I've learned to appreciate "mediocre" abilities because whenever the balance team refused to apply them in favor of novelty or appeal, we got a 200 years champ forced down our collective throats every single time.
They aren't even mediocre. You can only judge an ability's quality if you look at its purpose and how it can fulfill the role. If an ability isn't meant to be strong and is more of a "filler", then thats not a mediocre or bad spell. It is if it can't achieve the intended goal well, because then the champ's performance will suffer as a result. As you said, some characters just need a filler ability in order to not be overtuned. This list is quite bad though, for Amumu's W he doesn't even mention its role in camp clearing. You know, for a jungler champion
Even without that, anivias wall is definitely one of the best spells in the game, how many other spells can this easily split up teams like that, there is a reason it’s a summoner spell in arena.
W - aatrox fires a slightly hard skillshot that deals about 25% of your autos, and it also does magic dmg so it doesnt stack black cleaver, it does stack conqueror, yay
how about the "one-point wonder" abilities? the ones that are super powerful with just one point in them but leveling them up doesn't get much value compared to the rest of the kit? like yasuo's wind wall as an obvious example.
There is also a "two-point wonder" ability in Taric Q going from 1 ---> 2 is pretty close doubling the healing going from 2 ---> 5 does very little most of the time
Its funny because yesterday was the first time ive ever felt Lee Sins Cripple. I was chasing him and got slowed, and asked in all chat, yo what just slowed me. Ive been playing for 10 years... totally forgot about that
Yeah cripple is surprisingly rare in League. I can only think of Fiora's W on top of my head. I didn't even aware Leesin has cripple. But then again... he also has spell vamp for some fucking reason lmao
Unlike in DOTA 2, I find a lot of League soft cc like blind, cripple, nearsighted and silence are surprisingly rare and only exist in old champions. I hope Riot have to make their stance on these old ass cc concept or reintroduce them again
My boy Taric is an exception, you go for the second point in Q at lv 4 then max E until 9 because you optimize the 2 hit pasive and the 2 charge heal with Q. Also when playing velkoz mid you go 3 points on W firts, then max Q for a better wave clear with WE combo.. Hope this helps someone trying those 2 champs, I personally enjoy them so much.
Vars I love you man but Hwei’s WQ is infinitely better than his WW It helps you catch up to enemies in ganks, helps your frontline catch up, help you run away, and unlike Jayce which is in a very static place Hwei’s WQ is a fairly long area that can help him space way better His WW sounds great on paper but then you remember it’s a fairly small area, doesn’t give the full value of shields immediately so you have to stand within that tiny area for a while *and* it only has 50% strength for allies. It has its uses but it is by far worse than WQ is.
@@tristan6773vs multiple divers or strong lockdown like J4/Camille ults it’s better yes, but against a single diver you might as well just use his Fear to interrupt their engage instead if it’s available.
His WW shield is too small to be really worth it instead of mana regen or movespeed. Its just so situational that i think i use it like 3 times per game when i use QW to catch enemies return to lane and roam
Even though i agree with Bard's W being pretty mediocre if we compare it to other characters, we have to remember that, having a healing that gets placed for later use is pretty good for Bard and Bard only, you might leave the lane to roam and get some chimes but at least your ADC gets a little something while you are somewhere else in the form of what basically is health packs
just a note on “no champions alternating maxing two abilities” most enchanters put 2-3 points into their heal/shield during the laning phase before maxing out their buffing/utility skill. examples milio goes 3 points E -> 5 points W lulu goes 3 points E -> 5 points W renata goes 3 points E -> 5 points W bit different but soraka goes 2/3 points Q -> 5 points W karma can alternate Q and E nami goes 3 points W -> 5 points E
It's always important to keep in mind that Riot often designs champions with one of their abilities being a one point wonder, meaning you get a large part of its overall value with a single point in it. Nocturne W and Vi E are great examples of this. the main value of Nocturne's W is the spell shield, which you have at all levels of the spell, and the attack speed boost is there to spend the remaining ability power budget. Vi's E main value is the auto-attack reset to trigger her W faster and make her more fluid to play. The bonus damage on hit and the the splash are nice, but that's not the ability's stronger aspect. A lot of abilities that appear as mediocre are just one point wonders that round a champion's kit nicely.
Brair E is both the worst and most important skill in her kit, you max it last and barley use it but you always need to have it up or else you will just int and go to enemy turret
Blitzcrank w fits this criteria for me. The speed up helps you land q and maybe even get in aa range for e but it has an awful slow at the end. So many other champions have speed ups or dashes without a self slow
Imo anivias w is maybe the most broken part of her kit. What you forgot is that the walls summon displaces everone who was on its place. So if you time it correctly, you can instantly interrupt channels and dashes with it. It also triggers mundo p. So basically a lane lenght instant knockup followed by a wall is incredibly busted
Right? Plus, even with dashes it's still crucial for keeping them in your R. Her W is just a super versatile tool and is by no means mediocre, even WITH all the dashes.
