarner

We gave Crystal Slash a stacking attack speed buff and moved its slow over to Fracture, which in turn lost its heal mark mechanic. Crystalline Exoskeleton’s movement speed bonus now ramps up over 3 seconds instead of instantly and Impale will root the target during the windup animation.

We’re giving Skarner a moderate rework to bring him slashing and impaling into the modern day. Our goals are to improve his overall counterplay, make Fracture a more useful skill and bring him up to current jungle standards. These changes shouldn't have a dramatic effect on Skarner's overall play pattern but they should make his kit feel more cohesive overall.

General

---

BASE ATTACK SPEED :: lowered by 1%

Passive - Energize

---

EFFECT :: Unchanged

Q - Crystal Slash

---

EFFECT :: When a target is hit, Skarner gains an 8/10/12/14/16% attack speed buff that stacks up to 3 times

SLOW :: No longer slows ⇒ moved to Fracture

W - Crystalline Exoskeleton

---

COOLDOWN :: 18 seconds ⇒ 16 seconds

MOVEMENT SPEED BONUS :: from 15/17/19/21/23% ⇒ 16/20/24/28/32% (now ramps up over the first 3 seconds)

BASE SHIELD AND ABILITY POWER RATIO :: 70/115/160/205/250 (0.6 ability Power)⇒ increased to 80/135/190/245/300 (0.8 ability Power)

EFFECT :: No longer provides an Attack speed bonus

E - Fracture

---

COOLDOWN :: 10 seconds ⇒ 14 seconds

EFFECT :: Targets hit are now slowed by 30/35/40/45/50% for 2.5 seconds

MISSILE RANGE :: 800 ⇒ 1000

MISSILE WIDTH :: reduced slightly

MISSILE SPEED :: lowered slightly

EFFECT :: Heal mark removed

R - Impale

---

ROOT TIMING :: Impale now roots the target during the windup animation

VOICE OVER :: Skarner will no longer prematurely celebrate with his catch lines ("NOW I’VE GOT YOU!") unless he has successfully grabbed a target

Champions

Ashe

We reduced Hawkshot’s cooldown at later levels and changed its bonus gold to 3 at all ranks.

Basically, we wanted Hawkshot to feel more valuable at rank 1.

E - Hawkshot

---

COOLDOWN :: 60 at all ranks ⇒ 60/55/50/45/40

BONUS GOLD ON KILL :: 1/2/3/4/5 ⇒ 3 at all ranks

Dr. Mundo

Mundo’s cleavers got skinnier.

Designers keep watch over Mundo with skinny cleaver change. Now Mundo get no corporate bonus for bad cleaver. This separate good Mundo from great Mundo.

Q - Infected Cleaver

---

MISSILE WIDTH :: 80 ⇒ 60

Evelynn

The closer Evelynn is to her target, the faster her Hate Spike projectile travels.

We still like the notion behind our last Hate Spike change, but we’re not really happy with how it feels in game. Adjusting the ability’s missile speed still rewards enemies for keeping their distance, but also rewards Evelynn for getting up close and personal.

Q - Hate Spike

---

MISSILE SPEED :: Re-adjusted missile speed to more consistently hit close targets (now has a high initial missile speed that rapidly decelerates as it travels)

Kayle

We lowered Reckoning’s AP ratio while raising the AP ratio of Divine Blessing’s heal. We also added an AP ratio to Divine Blessing’s movement speed bonus and removed Intervention’s mana cost.

Once she gets ahead, Kayle's burst damage can be overwhelming to play against. While we're taking away some of Kayle's up-front burst, the utility scaling on Divine Blessing should help her and her team get INTO (and out of) THE FRAY.

Q - Reckoning

---

ABILITY POWER RATIO :: 1.0 ⇒ 0.6

W - Divine Blessing

---

HEAL/ABILITY POWER RATIO :: 0.35 ⇒ 0.45

MOVEMENT SPEED BONUS :: now scales with ability power (+7% per 100 ability power)

R - Intervention

---

MANA COST :: 100/75/50 ⇒ none

Riven

We lowered Riven’s base health regen and increased the power of Valor’s shield.

We’re reinforcing one of Riven’s core philosophies: she's a champion who should rely on mitigating or avoiding damage to be successful. Enemies who harass Riven should feel rewarded for hitting her when her defenses are down, while Riven players can feel better about using her buffed shield to prevent that damage in the first place.

General

---

BASE HEALTH REGEN :: 5.5 per 5s ⇒ 2.5 per 5s

E - Valor

---

SHIELD :: 70/100/130/160/190 ⇒ 90/120/150/180/210

Rumble

Flamespitter looks… okay.

Rumble now spits real flame instead of meatballs.

Q - Flamespitter

---

VISUAL UPDATE :: Spell effect has been updated

Thresh

Thresh’s very long range basic attack is a powerful threat in lane, so this change introduces a little more vulnerability to his kit.

General

---

BASIC ATTACK RANGE :: 475 ⇒ 450

Yasuo

It now takes more movement to generate flow and Sweeping Blade gives less flow when Yasuo dashes. We also reduced Last Breath’s cast range.

We made some general quality of life changes to Yasuo in patch 4.1 , but as players begin to master him, we’ve seen how strong he is when played to maximum effectiveness. We looked at areas where we could reduce some of that power without messing with his core playstyle. We were also unhappy with how Yasuo was using Last Breath to engage in fights by teleporting from thousands (and thousands) of miles away.

Passive - Way of the Wanderer

---

MOVEMENT TO GENERATE A UNIT OF FLOW :: increased by 15%

Q - Steel Tempest

---

VISUALS :: Now passively displays a range indicator around Yasuo when Steel Tempest's Whirlwind is available

E - Sweeping Blade

---

PASSIVELY GRANTS FLOW WHEN HE DASHES :: 4/8/12/16/20% ⇒ 3/6/9/12/15%

R - Last Breath

---

CAST RANGE :: 1300 ⇒ 1200

BUG FIX :: Fixed a bug where Last Breath could sometimes be used beyond the maximum range

Ziggs

Hexplosive Minefield will deal less damage to minions as they hit successive mines. Short Fuse’s base damage and AP ratio were both reduced at lower levels.

Our changes to Ziggs in patch 3.13 turned him into monster when it comes to pushing and counterpushing. While we like the philosophy behind the change, Hexplosive Minefield is a little too good as a wave clear tool, letting Ziggs play passively without any repercussions. The Short Fuse change has a bunch of numbers, but the TL;DR is that it’s just a small nerf to Zigg’s early game harass.

Passive - Short Fuse

---

BASE DAMAGE ::20/27/34/41/48/56/64/72/80/88/96/105/114/123/132/141/150/160 (20 +7 at levels 1-5 / +8 at levels 6-11 / +9 at levels 12-17 / +10 at level 18) ⇒20/24/28/32/36/40/48/56/64/72/80/88/100/112/124/136/148/160 (20 +4 at levels 1-6 / +8 at levels 7-12 / +12 at levels 13-18)

RATIO :: 0.35 at all levels ⇒ 0.25 ability power at levels 1-6, 0.3 at levels 7-12 and 0.35 at levels 13-18

E - Hexplosive Minefield

---

MINION DAMAGE :: 100% from all mines ⇒ 40% damage for each mine they hit beyond the first

Minor Changes and Bug Fixes

In our ongoing effort to create a more consistent League of Legends viewing experience, we’re standardizing certain elements of our user interface. Players using the old legacy floating combat text prior to this change will be assimilated into the collective player experience. Beep boop.

• Removed legacy floating combat text

• Added ticks to Vilemaw's health bar
• Fixed a bug that stopped the HUD from scaling while the game was paused

Akali

R - Shadow Dance

---

CLARITY :: Akali's Shadow Dance stacks can once again be seen in her buff bar

Elise

R - Spider Form

---

COLLISION SIZE :: Fixed a bug where Elise's spider form size was smaller than intended for gameplay collision purposes.

