When your favorite champion becomes "OP".

[danman64]

TL;DR, I get a little upset at the hive mind of LoL

So I'm sure a lot of you have experienced this. There's a champion that you really enjoy for whatever reason, and then suddenly one or two pros start playing them in the LCS, or OGN, or whatever other major tournaments people like to watch. Then suddenly, all it takes is one or two good games with them, and they're instantly viewed by the hive mind as the most overpowered thing since season 3 black cleaver.

The worst example to me is Kassadin. He was the first champion I played, and so he always had a special place in my heart, and he basically was one of the only champions I played on my way to level 30. I played him in ranked a fair amount, and no one ever seemed to really have a problem. But then Worlds happened.

Now I'll be honest, I don't really have that much knowledge of what goes on over there on the EU servers, but in NA, Kass has never really been that crazy of a champ. I think I remember someone picking him once or twice in the LCS, but nothing spectacular ever happened. So in the group stage, the only people who picked or had Kass banned was the EU teams. Which is understandable, given the whole Xpeke thing.

But then in the bracket stage, C9 gave Xpeke Kassadin, and all hell broke loose. He went 11-0-7. After that, Kassadin had a 100% pick/ban rate in all the games involving an EU team, and was even played by Wh1t3zZ in one of the grand final matches (nevermind that they lost). Now he's at a 83% ban rate in ranked games.

I guess some of you probably do feel that he's legitimately OP, and I guess I can understand that, but what gets me is that he hadn't been buffed or nerfed since November of 2012. This was the literally the same champion that's been sitting unchanged for months, and then suddenly after seeing him played well, everyone in NA proclaims him as the scourge of LoL.

I just miss playing him without someone thinking I'm following the flavor of the month trend. And I'm tired of me doing well reinforcing how "broken" he is.

So who else has this happened too? What favorite champion of yours has been hit by the "popular = hate" cycle?

[Drikkink]

Kassadin is only OP if played by someone who is good at Kassadin. A well played Kassadin will beat nearly anyone.

The big problem with solo queue ban rates is that you don't know if your opponent is good or bad at any given champion, so people either ban what they have the most trouble with or they ban champions that are OP is played optimally. Leblanc gets banned not because she's OP, but because she can absolutely carry an early game team if played well but a bad Leblanc won't get fed enough to get a surrender at 20. Blitz gets banned not because he's an OP, but because if someone can land THAT HOOK, it changes a game. Not any hook; any blitz can land any hook by accident, but THAT hook.

There are very few champions that are just overall too strong to deal with regardless of the player (Nasus is the closest and even he is difficult in gauging when you're strong enough to fight your top laner for your farm), but there are PLENTY that can just take over a game if the player knows what they're doing and there is very little you can do about it. Short of putting Kassadin 2 levels behind with constant pressure and dives, a good Kassadin will outscale any mid laner. Bar none.

Glad the NERF NASUS train has derailed now that people understand just how broken Riven is vs a Nasus. Kinda sad in order to save my main top laner my second top laner is gonna get nerfed to the ground (Irelia status likely), but whatchugonnado.

[Deleted]

You're stupid if you think they're nerfing Kassadin just because "pros play him", it goes way further than that.
Have you ever been on the side that's against the Kassadin? Oh sure, "just gank him before 6", damn he's 0-2, we win... right?
Oh no wait, he's Kassadin, he gets 2 kills from a stupid call and he's suddenly unstoppable, and capable of instagibbing your carry within seconds just because he's Kassadin.
His base damages were too high for the scaling he gets. And he's basically one of the most mobile champions in the game post-6.
Not everyone plays champions just because "pros play them". I played Jarvan when nobody else did, and won almost every game with it because he countered the current meta. Don't judge everyone just because a large number of people copy what others do. If there's a "best way" to do things, people will ALWAYS copy it, just like in WoW's talent builds, rotations etc.
Being able to decide for your own what is good/works well, without it being Saltyteemo-level builds where nobody builds boots and everyone gets Runaan's Hurricane, is a sign of a good player.

