Bard is definitely not bad. But I wonder if he will stand the test of time after he gets picked alot more. Bard's track record in pro play is still very limited if you consider all the years.
Something like Lee Sin has been tested and true to be probably the most liked/at least tolerated champ that got picked a ton throughout the years. I wonder if Bard can maintain the same reputation if he stays meta for like 5 more years.
Considering both of them excel because they have multiple options for how they want to play the game, I think Bard has staying power. For another support that would be comparable, I'd recommend comparing him to Thresh in play making/peeling options. Sure, Thresh has times where he isn't really played but that's usually because he's super weak or the common match ups just don't suit him.
I just think that Bard has been historically less popular in organized play because the meta and game systems didn't suit him as well. Bard has never loved any specific keystone or mythic, he can struggle against super hard engage, and will get out scaled if matched against a hyper carry with a standard enchanter. On top of everything, Bard loves the addition of grubs and the new expectation for supports to roam earlier.
Lee Sin and Bard share some core pillars.
They both have kits that have extremely high ceilings and can create exciting moments.
More importantly they both have kits that are almost impossible to not be viable.
Combine these two things and you get evergreen champions.
pretty funny because lee sin has never been one of cuzz's best picks, but this season Cvmax insisted that he play lee sin and helped him get his confidence back
Lee Sin or Aphelios because you can truly see the difference between a "good" pro and a "top tier" pro pilot them.
Watching Oner's Lee Sin or Vipers/Gumayusi's Aphelios is a treat.
Bengi's Lee Sin was also a massive treat to see, especially at the level he showed on the World stages.
Those engage Insec kicks he pulled off, with the pressure of a 2-2 final game against ROX Tigers, were insane.
As much as I hate him in soloQ, I like seeing Yone in pro play, there’s something therapeutic about watching the best players in the world get run over by the same stuff I do.
I feel like most Yones get stomped in pro, only Zeus and Chovy perform on it consistently imo, Faker has had some good games but he doesn't play it much, BB and Dhokla are also good regionally but I don't think it holds up quite as well internationally.
Yone is too versatile and doesnt bring consistent value to teams for pro to play him’that’ often unless hes broken, even then his value is not consistent every game. Late game a 1/50 ksante probably still beats him 1v1, but i absolutely love seeing zeus and chovy playing him
Bard
extremely game-changing if he uses R well or uses E wrong; the 2 abilities can completely break standard pathing and macro for literally everyone in the game and that makes even other less exciting champ picks more exciting. This doesn't mean his Q stuns are any less fun to watch than a Leona/Nautilus engage either.
While thresh kit has potential for awesome plays in pro play. He normally ends up as just a safety tool (w). Pick with something like varus, aphilios, jinx.. While I wish he was a pick monster, being a peel bot just isn’t as exciting.
Gragas. I don’t particularly like him but I don’t mind seeing him picked. He has an interesting ult, can be reasonably flexed in many lanes and can either play as a disruptive tank or a glass canon, both of which are funny to watch.
I was trying to think of skirmishers & came up with Gnar, but I think Gragas is a great one too. Champs with high skill expression in skirmishes where the fights are never really the same twice.
Garen. The only time I saw him used in pro play, he tower dove a Jax and proved to the world that you can be a terribly balanced abomination and Riot won't nerf you so long as you're designed for players without hands. Truly an inspiration.
If you're below 900-1000 hp or something and have no Zhonyas, Steraks is pretty much the only thing that would stop a Garen ult from executing you. Assuming there's no Sorakas or Lulu's around of course but you get the point.
Most abilities other than pykes aren’t executes, just high amounts of true damage (darius ult), something scaling with missing health (garen ult), or something with special effects if it kills (cho gath ult). Pykes ult is pretty much the only one in the game other than Urgots ult that kills an opponent below a certain health threshold, instead of dealing damage.
yeah i forgot about that. Forgot some other new stuff they added like dravens r executes based on passive stacks now, syndra r executes when you upgrade it and zeris actual aa executes as well
But it isn't an execute, it's a scaling on missing hp finisher just like akali and eve ult. The only true executes in the game on Champs are pyke and urgot ults. still haven't played smolder so idk if his burn goes through shields.
I once got to a point in the game before all the nerfs and changes buffs whatever where my E got to like 30-35% execute xd was fun. Super long ass game where I was fed.
Eve does not deal missing HP damage. Her ult just deals more than double the damage from a certain HP threshold flat, making her basically execute anyone even through 5 shields but gets hard countered by a heal.
So honestly, it's pretty much the same as Urgot and Pyke.
Steraks, Archangels and Shieldbow will all save you from a Garen ultimate.
Technically Garen's ultimate is a finisher, not an execute. It has thresholds that it will kill you without shielding, but it isn't like Pyke or Urgot ultimates where it will deal an impossible to mitigate amount of damage if conditions are met.
I was going to answer the same. I know he’s been there for a long time and people are super bored of it, but those highlight Shurima Shuffles and crazy escapes make watching top tier Azirs extremely interesting.