Maokai

R - Vengeful Maelstrom

---

BONUS DAMAGE :: Fixed a bug where bonus damage stored was lower than intended (now 25% higher)

Sona

E - Song of Celerity

---

TOOLTIP TEXT :: Fixed a bug where the tooltip improperly showed Song of Celerity as having a .04 AP ratio for both effects - only the slow should have a .04 AP ratio

HASTE RATIO BUG :: .01 AP Ratio ⇒ .02 AP Ratio

SLOW RATIO BUG :: .02 AP Ratio ⇒ .04 AP Ratio

Teemo

SPELL EFFECT :: Fixed a bug where Toxic Shot could apply some spell effects like Tribute or Spell Weaving

Yorick

GHOUL IMMUNITIES :: Yorick's ghouls are no longer immune to slows (both Movement and Attack Speed)

Items

Statikk Shiv

PASSIVE CRIT :: Passive now only critically strikes when the associated attack critically strikes

Warden’s Mail

UNIQUE Passive - Cold Steel

---

SLOW BUG :: Fixed a bug where Annie’s Tibbers, Malzahar’s Voidlings, and Elise’s Spiderlings were not being affected by the slow

Randuin’s Omen

UNIQUE Passive - Cold Steel

---

SLOW BUG :: Fixed a bug where Annie’s Tibbers, Malzahar’s Voidlings, and Elise’s Spiderlings were not being affected by the slow

Masteries

Perseverance

Perseverance as a mastery is incredibly powerful in comparison to other equivalent masteries - particularly once you get your first big HP item - so we're bringing it more in line.

---

HEALTH REGEN :: 0.7%/1.35%/2% of missing health per 5s ⇒ 0.35%/0.675%/1% of missing health per 5s

Summoner’s Rift

The changes affect Summoner’s Rift Only

Turrets

Back in Patch 4.1 we made this change to directly counter fast push strategies in competitive play. Reducing the timing to 8 minutes from permanent is more in line with what we wanted to accomplish, so we did just that.

Top and mid lane outer turrets

---

FLAT DAMAGE REDUCTION AGAINST CHAMPIONS :: permanent ⇒ first 8 minutes

Twisted Treeline

These changes affect Twisted Treeline only

Kha’Zix

Same changes that exist on the Crystal Scar

Q - Taste Their Fear

---

ISOLATION DAMAGE BONUS :: 45% ⇒ 35%

Evolved Enlarged Claws

---

MISSING HEALTH DAMAGE :: 8% ⇒ 6%

New Champion: Vel'Koz, the Eye of the Void + Battlecast Skin!

February 13, 2014, 1:37 pm

≫ Next: NA Servers Drowned by Lag, Hexakill Mode Coming!

≪ Previous: Official Patch 4.2 Notes Released!

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While I'm fighting off a minor concussion, it looks like Riot released the new champion on Tuesday along with a new battlecast skin! Check out the details below:

Vel'Koz, the Eye of the Void, revealed

BY SIXTWO

The Void is preparing to spill forth its latest monstrosity: Vel’Koz. A terrifying being created for the sole purpose of learning, Vel’Koz absorbs knowledge and accrues understanding through a multitude of tests and scans. Unfortunately, those very tests, while extremely productive for Vel’Koz, have a tendency to utterly destroy his subjects.

Abilities

Passive: Organic Deconstruction

Vel’Koz’s abilities Deconstruct those they strike. After being hit three times by his abilities, minions, monsters and enemy champions are Deconstructed and suffer bonus true damage. Enemies lose their Deconstruction stacks by avoiding Vel’Koz’s attacks for a short while.

---

Q: Plasma Fission

Vel’Koz fires a plasma bolt that slows and damages the first enemy struck. Once Plasma Fission hits, reaches its maximum range or is reactivated a second time, the bolt splits at a 90 degree angle. The split bolts deal the same damage and apply the same slow.

---

W: Void Rift

Vel’Koz sends out a straight line blast that tears open a temporary rift to the Void before exploding. Both the initial tear and the delayed explosion damage and apply Deconstruction stacks to caught enemies.

---

E: Tectonic Disruption

After a brief delay Vel’Koz disrupts a nearby area, damaging and launching all enemies caught into the air. Enemies hit that are close to Vel’Koz are also knocked back slightly.

---

R: Life Form Disintegration Ray

Vel’Koz channels a ray of infinite energy that follows the cursor for a brief while, damaging, slowing and Deconstructing all enemies in range.

Gameplay

Vel’Koz is a ranged mage born to blast out overwhelming damage over sustained fights. With long-range harass available from the start of the game, Vel’Koz is a fragile but threatening early presence who relies on his teammates’ protection to bring his full force to bear come late game.

Mid lane

Vel’Koz is a creature of raw power, not speed, and as such carries out his finest research on the mid lane of Summoner’s Rift. The towers here are placed closer together, giving the Eye of the Void less distance to travel when enemy junglers dare get between him and his research subjects. A short autoattack range means Vel’Koz is often in the thick of the fighting, but he has the necessary tools in his abilities to dissuade his lane opponent from engaging. Enemy midlaners within their own minion waves are vulnerable to poke through Void Rift, while opponents caught in the open make easy targets for Plasma Fission. Using abilities frequently benefits Vel’Koz: fully stacking Organic Deconstruction against his opposing laner deals substantial true damage, forcing his counterpart to choose between moving in to secure minion gold or retreating until their Deconstruction stacks have dissipated. Aggressive enemies risk a quick death once Vel’Koz catches them with further rounds of Void Rift followed by Tectonic Disruption, while those that flee are still subject to considerable ranged harass. With clever aiming and timing of Plasma Fission’s second cast, Vel’Koz can both steer his ability around enemy minions and gain additional range through geometric finesse.

Vel’Koz becomes an entirely different beast once he gains access to Life Form Disintegration Ray. His ult deals devastating amounts of damage to all enemies caught, but its long channel time and slow turn speed makes initial positioning absolutely paramount. Because of this, Vel’Koz does best bringing his ult to bear following a few successful rounds of poke, after his opponents are sufficiently researched with Organic Deconstruction and wounded enough to keep their distance. Even the minion cover often granted by distance is ignored by Life Form Disintegration Ray’s absolute power, which fully affects all enemies within its substantial range.

Teamfights

As teams start skirmishing around Summoner’s Rift, Vel’Koz is safest positioning himself within or behind his allies, harassing his enemies with repeated casts of Plasma Fission and Tectonic Disruption. When caught in unfavorable positions, Vel’Koz fires off Plasma Fission while retreating to kite his pursuers and positions Void Rift in choke points to dissuade enemies from following further. In favorable situations, Vel’Koz uses the same ability to separate his subject from its pack before unleashing Tectonic Disruption and Plasma Fission to quickly catch and dispatch them.

In full-scale teamfights, Vel’Koz again works best from the back line, tossing out damage and crowd control with Plasma Fission as he builds Deconstruction stacks on his enemies. Allied protection is key here as enemy bruisers, once they get to Vel’Koz, make short work of the tentacled glass cannon. Still, Vel’Koz has a few tricks of his own to ensure his safety: Plasma Fission makes for an excellent kiting tool, while the combined knock back and knock up from Tectonic Disruption allows Vel’Koz to reposition away from danger. Finally, once enough enemies are primed from his harass, once his team has set up a safe area for Vel’Koz to channel in, the Eye of the Void unleashes Life Form Disintegration Ray to melt through the massed enemy ranks and leave his foes staggering under sheer, overwhelming damage.

Source

The Glorious Evolution of Battlecast Vel'Koz

BY CREATOR VIKTOR

Username: Creator

Password: *************

Subject: BC.Infiltrator

Accessing BC.INFILTRATOR.v3.log2.25

Captured subject suspends itself in mid-air with no apparent wings or jet propulsion. Point lasers and other Void armaments show Battlecast potential. Subject demonstrates high levels of intelligence, but will be bent to my will.