Try playing against someone with a dash in lane and you'll quickly realize that you can never engage on them or anyone else with a dash. At best you have to coordinate with your team to either have someone follow up when the wall forces then to use their mobility spells or have the entire team peel for you
@omfg322 not really. Your W can interrupt dashes, your W has a shorter cooldown than many dashes and they need their dash to dodge your Q so burning it with W is still helpful.
hwei wq is insane. It's maybe the best tool for helping your team collapse on an isolated target in the mid game. It's like having a kled ult that you don't need to commit to. Genuinely use it more than either of his other w's.
@@SupahFib im a support player, so I'm used to overloading on mana runes/items and dealing no damage. For a standard midlane hwei player, yes we will probably get used more
@@Nightmare-fe9hr i play him as a support and i totally agree. it helps you get to your lane (and other lanes), check for wards, escape during ganks, etc way faster
Hwei's WW is not all that. I find myself using WQ much more often than WW, you can dodge so much damage with it that it's better than the tiny shield WW gives
@@Danny_B13I think it’s as well rated as it should be, it’s definitely his best W spell, and you can easily feel that in teamfights, ms makes a lot of champs able to hit spells they would without. Best examples are juggernauts like Darius or point and click ability tanks, like Maokai.
Ahri W is such a strong ability😭 dmg + tracking + move speed. It’s what gives Ahri sm skinnyness and like it’s what makes her laning phase poke so strong. The move speed and dmg is so good in lane
9:38 as one of the 5 yorick mains his W is THE MOST POWERFULL ABILITY in his kit and overall really good ability cuz its 360 circle and you can force ppl to dash or just block them so it can be some type of cc and the worst counter for this ability ISNT dash its AS cuz if you playing against sett he can basicly oneshot it and then still beat your ass and its way way way better then anivia W cuz in jgl its 2 walls and not just one
I primarily use it to intimidate enemies If I'm getting chased then dropping the cage is a great way to force enemies to waste their dash Though I think this works better on my AP yorick mid or assassin yorick jg Either way, the cage is now more about forcing others to dash out of it rather than locking them in
@@kxgr9522 In the jng it's amazing, because you can block chock points, so the enemy has to dash and flash to you, if it's not point and click. In fights outside Jng, I mostly use it for spacing the Enemy away from me, so my pets can do the DMG. So yeah you mostly use it for spacing, blocking or to get a dash on CD instead of locking them in. You only use it as a “Stun” if the enemy has no dash or if the dash is on CD. A niche use is to cancel channels like TP, Malz R, Sion Q, Nunu R or as Wall for Sion R, Kled R etc.
As a support main, the most mediocre skill for me is Rakan's Q- Gleaming Quill, it's a 25/75 risk (unless you are good at skillshot) 1. Short ranged poke tool 2. Can be blocked by any enemy unit 3. Early game "meh-heal" 4. The only good thing about it is you can use it for drakes and br and herald but still get heal.
As an anivia main, I say no, no we would not prefer trundles over ours, her's in the right hands, has much more value than trundles and fits the preferred fights she wants.
I really disagree with Anivia W being worse than Trundle E. Anivia W is one of the most creative abilities in the game. You can: -> Manipulate enemy walk path, making hitting Q easier. -> Freeze Minions waves behind turret. ->Control Teamfights || Disengage, -> Force out enemy Mobility tools. -> Cancel certain abilities
I agree with most of the list except for Ahri W. Ahri W is honestly a really strong laning tool due to its consistency and low mana cost, and many times I'll take it at level 1 over Q when I play her. Also can proc electrocute if you auto between the first and last fire, which can kinda just win you lane at level 1.
As a yorick main i find w to be really usefull in situations where I am getting chased from a distance in jungle. W is wide enough for almost anywhere in jungle to completely cover the area. When someone has a dash they can only dash in, not out again. So then they have to auto the thing to remove it which often takes (looking at you lucian) long enough for me to get out or e them to slow.
As an Anivia main, there has been times where I go without leveling the W Wall until after I finished QE, not optimal but against a lot of mobile dash champs I just didn’t want to waste on an ability that didn’t do much to stop
This ignores entirely, that you leave your self open to more punishment, without counterplay. Your w can cancel dashes and burn dashes, making them more vulnerable to your Q and ult. You need to work on your w usage, if you think the spell is bad vs dashers.
Skill and hardware issue. Use it more actively and proactively rather than passively and defensively. You're giving the opponent time to react, and even worse with your fear, they have time to plan.
