The Strongest Top Bruiser In League Of Legends (S3)? The Comparison & Analysis.

Data Used : 1.0.0.152 (191670 matches)

Discussion :

The Top 3 top lane bruisers in league of legends (S3) are Wukong, Singed & Riven. The result surprises me because I expect Champions that were used frequently in the past tournaments to occupy the top 3 position. Talon has the highest average winning rate but he is not considered the best top lane hero here because I suspect he gains most of his wins @ mid vs squishy mage.

Darius is the most popular top lane bruiser in LOL. Lee Sin is not considered as the most popular top hero here because he is mostly used as Jungler.

Despite Shen OPness in the past competitive tournaments, he does poorly in both ranked and normal game. Great communication and meticulous teamwork which appeared in tournament more often, are required to utilize Shen (Split Push Strategy + R) to his fullest potential.

Poppy, Rengar & Vi need some love from RIOT's balance team.

Is Deathfire Grasp Still Worth It For Master Yi Or Veigar in S3? The OP Analysis

Objective : To determine whether Deathfire Grasp is still viable for burst type heroes such as Master Yi or Veigar.

Method : Compare the total damage taken by a hero with 1000Hp and 500Hp between S2 and S3 Deathfire Grasp. Also compare the gold efficiency between S2 & S3 DFG.

Data Analysis & Discussion :

As can be seen above, the damage output with DFG when the victim has 2000HP is much higher with S2 DFG compared to S3 DFG. However, when the victim is down to 50% of its health (1000HP), the S3 DFG deals slightly more damage than S2 DFG.

The subsequent damage dealt by level 5 Alpha strike remains the same for S2 DFG, but with S3 DFG, the damage dealt increases by 20% due to the debuff effect of the new S3 DFG. The total damage output (DFG + Alpha) with S2 DFG when the victim has 2000HP is slightly higher than S3 DFG. But when the victim only has 50% of its HP. The S3 DFG deals a significantly higher damage than S2 DFG.

S2 DFG (0.37) has a higher gold efficiency than S3 DFG (0.26) when the victim has 2000 HP. S3 DFG (0.26) is slightly better than S2 DFG (0.258) when the victim has 1000HP.

Conclusion : The viability of S3 DFG Vs S2 DFG becomes situational. S3 DFG seems to be a better choice for burst type AP heroes (ie Master Yi) when he is partnered with a good initiator (Malphite, WK, etc) who can deal significant initial damage to the enemy carry compared to S2 DFG. But when the team relies heavily on AP hero to initiate and to deal that initial damage, S3 DFG seems to be weaker compared to S2 DFG. IMHO, S3 DFG is at least viable for AP Master Yi because his success relies heavily on initiators. The S3 DFG is a nerf to Veigar who specializes in killing carry with full health.

Soon after I completed the above analysis, I played a game using AP Master Yi with my friends.

7800 IP for a new champion

Doesn't he look like Hecarim a little bit?

So now if you want a champion on release- it's going to cost you 1500 more influence points. For the first week, purchasing a new character is now a ridiculous 7800 IP. I say ridiculous because it takes a hell of a long time to farm 6300- adding over a thousand onto that is just plain overkill. It's a good way to encourage people to buy RP, which I assume is why they changed it. The price drops back down to normal after a week, so patience is your friend here.

7800. Thanks, Riot.

Thresh is the debut champion to show this new change. He looks hella fun too. Everyone is playing him as support, but he sure doesn't look like a fucking support to me. Top or jungle would be my guess. But then again, last game I got hooked and dragged into the tower by him so I can't complain about it being a bad idea.

Anyway, Thresh is a damn good pick- he has insane damage output and armor, and with a little co-ordination his lantern is an incredibly useful tool. I'm not sure how he'll stand up in ranked though. I kinda want to play him, but I'm not paying for it.

What do you guys think of him? Leave a comment, I'd like to see how he's affected your games.