Replacing the organic carapace of Void creatures is quotidian science for me, but the shift to gunmetal and red armor never fails to please my inner aesthete. The creature’s intelligence quotient has been retained, but restrained. The creature only interprets data in terms of how to destroy a target. Any other form of expression has been disabled. I reverse-engineered its armaments, significantly upgrading them to high-intensity lasers and advanced rocketry.

The Infiltrator’s first field test will be to recon a Resistance cell, collect information on the wider network of Resistance members and dispose of the camp’s troublesome leader. Upgraded, evolved and mine, Battlecast Vel’Koz will not fail me.

Source

NA Servers Drowned by Lag, Hexakill Mode Coming!

February 13, 2014, 4:51 pm

≫ Next: 2014 Champion Tier List - Solo Queue - Patch 4.2 Update

≪ Previous: New Champion: Vel'Koz, the Eye of the Void + Battlecast Skin!

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While the NA servers are drowning in lag, check out this official Riot post released a few hours ago about the newest and greatest of game modes: Hexkill!

With 6 players per team, I know I'll personally be playing a roaming champion...maybe Janna? Meanwhile, I'm sure there's going to be a lot of arguing as to who ACTUALLY gets the solo lane!

Hexakill incoming!

BY BRACKHAR

For the next upcoming Featured Gameplay Mode, five to a team just wasn’t enough. We’re adding a sixth champ to each side on Summoner’s Rift. Same rules, same map, more champions.

Double junglers, roaming supports and six man wombo combos are all on the table for this new mode. Experiment with team comps and discover new metas as you seek to hear the ultimate announcement, “Hexakill.”

Hexakill begins on February 20.

Source

2014 Champion Tier List - Solo Queue - Patch 4.2 Update

February 16, 2014, 11:25 am

≫ Next: Heimerdinger Visual Update Incoming!

≪ Previous: NA Servers Drowned by Lag, Hexakill Mode Coming!

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SEASON 4 - PATCH 4.2 SOLO QUEUE TIER LIST
SEASON 4 UPDATE

Preface Chatter
With the release of patch 4.2, we saw a major change on Xerath along with a bunch of modifications all around to the more popular champions of the scene. I think that for the most part the nerfs weren't terribly harsh on anyone in particular, and the Xerath changes haven't exactly exploded him to the top of the ladder. However, I've moved several champions around based on win rate trends and the ever changing meta. Check out the list below and leave your comments at the bottom!

Patch 4.2 Summary

Buffs: Ashe, Maokai
Nerfs: Mundo, Teemo, Thresh, Yasuo, Yorick, Ziggs
Item/Spell Nerfs: Statikk Shiv, Perseverance
Tweaks: Xerath, Skarner, Evelynn, Kayle, Riven

Use CTRL + F to Search For Champions

The Tier List

God Tier [Very Strong]: 
Mid-Lane Gods: Ziggs, Kassadin, Gragas, Kayle, Kha'Zix
Jungle Gods: Vi, Amumu, Kha'Zix, Elise, Wukong, Rammus
AD Gods: Jinx, Draven, Sivir, Lucian
Top Lane Gods: Wukong, Nasus, Renekton, Jax, Teemo
Support Gods:Leona, Thresh

Tier 1 [Really Strong]:
Mid-Lane: Katarina, Talon, Yasuo, Swain, Orianna, Lux, Morgana, Malzahar, Brand, Nidalee, Syndra, Ahri, Diana, Fizz, Wukong, Akali
Jungle: Fiddlesticks, Volibear, Jarvan IV, Udyr, Sejuani, Aatrox, Lee Sin, Nocturne, Hecarim, Nautilus, Zac, Dr. Mundo, Shyvana, Rengar
AD Carry: Caitlyn, Twitch, Varus, Tristana, Ezreal, Graves
Top Lane: Kayle, Yasuo, Shyvana, Dr. Mundo, Singed, Darius, Fiora, Olaf, Rengar, Tryndamere, Warwick, Aatrox, Yorick, Kennen, Jarvan IV, Elise, Malphite, Lee Sin, Udyr, Volibear, Karma, Nidalee
Support: Sona, Annie, Taric, Zyra, Blitzcrank, Janna, Nami,

Tier 2 [Balanced]:
Mid-Lane: Leblanc, Heimerdinger, Viktor, Cassiopeia, Pantheon, Annie, Anivia, Galio, Kennen, Mordekaiser, Zed, Vladimir, Xerath, Zyra, Elise, Lissandra, Sion, Karma
Jungle: Olaf, Shaco, Maokai, Nasus, Warwick, Pantheon, Xin Zhao, Leona, Trundle, Malphite, Skarner, Gragas, Diana, Zed
AD Carry: Kog'Maw, Ashe, Vayne, Miss Fortune, Quinn, Corki
Top Lane: Rumble, Zac, Riven, Pantheon, Shen, Poppy, Akali, Quinn, Vi, Swain, Kha'Zix, Vladimir, Cho'gath, Trundle, Garen, Jayce, Lissandra, Zed
Support: Lulu, Fiddlesticks, Karma, Alistar, Soraka

Tier 3 [Needs Higher Skill/Knowledge Than Usual]:
Mid-Lane: Karthus, Veigar, Riven, Twisted Fate, Jayce, Cho'Gath, Ryze, Evelynn,  Fiddlesticks, Soraka
Jungle: Evelynn, Nunu, Jax, Cho'Gath, Malzahar, Yasuo, Fiora, Master Yi, Riven, Kayle, Poppy, Darius,
AD Carry: Twisted Fate, Kennen, Urgot
Top Lane: Irelia, Gangplank, Mordekaiser, Xin Zhao, Sion, Vayne, Master Yi, Talon, Ryze, Nunu, Galio
Support: Morgana, Teemo, Nunu, Volibear, Lux, Nautilus, Orianna, Nidalee, Zilean, Gangplank, Shen

Tier 4 [Difficult to Win]:
Mid-Lane: Lulu, Kog'maw, Zilean, Tristana, Janna, Ezreal (AP),
Jungle: Tryndamere, Gangplank, Blitzcrank, Alistar
AD Carry:
Top Lane: Urgot
Support: Kayle, Malphite, Poppy, Elise, Maokai, Yorick, Lissandra, Ashe, Leblanc, Caitlyn

• Champions in BOLD I will talk about shortly
• Champions UNDERLINED may be over/undervalued, but aren't/haven't played enough for me to make a better judgement.
• Within each tier the champions are strongest from left to right, but within a tier each champion's strength is relatively close. This is especially true for Tiers 2 and 3 where these champions are ALL highly playable and player dependent on how strong they are in-game.

Click Here for a description of the tiers

God Tier: These champions are almost impossible to keep down. If your team doesn't make it a priority to shut down these champions and shut them down hard, even if they lose their lane, lose in CS, and it's their first time playing the champion, they can be a massive nuisance for your team. On the other hand, if they're actually good at the champion...that's when it's time to throw in the towel.

Tier 1: These champions generally do very well regardless, and have some sort of advantage over most other champions. When they do well, their team does well. Even when they don't do well, their team still has a good chance of a comeback victory by utilizing one or more aspects of their late game utility.

Tier 2: This is the Tier of balanced champions where Riot shoots to place their designs. These champions generally do well in their own right, and are very strong picks with a good chance of winning. However, they're not overpowered by any means and do have their weaknesses.

Tier 3: These champions can still do very well, but tend to need a little more snowballing to get rolling. Even if they get an early lead, it's still very possible to turn the tides on them with just a mistake or two. They may also have some weaknesses that can be capitalized on.

Tier 4: These champions are either underpowered or offer less reward than other champions for the same amount of effort. These champions basically start winning from the get-go or get made fun of for the rest of the game. They need gold to do their job correctly, and if they don't get enough of it, they become sandbags for the enemy team to punch. Chances of a comeback with one of these champions feeding on your team is almost none.