[dokilar]

meh, kassadin i feel isnt necessarily OP but you do have to admit that he doesnt suffer a lot of the problems other mid laners do when they fall behind. his toolkit offers him the ability to warp in, silence you, chunk you for health and warp out while basically the only thing you can do is land an auto attack or two. how do you counter something like that other than completely avoid him? you can really do that with him because of how mobile he is. if you ignore him he'll just farm and roam and make his own kills.

so again, i wouldnt go so far as to say he's op but i do feel like he's too strong right now and needs some tuning. and like others have said, kassadin being played by someone who knows what theyre doing are going to have an impact on the game regardless of how much you shut him down, even more so the later the game goes and the more items he gets.

to your original point though i do understand. i played a lot of Olaf top and jungle at the start of s2 and he received a nerfs. everyone joked it was because of how well voyboy played him the first couple weeks in s2. it didnt make him obsolete but because of them there were just better options for me to pick. now it seems he's making a fairly strong return and i wouldnt be surprised if we dont see some more nerfs for him. id also expect some kha'zix and shyvanna nerfs as well but who knows

[Thallidomaniac]

When Season 3 hit, two of my favorites (Jarvan IV and Xin Zhao) became the FotM junglers. Then they got nerfed a bit, causing Xin to fall pretty much out of competitive use, although J4 was still used a lot. With Season 4, I haven't seen a J4 or Xin in competitive play, as they're not the supertanks that are popular in the top lane, and aren't the best gankers because of the vision changes.

On the other hand, my other favorite (Fiora) has yet to see competitive play, and some people say that she's the worst champion in the game, even worse than the likes of Poppy or Sion.

[Soulstrike]

When Season 3 hit, two of my favorites (Jarvan IV and Xin Zhao) became the FotM junglers. Then they got nerfed a bit, causing Xin to fall pretty much out of competitive use, although J4 was still used a lot. With Season 4, I haven't seen a J4 or Xin in competitive play, as they're not the supertanks that are popular in the top lane, and aren't the best gankers because of the vision changes.

On the other hand, my other favorite (Fiora) has yet to see competitive play, and some people say that she's the worst champion in the game, even worse than the likes of Poppy or Sion.

played alit of xin prior to season 4 and found him amazing early game but if you cant make any plays within those early game you will be hard to come back in late game

imo we will see some diana jungle

[Daelos]

Well, my favourite champion has been Riven for a long long time and I hate to see her getting nerfs in the next patch because of her being semi-fotm for a while now. Oh well, she will still be strong and maybe people wont cry that much anymore after getting destroyed by my Riven in lane

[Deleted]

When Season 3 hit, two of my favorites (Jarvan IV and Xin Zhao) became the FotM junglers. Then they got nerfed a bit, causing Xin to fall pretty much out of competitive use, although J4 was still used a lot. With Season 4, I haven't seen a J4 or Xin in competitive play, as they're not the supertanks that are popular in the top lane, and aren't the best gankers because of the vision changes.

On the other hand, my other favorite (Fiora) has yet to see competitive play, and some people say that she's the worst champion in the game, even worse than the likes of Poppy or Sion.

1) Xin and J4 are still good, just not as OP as Eve/Vi who can shut down lanes hard.
2) <Insert arguements how mid J4 is still viable as fuck and wrecks most midlaners>
3) Fiora isn't the worst champion in the game, Yasuo succeeded her and took the throne.
You may now rejoice.

imo we will see some diana jungle

I've been trying this, but people don't seem to like it when I want to play jungle Diana...

[danman64]

You're stupid if you think they're nerfing Kassadin just because "pros play him", it goes way further than that.
Have you ever been on the side that's against the Kassadin? Oh sure, "just gank him before 6", damn he's 0-2, we win... right?
Oh no wait, he's Kassadin, he gets 2 kills from a stupid call and he's suddenly unstoppable, and capable of instagibbing your carry within seconds just because he's Kassadin.
His base damages were too high for the scaling he gets. And he's basically one of the most mobile champions in the game post-6.
Not everyone plays champions just because "pros play them". I played Jarvan when nobody else did, and won almost every game with it because he countered the current meta. Don't judge everyone just because a large number of people copy what others do. If there's a "best way" to do things, people will ALWAYS copy it, just like in WoW's talent builds, rotations etc.
Being able to decide for your own what is good/works well, without it being Saltyteemo-level builds where nobody builds boots and everyone gets Runaan's Hurricane, is a sign of a good player.

