The "What champion should I buy thread"

[Alaitoc]

planning to buy LeeSin, Maokai and Shyvanna with the next ~18k ip.
obviously for jungling and/or solo top.

so after having played them all when it was possible,
what would you recommend getting first?
(im usually playing somewhat aggressive, signing up solo)

Lee Sin is considered to be stronger than Shyvana top. Maokai is very rarely played top, but I'm pretty sure he'd be below both Shyvana and Lee Sin.

All three of them have very different jungle styles, so it's hard to compare them there. Maokai is great for ganks, Shyvana is great for farming and Lee Sin is somewhere between the two, but he's more difficult to play well. I personally don't like Maokai since he drops off quite steeply late game. Lee Sin is great if you can play him, not so great if you can't. Shyvana is the "safer" choice since she can simply farm/counterjungle so effectively she doesn't need to gamble on ganks.

[Retror]

So with this riven sale I was looking into buying her. Im just worried about her matchups, how well does she fare against the meta?

[Silvator]

oh well k. so most likely getting shyvana first.

riven is a pretty powerful champ and quite versatile.
with some cd reduction you can almost spam her abilities.
afaik she is considered one of the very good solo top champs, quite worth it to buy her.

[Alaitoc]

So with this riven sale I was looking into buying her. Im just worried about her matchups, how well does she fare against the meta?

She's good and can snowball well, but she's not the unstoppable force she used to be. She's a good match for most bruisers, the only real counter you will run into often is Teemo.

I suspect that there's another nerf in store for her, but I am likely to be wrong.

[Hellrisen]

She's good and can snowball well, but she's not the unstoppable force she used to be. She's a good match for most bruisers, the only real counter you will run into often is Teemo.

I suspect that there's another nerf in store for her, but I am likely to be wrong.

snares hardcounter riven -_-

[Kenai]

She's good and can snowball well, but she's not the unstoppable force she used to be. She's a good match for most bruisers, the only real counter you will run into often is Teemo.

I suspect that there's another nerf in store for her, but I am likely to be wrong.

I am still a noob at the game I admit, but Ryze was absolutely eating me alive with his snare when I was forced to mid for a few bot games last night. She's great at getting away if she isn't CC'd, but I couldn't actually take hits very well if I couldn't Valor/Stun/BW weave in and out of combat. Not to mention I could not use BW at all while snared.

Good news though, I like Riven enough to actually have a melee character I'm willing to work with! So I have my 5.

Janna (suits my playstyle waaaaay too well)

Karma (if she had Janna's range she'd be my favorite)

TF (I feel like I can't kill with him like I should but that low CD ranged stun is soooo addictive and helpful)

Heimerdinger (I actually bought this guy by accident and tried him for the hell of it, but wow. He is the best harrass character I have enjoyed using yet and suits my playstyle well. He might end up being my go-to pick for non-support characters)

and Riven (Jump in/jump out combo addict here).

There's a few others that are debatable for me that I'd like to play more, but I only have so much spare time for games in general, let alone a particular one. I'm sure I'll find more though, especially since I am still really new to the game.

[Duilliath]

If you like jumping in and out, consider Wukong as well. That's what he does best, alongside juking enemies.

[mrpoker]

I am still a noob at the game I admit, but Ryze was absolutely eating me alive with his snare when I was forced to mid for a few bot games last night. She's great at getting away if she isn't CC'd, but I couldn't actually take hits very well if I couldn't Valor/Stun/BW weave in and out of combat. Not to mention I could not use BW at all while snared.

Good news though, I like Riven enough to actually have a melee character I'm willing to work with! So I have my 5.

Janna (suits my playstyle waaaaay too well)

Karma (if she had Janna's range she'd be my favorite)

TF (I feel like I can't kill with him like I should but that low CD ranged stun is soooo addictive and helpful)

Heimerdinger (I actually bought this guy by accident and tried him for the hell of it, but wow. He is the best harrass character I have enjoyed using yet and suits my playstyle well. He might end up being my go-to pick for non-support characters)

and Riven (Jump in/jump out combo addict here).