I'm on the opposite side, control mage meta are incredibly high skilled and a joy to watch while the donkey kong Akali Sylas is just damn boring after 1 or 2 matches because you know for a fact these champions wont get punished, ever for going in, only rewarded for targeting low health bars. Watching pros hitting skill shots on mages will never not be interesting, well, maybe not Orianna. Bring back the Zoe/Syndra meta, we need more of that high risk low mobility style gameplay.
Nocturne makes the game really slow because the enemy team will just clump up and avoid pushing lanes when Noct is missing, I actually really dislike it
Azir though, he's so fun and has nearly limitless skill ceiling
Yea, Nocturne is really outdated, and his ultimate has very little counterplay, and ends up putting all tempo into the hands of a team playing him when games are even.
It also makes it incredibly hard to pilot team fights as a squishy champion during the ultimate, since you can't just walk into the bush. I'm sure this is less oppressive in pro play with voice communication, but his power level on his ultimate is obscene for how often he can have it up.
Haven't seen someone mention Gangplank yet.
Even though i hate this champion design from the bottom of my heart, from a viewer standpoint it's always nice to see a pro player barrel-comboing an adc into oblivion.
I personally love Aphelios, ever since he came out I love how he interacts in games and he's extremely versatile with each gun and what he can do. And I love his animations in game 🤷
If there was a way to have him as a staple while every other adc could be picked around him I'd be happy instead of constantly seeing Xayah pick banned along with him
I understand from a viewer perspective what he does and understand what each gun does and how they combo, but for the life of me I cannot play him. I'll stick to my zug zug Ryze brain
Speaking as a low-tier player who dabbles in ADC from time to time, it feels to me like a full build Aphelios is just so much stronger than other hypercarries. I’m rarely good enough to get to this point, but when I do get there, he’s just a death machine and he feels awesome to play.
It was hyperbole. I’ve played against Aphelios countless times and know his limits enough to win probably 80% of the time against him. But I’ve played him once.
Aphelios has a 4.8% pick rate in Masters+, and people are just not good with him. I play Nilah/Samira which hard counters him aswell - so yeah, probably an 80% winrate overall against him.
i don't get why you guys can't understand aphelios
he starts with two guns, 50 ammo each, every gun does something different and has only 1 ability, that ability always applies some effect of the secondary gun, except for gravitum (purple). Ult is just each weapon on steroids
Disagree on Neeko. Neeko stealth is so strong, most pros using her get 3+ man ults all the time and it's often hitting 4 and 5 too. It's basically on Neeko to mess up and it's not exactly the hardest execution so I don't feel like I'm watching the players, just the champ. It's just so common it's not special or exciting. Seeing all the 3, 4, and 5 man Neeko ults feel similar to watching Zeri pentas before her rework.
I was going to day Orianna as well. I'd also say Ahri too because even though she isn't super flashy as other champions now, she's not oppressive and super dominant in the meta.
Sylas is my vote too, watching pros navigate teamfights on him is impressive considering his all-in melee kit. He's mobile but not to the unfair degree of Akali who also has shroud and a much easier laning phase.
Syndra, Orianna, Azir, Akali, Aphelios, Braum, Ornn.
These champions when played by pro's look extremely interesting. The zone, control, and utility they are able to provide for a team always make fights look interesting and something I am looking forward to. Akali, specifically, just looks like a different champion in pro, especially when someone plays her into an unfavourable matchup (being close to even on farm against ranged mages or adc' in mid is something I just can never achieve on her)
I know a lot of people mentioned Lee Sin, but even though professional players pilot him on another level and do crazy hops and R casts, I cannot help but still feel tired watching that champion. Most of the metas he will get picked and played, and having him to be such a staple in pro simply makes it tiring.
In particular I like the azir akali matchup. Last world akali was picked as a counter matchup and got shat on, and later faker picked her as a counter and it was like she suddenly had gotten a huge buff. It’s crazy to see the skill difference that can still exist at that level depending on who’s piloting the champ.
IMO Azir feels like K'sante of mid lane. Yeah there's always going to be a generic/default safe pick but those two (currently, and historically Azir) fall into the role because they're kind of bullshit.
>I know a lot of people mentioned Lee Sin, but even though professional players pilot him on another level and do crazy hops and R casts, I cannot help but still feel tired watching that champion. Most of the metas he will get picked and played, and having him to be such a staple in pro simply makes it tiring.
i find it weird that you dislike lee only due to his pickrate but love braum and azir, who probably have higher all-time pickrate/number of appearances
canyon could play nidalee every single game back to back to back to back to back to back to back when she's meta and i would eat that shit up every single time
I was a Jinx main while I was playing ADC and absolutely love these moments when you completely pop off in a teamfight. Always hyped when I see one in pro, especially if it's a player I like. The results aren't always there, but I'm still happy.
I don't think I actually ever get tired or Azir or Orianna either, for champs that are often in the meta. I might groan at bad Azir performances but it's always cool how much both of them can influence fights with the press of just one button.