That's not even the point of this thread.

I never stated that they're nerfing him specifically because pros play him. I'm stating that it's annoying that a champ who hasn't been changed for almost a year suddenly becomes universally hated because pros played him. He's the same champ as ever, except now I can never play him, and when I do, it makes people hate him even more because I actually know what to do with him.

I agree he probably does need nerfs, and that's precisely why Riot is changing him now.

[Thallidomaniac]

That's not even the point of this thread.

I never stated that they're nerfing him specifically because pros play him. I'm stating that it's annoying that a champ who hasn't been changed for almost a year suddenly becomes universally hated because pros played him. He's the same champ as ever, except now I can never play him, and when I do, it makes people hate him even more because I actually know what to do with him.

I agree he probably does need nerfs, and that's precisely why Riot is changing him now.

The meta changes with every patch (most of the time), and champions that were previously unviable now become the new FotM, and same with the reverse.

[Ergar]

WTB wukong in competitive scene.

[Deleted]

That's not even the point of this thread.

I never stated that they're nerfing him specifically because pros play him. I'm stating that it's annoying that a champ who hasn't been changed for almost a year suddenly becomes universally hated because pros played him. He's the same champ as ever, except now I can never play him, and when I do, it makes people hate him even more because I actually know what to do with him.

I agree he probably does need nerfs, and that's precisely why Riot is changing him now.

Well, considering LoL evolves in the way of "imperfect balance" where one thing gets nerfed, then other champions arise, Kassadin had the same issue.
Other AP Champions fit the meta better, or were in a better state. Once you nerf everything, other champions become the "new" champ to play.
After all the nerfs to Fizz/Zed/Ahri and so on, Kass was bound to make it into the "meta".

It's the same case with AD Carries, after basically everything got nerfed, Lucian, Jinx and Sivir were the main ones to play. Sure, that's not the only reason, because the other reason is backline-destroyers like Vi/Shyv/Mundo/Olaf becoming insanely popular lately, so they need to be able to escape.

See what I mean here? Just because the champion itself isn't getting buffed, the state of other champions or usage of other champions matters. Especially if they "counter" the current FotM champions.

- - - Updated - - -

WTB wukong in competitive scene.

He was literally played yesterday in the challenger series...

[Ergar]

He was literally played yesterday in the challenger series...

Was not aware of this

Was deffinately not aware of this

[Deleted]

Was not aware of this

Was deffinately not aware of this

Team Curse vs Cognitive Gaming.

Used in the jungle by IWillDominate.

Go watch it.

[Ergar]

Jesus christ i allmost came in my pants when IWillDominate pulled out the 5man cyclone with the annie stun.

[Deleted]

Jesus christ i allmost came in my pants when IWillDominate pulled out the 5man cyclone with the annie stun.

Looks like my job here is done

[Ergar]

Would still love to see him played more as a bruiser/assassin in mid or top. Shame he sucks so much D in 2v1 lanes...

[Vvhooya]

I have 90% winrate with Kassadin, he got me to Diamond, I still like him tho.

[Soulstrike]

I have 90% winrate with Kassadin, he got me to Diamond, I still like him tho.

i like how u just said it in a casual way XD

I've been trying this, but people don't seem to like it when I want to play jungle Diana...

just instant lock in yo

@OP yea lol community is bit weird when it comes to FOTM, some champs just gets completely forgotten but still strong and somehow they are OP in few weeks

[Thallidomaniac]

Would still love to see him played more as a bruiser/assassin in mid or top. Shame he sucks so much D in 2v1 lanes...

He would be better off at mid at the moment due to the influx of supertank bruisers in the top lane.

3) Fiora isn't the worst champion in the game, Yasuo succeeded her and took the throne.

I dunno, people have said that Yasuo is a strictly better Yi/Fiora/Tryndamere/Gangplank/Aatrox/(any other melee AD DPS). Then again, his win rate proves otherwise. Then yet again, his kit is not faceroll like those other DPS, so...