League of Legends XXIII: gunbladeface.jpg

[Daverin]

Ok, first, if they nerfed teamwork 5-man Assasin squad would become FOTM.

Second, making his ult a skillshot would be a buff even if they didn't somehow make it unflashable. Suddenly it's the most OP escape in the world!

Pah, I would almost laugh at the people who could escape his R now watching him use it as an escape!

I don't know. I think it is as much I don't really have enough back and forth with the other players on following up on his ult. Because it needs follow up. The carry WILL flash out if they know what is good for them, and when that happens you need someone who can pin them to get on top, or else it is now an ult of inconvenience, or so it feels. Its already enough that it can outright screw your team over, I just feel its risk to reward ratio is basically high risk, low to medium reward. Just something to make it easier to capitalize on it.

[toasty]

Um, beg pardon? While I understand the annoyance at having a bad solo top, this definitely isn't a good defense against it. ELO is only roughly equivalent to player skill, and the difference between the two is enough that it's very possible that the best player on a team is not the highest ELO on the team.

Just a pet peeve of mine. Order =/= skill.

Except I've noticed something: If I go top, my team wins the game. if I go anywhere else, I lose the game.

I don't know what it is, but, despite having spent very little time in solo top (I mostly have jungled/supported) if I play solo top, I win games. Very rarely do I lose my lane (it does happen).

As an example, the two games i played Game 1, I did not solo top, I played jungle: Level 1 our (lane) udyr attacks lee sin in the jungle in what is basically a 2v1. He comes out ahead somehow, but I need to gank the lane. I make a mistake (i forget exactly what it was) but he dies instead of sion. He then loses a lot of xp and gold because his lane was pushed so I took all of the xp. He then feeds sion the entire game. If he hadn't done that, if he had played passively until the lane phase began then he could have beaten sion, who started doran's ring.

Game 2: I play galio top solo against Garen. My options for runes are either my galio page which is almost 100% MR or a page with dodge runs. I decide that dodge runes are useless against garen and will hurt galio's damage output, so I opt for standard galio start. I end up BEATING GAREN in lane with this because garen is bad and i get 2 good ganks from our udyr (I really didn't even need the ganks, I had teleport and I never used it during the laning phase).

I think an even better example of my ability to win lanes was this one game where I played Gangplank against garen. There is no reason that garen should have lost that lane, but he did two things A) built tank B) pushed the lane. That lost him all of his domiance and late game scaling. I built normal CDR/Triforce GP, outfarmed him (and I farmed with Q, so I really outfarmed him) and then carried my team despite dying twice in lane. I never lost my tower either.

I know its arrogant to say, but I feel that every time I try to be nice, try to support the team and give people top solo or go and play support when I really want to top solo, I lose games. I don't know why, maybe its because I belong in a different elo, but that's all I've noticed. Solo top: I win. Jungle/Support: I lose. I am not confident in my AD carry or AP carry ability, I am confident in my ability to play tanks/tankydps top. So I pick that role.

edit: Wow I just realized that I never died my last game as Galio. Yeah, that was pretty awesome. Maybe an Irelia would have beat me though... hmm.

[Eurus]

Prolly a tad too long. I recall there's a rather strict limit on the number of characters in topic names. That said, I do appreciate Hamlet in LoL so thanks for that, anyways.

That said, I still think the best topic name was the little Sion-quip at yours truly from few pages ago:
"League of Legends XXIV: Who's your summoner and what does he do"

I support this.

[efdf]

Well, Toasty, you're a really really bad support.

[Astrella]

Well, Toasty, you're a really really bad support.

I support this statement.

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

Except I've noticed something: If I go top, my team wins the game. if I go anywhere else, I lose the game.

I don't know what it is, but, despite having spent very little time in solo top (I mostly have jungled/supported) if I play solo top, I win games. Very rarely do I lose my lane (it does happen).