Rammus OP Jungle Guide For League Of Legends (S3)

Rammus, is a powerful tank based jungler with a strong/borderline OP ability to taunt the enemy for as long as 3 seconds. Rammus has acceptable clear speed, sustainability and an awesome ganking potential pre level 6. With his speedy Powerball ability, you can Q and roam the entire map in high speed even though you are a turtle who is supposed to move & act slowly. Rammus is a dedicated jungle specialist, meaning to say that he is not suitable for any lane except jungle. Your primary goal of playing Rammus is to taunt the enemy carries (AD/AP) whenever possible and secure kill for your team.

Rammus Jungling Route = Wolf -> Blue -> (Look for ganking opportunity in bot > Mid -> Top with your powerball and taunt) -> Wraith -> Red -> (Gank Again if not low in pots and Hp) -> Golem -> Wraith -> Base -> Gank again at level 4 with red.

Primary Skill To Upgrade : W (Puncturing Taunt). Your bread and butter to taunt the enemy carry to attack your hardened shell with spike. I prefer to finish this by level 9

Secondary Skill To Upgrade : W (Defensive CurlBall) (Learn this to reflect damage deal to that enemy (including creeps) that attacks you, finish this by level 13 to enhance your damage output)

Tertiary skill : Q(Powerball) (I usually up 1 level of powerball at level 1 for its superb mobility and stop upgrading it until I hit level 14)

Ultimate : R (Tremor) (A powerful AOE AP ability that can damage surrounding enemies and tower. Learn this at level 6, level 11 and 16)

Rammus Pre Level 6 : Rammus is one of the few junglers (Ie : XZ, Lee sin, etc) who does really well in Level 2 gank. To take advantage of his early ganking prowess, you must first learn Powerball & puncturing taunt by level 2. As you move nearer to the bush (@ top, mid or bot). Initiate with your powerball (Q) and ram towards your victim at full speed, taunt him with W and hope that your teammate will secure the kill. Once you have acquired Defensive curlball @ level 3, your ganking potential increases by 2 fold as this little ability reflects damage and increase your armor & Magic resistance tremendously. Your full combo for wrecking the enemy in high speed is Q, E, W & Auto attack. Creeps will stop your powerball movement so be sure to move the turtle around the creeps and then hit your intended target.

Rammus Post Level 6 : With Tremor At level 6, Rammus becomes a menace not just to the enemy carries but to the tower as well. The combo sequence for Rammus is Q, E, W & Auto attack + R (Tremor). The initiation process is the same as pre level 6 except that you R immediately after triggering your defensive curlball (E). You can also use Tremor & AA to take down tower with ease when the enemy heroes aren't around the tower or be killed.

Team Fight : In organized team fight, your primary goal is to look for opportunity to taunt the enemy carry (AD/AP) so that your carries can follow up and kill him/her. To further increase Rammus mobility in chasing the enemy carries, I prefer buying Shurelya's Reverie as my second items as it gives 40% increase in move speed upon activation. You can also use your puncturing taunt as defensive move in team fight when your carries were initiated by the enemy bruiser or initiator.

Watch Rammus OP Jungle/Ganking Montage

Summoner spells are the standard Flash & Smite

My favorite items for Rammus (Jungle) in season 3 are as follow:

Ninja Tabi, Shurelya's Reverie, Spirit of Ancient Golem, Sunfire Cap, Taunt Mail, Banshee Shield.

Vs Heavy True Damage Team (Darius, Cho Gath, etc) : Consider Warmog To replace Sunfire Cap and get it as early as you can to unleash the full potential of this powerful HP boosting item.

Vs Heavy AP team : Consider Spirit Visage to replace Sunfire cap.

Rammus Jungle Masteries

My Favorite Runes For Rammus : 9 X Greater Seal Of Armor, 9 X Greater Seal Of MR, 9 Greater Mark of Armor, 3 X Q of Armor.

Sleigh Belle Katarina

I wonder who she's beating down.

Well I must say Katarina looks very enticing in this skin. The blades don't look very lethal though! You wouldn't think of our lovely assassin to be filled with Christmas spirit, would you? Kat is very intimidating, even seeing her in such bright dress and blonde hair- she's still pretty scary. Her recall animation also sees her slicing up candy canes.