Champion Explanations

• Alistar [Tier 2 Support]: Alistar's one of those champions that looks great on paper. His skill set is highly flexible, and he's tanky enough to be on the front lines initiating or on the back lines peeling. However, after repeated nerfs on his ranges, it takes strong knowledge of how to trade and position to be good at him. If you play him often he can be good, but if you're picking a support and usually don't, steer clear of this 44% win rate cow.
• Annie [Tier 2 Mid]: Annie's role as a mid laner has suffered slightly after nerfs to her supporting capabilities. She's still playable mid, just not overwhelming.
• Fiora [Tier 1 Top]: Fiora's one of those 1v1 champions that does well once her counters are all nerfed, and nerfed they have. She offers almost nothing in during a jungle gank, but her ability to trade coupled with the (in my opinon) overpowered Hydra at the moment makes her very good for solo queue, especially since she baits enemies very easily.
• Fizz [Tier 1 Mid]: Fizz isn't quite as strong as he used to be with more tanky/juke capable champions mid now, but I think he's still a decent pick.
• Jax [God Tier Top]: Moved Jax down slightly due to a more aggressive early/mid game meta. I think he still deserves a place at God tier though.
• Jinx [God Tier ADC]: Jinx is one of the most balanced, safe AD carries at the moment. While other champions like Lucian and Draven will be stronger early on, Jinx is definitely the strongest AD carry for solo queue for people who prefer a safe farming game. Draven is still better for stomping though.
• Kayle [Tier 1 Top/God Tier Mid]: Kayle top/mid still seems very strong despite nerfs to her ratios. However, I'll keep an eye on her win ratios to see if that changes.
• Leblanc [Tier 2 Mid]: Leblanc is certainly very strong and also annoying to play against, but honestly her skill cap makes her a little unwieldy for solo queue unless you happen to be a Leblanc main. Definitely not a pick up and play judging by her 44% win rate, but she has potential.
• Teemo [God Tier Top]: Teemo is by far the most annoying top laner to deal with and requires a high amount of coordination to stop, something not often found in solo queue. Simply by placing shrooms in good locations around Baron pit is usually enough to win a game by himself as long as he doesn't feed in lane.
• Vayne [Tier 2 ADC]: The top few AD carries simply outcarry her early and mid game right now, and although her late game can still be monstrous, it's getting harder and harder to get there.
• Vi [God Tier Jungle]: It's no surprise Vi's moving up a few steps, she just gets a lot of bonuses for relatively low amounts of effort.
• Wukong [God Tier Jungle]: The jungle item changes were very kind to him, and he's definitely stronger than ever in the jungle.
• Yasuo [Tier 1 Mid]: After the slight nerfs to Yasuo and Shiv, I think he's more in line now. He's still very strong, but requires a little more skill to execute correctly as he's still a squishy glass cannon.

Disclaimer:

• The purpose of this list is for discussion and to provide a starting point for hero selection.

Agree? Disagree? Comment below!

Heimerdinger Visual Update Incoming!

February 25, 2014, 5:35 pm

≫ Next: Official Patch 4.3 Notes Released

≪ Previous: 2014 Champion Tier List - Solo Queue - Patch 4.2 Update

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[LAB REPORT]

Updating a champion like Heimerdinger requires all the rigor of the scientific method. Given his upcoming PBE launch, more and more evidence from the experimentation is surfacing.

The first major discovery proved the mass previously known as Heimerdinger’s brain is actually hair. After what must have been days of cutting, styling and shaping, Heimerdinger returned to his lab to experiment with his new do.

With his hair density significantly reduced, Heimer implemented a long languishing invention: the D.I.N.G.R., a neural-engaged robotic arm. This schematic shows the arm of the D.I.N.G.R. lying in wait for Heimerdinger’s supercharged grey matter to raise the apparatus and launch a bevy of rockets and grenades at the enemies of science and progress.

But Heimer can’t call anything an upgrade if his turrets aren’t included. Whether sporting original ‘Dinger, Piltover Customs, Alien Invader or entering the Blast Zone, there’ll be no mistaking these death devices for ye olde pitching machines.

Heimerdinger’s update is subject to peer review, so experiment with the diminutive scientist on the PBE while the kinks are worked out. As always, provide feedback to the team in the form below!

Source

Official Patch 4.3 Notes Released

February 26, 2014, 7:34 pm

≫ Next: Basic Laning Mechanics Part 1 - Last Hitting/Pushing/Harassing

≪ Previous: Heimerdinger Visual Update Incoming!

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Hey everyone! Looks like Riot's uploaded the latest official patch notes below! Check out this quick summary:

Buffs: Corki, Ryze, Skarner
Nerfs: Gragas, Kassadin, Kha'Zix, Teemo, Yasuo
Tweaks: Fiddlesticks, Nocturne, Shaco, Gold Items


Official Red Post:

“Hey Summoners,

Welcome back to the patch notes! This isn’t a huge update (less novel-length patch notes, YAY!), but we’re using this patch to set out the roadmap of what we’ll be hitting long-term. For example, Kassadin and Gragas are getting small nerfs this patch while we focus on their larger long term changes after they go through our lab tests.

Outside of that, we’ve got some general tune-ups for support gold items (take a look at the updated Spellthief line!) and basic items in general. Oh, and keep an eye out for a new champion! HO HO HO WHAT A FUNNY JOKE WE HAVE MADE.” Pwyff

LoL Client

“With our LoL client work ongoing, game invites were next on our hit list. The below changes should help out with client performance. ”

• Players can now be invited to and accept game invitations while already in a lobby
• Lobby owners can now select a teammate to be the game owner and “draft captain” in charge of bans and first pick
• Improved invitee and lobby status updates:
• • Accepted
  • Pending
  • Declined
  • Accepted - Lobby Full
  • Accepted - Quit
  • Joined - Quit
  • Joined
  • Kicked
  • Banned
• Invitations to games that are no longer available will now read “The invitation from «Summoner» has expired.”
• You can now grant invite privileges in custom games
• Chat lobbies will remain intact if someone leaves champ select
• You can still send and receive game invites if chat goes down
• You can now send game invitations to offline players - they’ll see them when they log in
• Chat’s no longer restricted when sending out large amounts on invites at once

Champions

Vel’Koz

Vel’Koz, the Eye of the Void is somewhere in this patch but will be turned on at a later date.

Corki

Corki players can now see Phosphorus Bomb’s area of effect indicator and Phosphorus Bomb now scales with bonus AD.

“Way back, we added more gameplay to Phosphorous Bomb in the form of a travel time, thereby increasing the difficulty of the skill but not the reward. We’ve added some extra gunpowder to the bomb this patch to rebalance the ability.”

Q - Phosphorus Bomb

---

NEWBONUS ATTACK DAMAGE RATIO+0.5 Bonus Attack Damage Ratio

NEWCLARITYNow shows area-of-effect indicator for Corki (previously displayed only for enemies)

Gragas

We lowered Body Slam’s AD ratio at early levels and reduced Explosive Cask’s AP ratio.

“Short-term, we’re making these changes to slightly tone down Gragas’ overall power curve without making him “Old and Busted.” In future patches we’ll look at Gragas and make changes that leave him feeling like more of a drunken brawler than a fat mage.”

E - Body Slam

---

TOTAL ATTACK DAMAGE RATIO0.66 at all ranks ⇒ 0.3/0.4/0.5/0.6/0.7

R - Explosive Cask

---

ABILITY POWER RATIO1.0 ⇒ 0.9

OLD MANA COST100/125/150 ⇒ 100 at all ranks (legacy patch note from an undocumented change in 4.2)

Kassadin

We reduced Null Sphere’s damage and silence duration and lowered the damage of Force Pulse.