I'd attribute this simply to you being best at solo top. Perhaps that Udyr wasn't the best, or your jungling wasn't as perfect as it could have been, or, yes, perhaps you were just better. But what I'm getting from your story is that solo top is your best position so you're probably a better choice for that role. It bothers me to hear "I'm a better player," but I'll readily admit that you could easily be a better tanky DPS player.

Take me, for example...I'm a pretty good player, but I don't really like solo top, and I hate 1v2s. Not that I'm bad at them, but I'm worse at them than my skill at the game would show, to the point where players who are arguably worse than me will do better than me in those positions, because they are my weak points and the other player's strengths.

So yes...you probably should have been solo top. Not on the merits of necessarily being a better player, but on the merits of being a better solo top, to the point where your skills in that role were probably wasted by being placed elsewhere.

It's like Mario and I: I'm a half-decent support, but I'm a much better carry player and so, if we want to win, he supports me, although we're both capable of playing the other's role.

[Silverraptor]

So, I just played Xerath for the second time, this game being troll free as my first had 2 trolls.

Spoiler

Show

So yeah, I'm getting Xerath in the future.

[ArcanistSupreme]

So, I just played Xerath for the second time, this game being troll free as my first had 2 trolls.

So yeah, I'm getting Xerath in the future.

I was there, it happened. Check out that fabulous support.

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

I was there, it happened. Check out that fabulous support.

Yeah...that Ashe provided some great support.

[toasty]

Well, Toasty, you're a really really bad support.

Lol. I would agree, but it seems to me that so few people play support on GitP (basically, the only two people I know that will willingly play support are me and Sirro... who is apparently now Astrella. ), so I have few people to really compare myself to.

Also: supporting in solo queue is hard to do... because the duo lane section is such a crap shot.

So yes...you probably should have been solo top. Not on the merits of necessarily being a better player, but on the merits of being a better solo top, to the point where your skills in that role were probably wasted by being placed elsewhere

I guess then I should rephrase what I'm trying to say. Maybe I should say that I'm a better solo top and I want to solo top as a result. I can jungle pretty decently. But jungling is risky becuase if all your lanes fail, then thats huge. Junglers very rarely fail. If you fail as a jungle its because the enemy jungler really was just that good and counter jungled you a ton. (Or you ganked like an idiot, but I haven't seen that happen in a long time).

What I keep feeling like is that i should learn some mages. Its just that I hate playing most mages...

edit: 2v1 lanes are not fun, I agree. However, if you regularly are facing 2v1 lanes your elo is probably lower than I think a player of your skill, Djin, should be. My solution to anyone who is regularly facing 2v1 is to just play Chogath and get a bunch of defensive runes. Call for ganks. You'll probably do okay. Its not fun, but you'll do okay.

[Daverin]

Djinn too troll.

[Lix Lorn]

Lol. I would agree, but it seems to me that so few people play support on GitP (basically, the only two people I know that will willingly play support are me and Sirro... who is apparently now Astrella. ), so I have few people to really compare myself to.

I play Sona!
Can't promise to do WELL, but I play her.

[Geigan]

Patch notes!

That gunblade nerf wasn't quite as bad as I was expecting other than the attack damage which got hit hard, but I imagine it adds up.

[Daverin]

I play occasional support Ali, and used to do Taric more. I haven't even touched him since the rework. I probably would pick up Leona, as a support bot.

Of course, I suck, but there you have it.

[Istari]

Lol. I would agree, but it seems to me that so few people play support on GitP (basically, the only two people I know that will willingly play support are me and Sirro... who is apparently now Astrella. ), so I have few people to really compare myself to.

I play support as well. But I don't hang out with you guys much.

[Neftren]

Lol. I would agree, but it seems to me that so few people play support on GitP (basically, the only two people I know that will willingly play support are me and Sirro... who is apparently now Astrella. ), so I have few people to really compare myself to.

Also: supporting in solo queue is hard to do... because the duo lane section is such a crap shot.

Um... what? The only role I play (other than every-lane Irelia) is Support...? A lot more people play Support (willingly might I add) than you probably realize.