It feels weird that WR added a lot of QoL to some of these abilities, like how Jarvan shield scale with hp instead of ad upto 15% max hp at 5 enemies and TF stacked deck can be activated for a bigger attack speed increase and triggering the loaded dice effect whenever you at attack an enemy
They all feel very... Meh. Nothing too bad, nothing trully good, all situational. I do believe most of them have been good abilities once, but the game ran past most of their utility
potentially interesting question: do you think there is value in designing a champion's ability to be bad or mediocre? The two that immediately come to mind are Kalista W & Thresh Passive, which are both bad to mediocre abilities. In both cases, I feel that the champions have so much in their kit that giving them a dead ability helps keep them from shooting off into the stratosphere, especially since both champions are designed around the idea that they can theoretically do anything they want, assuming the person piloting them is both skilled and creative enough to do so. Azir also does this where he has 3 super synergistic and open-ended basic abilities, a really strong ult that leaves a lot of room for creativity, and a passive that kinda just exists. Just thought it would be interesting to discuss. Like, how much of a problem would Zeri be, for example, if one of her basic abilities was replaced with something objectively mediocre? And apply that question to any other recent-ish champion that's infamous for being overloaded. And I'm not trying to push a conclusion or anything, I'm just thinking of some talking points that could be interesting to explore.
When I saw Hwei I thought ww was the mediocre ability, cant believe you put wq. In a full game, you will use much more wq than ww, and also there will be far more scenarios where wq is useful, while ww almost never is (Its shield its almost non-existent)
Think about it WQ gives ms which is useful, if it weren’t for hwei having so much range he usually doesn’t need it, except for running away But if you’re disengaging, why not use any of your Es? WW gives something he needs, that being instant survivability, as opposed to WQ, which has a cast time
@@Ale-km3ux W being the last ability you invest in means the shield barely does anything (plus it ramps up over time, is in a small fixed zone, and the shield duration is shit so you can't even set up before going in), whereas the 20% ms boost helps you kite and dodge skillshots.
@@azelynhirano yes, but yyou need to stand still for a sec to get that ms, while also following a straight path WW helps you (and your teammates) tank long range skillshots
@@Ale-km3ux the move speed zone is deceptively wide, and you get move speed as long as you're in the area. Like I said, the shield is too small, plus it only ramps up in the zone. 90% of the time the shield zone just mind controls your teammates to get hit by skillshots.
if you don't know the thing with aatrox W pulling after people flash at the last second got "fixed" meaning now people take the 2nd instance of damage of the W which is the pull... without a pull.
I feel like Ahri's W is the most controversial pick out of the list. In the start (1-3 lvls) it allows to easily outtrade your opponent and basically take control of the lane when first objectives are spawning. Besides, it easily activates electrocute so it interacts with lots of game mechanics. Good list though
Exactly, it's a combat ability only in name and has damage slapped onto it so it counts. It's a combo ability for things like electrocute and Liandry's If I could, I'd trade the damage for a debuff, perhaps a slow to make her charm easier to hit?
I use hwei's wq quite often in a match. After backing, at the start of a roam... But the two situations it really shines is 1. Against a low mobility bruiser so you and your adc can reposition (or getting away in general. qe + wq gives a slowing field and a speed up field. Great to lay down when running away in choke points) 2. When your team is catching someone. You bombard them with qw, trying to get them to sidestep/backstep. You and your teammate(s) are faster while the opponent is slowed down by dodging your qw's
Can confirm, yorick Dark procession completely stomps some matchups, you just poke the enemy down, then when they are low they are forced out of wave for fear of dark precession And yorick just very much loves having the wave all to himself
Urgot's Q is a good contender for this list. It has certain unique upsides like being a significant enough slow, good for use against escaping enemies outside of your E's reach and marking enemies, and it deals decent damage for the early-mid stage of the game (enough to be the 2nd ability you work on), but ironically enough it's less essential than his E despite that one often being the last to upgrade. Disdain is a strong one point ability for both defense and counterplay, and the correct usage of it can either turn the tide of battle into a successful kill, or at the very least ensure a trade doesn't go bad on your end. Corrosive Charge is sort of like a cherry on top of the ice cream, and oftentimes you can get good plays without ever having used it once (Urgot's ult might also have something to do with that fact since it can serve as a decent enough slow on escaping champions). Still a good enough ability to be used, but mediocre in not being essential in every fight or trade even.
i think the most underrated abilite is teemos w right now if you go swifties you can literally have perma 417 ms if a decen match up and not a toddler player which is a lot more op than it sounds
So funny story actually, I was sent this by my friend because I main Yorick and my first thought was passive and then my friend pointed out it was W and I was like…”huh, that’s weird.” Then I realized and my friends response was “oh, it’s because he’s talking mediocre abilities not terrible ones.” Damn, my friends aren’t wrong, I hate that his passive is so meh. Wall is a really good point and you put it totally AMAZINGLY. I really appreciate how you articulated it, it really is feast or famine for Yorick in general.