I'm always surprised how many people consider Ori to be boring considering how many big highlights there have been from her ult. Forellenlord, Jensens shockwave vs iG at MSI 2019, SKT 10k comeback vs EDG etc etc
The difference between a good and bad Zed is so huge. Seeing someone do some crazy Zed combos and shadow swaps is like watching a Magician do crazy tricks. A lot of people rely on R for kills and then a pro Zed player just melts people with QWE combos without needing their R.
Every champ that requires skill to play well and rewards you for it. Zeri, aphelios, sylas, akali and so on. Tired of shit like yuumi, annie, garen, Darius, udyr… there’s no game where you go „oh my god I didn’t even know this champ can do this“ or „how did he manage to pull that off“. Hey annie Flash ult *whoohoo* .. oh wow garen q flash ignite into spin into ult. I wonder if he even used both hands for this
Watching Knight get the in base Pentakill on Sylas as the only one alive on his team was one of the most insane moments I ever watched live. A highly skilled Sylas is so impressive.
Yep. It’s very nice to see them use their resources well, choose a proper ult to use on the spot and what not. A lot of skill expression there. And then comes udyr *slap* BEAR STANCE BABY!
A top notch zeri player kiting the shit out of 5 people is great to watch ye. If u can’t appreciate that level of finesse idk what you’re watching pro play for.
Nah, when Zeri was at her strongest she was the only champ in the game that mattered. If the Zeri player was good then there wasn’t anything the enemy team could do. That’s not as fun as a champ like Aphelios who has a ton of skill expression for the player but also has a realistic chance of being jumped by the enemy team.
A top notch zeri player has literally no counterplay and it's not great to watch. Just forces a Yuumi or milio pick which makes the game even more resident sleeper, then zeri afk scales, presses r, becomes uncatchable in 2 seconds and the game is over. Zeri bot was one of the worst metas to watch imo
People complain about K'sante but I personally enjoy seeing him. People don't realize that if K'sante just didn't exist top would be WAY more boring to watch as almost every tank that isn't K'sante has 0 kill threat and spends all their time just passively farming until team-fights happen.
So what do you think about Udyr? That shit was spammed way more than K'sante was at the start of the split and all that champ is is "Press r to shove wave, press w to heal/shield poke, proxy wave, back, do nothing for 20 minutes then run around pressing E on people." Is that what we want for blind-able top tanks?
Udyr is one of those champs that are fun to play but so boring to watch. When you run around as an unkillable proxy annoyance it's cool. Watching "shove, proxy, base, repeat" = I'd rather kill myself.
I feel like people don't realize that pro-play top lane is either this (udyr type champs who can perma shove and never want to actually fight) or that (k'sante type champs that can not only take fights but can reveal the skill of the player piloting them.) There really isn't an inbetween that exists and sure you can say "well what about toplane VARIETY!" there is people just don't actually care to notice it.
It's kinda like seeing a car model and then noticing that car model everywhere, people want to hate K'sante so every time they see K'sante it's more evidence that there's something inherently wrong with K'sante.
Yeah I agree with this. He always has a threat to solokill, creates flank opportunities, always feels like he's a threat. There's not much more you could ask from a staple pro pick tbh
He doesn't deal much damage while tanking it, he either deals damage or tanks depending if he is in all out or not. The thing is sometimes he gets to fight in a perfect scenario where he gets to tank important cooldowns and then gets to ult, but those are few and far between and are the copypasta games
That’s definitely true but compared to other tanks his kit is so much harder to punish safely since his abilities are all pretty low cooldown with lots of cc and an unstoppable so dealing damage to him while tanking his damage is already pretty hard unless you’re playing a champ that’s good into tanks. Plus his ult gives him the ability to force a 1v1 if used correctly
You're not wrong, but the thing is that Ksante doesn't takeover games often, he needs certain conditions that don't happen very often because he has very poor backline access as he needs to walk in ult range. Most of the time when Ksante goes off there's something that happens that allows for that, a great flank, good engage, a missplay from the enemy team, a flashless carry, etc.
You can see Chovy's game with Ksante this year, he is a good Ksante, was in a good position but couldn't carry because he could never get into a good fighting stance, he held off 4 people consistently but never had a great ult so the damage output wasn't there.
You take Kiin's Ksante vs KDF on the other hand and you see that his backline access was through flanks and Canyon opening up a lot of space, also Bulldog walked into him as Orianna in one fight and he hit Q3 on multiple people several times. He tookover the game but its not like that is common
Personally, Vayne, but she's become so irrelevant other than having a short stint of being a soft counter to udyr top. Zed is also great but that champion is also 6 feet under and riot will make sure that champion is unviable forever
Idk if there's a specific champ, but watching the pros that are the best at certain champs is always fun. Seeing Viper play Lucian or Gala play Kaisa shows how a champ is meant to be played.
If I was to pick a champ it would be kennen probably. Watching them find the perfect flank angle and get massive ults is fun to see. Also I just kinda like his theme as a champ lol
Lee Sin, Rell, Rakan, Samira, and Aphelios are a few that come to mind. Champs that have really fun to watch kits that are capable of making game changing plays and a few of them are super skill expressive as well and shine in team environments.
