League of Legends XXIV: Today's Noob Strat, Tomorrow's New Meta

[ArcanistSupreme]

Especially as I need just one more runepage to be able to have something moderately applicable to every champion I use/want to use. As it is, I have to choose between Generic AD Carry and Generic AP Carry when building pages, which leads to me typically just picking one of the two characters I have pages already build for.

Yeah, I saved up 6300 for my first runepage, then I broke down and bought the runepage bundle.

[Dogmantra]

I don't know why they don't just let you change them in the lobby, like masteries.

[Spartacus]

I have one preset mastery page and then a bunch of other ones that usually get switched around a lot. Editing it in the lobby is so much better.

Probably something to do with client vs. server hosting, or they just want your RP so they make you buy more pages.

[Eldariel]

I don't know why they don't just let you change them in the lobby, like masteries.

It's 'cause they made Rune Pages a cash cow and if they remove their necessity they'd now have to refund all of them.

[Fredaintdead]

So, Fred has started playing after (sort of) fixing his technical issues.

I'll be playing on NA servers as Fredthefighter.
Right now the only champ I own is Alistair, and I'm not doing too well in basic custom games to be perfectly honest. I went 0/10/2 as Alistair in a defeat (I ended up feeding their Nasus a bit I think, must've been level 5 and he'd hit 8).
Second game I went Cho'Gath and didn't do too much better, but I feel like I'm improving anyway (got 1/9/0 that game).
Summoner level 3 and still having fun so far (I guess not having people yell at you for sucking helps).

[Dogmantra]

so I told the tale of my addiction here

It's a touching tale and I am very sad :(

[Silverraptor]

So I have a 10 win IP boost. No emails about it, not showing up on my purchase history and nothing seems to have changed. Anyone else just got one randomly?

I'm not complaining of course.

Nevermind, LoL got the Golden Joystick.

Still, 10 win IP boost is a bit lame compared to the free rune page from last year.

Agreed. I'm disappointed.

[Qaera]

so I told the tale of my addiction here

It's a touching tale and I am very sad :(

this is the Best Thing.

~ ♅

[PersonMan]

So. Just played two games with Tank'Gath(considering trying Jungle'Gath after I buy him and/or the runes for it). The first went well, but the second...not so much. I feel like I wasn't tanky enough by the end, but I don't know if that's just me, or....

So, what lategame Tank'Gath builds would you recomment? Mine was: Boots of Speed(needed in that game due to really really fast-moving enemies), Rod of Ages(got it early game, unsure about replacing it), Force of Nature, Guardian Angel, Hexdrinker and Warmog's(got it about 5 minutes before the game ended...). This seems to be a pretty good build, I'm just wondering if it can be improved. I think GA might be going, because reviving at such low HP doesn't really help me late game, as I generally die surrounded by enemies.

[Ivellius]

So. Just played two games with Tank'Gath(considering trying Jungle'Gath after I buy him and/or the runes for it). The first went well, but the second...not so much. I feel like I wasn't tanky enough by the end, but I don't know if that's just me, or....

So, what lategame Tank'Gath builds would you recomment? Mine was: Boots of Speed(needed in that game due to really really fast-moving enemies), Rod of Ages(got it early game, unsure about replacing it), Force of Nature, Guardian Angel, Hexdrinker and Warmog's(got it about 5 minutes before the game ended...). This seems to be a pretty good build, I'm just wondering if it can be improved. I think GA might be going, because reviving at such low HP doesn't really help me late game, as I generally die surrounded by enemies.

As a semi-frequent Cho player (Jungle Cho is fun), I'd recommend swapping Hexdrinker and Warmog's for Frozen Heart and Banshee's Veil; CDR and Armor would help that build, and the spell shield is handy. Guardian's is fine as long as you don't die surrounded by enemies and your team can pick at least one enemy off in exchange for your "death." It can save you some feast stacks, and if you get your armor and magic resistance high enough you'll still have some tankiness even with the lowish health. You generally also want to go with Mercury's Treads, but you already noted why you didn't on that.

[Spartacus]

So, what lategame Tank'Gath builds would you recomment?

You're missing a Frozen Heart in there. Really nice item. I like defensive boots2, RoA, FoN, Abyssal Scepter, Frozen Heart, Wit's End. Order is to taste. A metric ton of MR, and nearly 200 armor as well. Looks low on HP until you realize that Cho gets 900 HP free.

Of course, some games you'll want to take something out and put in more armor/more MR, but as always it's a judgement call.

EDIT: Oh yeah, attack speed is so much better on Cho than AD. Vorpal Spikes make it actually worth building Wit's End, especially with the AP from Abyssal and RoA. Hexdrinker, not so much.

[toasty]

I disagree that those buffs didn't make a difference. Especially the projectile speed on Null Sphere was really important for him. Before the buffs an enemy mage with sufficient range could easily hit Kassadin with two spells while while that thing was still flying, giving Kassadin often the short end of the stick in a harrasment trade.

Increasing that projecitle speed has made his laning a lot easier.