For champions that alternated abilities, I believe Talon did that for a while until sometime between s11-13, and akshan for a couple months on release I believe
8:22 Would just like to point out that Hwei's E+W and E+E are switched. Gaze of the Abyss, the follow-up, is E+W; Crushing Maw, the zoning/grouping tool, is E+E
Aatrox W no longer pulls after flash because the 0.25 second grace period no longer exists. That's why people are complaining about how worthless it is recently.
12:36 In defense of those that try to flash out of Aatrox so late. Its intuitive, since Aatrox tries to line up his next sweetspot right there and then. If you flash way earlier he wont.
I would 10000% take trundle pillar ovee anivia wall. Trundle pillar at least has a slow to better hit your q and ult. If anivia wall was given a slow or given its vision back or even some punishment to dashing through it like applying some sort of debuff id be so happy
8:22 I would like to point out that the effects of Hwei’s EW and EE were erroneously swapped. Totally fair mistake to make considering how many abilities he has though lol I do find myself using WQ more often than WW. I’ll concede that I don’t know how powerful the WW shield becomes when playing support Hwei since I don’t play him there. I just would’ve chosen WW over WQ for being most mediocre.
I actually tend to use hwei's WQ hella often, although I tend to build things like liandry's and rylai's to be more of a controller than a burst mage. The extra ms comes in handy really often for dodging skillshots that you otherwise wouldn't be able to get past, and the extra distance you can put between yourself and the enemy will actually get you your E back surprisingly often. WW imo is the most mediocre of his kit. Shields are great, yeah, but you can hardly get the full value of it even if you stand in the zone the entire time. The value of the immediate shield is very small, and the bonus you get for staying in the area isn't worth rooting yourself down. I really only tend to use it on allies, or to protect any number of people from DOTs... If it were any better, hwei is instantly s tier for being too unkillable, and yet the way it is now its very rarely worth the mana cost when it shares your WQ and WE cooldowns.
To touch on you saying that you typically want to level one ability before going to another in the start of the video. The Hecarim meta in the patch(es) before stattik shiv came back was level e or q to 3 if u can gank a lane or not, if you can gank you level q after that but some situations call for it
ex but also back pocket bard main here, bards heal is actually INSANE late game it can heal a squishy for like half for a (at that point in the game) no mana cost, no time and THREE times sure early game its really bad since the mana for healing cost is meh, the speed boost is nothing and your adc wont always pick it up but my god its so good
of all abilities, i did not expect to see anivia's W on this list. yes, it can be completely useless, and it can even hinder your team. but when used right, it is extremely powerful. it's a great zoning tool especially when combined with your ultimate, and it can be used to basically guarantee your q stun. IMO it's too strong when used well to be considered mediocre. it is extremely weak against dashes though. i do think that it should perhaps slow enemies that dash / jump over it, or apply chill. something small like that could make it a much better ability. but as an anivia main, i think whatever nerf riot would cook up to allow that to happen would probably ruin the ability
Yeah static field active is so whatever. The mana return on hit is nice but ultimately gate is a key to his highest damage ability which automatically makes it more valuable. And there are even match ups where you max E second due to how much damage melee E can do when maxed. Twenty perecent max health and 100% AD converted to magic damage can make it a crazy good spell.
Anivia's wall is lowkey an incredible tool and I'd easily take it over a Trundle Pillar. Yes, enemies can flash/dash over the wall. But you're forgetting that you're basically forcing them to use their mobility spell or let you get out for free. As Anivia, you kinda want enemies to be close to you, their mobility spell being on CD is easily punishable for Anivia considering the rest of her kit. I tend to run Phase Rush on Anivia for this exact reason. Unless they have champions with mobility + a point & click stun, they can't get to you. I'd consider something like Ezreal's W way less valuable overall than Anivia's wall.
I think chogath is interesting here because he can max all his 3 skills and he can also mix. 1 skill max will still be best, specially w+e since the cc goes up while cd goes down but many are still going q max because of the 60 base dmg it adds (which is just bonkers)
A couple that I can think of are vi's w, and Poppy's ult sure, they're both impactful, but for vi, it is literally a second passive, and for Poppy it is used most often for just the one second knock-up because the charge is just way too inconsistent. If you ask most poppy players, they're alt is their ability that they would be most happy to swap out from their kit.
Zilean (Mr. Balanced Himself) can level up either his Q or his E depending on build or playstyle. E is a supportive, CC focused playstyle while Q aims for harass, zoning, and earlier damage. You might level both to 3, as the slow is significant enough at that point to cripple slow champs, and the Q has a nonlinear damage growth. His W is useless without his Q or E but some weirdos actually try to put points in early because it is central to his stun and sustained pressure. But since it is a multiplier of other abilities it usually goes last.
