The League of Legends thread

[Yvaelle]

Death's Dance and Spirit Visage are both amazing on Illaoi.

Most of Illaoi's healing comes from her passive tentacle slapping heals, not from her AA lifesteal: that's why Hydra sucks for her.

Death's Dance heals you off all damage you deal, including your Tentacle Lashes, your W % max HP damage, your vessel damage, and your ultimate. Plus, it's basically 15% damage reduction, because once Illaoi is at low HP - her self-healing will help keep her afloat. Combined, Death's Dance might be one of the best Defensive items for Illaoi - despite having no HP, Armor, or MR on it. Mandatory IMO.

Throw a Spirit Visage on that, and she's immortal once she's in melee range

Edit: So here's my question - has anyone played around with Duskblade Illaoi? It would only apply Nightfall on her basic attacks, which would proc off her W - but not her tentacles etc - and basically any time Illaoi lands a W is kill-time: all the more so if she had a Duskblade (plus, if you thought running away from Vessel was bad, how doomed would you be knowing you have Nightfall on you!)

Plus obviously Illaoi loves flat AD, and Duskblade is (one of?) the most efficient items for flat AD. Plus, 5% movement speed on Illaoi is always good.

[Rawwrz]

Death's Dance and Spirit Visage are both amazing on Illaoi.

Most of Illaoi's healing comes from her passive tentacle slapping heals, not from her AA lifesteal: that's why Hydra sucks for her.

Death's Dance heals you off all damage you deal, including your Tentacle Lashes, your W % max HP damage, your vessel damage, and your ultimate. Plus, it's basically 15% damage reduction, because once Illaoi is at low HP - her self-healing will help keep her afloat. Combined, Death's Dance might be one of the best Defensive items for Illaoi - despite having no HP, Armor, or MR on it. Mandatory IMO.

Throw a Spirit Visage on that, and she's immortal once she's in melee range

Edit: So here's my question - has anyone played around with Duskblade Illaoi? It would only apply Nightfall on her basic attacks, which would proc off her W - but not her tentacles etc - and basically any time Illaoi lands a W is kill-time: all the more so if she had a Duskblade (plus, if you thought running away from Vessel was bad, how doomed would you be knowing you have Nightfall on you!)

Plus obviously Illaoi loves flat AD, and Duskblade is (one of?) the most efficient items for flat AD. Plus, 5% movement speed on Illaoi is always good.

I've never seen Illaoi run it. Maybe you could mess around for fun but she is far to easy to dodge plus she takes too long to apply it. She also doesn't have the up front burst. Cleaver-Steraks-Visage still gonna be the way to go 95% of the time or with Cleaver-Dance-Visage

[Karrotlord]

Since we're on Illaoi and I just bought her, I have a question about her E and ult.

Is it better to E first to get an extra tentacle in the fight? Or is it better to ult first then E to get the slap then W for a second slap?

Even some general tips on how her E and tentacles interact would be nice.

[Rawwrz]

E first into R the extra tentacle is key for her combo. Spawning tentacles slam too so its like a free slam.

From that just W-Q-W's to finish it off.

E is pretty straight forward. Tentacles slam spirits/vessels as priority.

[Rawwrz]

Can't wait for Illaoi to fall from grace again. Luckily I've learned that I can BURY her in lane as Shaco

Last few weeks in league have been rather troll.

I don't mind her I'd much rather Riot bury Volibear for awhile. So tired of that constant broken op pick lately. Love watching my team sink all their cd's into him while he takes it all then destroys everyone.

[Noxina]

The problem with Illaoi is that she is the new Darius top lane bully.

[Gib Lover]

The problem with Illaoi is that she is the new Darius top lane bully.

Pretty much. Me and my duo partner run Illaoi-Hecarim and we decimate pretty much every game. He wins top so hard I never have to go up there and can focus mid and bot. Meanwhile, their jungler tries to help their top that has died 3 times before level 6 and just adds to her combo. It's fucking wonderful.

[Rawwrz]

The problem with Illaoi is that she is the new Darius top lane bully.

That's because people pick stupid champs against her. I have no problem wiping the floor with her all day on Gangplank or Irelia or Vlad.

An for whatever reason most people still don't know how or what she does.