Like Math said, it didn't make too much of a difference. It helped, but it wasn't this huge buff. His numbers are still the same. He's still the same guy with bad early laning and a very high ability to snowball. It just so happens that now people are playing him again and I HATE assassins in solo queue. 5 Queue draft? Whatever. I'll just pick counters. Blind pick/Solo queue? Good luck...

So. Just played two games with Tank'Gath(considering trying Jungle'Gath after I buy him and/or the runes for it). The first went well, but the second...not so much. I feel like I wasn't tanky enough by the end, but I don't know if that's just me, or....

So, what lategame Tank'Gath builds would you recomment? Mine was: Boots of Speed(needed in that game due to really really fast-moving enemies), Rod of Ages(got it early game, unsure about replacing it), Force of Nature, Guardian Angel, Hexdrinker and Warmog's(got it about 5 minutes before the game ended...). This seems to be a pretty good build, I'm just wondering if it can be improved. I think GA might be going, because reviving at such low HP doesn't really help me late game, as I generally die surrounded by enemies.

Boots of Speed are a Trap. Don't buy them.

I like Tabi/Merc Treads. If you get Tabi and want some Tenacity get that Tenacity item that builds from Philo Stone. Or the one that gives you AP.

Rod of Ages isn't really worth it. If you want a catalyst get a Bveil.

Guardian Angel... meh, I suppose. I prefer Frozen Heart for my armor.

Basically my build looks like this:
Start Dorans Ring
Get boots, build them either into Tabi or Merc Treads
If I need armor, I get Glacial Shroud. If I need MR I get Wits End.
Finish Frozen Heart
Get FoN

If I have all of those, then I consider stuff like Guardian Angel, Omen, Bveil and QQS.

Bloody hell, if I could get 40 runepages I'd be happy. 11 is way too few for any kind of meaningful rune builds... Better yet, they should just allow changing runes in champ select if you have 11 runepages or something. Then I'd actually buy those.

Yeah. I have 8 pages and I don't really want to spend the money on 2 more, but dammit, I feel like eight pages simply isn't enough.

[ArcanistSupreme]

So. Just played two games with Tank'Gath(considering trying Jungle'Gath after I buy him and/or the runes for it). The first went well, but the second...not so much. I feel like I wasn't tanky enough by the end, but I don't know if that's just me, or....

So, what lategame Tank'Gath builds would you recomment? Mine was: Boots of Speed(needed in that game due to really really fast-moving enemies), Rod of Ages(got it early game, unsure about replacing it), Force of Nature, Guardian Angel, Hexdrinker and Warmog's(got it about 5 minutes before the game ended...). This seems to be a pretty good build, I'm just wondering if it can be improved. I think GA might be going, because reviving at such low HP doesn't really help me late game, as I generally die surrounded by enemies.

You don't have a lot of Armor in that build, and unless they have 0 AD, you'll want a little bit. Frozen heart is pretty good, it gives you way too much armor and cool-down reduction is pretty awesome on Cho. I wouldn't buy Hexdrinker unless you're doing some weird AD Cho build. I would also recommend merc treads or ninja tabi in 95% of games unless they are both AD and CC lite. As a (Cho'gath) tank, you want to be able to absorb hits, not catch people.

And as always, it's a good idea to farm whenever you aren't doing anything else. Cho is great at afk farming, and if you grab teleport you can pretty much farm top the whole game, teleport in for teamfights, and then go back to farming. Also be sure to buy a ward or two to keep you safe while you farm. Also farm more. Yes, even then.

[ShortOne]

so I told the tale of my addiction here

It's a touching tale and I am very sad :(

Maybe we can exchange gunblades instead of rings.

[Moonshadow]

Boots 5? 1000 gold.

Rejuvenation bead? 250 Gold.

Being the first person to reach Windmill and basically capping it before the enemy gets there? Priceless.


Blitz is such a troll on Dominion. And the Definately Not Blitzcrank skin just seriously cracks me up. I giggle every time I Rocket Grab someone.

[PersonMan]

Thanks for the help.

Yeah, I think I'll switch to M. Treads in the future, but in that game I really needed the speed, as the enemy was already able to get around me too often(the slowest of them was about as fast as I was, getting slower was not an option).

I start with Boots, 2 mana potions and 1 HP potion, primarily because I can't stand being slow and with that layout can generally stay in lane for quite some time.

I'll go for more farming, the problem in that game was that the enemy had a tendency to...well, in the laning phase I was killed twice when the entire enemy team suddenly came out of the woodwork. I think wards/a different team(this one was terrible at communication) will mostly take care of that, though.

EDIT: Speaking of farming, an incredibly farm-dependent Tank'Gath build I recently saw: Warmog'sx2, Spirit Visage, Force of Nature.

It seems pretty good, as long as you have a good +armor item and boots to go with it.

[Spartacus]

Bear in mind if the enemy is team is all suddenly top lane, you can kill a tower bot and mid with basically no worries. I mean, even Cho can be killed under a tower by 5 people, but it should take long enough (what with CC and being the Mother****ing Cho'Gath) that your team can push really hard and maybe take a couple towers, possibly even Dragon too.