I think alistar switching between maxing Q and W makes you have your combo on the same time, while when you max Q you have Q always before W. So depends if you need combos in that game cuz enemy long ranged or u're against melees and Q is better.
The - ability destroys someone if [condition] and doesn't exist if not - thing is part of the gameplay, it's an interaction: ezreal used e, then you yorick w him and he dies. Assassin vibes, but not about damage
I really want to argue about Fox-fire, as this is the ability that defines Ahri's playstyle the most. The low damage is balanced by the fact that it is autotarget AND it has a very low cooldown and manacost. I believe with a standard build it is ~3 sec, which means she can spam it to follow up nearly every dash. Also, it grants huge movement speed buff in neutral, which allows her to dodge skillshots and kite without wasting her ult. And it helps her to roam, as you can spam this ability while moving between lanes. In lane you use it between aa to harass opponents without wasting mana on Q, or you even can use the movement speed buff to land Q 2nd time. Moreover, in comparison to other burst mages, q is just damage, e is a standard CC, but W is the only ability beside Annie's E that gives you offensive mobility, which is crucial for Ahri. Don't underestimate the ability, just because the damage is low, it has a plenty of functions otrher than "killing people".
For Anivia her W is here identity. The only thing that makes it mediocre is the fact that there exists similar abilities that can be cancelled/removed on will (e.g. Jarvan's Ult). If they ever want to double Anivia's current power then Riot only has to give Anivia the option to cancel/remove her W, thus allowing her or teammates to chase after opponents that used their dash and/or flash to escape, without having to burn their own flash and/or dash.
As a former Anivia main: Her W is definitely underwhelming, but it has a ton of impact in the right situations. The problem is that it takes a lot, like a TON, of skill to use it really well where you’re stopping dashes and moving people into your Q, and as you mentioned every champion and their sister had a dash these days so it’s becoming less useful over time. Does that make it mediocre? Maybe. I think it needs a slight rework. It could be the only non-dashable terrain in the game - it is true ice after all, or it could deny vision like an Ivern bush, or it could come with a slowing field like Trundle’s pillar. I actually think Anivia mains would enjoy a change like this - yes, Anivia has a perma-high win rate and she would need some sort of power budget cut somewhere else - but the wall is supposed to be an INTEGRAL part of your kit, not an afterthought. It’s supposed to be the “you’ve activated my trap card” play where an overeager enemy gets stuck in your ult and dies. Instead Kayn, Riven, Tryndamere, and every other champ you’re supposed to lock down by freezing in literal ice, they just dash over and kill you anyway. It would make the gameplay more interesting and more fun to play too. If done correctly, she would be more like Cassiopeia - yes, the W feels unfair to certain champs, but there’s still a lot of counter play.
Ahri's W is what makes her a ridiculously annoying lane poker. Her ability to proc electrocute and reposition at the same time makes her W an amazing ability and tied to her main kit. While playing ahri, you'll always try to hit her second part of Q. So having a move speed ability really helps in that, not to mention the help in catching up far targets. Not every ability needs to be a damage focused one, and I really think that movement or depositioning abilities are so underrated. Hweis WQ is another example. I'm frequently playing him, and the extra move speed on a almost instant cast skill is amazing for him, especially because of his lack of mobility in general
Oh, forgot to mention it. I'm a Ahri main! So I can say with confidence that her W is my second favorite ability of her kit, losing only to her new refreshing on kills R
Hum, honestly i like to up both Q and Z at the same rate on alistar so they are on the same CD, because having both at the same time is realy good to keep doing the classic combo.
As an urgot main, Yoricks wall can still screw you if say, minions, ghouls or hes in your face. Since the wall is LAST priority. I prefer it that way but woth urgots BIG hurtbox, sometimes he LEGIT cant move in it haha. Just wanted to throw that out there
anivia w is so important imo becausw it allows you to trap the enemy in your ult, if they dont have a dash they are forced to stay in the ult till the wall comes down or slowly walk around it, letting you e them and get free qs off if you havent shot it already, i would never swap it for trundle plillar
I think most of the value from aatrox w come not from the pull, but the fact that in order to avoid the pull the enemy pathing becomes super predictsble
0:27 "I don't think there is a single champion who alternates between two abilities as the most efficient use of your level" Old Udyr would like to know your location (and also max R Udyr, to some extent)
I agree with your choices, but in a way when i think it also should be this way, for example hwei WQ is one of my favourite ability, because it can garantee you hit with your QE from close distance and after using EQ you can easily run, its one of my favourite undertuned ability because its capable of so much but not in every situation, so its actually ballanced…
Nah, anivia w is one of the best spells in the game, I would put it in top 10% of spells, that’s how broken it is. No other ability splits up Teams this easily, trundle pillar is definitely not the better choice, because anything anivia can do with pillar, she can do with W. Cancel dashes got that, slows anivia has an ult on a 2 second cd, usually less than 1 with malignance on lvl 16. The wall covers way more area and doesn’t require awkward positioning, it’s the best wall spell in the game.
i still have a strong opinion on Viktor W. Its is a stun and slow but cant stop engages and is only there to either to block of an area or to make an alies stun prolonged. So i often dont skill it for about 7 or 8 levels and put more into Q and E. Tbh the Q on Viktor often already saves you and does tons of damage and the E is a realy strong poke and makes his farm great. So i feel like it would be too strong if he could also stun you with no problem. The W isnt useless as its good for team fights but its horrible in lanning phase.