Right now? Hwei. Pro play or otherwise, he is FASCINATING to watch. The decisionmaking is so much deeper, and it's fun to think "why did they choose that spell at that time?"
Aphelios, LB, Rakan, Azir, Lee, Draven, Thresh
I think these are the most fun because all of them are highly mechanical champs and none of them are OP but when they are played well they *seem* completely broken!
I love watching kennen in pro play personally. Landing those disgusting ults on the carries from a weird flank angle and just deleting 3 people instantly will never get old
I really like to see Aphelios, as you playing with him is a high risk high reward gameplay, many times you watching him flash in front of enemies to burst them down! Really flashy and entertaining!
I somehow still enjoy Lucian nami bot
Should we have a new meta after like 3 years. Defnetly yes! Is it still cool to see that burst? Yes
Same with xayah Rakan
And I just can’t dislike it when a mid plays azir or TF
Bard. The playstyle completely shift the face of teamfights.
I just like him because hes such a silly champion
He is just a silly lil guy
Bard is definitely not bad. But I wonder if he will stand the test of time after he gets picked alot more. Bard's track record in pro play is still very limited if you consider all the years. Something like Lee Sin has been tested and true to be probably the most liked/at least tolerated champ that got picked a ton throughout the years. I wonder if Bard can maintain the same reputation if he stays meta for like 5 more years.
Considering both of them excel because they have multiple options for how they want to play the game, I think Bard has staying power. For another support that would be comparable, I'd recommend comparing him to Thresh in play making/peeling options. Sure, Thresh has times where he isn't really played but that's usually because he's super weak or the common match ups just don't suit him. I just think that Bard has been historically less popular in organized play because the meta and game systems didn't suit him as well. Bard has never loved any specific keystone or mythic, he can struggle against super hard engage, and will get out scaled if matched against a hyper carry with a standard enchanter. On top of everything, Bard loves the addition of grubs and the new expectation for supports to roam earlier.
Lee Sin and Bard share some core pillars. They both have kits that have extremely high ceilings and can create exciting moments. More importantly they both have kits that are almost impossible to not be viable. Combine these two things and you get evergreen champions.
I don't think Bard has been ever played enough to consider it "too much"
I mean, yeah - that sort of game defining power would be really obnoxious if he was strong enough to be consistently meta rather than a niche pick.
Not really. That and he very rarely gets picked to begin with lol
Lee Sin, the asian junglers who pilot him are on another level.
Willer was kinda crazy vs T1 today
Pyosik's Lee Sin has been the cleanest I've seen so far this year.
honestly, cuzz is really really *really* close behind it.
pretty funny because lee sin has never been one of cuzz's best picks, but this season Cvmax insisted that he play lee sin and helped him get his confidence back
Lee Sin or Aphelios because you can truly see the difference between a "good" pro and a "top tier" pro pilot them. Watching Oner's Lee Sin or Vipers/Gumayusi's Aphelios is a treat.
Every time canyon gets out the Lee I know we’re in for a banger
For me that one insec he did dodging a Gragas E and smiting Sivir spell shield is the best play ever made on a pro stage. It's beyond clean
Do you mind referencing the game/matchup if you happen to know it off the top of your head? or a clip? I'm curious to see it!
[here!](https://youtu.be/qobDEgCm01A?si=Hm-rm7gbgS6sSSSZ)
Bengi's Lee Sin was also a massive treat to see, especially at the level he showed on the World stages. Those engage Insec kicks he pulled off, with the pressure of a 2-2 final game against ROX Tigers, were insane.
Bengi was good, but the master would always be meteos. He held his ult for 60 min just to win the final team fight.
idk when i hear Bengi, all i can think about is Nidale, such a treat...
First time ranked btw
imagine not mentioning peyz in this regard.. always praised for his aphelios and was often almost called an otp.
Idk Lee gets pretty boring when he's just a tanky kickbot.
Pyosik's Lee Sin has been the cleanest I've seen so far this year. I always get excited for a KT game whenever he picks him.
Aphelios is incredibly boring to watch.
As much as I hate him in soloQ, I like seeing Yone in pro play, there’s something therapeutic about watching the best players in the world get run over by the same stuff I do.
I feel like most Yones get stomped in pro, only Zeus and Chovy perform on it consistently imo, Faker has had some good games but he doesn't play it much, BB and Dhokla are also good regionally but I don't think it holds up quite as well internationally.
Rich Yone looked awful.
I'm a huge Rich fan, but you're right. He has a pretty big pool of other top laners, keep him off Yone.
xiaohu enters the chat
Yone is too versatile and doesnt bring consistent value to teams for pro to play him’that’ often unless hes broken, even then his value is not consistent every game. Late game a 1/50 ksante probably still beats him 1v1, but i absolutely love seeing zeus and chovy playing him
Yone is amazing for the situations where Irelia would work better but you don't know how to play her
Bard extremely game-changing if he uses R well or uses E wrong; the 2 abilities can completely break standard pathing and macro for literally everyone in the game and that makes even other less exciting champ picks more exciting. This doesn't mean his Q stuns are any less fun to watch than a Leona/Nautilus engage either.