What's with all the new skins having custom recall animations?

Katarina has always been a favorite champion of mine. If the enemy team forgot to pack enough hard CC- you can really wreak havoc. After the rework she's got a really good farming kit too. Moreover, with the new Liandry's torment she's even more frightening.

I gave that Ashe a Death Lotus, bitches love Death Lotus.

Ingame the skin does look different- but I haven't had the chance to test it out much. I never get to play Kat anymore. I even had to go top to take these screenshots. 

What is with all the complaining about Darius?

So I've seen a bunch of threads and people singing their hearts out about how Darius needs a rework or a nerf over the past few days. There's even a dedicated thread that the reds are avidly posting on with their opinions! My reaction is: what the fuck? Darius is not overpowered. If he were to get a rework it should make him more competitive- not less.

Did I steal my friends wraiths? I'm Darius.

Hell, I've already posted about this once already. I'm a little upset after months of Darius we're suddenly devolving back to this. Darius is a pubstomper. Instead of hitting you for a chunk of damage when you make a big mistake, he will probably kill you. Because he punishes people for being stupid and then snowballs them to death just like he did on release- he's suddenly not fair anymore. Right.

If you're against Darius at top, you don't even have to counterpick him. All you have to do is play safe, farm, and buy armor. If he overextends just a little bit, it's an easy gank for your jungler. If you rush an armor or health item, he can't even burst you down.

Did I just kill someone? Maybe I just couldn't find a good screenshot.

I'd even go so far as to say I like playing against Darius top on most champions. I do what every average player can do with relative ease. I don't feed him. He has little sustain lacks health in the laning phase. Sure, he can be trouble- but if you stay on the ball and concentrate you can always prevail. Starve him from kills and he won't become the wrecking machine we all fear.

For clarification I'm not saying Darius should stay the same. The wiser comments on these QQ threads are correct: Darius needs a little more universal counterplay. Something basic, like changing his bleed to physical damage. But in return, he also needs a very minor buff to mitigate the fact that stacking armor will be even more effective against him. That's what I would call reasonable.

Darius vs Tryndamere ends badly for the one who isn't Darius.

Darius can be very lethal in blind pick matches, but you're playing a game of numbers in that arena. Just because he is strong against most conventional tops that you see in a blind game doesn't mean you won't get countered out of your ass in ranked. Even if you last pick him, in ranked your opponent is just going to turtle his lane. Sometimes it's even possible to swap mid and top, because most mid champions can deal with Darius admirably. In fact, just this week I took Ahri top and told Riven to go mid- Darius got equal farm to me; except for the little bit where I killed him 3 times.

I'd like to call out anyone who thinks that our slam dunking champion is imbalanced. Go play 10 ranked matches in a row as Darius. Post your match history here. Prove me wrong. If you do, I will happily concede- I promise you. It will be embarrassing, but I'm very confident about this.

Bad Santa Veigar

Katarina gets to say hello to some nice Christmas spirit!

Out of all the Christmas skins, Bad Santa Veigar is certainly my favorite hands down. The recall animation alone wins it the victory. I mean come on, jumping into a chimney is just genius. Good job Riot. It would be cool as fuck for him to ride around on a sleigh, but I said that about the skin where he's riding a gryphon too. Why doesn't he ride a gryphon Riot? Why?

Worship the chimney. WORSHIP IT.

The trees around the stun ring are very pretty too, this skin has given me the much needed kick to start playing Veigar again. With the new Deathfire Grasp, he's a terrifying champion too. When I play him in ranked I always get camped, because Veigar is such an easy kill early game. That, and nobody wants to fight against a fed one. In normal, it's like punching a 5 year old child in the face. It's easy, satisfying, but gets boring after a while.

I just can't get enough of dunking people as Santa.

Any Veigar players up in here? Post a comment, let my miniscule audience know how awesome he is! And stop laughing, he is evil.

I promise you Nautilus wasn't being cocky for long.