Jayce lighting field really shoulda gave him a shield so he could idk box a bit more up close. U could even make it so the more champions it hits with the first intial spark will increase how big the shield is. Imo it would probably make jayce a way better top laner and actually be kind of a tank.
They could change Amumu's passive, having to auto with him is really lackluster. I would preffer an area debuff like, ''the more time you stay near him more dmg u take''
A kinda stupid way to change ahri w is to make it so if theres a champion nearby she needs to hit abilities to launch the orbs, so a E Q+Q back launches all 3 for like twice the damage. This should only work near champions so it doesnt prevent her from farming with it, and during the laning phase if tbe ability expires it automatically targets minions again
Morganas W, on support atleast, is honestly so mediocre and inconsistent. The only reason its there is to have a damaging follow up for when you land your Q. I honestly have a problem with Morganas entire kit, with how you’re practically useless if you miss your Q, but her w is just such a weird ability on a champion made to be a support. I could go on an entire rant on morgana but for now i think you get the point
Morgana W is fine. It’s her main damage and sustain tool and it lowers the cooldown of her other abilities. Morgana’s kit on the whole is one of the better designs in league. There’s a reason it’s been changed so little over the years.
@@alexdenslow7095 first off it only refunds the cooldown of her W, not the rest of her kit, and in my opinion, Morgana is one of the worst designed champions. As i said if you miss your Q you’re just useless until it comes up. Her w doesnt work unless the target stands still, her E is fine but one E from a lux and its gone, and her ult makes you the primary target for 3 seconds, which kinda makes zhonyas a must buy for her and its expensive on a support budget. Morgana is in desperate need of a rework since none of her abilities other than Q have value as seperate abilities, they’re oriented on landing your Q and getting your ult off.
Seraphine actually benefits from putting 3 points into E and then maxing W to level 10. Her W isnt useful enough to max in lane, but extremely powerful once teams start grouping and she provides a ton of teamwide shields and heals. Still, shes the exception to the rule. Most champs will max different abilities depending on the matchup and builds too.
I would add heimerdinger R+E, It is really rare to use it because the stun of heimer's granade is hard to get, since it is a slow projectile with a slow animation most people can just flash it or dash of they react fast enough, and R+E is the same thing, hard to hit, hard to get the most from it and the other abilities from his ultimate are just stronger like his R+Q and R+W
R+E is actually pretty strong. The scaling on ult is completely independent from the points you put in his other abilities, so Heimer benefits much less from R+Q and R+W than from R+E since you always max E last. On top of that, it's a massive AOE stun with very long range. And it's not really slow either. You could also charge the turret laser with each explosion, so don't be surprised when your turret instantly fires multiple lasers and one-shots someone. R+W is strong too, but it's even easier to flash or dash out than R+E, so it's only good for immobile targets. R+Q is probably the worst one after early game. It's pretty disappointing damage for an ult, and once Bruisers or ADCs get 2-3 items, R+Q just gets melted within 3 secs.
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I've learned to appreciate "mediocre" abilities because whenever the balance team refused to apply them in favor of novelty or appeal, we got a 200 years champ forced down our collective throats every single time.
frr
No but this comment is so real 😭
They aren't even mediocre. You can only judge an ability's quality if you look at its purpose and how it can fulfill the role. If an ability isn't meant to be strong and is more of a "filler", then thats not a mediocre or bad spell. It is if it can't achieve the intended goal well, because then the champ's performance will suffer as a result. As you said, some characters just need a filler ability in order to not be overtuned.
This list is quite bad though, for Amumu's W he doesn't even mention its role in camp clearing. You know, for a jungler champion
In the defense of Vars he has probably never been glitched in Anivia’s wall before he’s innocent
Even without that, anivias wall is definitely one of the best spells in the game, how many other spells can this easily split up teams like that, there is a reason it’s a summoner spell in arena.
@@tomwanders6022 To be honest I also like the trolling possibilities of the spell. It's a big part of it lol
Missed the opportunity to have naayil scream W when talking about infernal chains
"HOW DID THAT NOT PULL"
Aatrox W is the most mystical ability, you never know when you land it- will the opponent get pulled, or will he just walk away.