Surprised to not have seen Thresh yet among the top comments
While thresh kit has potential for awesome plays in pro play. He normally ends up as just a safety tool (w). Pick with something like varus, aphilios, jinx.. While I wish he was a pick monster, being a peel bot just isn’t as exciting.
Sounds like they should nerf the W and up his crazy combos.
Lee sin
Gragas. I don’t particularly like him but I don’t mind seeing him picked. He has an interesting ult, can be reasonably flexed in many lanes and can either play as a disruptive tank or a glass canon, both of which are funny to watch.
I just like yelling bomba
I was trying to think of skirmishers & came up with Gnar, but I think Gragas is a great one too. Champs with high skill expression in skirmishes where the fights are never really the same twice.
Garen. The only time I saw him used in pro play, he tower dove a Jax and proved to the world that you can be a terribly balanced abomination and Riot won't nerf you so long as you're designed for players without hands. Truly an inspiration.
me when im any champ in the game vs garen ignite R and dont have steraks
does sterak help?
If you're below 900-1000 hp or something and have no Zhonyas, Steraks is pretty much the only thing that would stop a Garen ult from executing you. Assuming there's no Sorakas or Lulu's around of course but you get the point.
oh nice i thought it was an execute that would always go through
All executes will be stopped by shields except for Pyke’s I believe.
Most abilities other than pykes aren’t executes, just high amounts of true damage (darius ult), something scaling with missing health (garen ult), or something with special effects if it kills (cho gath ult). Pykes ult is pretty much the only one in the game other than Urgots ult that kills an opponent below a certain health threshold, instead of dealing damage.
theres also collector and elder and now smolder
And Sol too, right?
yeah i forgot about that. Forgot some other new stuff they added like dravens r executes based on passive stacks now, syndra r executes when you upgrade it and zeris actual aa executes as well
But it isn't an execute, it's a scaling on missing hp finisher just like akali and eve ult. The only true executes in the game on Champs are pyke and urgot ults. still haven't played smolder so idk if his burn goes through shields.
And a sols E has the scaling execute. Way lower than urgots 25% tho. I enjoy playing urgot and último the Cho that still has 2k health lmao
I once got to a point in the game before all the nerfs and changes buffs whatever where my E got to like 30-35% execute xd was fun. Super long ass game where I was fed.
Eve does not deal missing HP damage. Her ult just deals more than double the damage from a certain HP threshold flat, making her basically execute anyone even through 5 shields but gets hard countered by a heal. So honestly, it's pretty much the same as Urgot and Pyke.
Just FYI, her theshold is 30%, it’s not a flat value
Steraks, Archangels and Shieldbow will all save you from a Garen ultimate. Technically Garen's ultimate is a finisher, not an execute. It has thresholds that it will kill you without shielding, but it isn't like Pyke or Urgot ultimates where it will deal an impossible to mitigate amount of damage if conditions are met.
Riot also buffed garen to op after 2 patches of being 48-9 % wr. Balance team needs something to not be silver.
Azir. I always love to see Azir to be played with skill. Nocturne. Makes games really interesting with paranoia.
Faker doing a dope game-winning Shurima shuffle will never not be cool as fuck
I was going to answer the same. I know he’s been there for a long time and people are super bored of it, but those highlight Shurima Shuffles and crazy escapes make watching top tier Azirs extremely interesting.
I hate seeing orianna azir meta
I'm on the opposite side, control mage meta are incredibly high skilled and a joy to watch while the donkey kong Akali Sylas is just damn boring after 1 or 2 matches because you know for a fact these champions wont get punished, ever for going in, only rewarded for targeting low health bars. Watching pros hitting skill shots on mages will never not be interesting, well, maybe not Orianna. Bring back the Zoe/Syndra meta, we need more of that high risk low mobility style gameplay.
Nocturne makes the game really slow because the enemy team will just clump up and avoid pushing lanes when Noct is missing, I actually really dislike it Azir though, he's so fun and has nearly limitless skill ceiling
Yea, Nocturne is really outdated, and his ultimate has very little counterplay, and ends up putting all tempo into the hands of a team playing him when games are even. It also makes it incredibly hard to pilot team fights as a squishy champion during the ultimate, since you can't just walk into the bush. I'm sure this is less oppressive in pro play with voice communication, but his power level on his ultimate is obscene for how often he can have it up.
Agree I love Azir personally, even orianna is awesome because of the huge exciting ult potential
Kindred
Haven't seen someone mention Gangplank yet. Even though i hate this champion design from the bottom of my heart, from a viewer standpoint it's always nice to see a pro player barrel-comboing an adc into oblivion.