There's a few others that are debatable for me that I'd like to play more, but I only have so much spare time for games in general, let alone a particular one. I'm sure I'll find more though, especially since I am still really new to the game.

Heimerdinger is rarely played nowadays, because he just has so much weaknesses. If you're afraid of snares, i recommend you to try Gangplank as he has an anti snare skill.

[s3ki]

[QUOTE=Alaitoc;16402570]I don't know why you would ever recommend Heimerdinger to anyone. Ever.[/QUOTE

Because not everyone is shortsighted or bad with him as you are? Or because hes actually good, but not your average nuke the shit out of them ap?

[Kenai]

I don't know why you would ever recommend Heimerdinger to anyone. Ever.[/QUOTE

Because not everyone is shortsighted or bad with him as you are? Or because hes actually good, but not your average nuke the shit out of them ap?

Herm has obvious weaknesses, and he is probably one of the easier champions to gank due to no real escape + being squishy, but that doesn't make him bad to me. Lining up Frost Turrets and a Shockbomb while peppering with Homing Missile from max range is no joke.

People don't really like Karma much either and I think she is amazing, but if a champion is harder to learn/use a lot of people just can't be bothered for one reason or another. It makes it all the sweeter when you murder them and they don't even know what you did to them.

All things being said if you play smart and your team does too the game is really pretty well balanced if you aren't stacking the same role.

[gotpriest]

How is Irelia these days? I really enjoyed her solo top but they really hurt her ability to get early farm months and months back. (Haven't played in a long time.)

[godofslack]

How is Irelia these days? I really enjoyed her solo top but they really hurt her ability to get early farm months and months back. (Haven't played in a long time.)

Up until a couple weeks a go she was the best top lane, but now she's underplayed. I personally think it is mainly due to nerf syndrome (when no one plays a recently nerfed champion), but she's not top tier anymore. She's still viable but, the meta these days is to have top lanes that can jungle or top lane, to prevent or otherwise reduce counter-picking, so she's behind Lee Sin, Shyvana, and Udyr. Basically, she's underplayed at like 2k elo, but everywhere else she's good enough.

[Malgru]

Looking for a jungler in the 3150 bracket or below. Would like to be viable for atmog's setup along with maybe a Maw of Malmortius. Would like some mobility and a built in slow/stun. Shouldn't be blue buff dependent (but still can use mana).

Basically, an AD scaling jungler that has the ability to go extremely tanky and isn't 100% blue buff reliant in the 3150 bracket or below, also with a built in CC/stun (so not red buff dependent either).

I have Udyr, not a massive fan but I play him every once in a while.

[Tommytom80]

so ive had my eye on skarner for a while now is he any good at what he does? i normaly play the tanky champions Volibear ect;

[gotpriest]

Up until a couple weeks a go she was the best top lane, but now she's underplayed. I personally think it is mainly due to nerf syndrome (when no one plays a recently nerfed champion), but she's not top tier anymore. She's still viable but, the meta these days is to have top lanes that can jungle or top lane, to prevent or otherwise reduce counter-picking, so she's behind Lee Sin, Shyvana, and Udyr. Basically, she's underplayed at like 2k elo, but everywhere else she's good enough.

The major problem I had with her 9 months ago was that they nerfed her life leech, so she had no top lane sustain. Did they fix that, or make it easier to get Philo stone or another new item?

[godofslack]

Looking for a jungler in the 3150 bracket or below. Would like to be viable for atmog's setup along with maybe a Maw of Malmortius. Would like some mobility and a built in slow/stun. Shouldn't be blue buff dependent (but still can use mana).

Basically, an AD scaling jungler that has the ability to go extremely tanky and isn't 100% blue buff reliant in the 3150 bracket or below, also with a built in CC/stun (so not red buff dependent either).

I have Udyr, not a massive fan but I play him every once in a while.

That's pretty specific, because you just described Udyr. Sadly there are a lot of those at 6300, notably Lee Sin. Mundo or Gangplank can fit that role as well, and to a lesser degree, Shaco. I'd suggest, mainly buying, Mundo, but he is red buff reliant and mana-less. Shaco doesn't go tanky and GP jungle is something I, personally, can't get used to, and he is frankly, meh. You probably already know this Udyr is the character you described, Mundo is the (actually played) second most like the role.