I haven't solo queued recently so I have no comment on the latter part of your statement...

[toasty]

I play Sona!
Can't promise to do WELL, but I play her.

Anyone can PLAY sona. Play her well...that's different.

@Patch notes: GP nerfs.

He's still viable though.

[Daverin]

Oh come on, GP is fine right now. His buff was useful, not that dangerous. Unless it was a response to Dominion, in which case I now am not liking Dominion. I suppose it isn't that huge, but I really feel that he doesn't need more of this. This may just be me defensive, since I have found some newfound success as pirate, but... grrr.

Talon laning nerfs, ho! I probably am wrong in saying this, but I am completely fine with this. Dang W-spamming bully...

Otherwise... meeeeehhh. They could've done more this patch, methinks. At least I am looking forward to Graves. I wonder if there would be any way to justify tanky dps Graves?

[toasty]

Oh come on, GP is fine right now. His buff was useful, not that dangerous. Unless it was a response to Dominion, in which case I now am not liking Dominion. I suppose it isn't that huge, but I really feel that he doesn't need more of this. This may just be me defensive, since I have found some newfound success as pirate, but... grrr.

Gangplank's E was the best AD Steriod in the game. It was AoE. GP jungle+TankyDPS top (Irelia?)+AD carry = amazing push/teamfight power.

GP's W is possibly the best spell in the game. Its cleanse. On a 18 second cooldown, with a small heal.

GP's ult is a global, AoE, slow/DoT.

GP was probably OP.

[Shades of Gray]

I think Gangplank was suffering from old Pantheon syndrome: He had a bit of everything. Good heal, good cc reduction, good movespeed/AD steroid, good ranged skill, and a global ultimate. They had to hit something, so the thing that was least harmful to his kit was changing his steroid. Having an entire team move that much faster was a bit ridiculous; it's like having a Sona who can enter her Q and E stance at the same time.

[balistafreak]

Less noticeable things discussion:

Gangplank

Raise Morale
Active movement speed reduced to 8/11/14/17/20 from 10/14/18/22/26
Active attack damage reduced to 12/19/26/33/40 from 14/22/30/38/46

This is starting to get annoying, now.

Kog'Maw

Bio-Arcane Barrage duration reduced to 8 seconds from 10

He was getting rather out of hand. I'm not sure if this is a crippling nerf or merely meh inducing. Probably the former...

[Eldariel]

They're Irelia'ing GP *sigh* And that Gunblade nerf was stupid. 20 points out of the AD? Wut? Especially since AD is already more expensive than AP. WTF. And why couldn't it be 20% Lifesteal since nobody except me was buying it for the Lifesteal anyways? Seriously, the Lifesteal benefits are minimal on the hybrids people cried about (Akali and Jax, mostly). It used to be 20/20 until they unsynched it in the grand spellvamp revamp; this was a great opportunity to resynch it.

[Lix Lorn]

He was getting rather out of hand. I'm not sure if this is a crippling nerf or merely meh inducing. Probably the former...

Awwwww....

[Makensha]

Note: I already noticed the error in my reading skillz.

Wow. Just... Wow. They actually nerfed Skarner. Hard.

Fracture will now heal Skarner if Fracture kills its target.

I feel like vomiting. Or at least ranting.

Why They Did It: Because Skarner was not living up to his jungler status. He was fast, but he ran out of mana faster, and they needed to give him some sort of buff to resolve this issue on a character who sucks at ganking before level 6. But with this he becomes too sustainable in the jungle. The healing was a lot. If they hadn't made this change, he would be the God Jungler. The fastest, most secure, and most sustained jungler in all the lands. This reduces that healing massively. It also weakens his top laning power where he was quite capable of dominating certain people.