“We’re currently working on more aggressive changes for Kassadin in the future. In the meantime, these are short term tweaks to knock his power levels down a peg while we continue testing. Maybe, someone, somewhere, will get to play him in a ranked game.”

Q - Null Sphere

---

DAMAGE80/115/150/185/220 ⇒ 80/110/140/170/200

SILENCE1.5/1.75/2/2.25/2.5 seconds ⇒ 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 seconds

E - Force Pulse

---

DAMAGE80/130/180/230/280 ⇒ 80/120/160/200/240

Kha’Zix

“Kha’Zix can be oppressive to play against if he starts snowballing in the early game. Even if his opponents stick together to prevent isolation, the bug deals stupendous amounts of all-in damage before leaping to safety with his E resets. Even though we trimmed down his explosive initiations and crazy fast Dragon/Baron killing speed, we still like Kha’Zix as a speedy hunter, so we buffed his ability to maneuver in fights.”

Q - Evolved Enlarged Claws

---

MISSING HEALTH DAMAGE8% ⇒ 6%

MAXIMUM DAMAGE VS. MONSTERS200 ⇒ 100

E - Leap

---

BONUS ATTACK DAMAGE RATIO0.8 ⇒ 0.2

R - Void Assault

---

NEWUTILITYKha’Zix ignores unit collision while in stealth

R - Evolved Active Camouflage

---

NEWUTILITYVoid Assault Duration +1 seconds (total 2 seconds)

Ryze

We’ve buffed Ryze’s base health and increased Overload’s range.

“In previous patches, we cemented Ryze’s role as a mid-range mage. Now, we’re helping him adjust.”

General

---

BASE HEALTH446 ⇒ 500

Q - Overload

---

RANGE600 ⇒ 625

Skarner

We lowered Crystal Slash’s mana cost and increased Fracture’s slow.

“We’re giving Skarner some help in the early game with a focus on his crowd control capabilities.”

Q - Crystal Slash

---

MANA COST20/22/24/26/28 ⇒ 16/18/20/22/24

E - Fracture

---

SLOW30/35/40/45/50% ⇒ 45/50/55/60/65%

Teemo

Teemo’s shrooms are now slightly less annoying.

“Late game, Teemos stacking pure AP could pretty much opt out of fighting by laying deathshrooms everywhere and spamming the laugh button. If you’re ever close to losing it after dying to a shroom, just remember; millions of Teemos die each day .”

R - Noxious Trap

---

ABILITY POWER RATIO0.8 ⇒ 0.5

Yasuo

We’ve reduced Way of the Wanderer’s shield duration as well as its value at higher levels.

“We want to further emphasize Yasuo’s defensive weaknesses, like triggering his shield with a basic attack and then waiting out the duration, or making him more vulnerable to lots of things hitting him at the same time.”

Passive - Way of the Wanderer

---

SHIELD DURATION2 seconds ⇒ 1.5 seconds

SHIELD (ROUGH VALUES)60~690 ⇒ 60~470

SHIELD (REAL VALUES)60/65/70/75/85/95/110/125/145/170/200/240/290/350/420/500/590/690

⇒60/65/70/75/80/90/100/110/125/140/160/185/215/250/290/340/400/470

Terrify(ing) Changes

“The randomness of Terrify made it unreliable in most cases, both in coordinating with teammates and for opponents, so we’re making it more predictable.”

Fiddlesticks

In addition to the Terrify changes, we’ve increased Drain’s cast range.

Q - Terrify

---

UTILITYAffected units run around in fear ⇒ Affected units now run away from Fiddlesticks with impaired movement

W - Drain

---

CAST RANGE475 ⇒ 575 (tether range remains at 750)

Nocturne

E - Unspeakable Horror

---

UTILITYAffected units run around in fear ⇒ Affected units now run away from Nocturne with impaired movement speed

Shaco

W - Jack In The Box

---

UTILITYAffected units run around in fear ⇒ Affected units now run away from the Jack in the Box with impaired movement speed

Minor Changes & Bug Fixes

Kayle

NEWPRETTINESSUpdated Ability Icons!

Sejuani

W - Flail of the Northern Winds

---

BUGFIXFixed a bug where % increases to Sejuani’s health were not being included in the bonus damage calculation

Twisted Fate

W - Pick A Card

---

NEWPRETTINESSNew Particles!

Volibear

W - Frenzy

---

BUGFIXFixed a bug where % increases to Volibear’s health were not being included in the bonus damage calculation

Zac

We increased the interaction radius of Zac’s blobs.

Passive - Cell Division

---

CHUNK PICKUP / STOMP RADIUS25 ⇒ 50

Items

Tear of the Goddess

“Not enough tears on the Rift.”

NEWPASSIVEAdditionally grants +1 maximum mana per 8 seconds (+1 maximum mana per 6 seconds on Crystal Scar)

MANA REGEN7 ⇒ 6

Doran’s Shield

“We want Doran’s Shield to be a strong pick for countering ranged attack harassment, but its high defensive stats were making it a must-buy early item for some champions. We’re clarifying its strengths while toning down some of the power.”

HEALTH100 ⇒ 80

HEALTH REGEN10 ⇒ 6

Spirit Stone Items

(Spirit Stone, Spirit of the Elder Lizard, Spirit of the Ancient Golem, Spirit of the Spectral Wraith)

“We like the changes we made to the Spirit Stone line in patch 4.1, so these are just some general tweaks to promote a wider variety of junglers.”

BUTCHER PASSIVE HEALTH RESTORE8% damage dealt ⇒ 6% damage dealt

BUTCHER PASSIVE MANA RESTORE4% damage dealt ⇒ 3% damage dealt

BUTCHER PASSIVE UTILITYHealth / Mana restore no longer halved for area-effect spells

Boots of Mobility

“As the premiere set up boots for getting into - and initiating - fights, we’re introducing a strategic tradeoff. There has been some discussion that this change will hurt some junglers, so we’ll keep an eye on this change.”

MOVEMENT SPEED45 in combat / 105 out of combat ⇒ 25 in combat / 105 out of combat

TOTAL COST1000 gold ⇒ 800 gold

Ruby Crystal

“We don’t expect Ruby Crystal to suddenly be a great starting item, but we want to lower its barrier of purchase. Same’s true of the Sightstone items.”

HEALTH180 ⇒ 150

TOTAL COST475 gold ⇒ 400 gold

Sightstone

HEALTH180 ⇒ 150

TOTAL COST950 gold ⇒ 800 gold

Ruby Sightstone

HEALTH360 ⇒ 400

TOTAL COST1550 gold ⇒ 1600 gold

Gold Generating Items

All stats will be displayed per item while changes will be noted.

We’re doing a polish of the mini-games associated with gold generating items.

Spellthief’s Edge Line

Buying a Spellthief’s Edge is a commitment to harassing your opponents from afar. It’ll be the highest risk and reward item in terms of gold generation.

Spellthief’s Edge

NEWPASSIVE TRIBUTEOld Tribute Passive ⇒ Spells and basic attacks against champions or buildings deal 10 additional damage and grant 5 Gold. This can occur up to three times every 30 seconds. Killing a minion disables this passive for 12 seconds.

ABILITY POWER10 ⇒ 5

MANA REGEN3 ⇒ 2

GOLD PER 102 gold per 10 seconds

Frostfang

NEWPASSIVE TRIBUTEOld Tribute Passive ⇒ Spells and basic attacks against champions or buildings deal 15 additional damage and grant 10 Gold. This can occur up to three times every 30 seconds. Killing a minion disables this passive for 12 seconds.

TOTAL COST850 gold ⇒ 865 gold

ABILITY POWER20 ⇒ 10

MANA REGEN7 ⇒ 5

GOLD PER 104 gold per 10 seconds

Frost Queen’s Claim

NEWPASSIVE TRIBUTEOld Tribute Passive ⇒ Spells and basic attacks against champions or buildings deal 15 additional damage and grant 10 Gold. This can occur up to three times every 30 seconds. Killing minions does not disable the passive.