W - aatrox fires a slightly hard skillshot that deals about 25% of your autos, and it also does magic dmg so it doesnt stack black cleaver, it does stack conqueror, yay
@@adamrozsa9923 W dmg is so low its completely useless
At this point Naayil has a toxic relationship with Aatrox W. They're like a couple arguing every few minutes.
Aatrox W is a sentient entity and you can't change my mind, that shit is a Tzeenchien daemon itself
how about the "one-point wonder" abilities? the ones that are super powerful with just one point in them but leveling them up doesn't get much value compared to the rest of the kit? like yasuo's wind wall as an obvious example.
I want this too
Leona E
strangely enough Nilah's entire kit fits this bill since almost all of her scaling is tied to crit chance and levels
@@Theoriginalmistwalker I'd argue that her E is the only ability worth leveling
There is also a "two-point wonder" ability in Taric Q going from 1 ---> 2 is pretty close doubling the healing going from 2 ---> 5 does very little most of the time
Its funny because yesterday was the first time ive ever felt Lee Sins Cripple. I was chasing him and got slowed, and asked in all chat, yo what just slowed me. Ive been playing for 10 years... totally forgot about that
Yeah cripple is surprisingly rare in League. I can only think of Fiora's W on top of my head. I didn't even aware Leesin has cripple. But then again... he also has spell vamp for some fucking reason lmao
Unlike in DOTA 2, I find a lot of League soft cc like blind, cripple, nearsighted and silence are surprisingly rare and only exist in old champions. I hope Riot have to make their stance on these old ass cc concept or reintroduce them again
@@cloudynguyen6527Darius "crippling strike," W used to - cripple lmao
But at such a low cooldown i understand why it was removed
What the fuck? Darius no longer cripples??@@PowerEd8
Is Mediocre a synonym for Balanced?
Kinda but also for boring
@@wisienon9156 aah, so it’s the Meh - diocre abilities
It means boring
It means inconsequential.
Mid, not good or bad just mid
My boy Taric is an exception, you go for the second point in Q at lv 4 then max E until 9 because you optimize the 2 hit pasive and the 2 charge heal with Q.
Also when playing velkoz mid you go 3 points on W firts, then max Q for a better wave clear with WE combo..
Hope this helps someone trying those 2 champs, I personally enjoy them so much.
Challenger Taric here. E max it is
@@titus-taricwhen would you not go Q at lvl 4?
@@warxdrum never, in that case, you are cutting in half all your early healing (which is core for wining early 2v2 or even 2v3)
Garen into certain ranged matchups will max q and e at once. Without the extra q points you’ll never catch up to that quinn
Isn’t velkoz just 1 point into w to one shot back wave with WE?
Vars I love you man but Hwei’s WQ is infinitely better than his WW
It helps you catch up to enemies in ganks, helps your frontline catch up, help you run away, and unlike Jayce which is in a very static place Hwei’s WQ is a fairly long area that can help him space way better
His WW sounds great on paper but then you remember it’s a fairly small area, doesn’t give the full value of shields immediately so you have to stand within that tiny area for a while *and* it only has 50% strength for allies. It has its uses but it is by far worse than WQ is.
depends on your opp
vs a diver? ww is better
vs a bruiser? WQ
fighting baron? WW
team fight at baron? WE, QE, EE, R
yeah there's no way MS in any form is worse than a 50 HP shield
@@tristan6773vs multiple divers or strong lockdown like J4/Camille ults it’s better yes, but against a single diver you might as well just use his Fear to interrupt their engage instead if it’s available.
Hwei wq also has no cast time, while ww makes you stand still for a split second while casting.
His WW shield is too small to be really worth it instead of mana regen or movespeed. Its just so situational that i think i use it like 3 times per game when i use QW to catch enemies return to lane and roam
Even though i agree with Bard's W being pretty mediocre if we compare it to other characters, we have to remember that, having a healing that gets placed for later use is pretty good for Bard and Bard only, you might leave the lane to roam and get some chimes but at least your ADC gets a little something while you are somewhere else in the form of what basically is health packs
It's not bad. It's just that wall hacking is better
just a note on “no champions alternating maxing two abilities”
most enchanters put 2-3 points into their heal/shield during the laning phase before maxing out their buffing/utility skill.
examples
milio goes 3 points E -> 5 points W
lulu goes 3 points E -> 5 points W
renata goes 3 points E -> 5 points W
bit different but soraka goes 2/3 points Q -> 5 points W
karma can alternate Q and E
nami goes 3 points W -> 5 points E
It's always important to keep in mind that Riot often designs champions with one of their abilities being a one point wonder, meaning you get a large part of its overall value with a single point in it. Nocturne W and Vi E are great examples of this. the main value of Nocturne's W is the spell shield, which you have at all levels of the spell, and the attack speed boost is there to spend the remaining ability power budget. Vi's E main value is the auto-attack reset to trigger her W faster and make her more fluid to play. The bonus damage on hit and the the splash are nice, but that's not the ability's stronger aspect. A lot of abilities that appear as mediocre are just one point wonders that round a champion's kit nicely.