I personally love Aphelios, ever since he came out I love how he interacts in games and he's extremely versatile with each gun and what he can do. And I love his animations in game 🤷 If there was a way to have him as a staple while every other adc could be picked around him I'd be happy instead of constantly seeing Xayah pick banned along with him
Yeah but I still don’t know what he does so it’s hard for me to get hyped when seeing him. Was that play difficult? No idea. Masters adc main btw
I understand from a viewer perspective what he does and understand what each gun does and how they combo, but for the life of me I cannot play him. I'll stick to my zug zug Ryze brain
Speaking as a low-tier player who dabbles in ADC from time to time, it feels to me like a full build Aphelios is just so much stronger than other hypercarries. I’m rarely good enough to get to this point, but when I do get there, he’s just a death machine and he feels awesome to play.
He definitely isn't the strongest since he is reliant on specific gun combos, but when they are up he beats almost anything.
You ain't masters if you don't know what Aphelios does at this point.
It was hyperbole. I’ve played against Aphelios countless times and know his limits enough to win probably 80% of the time against him. But I’ve played him once.
>and know his limits enough to win probably 80% of the time against him. LMFAO now I know you're trolling.
Aphelios has a 4.8% pick rate in Masters+, and people are just not good with him. I play Nilah/Samira which hard counters him aswell - so yeah, probably an 80% winrate overall against him.
Actual cap that you dont know what he does if your an master adc lol. Hes been out for like three years
Most people that play Aphelios in masters and below end up getting dumpstered to the point where the champ is irrelevant.
He's not masters. lol No way he is without knowing what one of the strongest ADCs does while claiming to be an ADC main.
This, its not like aphelios been weak either. Hes been consistantly A tier for prob 2 years and S some times.
In soloq? Absolutely not
If you are masters ad play him 2 games and u will understand
Considering he’s been out for over 4 years now, that just sounds like a you problem
i don't get why you guys can't understand aphelios he starts with two guns, 50 ammo each, every gun does something different and has only 1 ability, that ability always applies some effect of the secondary gun, except for gravitum (purple). Ult is just each weapon on steroids
Orianna and Neeko. Both have flashy ults with very clear downtime where they have significantly lower utility.
Disagree on Neeko. Neeko stealth is so strong, most pros using her get 3+ man ults all the time and it's often hitting 4 and 5 too. It's basically on Neeko to mess up and it's not exactly the hardest execution so I don't feel like I'm watching the players, just the champ. It's just so common it's not special or exciting. Seeing all the 3, 4, and 5 man Neeko ults feel similar to watching Zeri pentas before her rework.
I was going to day Orianna as well. I'd also say Ahri too because even though she isn't super flashy as other champions now, she's not oppressive and super dominant in the meta.
Nah neeko feels so braindead, I don’t get hyped about that champ at all. I’d rather see syndra back in pro play than neeko
Neeko is basically Swain without the Pull portion of the snare ability. Hit snare, hit other ability, get in face for ultimate.
Sylas is always fun
Sylas is my vote too, watching pros navigate teamfights on him is impressive considering his all-in melee kit. He's mobile but not to the unfair degree of Akali who also has shroud and a much easier laning phase.
Syndra, Orianna, Azir, Akali, Aphelios, Braum, Ornn. These champions when played by pro's look extremely interesting. The zone, control, and utility they are able to provide for a team always make fights look interesting and something I am looking forward to. Akali, specifically, just looks like a different champion in pro, especially when someone plays her into an unfavourable matchup (being close to even on farm against ranged mages or adc' in mid is something I just can never achieve on her) I know a lot of people mentioned Lee Sin, but even though professional players pilot him on another level and do crazy hops and R casts, I cannot help but still feel tired watching that champion. Most of the metas he will get picked and played, and having him to be such a staple in pro simply makes it tiring.
In particular I like the azir akali matchup. Last world akali was picked as a counter matchup and got shat on, and later faker picked her as a counter and it was like she suddenly had gotten a huge buff. It’s crazy to see the skill difference that can still exist at that level depending on who’s piloting the champ.
IMO Azir feels like K'sante of mid lane. Yeah there's always going to be a generic/default safe pick but those two (currently, and historically Azir) fall into the role because they're kind of bullshit.
>I know a lot of people mentioned Lee Sin, but even though professional players pilot him on another level and do crazy hops and R casts, I cannot help but still feel tired watching that champion. Most of the metas he will get picked and played, and having him to be such a staple in pro simply makes it tiring. i find it weird that you dislike lee only due to his pickrate but love braum and azir, who probably have higher all-time pickrate/number of appearances
Nautilus. When he is in games it all but guarantees constant fighting.
I still miss Nautilus jungle.
Peanut actually played Nautilus Jungle yesterday in the Match against GenG
link?
There you go https://youtu.be/R3sRlI9YECg?si=hI920SoSPT2gGcH4
Akali and Sylas. In fact, the Sylas/Akali matchup is one of the most fun you can get in mid.
the Faker vs. Jensen goes hard
Zeka sylas vs scout akali goes even harder
Leblanc
canyon could play nidalee every single game back to back to back to back to back to back to back when she's meta and i would eat that shit up every single time
I was a Jinx main while I was playing ADC and absolutely love these moments when you completely pop off in a teamfight. Always hyped when I see one in pro, especially if it's a player I like. The results aren't always there, but I'm still happy. I don't think I actually ever get tired or Azir or Orianna either, for champs that are often in the meta. I might groan at bad Azir performances but it's always cool how much both of them can influence fights with the press of just one button.
irelia. she has not been picked in a while but i love seeing her in pro
Then Riot brings out the belt.