[Noxina]

Then you must have faced some really bad Illaois, Irelia is stupid easy to crush in lane, never met GP or Vlad though, but I honestly don't think they stand such a big chance against her either.

Max E on Illaoi, and laugh as you take 45% of their HP by only killing their soul.

[Yvaelle]

I don't mind her I'd much rather Riot bury Volibear for awhile. So tired of that constant broken op pick lately. Love watching my team sink all their cd's into him while he takes it all then destroys everyone.

^ This. Volibear is cancer. With his ult like half his damage is magic, but his burst (bite) is physical - so it's like impossible to itemize against him. His base regen and stuff seems too strong too - I could understand better if it was just his passive 2 minute proc, but he seems to clear with remarkable ease and always seems full HP: that's really more a Warwick / Elise specialty, Voli needs to be lower HP so he is vulnerable to counterjungling and stuff IMO.

The problem with Illaoi is that she is the new Darius top lane bully.

I don't know about that. Darius is still very much the Darius of top lane bullying.

Illaoi's strength seems to be really around people picking dumb things into her, and then playing to her strengths. She can be brutally counterpicked and crushed in lane, and if she doesn't get farm she's useless to her team - plus she's not really a tank, and not really a carry, and doesn't have any utility / CC. So if she sucks in lane she sucks all game. A good counterpick on her, and she's garbage.

She's fun - but she has clear weaknesses and she's not bullshit. If I had to choose between the enemy team having a Fed Illaoi, or a Fed Darius - I would choose an Illaoi 100% of the time.

[Rawwrz]

Then you must have faced some really bad Illaois, Irelia is stupid easy to crush in lane, never met GP or Vlad though, but I honestly don't think they stand such a big chance against her either.

Max E on Illaoi, and laugh as you take 45% of their HP by only killing their soul.

Then you've met bad Irelia in lane. A good one will chunk you the min you start on her soul. Then if you even manage to do damage you'll be stunned and wrecked as she heals it back with Transcendent/Hiten style. She'll kill the 3 tentacles and your E/or R was pointless you just took a ton of damage for an E/R combo that won't matter.

Same goes for Gang/Vlad you get poked all day you have no mobility and you're easy to dodge and they will out sustain you for days. Not even considering you can't kill Vlad as Illaoi. She has zero late game. Bait her ult and she is useless. Heck even Teemo will make Illaoi tilt.

- - - Updated - - -

^ This. Volibear is cancer. With his ult like half his damage is magic, but his burst (bite) is physical - so it's like impossible to itemize against him. His base regen and stuff seems too strong too - I could understand better if it was just his passive 2 minute proc, but he seems to clear with remarkable ease and always seems full HP: that's really more a Warwick / Elise specialty, Voli needs to be lower HP so he is vulnerable to counterjungling and stuff IMO.



I don't know about that. Darius is still very much the Darius of top lane bullying.

Illaoi's strength seems to be really around people picking dumb things into her, and then playing to her strengths. She can be brutally counterpicked and crushed in lane, and if she doesn't get farm she's useless to her team - plus she's not really a tank, and not really a carry, and doesn't have any utility / CC. So if she sucks in lane she sucks all game. A good counterpick on her, and she's garbage.

She's fun - but she has clear weaknesses and she's not bullshit. If I had to choose between the enemy team having a Fed Illaoi, or a Fed Darius - I would choose an Illaoi 100% of the time.

Exactly. Illaoi is only as good as the ding dongs picking into her strengths. A fed Darius is still a nightmare and a million times worse then a fed Illaoi.

[Noxina]

Hm might be true, guess you are in a higher league than me though? In High Silver/ Low Gold no one seems to be able to do anything against me. And ganks is a blessing as it means a double kill most of the time.

And teamfights seems rather nice, just wait your ult out, don't use it before they fully commit, then boom - everyone get blasted to hell by a hentai show.

I do get it is easy to counter her in higher elos when people actually know how to time abilities and dodge stuff, but for now in lower elos it is heaven to play her.

[StrawberryZebra]

An for whatever reason most people still don't know how or what she does.

Until recently she was a fairly uncommon pick. Given that her skill tooltips look like essays written in rainbow coloured marker pens you've got a recipe for people just not knowing who she is and what she does.

I don't know about that. Darius is still very much the Darius of top lane bullying.