Why I Feel Like Vomiting: So you thought Skarner sucked at team fighting before this? Just wait until your sustain gets crushed! Skarner has great synergy between having a Shield and a Heal. It means he can take damage, shield, and heal some of that damage while the shield blocks damage. This makes him a fantastic dualist and sustainer, especially against people with moderate to low damage output. In a team fight Skarner uses this so that he can actually survive while trying to kill the enemy carry. If you hit three targets with that heal, you are healing for 175% of the original heal (equal to around .5 Ap ratio). Since you are constantly churning these out (say once every 3-5 seconds), Skarner has a LOT of sustain. Which he needs because he is all about dealing damage over a period of time. What happens when you reduce this to only when Skarner gets a kill? Why even have a heal in the first place?

So the heal will pretty much only be relevant as a way to sustain him in lane on minions last hits and for jungling. When it comes to team fights, this is a huge nerf.

Thanks Riot.

At least he can jungle competitively now without a specific rune page.

EDIT: Or I could totally misread that sentence. Yay Skarner buffs!

[Draken]

Less noticeable things discussion:





This is starting to get annoying, now.



He was getting rather out of hand. I'm not sure if this is a crippling nerf or merely meh inducing. Probably the former...

Meh, I still remember when it lasted six seconds. It is a minor quality of life nerf, but I guess the duration was somewhat out of hand, BAB had practically no downtime in the mid-late game.

...

Makensha, I think you are mistaking the intent of that change. It doesn't say that Skarner's E will no longer mark the victims for healing upon extra damage, it says that it will heal skarner if the spell kills the victim.

Because as it is right now, if you kill a minion/champion with Fracture you get no healing, seriously. The spell's healing only triggers when you do damage again to a unit with the fracture debuff.

That is another incredible sustaining buff. Skarner is going to steamroll the jungle better than a Blitz/Ram duo-jungle.

Meh, you reread. Still worth it for the pun!

[Dogmantra]

And that Gunblade nerf was stupid.

This.

I will tell you a good Gunblade nerf:
Akali's passive now has reduced numbers
Jax's passive gives armour from AP and MR from AD
Spellvamp is now unique.

BAM.

[SlyGuyMcFly]

Re: Gunblade nerfs:


Sadfaces. So many of them.

[Raistlin1040]

@ Makensha It's not doing that. Nowhere does it say 'only'. My interpretation is that he will still heal from consuming the mark on a marked targer, but if he gets enough damage to clear waves with a single Fracture, or uses it to last hit in lane, he'll still get the sustain from using it.

[Math_Mage]

Calling the Skarner FotM now.

[Daverin]

Gangplank's E was the best AD Steriod in the game. It was AoE. GP jungle+TankyDPS top (Irelia?)+AD carry = amazing push/teamfight power.

GP's W is possibly the best spell in the game. Its cleanse. On a 18 second cooldown, with a small heal.

GP's ult is a global, AoE, slow/DoT.

GP was probably OP.

If a component of his W was op, besides its obscene range, it is the MS buff, so I suppose it going down is fair. Honestly, besides for him when it is active, it is not that powerful an AD buff. A good one, but ultimately about 1.5 longswords at max rank.

W... I've got nothing. That thing is easily one of the best, just because it is such a sick joke. Honestly, being objective, it is not okay that a champ gets a low CD cleanse with heal (which, at max rank, is not insignificant!) But, as long as I play him, no complaints from me!

It is a global slow; I really don't bother with the damage, because it is still random, and I tend to not get along with RNG, so it seems. That said, it is plentiful utility, but I have as yet to be convinced that it is that obscenely powerful unless very lucky.

In other words, GP is great. GP is full of usefulness. GP does a lot just by being there. GP scales well. But not that well, at least not without going squishy instead of tanky dps, which can be dangerous. And none of his skills will actually outright determine the outcome of a fight, just simply grant more power to your allies to help determine it.

Ah well. He probably is OP, otherwise I wouldn't be doing well with him. And as annoying as it is, his E is powerful, even if I think it is because it means you can chase like bosses and not so much that you now get mega-deeps. I just don't want them to nerf him into the ground, because despite how full of utility he is, I argue none of his moves are actually broken by the numbers, except perhaps the range on his E. Oh, and oranges. Just oranges.