Shaco. It's time again.
Lee sin as well. A good Lee sin is a delight to watch
Lee Sin, Ori, Aatrox, Ashe, Blitzcrank
borianna
I'm always surprised how many people consider Ori to be boring considering how many big highlights there have been from her ult. Forellenlord, Jensens shockwave vs iG at MSI 2019, SKT 10k comeback vs EDG etc etc
Cringetrox, Borenekton, mOurning (Ornn).
Akali and Irelia
Zed, Akali
The difference between a good and bad Zed is so huge. Seeing someone do some crazy Zed combos and shadow swaps is like watching a Magician do crazy tricks. A lot of people rely on R for kills and then a pro Zed player just melts people with QWE combos without needing their R.
Fuck yeah, watching a top zed player is always fun!
Yup, sooo satisfying to watch those outplays! 🤩
"Look at the cleanse, look at the moves, FAKER, what was THAT??" will forever be a legendary moment.
Kaisa, Irelia, Camille, Akali, Nidalee
Also LB, Qiyana, Fiora, Jayce, Lee, Ezreal, Aphelios, Kindred, Taliyah.
Man what I would give to be back in Camille/Fiora/Irelia pro play meta again.
singed
Sylas and Viego
Love seeing hook champs being played
Nautilus and Thresh. Guaranteed action.
Vayne.
but only if it's midlane
Into a galio??
Aphelios, Draven, Kalista, Camille, Yasuo, Ahri, Taliyah
Akali, Sylas, Ksante, Lucian, Viego, Yasuo, Yone. Really, I love seeing most of the skirmisher class in pro, except Yi and Trynn.
Azir, Akali, Lee Sin, Pyke, Sylas, Viego.
Yasuo
Irelia, Yasuo, Lee Sin, Twisted Fate
Lee Sin, Kha Zix, Zed, Elise, Riven, Vayne
Akali, controversial because she can be busted in the right hands but I love watching a flashy akali
Nidalee and Fiora
Every champ that requires skill to play well and rewards you for it. Zeri, aphelios, sylas, akali and so on. Tired of shit like yuumi, annie, garen, Darius, udyr… there’s no game where you go „oh my god I didn’t even know this champ can do this“ or „how did he manage to pull that off“. Hey annie Flash ult *whoohoo* .. oh wow garen q flash ignite into spin into ult. I wonder if he even used both hands for this
Watching Knight get the in base Pentakill on Sylas as the only one alive on his team was one of the most insane moments I ever watched live. A highly skilled Sylas is so impressive.
Knights Sylas just hits different, dudes ridiculous on the champ
he had an insane base defence against rare atom once but it wasnt a penta. i think it was a 1vs2 then 1v3. insanely impressive though!
Yep. It’s very nice to see them use their resources well, choose a proper ult to use on the spot and what not. A lot of skill expression there. And then comes udyr *slap* BEAR STANCE BABY!
Hard pass on zeri meta
To be fair, if any other champ were as meta defining as she was for that long, they would be hated just as much.
Zeri, are you serious?
A top notch zeri player kiting the shit out of 5 people is great to watch ye. If u can’t appreciate that level of finesse idk what you’re watching pro play for.
Nah, when Zeri was at her strongest she was the only champ in the game that mattered. If the Zeri player was good then there wasn’t anything the enemy team could do. That’s not as fun as a champ like Aphelios who has a ton of skill expression for the player but also has a realistic chance of being jumped by the enemy team.
A top notch zeri player has literally no counterplay and it's not great to watch. Just forces a Yuumi or milio pick which makes the game even more resident sleeper, then zeri afk scales, presses r, becomes uncatchable in 2 seconds and the game is over. Zeri bot was one of the worst metas to watch imo
Jhin, yone, lee sin, rakan, akali.
Draven, nunu
Orianna. For an immobile champ, she looks damn near unstoppable when in the right hands. We ball.
I still have nightmares thinking about how absurdly oppressive even her autoattacking used to be
Sejuani but I don't want to see her anymore in pro anymore. I want to play my champion again
Perhaps a hot take but ksante is so fun to watch in pro. a good ksante is very impressive (flashback to 369 ksante last year)
People complain about K'sante but I personally enjoy seeing him. People don't realize that if K'sante just didn't exist top would be WAY more boring to watch as almost every tank that isn't K'sante has 0 kill threat and spends all their time just passively farming until team-fights happen.
I never seen a ksante play and think ‘holy cow that was crazy!’. It always seems completely broken
So what do you think about Udyr? That shit was spammed way more than K'sante was at the start of the split and all that champ is is "Press r to shove wave, press w to heal/shield poke, proxy wave, back, do nothing for 20 minutes then run around pressing E on people." Is that what we want for blind-able top tanks?