NEWUNIQUE ACTIVEOld Unique Active ⇒ Fires an ice lance that explodes dealing 50 (+5 per champion level) magic damage to nearby enemies while slowing their movement speed by 80%, decaying over 2 seconds (60 second cooldown).

RECIPEFrostfang + Amplifying Tome ⇒ Frostfang + Fiendish Codex (total cost remains 2000 gold)

NEWCOOLDOWN REDUCTION+10% Cooldown reduction

ABILITY POWER50 ⇒ 40

GOLD PER 1010 gold per 10 seconds

MANA REGEN10 mana regeneration

Relic Shield Line

We’re reinforcing the Relic Shield line as “all-in” tanky support items for those who want to scrap in lane all day. This is the moderate risk, moderate reward item.

Relic Shield

NEWPASSIVE SPOILS OF WAROld Spoils of War Passive ⇒ Melee basic attacks execute minions below 200 Health. Killing a minion heals you and the nearest allied champion for 40 Health and grants them kill gold. These effects require a nearby allied champion. Recharges every 60 seconds. Max 2 charges.

NEWCLARITYAllies who benefit from Spoils of War now also gain +1 to their minions killed score

HEALTH50 ⇒ 75

HEALTH REGEN6 ⇒ 0

Targon’s Brace

NEWPASSIVE SPOILS OF WAROld Spoils of War Passive ⇒ Melee basic attacks execute minions below 200 Health. Killing a minion heals you and the nearest allied champion for 50 Health and grants them kill gold. These effects require a nearby allied champion. Recharges every 30 seconds. Max 3 charges.

NEWCLARITYAllies who benefit from Spoils of War now also gain +1 to their minions killed score

TOTAL COST850 gold ⇒ 865 gold

HEALTH REGEN12 ⇒ 8

HEALTH+175 health

Face of the Mountain

NEWPASSIVE SPOILS OF WAROld Spoils of War Passive ⇒ Melee basic attacks execute minions below 200 Health. Killing a minion heals you and the nearest allied champion for 50 (+1% of your maximum Health) and grants them kill gold. Recharges every 30 seconds. Max 4 charges.

NEWCLARITYAllies who benefit from Spoils of War now also gain +1 to their minions killed score

NEWUNIQUE ACTIVEOld Unique Active ⇒ Shield target ally for 10% of your maximum Health for 4 seconds. After 4 seconds, the target explodes dealing 100% of their total Attack Damage plus 30% of their Ability Power as magic damage in an area (60 second cooldown).

HEALTH375 health

HEALTH REGEN25 health regeneration

COOLDOWN REDUCTION10% cooldown reduction

Ancient Coin Line

We’re giving the Ancient Coin line a reduction in combat-related stats so that we can focus on its hold-out pattern of staying alive in lane. This is definitely the lowest risk line of them all, but it also provides the lowest overall rewards.

Ancient Coin

NEWPASSIVE FAVOROld Favor Passive ⇒ Being near a minion death without dealing the killing blow grants 2 Gold and 5 Health.

HEALTH REGEN5 ⇒ 0

MANA REGEN+3 mana regeneration

Nomad’s Medallion

NEWPASSIVE FAVOROld Favor Passive ⇒ Being near a minion death without dealing the killing blow grants 3 Gold and 5 Health.

HEALTH REGEN8 ⇒ 5

MANA REGEN11 ⇒ 7

TOTAL COST850 gold ⇒ 865 gold

GOLD PER 10+2 gold per 10 seconds

Talisman of Ascension

NEWPASSIVE FAVOROld Favor Passive ⇒ Being near a minion death without dealing the killing blow grants 3 Gold and 10 Health.

MANA REGEN15 ⇒ 10

ACTIVEGrants nearby allies +40% movement speed for 3 seconds (60 second cooldown).

HEALTH REGEN10 health regeneration

GOLD PER 102 gold per 10 seconds

COOLDOWN REDUCTION20% cooldown reduction

Team Builder

“Some Team Builder assets are included in this patch in preparation for an eventual two-day live beta test.”

---

Basic Laning Mechanics Part 1 - Last Hitting/Pushing/Harassing

February 28, 2014, 8:56 am

≫ Next: New Masquerade Summoner Icons Available!

≪ Previous: Official Patch 4.3 Notes Released

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Oftentimes I get asked how as a Diamond player, how would I carry a game in Bronze or Silver. Do I outpick them with counterpicks? Do I mostly use technique? Is there some sort of strategic knowledge I implement?

Well the easiest answer is probably yes to all of them if I'm trying particularly hard.

Generally speaking though, it's enough to win your own lane without ever dealing with the rest of it. As long as you can can get a gold lead, there's always time for the rest.

Laning Phase Basics

To break down the laning phase, there are a couple issues to address:

• When and how do I TP back to base?
• When do I roam?
• When/How do I all-in my lane opponent?
• When/how do I harass?
• When do I push?
• Last-hitting

Let's do them in backwards order.

Last-Hitting

Last hitting is what you'll spend most of your time doing during the laning phase. Every 15 cs is about equal to a kill, so it's a much safer bet to farm, rather than to risk dying to a jungle gank and lose all your CS to turret.

Note that there's a difference between simply last-hitting, and getting the last hit on a minion. Generally speaking, you'll want to wait until the last moment when when a minion is about to die before killing it, or else you'll push the lane. However, you should also note the position of the enemy champions, and if they happen to be farther away it's worth killing a minion before they get in range to harass.

Mana: I see a lot of people trying to be frugal with their mana and save it instead of using it to secure last hits at turret. Don't do this. Make sure you get all the last hits. Yes, even use your net if you need to.

Pushing

Pushing a lane should be done to relieve jungle pressure from other lanes, but you should also do it only in situations where:

1. You're relatively sure that your jungle is close enough to help;
2. Their jungle is going to be out of position; or
3. You think you can get away safely. 

It allows you to force your opponents to waste mana last-hitting under tower (they're dumb if they choose to just miss the minions), which can give you a slight edge. If you're able to harass them under turret as well, it will give you a medium level of advantage.

Harassing

Harassing can be done one of three ways:

1. When they're last hitting

While you're in lane, the minions generally die at a similar time and thus it's difficult to find a time where you can hit them and they can't hit you unless you're playing the support role. If you desync your minions though (which often happens after a few waves), then harassing them when they go in for a last hit is viable.

2. At their turret

At their turret they're very concentrated on last-hitting, whereas you're just waiting for your minions to die. This results in the perfect time for ranged harass. See link for maximizing harass range.

3. Wing it

Naturally, there's also the random nonsense harass that tends to happen. If you see this, just hit them back. Your minions will likely hit them harder.

All-in

After harassing, there's always the all-in in which you (and maybe your partner) try their best to kill one of the enemy champion(s). In a both lanes, there's always the ability to outplay skillshots (generally via flash). However in a duo lane, it's important that the person who's NOT getting targeted put as much damage as possible on their highest damage dealer to try and force them to back off.

Example: If Thresh hooks onto your Leona, this is a GOOD thing if there's no jungle gank incoming (otherwise run). If you're playing AD carry, this is the point where you dash in on their AD carry and burst as much as possible, since their support just used their main CC and half their damage on your support. If you run away, then they just put out free damage and you'll likely lose the lane. 

Always be aware of the following:

1. The number of minions nearby
2. Level advantage
3. Summoners that are up (or down).
4. Possible jungle assistance

These are generally the biggest reasons for success or failure, with "sick plays" trailing behind.

Although these aspects are essential for your in-lane technical phase, we'll move on to some more strategical tactics in Part 2 - Roaming and Map Control. (Coming soon)

New Masquerade Summoner Icons Available!