---------- Post added 2012-04-14 at 03:57 PM ----------

The major problem I had with her 9 months ago was that they nerfed her life leech, so she had no top lane sustain. Did they fix that, or make it easier to get Philo stone or another new item?

Her sustain is fine now, she was the best top lane a couple weeks a go because of her sustain, they did nerf it a bit when Hiten Style (her W) is off, but when on it remains equal with the pre-nerf value.

---------- Post added 2012-04-14 at 04:02 PM ----------

so ive had my eye on skarner for a while now is he any good at what he does? i normaly play the tanky champions Volibear ect;

Depends how you play him, most Skarners are currently played in the Jungle, and he does that really well, better than most people would expect. He has amazing ganks and fast clear times, putting him in the same league as Maoki (he might be a little weaker though). I find him to be the best consistent long term ganker, because Shaco falls off very quickly and Maoki ganks are weaker, in my opinion. As a top lane he is a little below par, but doable, it is a rare role for him, but that could add value.

[Kurdiern]

The major problem I had with her 9 months ago was that they nerfed her life leech, so she had no top lane sustain. Did they fix that, or make it easier to get Philo stone or another new item?

She's been fine for the past 6-7 months. 26 health on hit & her ulti for clearing waves meant she was almost impossible to push out of lane. She never had issues with sustain. The nerf brought Hiten down to 13 (Back to 26 when activated) and a 10 second ulti cd increase. If you had trouble with sustain then, then you're going to have trouble now.

[Led ++]

Depends how you play him, most Skarners are currently played in the Jungle, and he does that really well, better than most people would expect. He has amazing ganks and fast clear times, putting him in the same league as Maoki (he might be a little weaker though). I find him to be the best consistent long term ganker, because Shaco falls off very quickly and Maoki ganks are weaker, in my opinion. As a top lane he is a little below par, but doable, it is a rare role for him, but that could add value.

Erm, what?

Maokai is probably the best ganker, basically a flash + root followed by a small knockup. His saplings can give vision of bushes for runners, ulti that reduces damage ... It's just that he barely does any damage (since generally you build him tanky). Skarners strength is that (like otehr top junglers) has a very fast jungle, a very safe jungle. permanent slow, high sustained damage and a pain to kill. He just doesn't have anything to really close the gap, apart from his speed boost. His ulti is probably one of the best gank ultis though and can be a pain in every single teamfight if you use it right. Skarner is just top tier, just like Udyr, Shyvana, Lee Sin and Maokai. He's easier to use in solo queue imo since Maokai doesn't really do much damage so you need a team that uses your CC. In solo queue most however think you just fly in there and easily win a 2vs3 or so.

They're both solid picks for the jungle. 1 is just easier to use in solo queue.

[Duilliath]

Looking for a jungler in the 3150 bracket or below. Would like to be viable for atmog's setup along with maybe a Maw of Malmortius. Would like some mobility and a built in slow/stun. Shouldn't be blue buff dependent (but still can use mana).

Basically, an AD scaling jungler that has the ability to go extremely tanky and isn't 100% blue buff reliant in the 3150 bracket or below, also with a built in CC/stun (so not red buff dependent either).

I have Udyr, not a massive fan but I play him every once in a while.

If not Udyr, then Jax or Xin Zhao probably. Slightly more expensive and Trundle is an option.

[gotpriest]

She's been fine for the past 6-7 months. 26 health on hit & her ulti for clearing waves meant she was almost impossible to push out of lane. She never had issues with sustain. The nerf brought Hiten down to 13 (Back to 26 when activated) and a 10 second ulti cd increase. If you had trouble with sustain then, then you're going to have trouble now.

Keep in mind I'm talking about her from a 9 month ago perspective. It appears that she has been buffed since then, and was recently nerfed. Back in August of '11 she was having top lane issues, and was not a Tourny pick in any way.