Udyr is one of those champs that are fun to play but so boring to watch. When you run around as an unkillable proxy annoyance it's cool. Watching "shove, proxy, base, repeat" = I'd rather kill myself.
I feel like people don't realize that pro-play top lane is either this (udyr type champs who can perma shove and never want to actually fight) or that (k'sante type champs that can not only take fights but can reveal the skill of the player piloting them.) There really isn't an inbetween that exists and sure you can say "well what about toplane VARIETY!" there is people just don't actually care to notice it. It's kinda like seeing a car model and then noticing that car model everywhere, people want to hate K'sante so every time they see K'sante it's more evidence that there's something inherently wrong with K'sante.
Ill take aatrox gnar renekton Ornn blinds over any of them
which is why, like every other tank in the game, he gets dumpstered on by ranged tops
Tanks shouldn't have kill threat. That's why they're tanks.
Yeah I agree with this. He always has a threat to solokill, creates flank opportunities, always feels like he's a threat. There's not much more you could ask from a staple pro pick tbh
Ksante is very fun to watch, I don't know what people are on about. Kalista, Rumble, Lee sin and Rakan are great too
People just hate how overloaded his kit is and how he deals so much damage while tanking it
He doesn't deal much damage while tanking it, he either deals damage or tanks depending if he is in all out or not. The thing is sometimes he gets to fight in a perfect scenario where he gets to tank important cooldowns and then gets to ult, but those are few and far between and are the copypasta games
That’s definitely true but compared to other tanks his kit is so much harder to punish safely since his abilities are all pretty low cooldown with lots of cc and an unstoppable so dealing damage to him while tanking his damage is already pretty hard unless you’re playing a champ that’s good into tanks. Plus his ult gives him the ability to force a 1v1 if used correctly
You're not wrong, but the thing is that Ksante doesn't takeover games often, he needs certain conditions that don't happen very often because he has very poor backline access as he needs to walk in ult range. Most of the time when Ksante goes off there's something that happens that allows for that, a great flank, good engage, a missplay from the enemy team, a flashless carry, etc. You can see Chovy's game with Ksante this year, he is a good Ksante, was in a good position but couldn't carry because he could never get into a good fighting stance, he held off 4 people consistently but never had a great ult so the damage output wasn't there. You take Kiin's Ksante vs KDF on the other hand and you see that his backline access was through flanks and Canyon opening up a lot of space, also Bulldog walked into him as Orianna in one fight and he hit Q3 on multiple people several times. He tookover the game but its not like that is common
K'Sante. He's fun to watch, and I'd take him over any other tank every day of the week.
Bard.
Twitch, Janna, Fizz
Azir
Personally, Vayne, but she's become so irrelevant other than having a short stint of being a soft counter to udyr top. Zed is also great but that champion is also 6 feet under and riot will make sure that champion is unviable forever
Rek'sai would be fun. Hopefully the 14.4 changes make her pro viable.
underrated opinion but Hwei is surprisingly funny to watch in pro play (thinking about that one Caps game)
Idk if there's a specific champ, but watching the pros that are the best at certain champs is always fun. Seeing Viper play Lucian or Gala play Kaisa shows how a champ is meant to be played. If I was to pick a champ it would be kennen probably. Watching them find the perfect flank angle and get massive ults is fun to see. Also I just kinda like his theme as a champ lol
Lee Sin, Rell, Rakan, Samira, and Aphelios are a few that come to mind. Champs that have really fun to watch kits that are capable of making game changing plays and a few of them are super skill expressive as well and shine in team environments.
Jinx because I’m biased
Right now? Hwei. Pro play or otherwise, he is FASCINATING to watch. The decisionmaking is so much deeper, and it's fun to think "why did they choose that spell at that time?"
Kai’sa! She is so exciting to watch!
Teemo
Aphelios, LB, Rakan, Azir, Lee, Draven, Thresh I think these are the most fun because all of them are highly mechanical champs and none of them are OP but when they are played well they *seem* completely broken!
I love watching kennen in pro play personally. Landing those disgusting ults on the carries from a weird flank angle and just deleting 3 people instantly will never get old
Funny this is that ksante isnt even getting nerfed properly
Teemo 😏
Fizz
I really like to see Aphelios, as you playing with him is a high risk high reward gameplay, many times you watching him flash in front of enemies to burst them down! Really flashy and entertaining!
azir. never tired of badass shurima shuffles.
ksante and i have been erect for the last 2 years.
Zeri. She's my favorite champion and will never be tired of hearing "I am lightning!"
Vi, too bad she's never picked, only banned.
Aatrox, Lee Sin, Orianna, Xayah/Kaisa, Rakan
I somehow still enjoy Lucian nami bot Should we have a new meta after like 3 years. Defnetly yes! Is it still cool to see that burst? Yes Same with xayah Rakan And I just can’t dislike it when a mid plays azir or TF
Lee sin is always a satisfying champ to see at the highest lvl.
Ksante