February 28, 2014, 12:01 pm

≫ Next: Season 4 Support Starting Items: Doran Shield Meta

≪ Previous: Basic Laning Mechanics Part 1 - Last Hitting/Pushing/Harassing

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Limited time Masquerade summoner icons available

BY RIOT NAKYLE

Dare to dance with these icons inspired by the Masquerade event going on throughout Latin America and Brazil.

They’re available for 250 RP or 1500 IP each through March 7.

Source 

Season 4 Support Starting Items: Doran Shield Meta

February 1, 2014, 12:51 pm

≫ Next: 2014 Champion Tier List - Solo Queue - Patch 4.3 Update

≪ Previous: New Masquerade Summoner Icons Available!

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Playing support in Season 4 Preseason started off as a relic shield spam game, with both teams trying to push as hard as possible to maximize the insane sustain and pushing power it provided.

However, with the relic shield nerf, a few more possibilities have come into viability. Here are the ones I find the best suited to the current meta at the moment:

1. Doran Shield + pots
2. Ancient Coin + Ward + Pots
3. Relic Shield + Ward + Pots
4. Ruby Crystal

Some people also like to get Spellthief's Edge, but I highly recommend against it. Its gold compensation isn't enough to make up for its lack of early game trading ability coupled with the fact that you won't be able to purchase a Talisman of Ascension later on unless you sell it. The chilling effect does look pretty though.

Doran Shield + Pots

Stats: +100 health +10 health regen per 5 seconds

Unique: Blocks 8 damage from champion basic attacks.

This is the start that you'll want to use about 90% of the time. Although it relies on your AD carry to use their ward at the right time to avoid jungle ganks, the sustain and trading ability that it provides is insane.

If you have any thoughts about fighting in lane, then this is the item you'll want to pick up. Without it, you'll be sitting at a great disadvantage against supports who start with it, sitting at their mercy until you get a jungle gank.

When I first heard about it, I was definitely a little skeptical, since without wards it seemed like bot lane would be extremely vulnerable to jungler ganks. However, the added tankiness combined with trinket wards actually deters the majority of jungler attempts.

Even though Doran's Shield is due for some upcoming nerfs on the PBE, definitely milk this overpowered start as long as possible.

Ancient Coin + Ward + Pots

This start is *okay* if you happen to want to play passively, maybe for a support like Janna or Soraka. However, there's still a chance to be engaged on, in which case you'll wish you had a Doran Shield instead...

If you do happen to start with this and want to win against a Doran Shield lane, the best way is to let the enemy team push against you and then ask for a jungler gank. If you accidentally start pushing up against a lane like a Thresh or Leona with Doran Shield, you're just asking to die.

Relic Shield + Ward + Pots

Stats: +50 health +6 health regeneration

UNIQUE - SPOILS OF WAR: Melee autoattacks execute minions below 200 health. Killing a minion by any means heals the nearest allied champion for 2% of your maximum health and grants them (kill + 5) gold. These effects require a nearby allied champion and consume a charge. Recharges every 60 seconds. Max 2 charges.

This start has fallen out of favor. Although it does give a decent amount of gold when you manage to utilize the gold passive to its fullest, you'll notice that the stats it provides is half that of Doran Shield, not even including the passive. However, it does provide a valuable ward to start, which is very useful if you're worried about jungle ganks.

Ruby Crystal

This start is pretty interesting, although you almost never see it. It gives you +180 health, no health regeneration, no pots, and no wards. However, it allows you to rush your sightstone much faster providing you don't lose your lane before then. 

I recommend against going this start unless you're positive you outskill your opponents are confident in your ability to secure a kill within the first few levels.

Thoughts

Although in a competitive environment lacking vision is a strong deterrent towards purchasing a Doran Shield to start, in solo queue the trading ability that it provides far outweighs any chance that a coordinated jungler will have the ability to recognize the exact break between the support and the adc's trinket wards.

TLDR; Start with Doran Shield if you want to win in solo queue!

2014 Champion Tier List - Solo Queue - Patch 4.3 Update

March 5, 2014, 6:28 pm

≫ Next: Basic Laning Mechanics Part 2 - Roaming

≪ Previous: Season 4 Support Starting Items: Doran Shield Meta

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SEASON 4 - PATCH 4.3 SOLO QUEUE TIER LIST
SEASON 4 UPDATE

Preface Chatter
Although a little late on the Lulu Elo train, the tier list has been updated for Patch 4.3. I've also added several champions to the list based on user comments as noted below.

As always, please keep comments cordial and avoid personal attacks. Thank you all for visiting!

Patch 4.3 Summary

Buffs: Corki, Ryze, Skarner
Nerfs:Gragas, Kassadin, Kha'Zix, Teemo, Yasuo
Tweaks: Fiddlesticks, Nocturne, Shaco, Gold Items

Updates:

• Champions Added!
• Galio support [Tier 4]
• Top Soraka [Tier 2]
• Top Viktor [Tier 2]
• Vel'Koz [Tier 2]

Use CTRL + F to Search For Champions

The Tier List

God Tier [Very Strong]: 
Mid-Lane Gods: Ziggs, Kassadin, Lulu (AP), Kayle, Gragas, Kha'Zix
Jungle Gods: Vi, Amumu, Elise, Wukong, Kha'Zix
AD Gods: Jinx, Draven, Sivir, Lucian
Top Lane Gods: Wukong, Nasus, Renekton, Jax
Support Gods:Leona, Thresh

Tier 1 [Really Strong]:
Mid-Lane: Katarina, Talon, Swain, Orianna, Akali, Yasuo, Lux, Morgana, Malzahar, Brand, Nidalee, Syndra, Ahri, Diana, Fizz, Wukong
Jungle: Fiddlesticks, Volibear, Jarvan IV, Udyr, Lee Sin, Rammus, Sejuani, Aatrox, Nocturne, Hecarim, Nautilus, Zac, Dr. Mundo, Shyvana, Rengar
AD Carry: Caitlyn, Varus, Twitch, Tristana, Ezreal, Corki, Graves
Top Lane: Kayle, Yasuo, Shyvana, Dr. Mundo, Singed, Darius, Fiora, Teemo, Olaf, Rengar, Tryndamere, Warwick, Aatrox, Yorick, Kennen, Jarvan IV, Elise, Malphite, Lee Sin, Udyr, Volibear, Karma, Nidalee
Support: Sona, Annie, Taric, Zyra, Blitzcrank, Lulu, Janna,

Tier 2 [Balanced]:
Mid-Lane: Leblanc, Heimerdinger, Viktor, Cassiopeia, Pantheon, Annie, Anivia, Galio, Kennen, Mordekaiser, Zed, Vladimir, Vel'Koz, Xerath, Zyra, Teemo, Elise, Lissandra, Sion, Ryze, Karma
Jungle: Pantheon, Olaf, Shaco, Maokai, Nasus, Warwick, Xin Zhao, Skarner, Leona, Trundle, Malphite, Gragas, Diana, Zed
AD Carry: Kog'Maw, Ashe, Vayne, Miss Fortune, Quinn
Top Lane: Rumble, Cho'gath, Zac, Riven, Pantheon, Ryze, Viktor, Soraka, Shen, Poppy, Akali, Quinn, Vi, Swain, Kha'Zix, Vladimir, Trundle, Garen, Jayce, Lissandra, Zed
Support: Nami, Fiddlesticks, Karma, Alistar, Soraka

Tier 3 [Needs Higher Skill/Knowledge Than Usual]:
Mid-Lane: Karthus, Veigar, Riven, Twisted Fate, Jayce, Cho'Gath, Evelynn,  Fiddlesticks, Soraka
Jungle: Evelynn, Nunu, Jax, Cho'Gath, Shen, Malzahar, Yasuo, Fiora, Master Yi, Riven, Kayle, Poppy, Darius,
AD Carry: Twisted Fate, Kennen, Urgot
Top Lane: Irelia, Gangplank, Mordekaiser, Xin Zhao, Sion, Vayne, Master Yi, Talon, Nunu, Galio
Support: Morgana, Teemo, Nunu, Volibear, Lux, Nautilus, Orianna, Nidalee, Zilean, Gangplank, Shen

Tier 4 [Difficult to Win]:
Mid-Lane: Kog'maw, Zilean, Tristana, Janna, Ezreal (AP),
Jungle: Tryndamere, Gangplank, Blitzcrank, Alistar
AD Carry:
Top Lane: Urgot
Support: Kayle, Malphite, Poppy, Elise, Galio, Maokai, Yorick, Lissandra, Ashe, Leblanc, Caitlyn

• Champions in BOLD I will talk about shortly
• Champions UNDERLINED may be over/undervalued, but aren't/haven't played enough for me to make a better judgement.
• Within each tier the champions are strongest from left to right, but within a tier each champion's strength is relatively close. This is especially true for Tiers 2 and 3 where these champions are ALL highly playable and player dependent on how strong they are in-game.