[PersonMan]

Bear in mind if the enemy is team is all suddenly top lane, you can kill a tower bot and mid with basically no worries. I mean, even Cho can be killed under a tower by 5 people, but it should take long enough (what with CC and being the Mother****ing Cho'Gath) that your team can push really hard and maybe take a couple towers, possibly even Dragon too.

Problems:

-This was early enough in the game that I wasn't tanky enough to hold out for more than a few seconds. I was more concerned with getting the carry out of there(we were overextending one time due to an early tower knock once, the other time we were surrounded).

-The other lanes were doing 'meh' and it was too early for them to be able to push quickly.

-Upon seeing the enemy team pop up top, at least one or two started moving up to help.

I'll think about it for other games, though. It sounds like a nice idea, although the thought of parting with my stacks is a bit painful, it seems like something that'd definitely be worth it, under the right circumstances.

[Spartacus]

Oh, an early 5-man bum rush is really something that shouldn't be allowed to happen. I blame that communication thingy that teams seem to lack.

In a not unrelated note, this is why I play (with very rare exceptions) exclusively with people on Mumble.

[Qwertystop]

Oh, an early 5-man bum rush is really something that shouldn't be allowed to happen. I blame that communication thingy that teams seem to lack.

In a not unrelated note, this is why I play (with very rare exceptions) exclusively with people on Mumble.

Yeah, those are really annoying.

On the note of that tanky-cho build, I thought Warmogs was Unique, like other stacking items?

[Eldariel]

Yeah, those are really annoying.

On the note of that tanky-cho build, I thought Warmogs was Unique, like other stacking items?

What stacking item is unique? The Bloodthirster certainly isn't and neither is Warmog's. You may be thinking of Snowball Items?

[Tychris1]

I don't know why they don't just let you change them in the lobby, like masteries.

Because setting up a Rune page would eat up more time then setting up a mastery page.

Also, for dat money.

[PersonMan]

Oh, an early 5-man bum rush is really something that shouldn't be allowed to happen. I blame that communication thingy that teams seem to lack.

In a not unrelated note, this is why I play (with very rare exceptions) exclusively with people on Mumble.

Well, part of the problem was probably that (at least) 2 of the people on the team were Korean. They may have been warning me for half an hour and I wouldn't have realized it...

They did have terrible communication in general, though, or were on Skype or something and so didn't need to warn each other.

[Qwertystop]

What stacking item is unique? The Bloodthirster certainly isn't and neither is Warmog's. You may be thinking of Snowball Items?

Yeah, I was thinking of snowballs.

Wait, bloodthrister isn't a snowball? What's the distinction between the two groups?

[dgnslyr]

Snowball items get stacks exclusively from kills and assists, whereas the growing items like Bloodthirster and Warmog's get stacks from killing creeps and players alike. Also, snowball items lose a third of the stacks on death, while Bloodthirster looses all stacks, and Warmog's loses none.

[Triscuitable]

Front Towards Gamer had a contest in which the winner got a Nasus Riot skin from ComiCon. I WON ONE OF THE FIVE SKINS! YAHOO!

[Math_Mage]

so I told the tale of my addiction here

It's a touching tale and I am very sad :(

Hahahahahahahahahahaha oh god make it stop

Like Math said, it didn't make too much of a difference. It helped, but it wasn't this huge buff. His numbers are still the same. He's still the same guy with bad early laning and a very high ability to snowball. It just so happens that now people are playing him again and I HATE assassins in solo queue. 5 Queue draft? Whatever. I'll just pick counters. Blind pick/Solo queue? Good luck...

This is why I almost exclusively draft these days, even normals. I find blind pick to be just silly. Even if we're doing, like, 5-teleport-revive tanky DPS or something like that, you can't tell if it's more than just a gimmick in blind pick because the other team didn't get a chance to counterpick.

Boots 5? 1000 gold.

Rejuvenation bead? 250 Gold.

Being the first person to reach Windmill and basically capping it before the enemy gets there? Priceless.


Blitz is such a troll on Dominion. And the Definately Not Blitzcrank skin just seriously cracks me up. I giggle every time I Rocket Grab someone.

Okay, I'm definitely going back to my old strategy of picking Zilean and speeding along someone fast. Free cap at top, plskthx.

[toasty]

Spoiler

Show

I haven't played Kog'Maw in like a year. Also: Support Kass gets first blood by stealing enemy blue. Graves complains his team sucks, my team refuses to baron.

Solo Queue is the best, because of these moments.

[Croverus]

Okay, I'm definitely going back to my old strategy of picking Zilean and speeding along someone fast. Free cap at top, plskthx.

Do it to a powerballing rammus with ghost activated, as he hits the speed buff, and has mob boots and activates pris blessing and ghostblade.

Yea...

[Eldariel]

Do it to a powerballing rammus with ghost activated, as he hits the speed buff, and has mob boots and activates pris blessing and ghostblade.

Yea...

You people do know there are diminishing returns for additional speed boosts, right?