I don't think comparing her to Darius is really fair though, Darius is a much bigger and better bully. Darius probably gives her a wegdie and steals her Black Cleaver money while she's recalling from lane. They do the same sort of thing, but Darius is much, much scarier to deal with. One slip up and you're going to feed him all lane. With Illaoi you've got a fighting chance at of escaping from her, you might take some damage if she tags you with Test of Spirit, but unlike Darius you won't lose at least a third of your health the second you get close to her.

Just fighting it out with Illaoi is also the right call fairly often too, especially for other straight up stronger melee fighters like Garen or Trundle who can just walk right up to her and come out ahead with longer trades. Challenging Darius to a bout of fisticuffs in the same fashion ends the same way every time, with you trying to run away, being Apprehended and dunked.

She's best off compared to champions like Shyv, Wukong or maybe even Irelia imo. They can take a hit, they might get you a lucky pick here and there if people are really out of position, but they're on your team to deal damage more or less exclusively.

I could understand better if it was just his passive 2 minute proc, but he seems to clear with remarkable ease and always seems full HP: that's really more a Warwick / Elise specialty, Voli needs to be lower HP so he is vulnerable to counterjungling and stuff IMO.

I think Voli would be fine if they cut the healing per second of his passive, while extending the duration so it was the same amount of healing. It would at least make getting him low and bursting him a valid option, even if it would essentially make him a slightly different form of Dr Mundo. His clears aren't anything special otherwise, quite slow but safe too.

[Yvaelle]

@StrawberryZebra
Re: Darius vs. Illaoi

That was my point, Illaoi is not the new Darius of top lane, Darius is the new Darius (he's the same as the old Darius)


Re: Volibear

Elongating the heal would definitely be one solution. Or halving the power, but halving the cooldown or something. I would also prefer if they made his ultimate physical or something, so that you can counter-build him at least if he's ahead.

[Rawwrz]

Hm might be true, guess you are in a higher league than me though? In High Silver/ Low Gold no one seems to be able to do anything against me. And ganks is a blessing as it means a double kill most of the time.

And teamfights seems rather nice, just wait your ult out, don't use it before they fully commit, then boom - everyone get blasted to hell by a hentai show.

I do get it is easy to counter her in higher elos when people actually know how to time abilities and dodge stuff, but for now in lower elos it is heaven to play her.

Yeah good point. I can imagine in lower elo she is a nightmare for people.

[StrawberryZebra]

That was my point, Illaoi is not the new Darius of top lane, Darius is the new Darius (he's the same as the old Darius)

Darius is dead. Long live Darius! (Note that "Darius" is from the Persian for "King". This joke is funnier for having been explained!)

I was more trying to shift the discussion from Illaoi vs Darius to other Champs who fill the same role. Theres plenty of them to choose from, so why people latched onto Darius I have no idea.

[Yvaelle]

Darius is dead. Long live Darius! (Note that "Darius" is from the Persian for "King". This joke is funnier for having been explained!)

I was more trying to shift the discussion from Illaoi vs Darius to other Champs who fill the same role. Theres plenty of them to choose from, so why people latched onto Darius I have no idea.

They do have something very much in common, and that is that if you get into melee range with Darius or Illaoi, for most champions, you better prepare your butt - because tentacles / axes are coming. They punish the same mistake, and therefore have similar counters.

[Rawwrz]

They do have something very much in common, and that is that if you get into melee range with Darius or Illaoi, for most champions, you better prepare your butt - because tentacles / axes are coming. They punish the same mistake, and therefore have similar counters.

That ^ plus Darius is the go to that most people think of when they think of getting their teeth kicked in top lane or in general. He is the original Yasuo/Zed of now.

[Gib Lover]

Volibear is a nonissue, an i really dont understand this recent he's op/cancer surge. He's easy to avoid. His ganks are soft, an when he's behind... HE'S BEHIND

Well that's just incorrect.

[Yvaelle]

Volibear is a nonissue, an i really dont understand this recent he's op/cancer surge. He's easy to avoid. His ganks are soft, an when he's behind... HE'S BEHIND

He's the second highest win rate jungler right now in Platinum+ (the highest is Skarner, but that's probably an anomaly because nobody plays Skarner = low sample size), and he's likely even higher win rate in lower divisions (because he takes no skill and requires good positioning to counter).