Click Here for a description of the tiers

God Tier: These champions are almost impossible to keep down. If your team doesn't make it a priority to shut down these champions and shut them down hard, even if they lose their lane, lose in CS, and it's their first time playing the champion, they can be a massive nuisance for your team. On the other hand, if they're actually good at the champion...that's when it's time to throw in the towel.

Tier 1: These champions generally do very well regardless, and have some sort of advantage over most other champions. When they do well, their team does well. Even when they don't do well, their team still has a good chance of a comeback victory by utilizing one or more aspects of their late game utility.

Tier 2: This is the Tier of balanced champions where Riot shoots to place their designs. These champions generally do well in their own right, and are very strong picks with a good chance of winning. However, they're not overpowered by any means and do have their weaknesses.

Tier 3: These champions can still do very well, but tend to need a little more snowballing to get rolling. Even if they get an early lead, it's still very possible to turn the tides on them with just a mistake or two. They may also have some weaknesses that can be capitalized on.

Tier 4: These champions are either underpowered or offer less reward than other champions for the same amount of effort. These champions basically start winning from the get-go or get made fun of for the rest of the game. They need gold to do their job correctly, and if they don't get enough of it, they become sandbags for the enemy team to punch. Chances of a comeback with one of these champions feeding on your team is almost none.

Champion Explanations

• Akali [Tier 1 Mid]: Akali is surprisingly strong right now. As long as your team has a strong front line and good wave clear, she can wreck havoc on enemies and often carry a game from losing positions through her insane snowballing resets.
• Corki [Tier 1 AD Carry]: The buffs have been kind to him, and I think he's back to being a contender.
• Galio [Tier 4 Support]: Galio support requires a great deal more skill to play in order to land skillshots, but it's definitely viable. Just don't expect any miracles or consistency without practice.
• Leblanc [Tier 2 Mid]: She's still a very skill based champion, and it's always a crap shoot mid. She snowballs hard then falls off, but for those that know how to properly utilize her ultimate she can be very strong.
• Lulu [God Tier Mid]: She's an absolute beast right now, and makes teams essentially undivable. She also really helps against/with popular champions like Wukong and Vi.
• Rammus [Tier 1 Jungle]: The boots of mobility changes hurt him quite a bit. With the trend continuously shifting towards carry type junglers, he's somewhat falling off the edge. He's still viable, but not nearly the same as he was before.
• Ryze [Tier 2 Mid/Top]: As always, the range changes on Ryze have given him new life, and he's definitely stronger now. I think he's better top than mid at the moment, but it depends on the match-up. Good job Riot.
• Shen [Tier 3 Jungle]: He doesn't benefit as much from the S4 jungle compared to more "carry" like junglers, and other utility junglers like Nautilus are far stronger.
• Soraka [Tier 2 Top]: She's a very gimmicky champion, but has insane waveclear and can contend with some popular tops like Shyvana simply because of her waveclear and bonus armor on her W.
• Teemo [Tier 1 Top]: The nerfs hit him quite hard, and while he's still strong, if you fall behind it's much harder to come back.
• Vel'Koz [Tier 2 Mid]: Good poke with a very low mana cost. I'm think he'll be one of those champions that will be good eventually, but he's not that hard to outplay once you know his skillset. I'll leave this one here for now.

Disclaimer:

• The purpose of this list is for discussion and to provide a starting point for hero selection.

Agree? Disagree? Comment below!

Basic Laning Mechanics Part 2 - Roaming

March 7, 2014, 4:16 pm

≫ Next: Official Patch 4.4 Notes Released

≪ Previous: 2014 Champion Tier List - Solo Queue - Patch 4.3 Update

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Hi everyone, as promised, this is Part 2 of the basic lane mechanics series (you can find Part 1 here).

While Part 1 delved mainly in the more technical aspects of the laning phase (last hitting, pushing, and harassing), Part 2 and 3 are going to focus on a few softer skills, namely roaming and map control. If you have other ideas that you'd like me to talk about, feel free to leave a comment!

Who should roam?

Some champions roam better than others. This is simply a fact. In the current meta, generally only mid and (rarely) top roam, with bot lane roaming only if they're very far ahead. The reason for this is that mid is naturally closer to both lanes, and tends to have the champions with high burst, cc, and waveclear.

Meanwhile, bot lane is naturally a little farther behind in levels due to the duo lane, so if they roam they'll be highly underleveled against the jungler or mid lane if they get ganked.

Which champions are best at roaming?

Champions with high waveclear, high burst damage, high CC, and/or high mobility have the greatest ability to roam. Examples of such champions include the following:

• AP Sion
• Kassadin
• Talon
• Katarina
• Leblanc
• Annie
• Zed

Many other champions can also roam very well, but should probably focus on beating their lane opponent first, such as Akali, Nidalee, and Malzahar.

When should you roam?

Generally there are two different trains of thought, as to which one is better depends on a game by game basis.

1. Roam EARLY - Examples of champions that do well with an early roam include early CC champions with strong damage skills such as a lvl 2~3 Ryze with teleport. The reason this works is that it's difficult for any mid laner to push in a lane by themselves early on. Also, nobody expects a gank that early.
2. Roam at lvl 6 - This is a very standard strategy that most people like to do. The reason for this is that you'll have your ultimate while bot lane is still only around lvl 5. This means that the chances of a mid laner dying is drastically reduced. After they hit 6 you'll have to pick your battles more carefully.

You'll rarely want to roam around level 4 to 5 unless you're Sion, because that means a failed gank (or even a successful one) will likely put your tower very low in health and also place your opponent in a very advantageous position once he gets his ultimate.

Certain champions have different times when they're best. For example, Sion becomes an insane roamer once he has boots of mobility (or swiftness) and a 2 doran rings, which is enough to clear his wave and run bot for an easy CC gank. Learning the specifics comes with experience.

Countering a Roam

If you're playing mid lane and know that your opponent has left the lane to possibly roam or clear wraith camp, the best thing you can do is to tell bot lane to back off and shove your lane as hard as possible.

Advantages

• No loss of creep score; and
• Won't get ganked in route to assist;

Disadvantages

• May result in bot lane dying, team raging, and loss of dragon control; and
• May miss out on some kills.

While bot laners tend to blame mid laners for not following their opponents down, unless you're already ahead, it places a mid laner in a very difficult position when his wave is shoved to the turret and their lane opponent goes missing.

When a lane opponent goes missing, they can easily camp a spot between bot lane and mid, which means they'll have the jump on your mid laner if he facechecks the bush. Also, since they're already closer to bot, your mid laner will be late, miss valuable creepscore, and probably provide no help anyway.

Conversely, pretending you're roaming can also have very positive effects simply because of the map pressure it creates when mid goes MIA.

Conclusions

There are many different ways to roam, and no one way is a guaranteed success. However, when you're mid there are better things to do than sit at your turret once you clear your wave, and there are definitely better times to roam and worse times to roam. With experience you'll get the hang of each champion's timings.

Next part in this series will deal with Map Control