Unless you go assassin vi
Brair E is both the worst and most important skill in her kit, you max it last and barley use it but you always need to have it up or else you will just int and go to enemy turret
The bane of my existence when I play her.
Blitzcrank w fits this criteria for me. The speed up helps you land q and maybe even get in aa range for e but it has an awful slow at the end. So many other champions have speed ups or dashes without a self slow
I was waiting for him to mention this ability
I feel like the slow after could be warranted if the movement speed scaled somehow, but yeah, as it is it's definitely not a great ability.
I'd say it belongs in badly designed abilities because the boost is not particularly great but the slow can even get you killed
It really needs to go
Riot: "We made cthis ability so weaker players can still land Qs at the cost of their safety"
Auto Attack Blitzcrank: "Is for me? >
Imo anivias w is maybe the most broken part of her kit. What you forgot is that the walls summon displaces everone who was on its place. So if you time it correctly, you can instantly interrupt channels and dashes with it. It also triggers mundo p. So basically a lane lenght instant knockup followed by a wall is incredibly busted
Right? Plus, even with dashes it's still crucial for keeping them in your R.
Her W is just a super versatile tool and is by no means mediocre, even WITH all the dashes.
Try playing against someone with a dash in lane and you'll quickly realize that you can never engage on them or anyone else with a dash.
At best you have to coordinate with your team to either have someone follow up when the wall forces then to use their mobility spells or have the entire team peel for you
@omfg322 not really. Your W can interrupt dashes, your W has a shorter cooldown than many dashes and they need their dash to dodge your Q so burning it with W is still helpful.
haha yeep, the mental damage it can cause to teammates when u cancel their recalls, making it one of the very few abilities with friendly fire 😂
@Nuclearburrit0 her w has a delay on it, you have to predict. Even then the timing is wonky
hwei wq is insane. It's maybe the best tool for helping your team collapse on an isolated target in the mid game. It's like having a kled ult that you don't need to commit to. Genuinely use it more than either of his other w's.
Agreed. However Hwei should definitely be using WE more than WQ.
@@SupahFib im a support player, so I'm used to overloading on mana runes/items and dealing no damage. For a standard midlane hwei player, yes we will probably get used more
@@Nightmare-fe9hrOh that makes sense. I haven’t played him support before so apologies for being unfamiliar with it.
@@SupahFib you're all good bro, opinions need context to be worth anything, it's my b for not starting with the context
@@Nightmare-fe9hr i play him as a support and i totally agree. it helps you get to your lane (and other lanes), check for wards, escape during ganks, etc way faster
Hwei's WW is not all that. I find myself using WQ much more often than WW, you can dodge so much damage with it that it's better than the tiny shield WW gives
For real, when you're at 3 items a well placed WQ can put your 3 teammates at 550 movespeed quite easily, fairly underrated if u ask me.
@@Danny_B13I think it’s as well rated as it should be, it’s definitely his best W spell, and you can easily feel that in teamfights, ms makes a lot of champs able to hit spells they would without. Best examples are juggernauts like Darius or point and click ability tanks, like Maokai.
Ahri W is such a strong ability😭 dmg + tracking + move speed. It’s what gives Ahri sm skinnyness and like it’s what makes her laning phase poke so strong. The move speed and dmg is so good in lane
Bad tracking and it can miss in a crouded place. Its sad that Riot removed the charm priority, that helped the skill a lot
Still worse than every other ability in her kid, and it can also miss, unlike her R
9:38 as one of the 5 yorick mains his W is THE MOST POWERFULL ABILITY in his kit and overall really good ability cuz its 360 circle and you can force ppl to dash or just block them so it can be some type of cc and the worst counter for this ability ISNT dash its AS cuz if you playing against sett he can basicly oneshot it and then still beat your ass
and its way way way better then anivia W cuz in jgl its 2 walls and not just one
Yeah, as one of the 5 mains, what you say is true.
I primarily use it to intimidate enemies
If I'm getting chased then dropping the cage is a great way to force enemies to waste their dash
Though I think this works better on my AP yorick mid or assassin yorick jg
Either way, the cage is now more about forcing others to dash out of it rather than locking them in
@@kxgr9522 In the jng it's amazing, because you can block chock points, so the enemy has to dash and flash to you, if it's not point and click. In fights outside Jng, I mostly use it for spacing the Enemy away from me, so my pets can do the DMG. So yeah you mostly use it for spacing, blocking or to get a dash on CD instead of locking them in. You only use it as a “Stun” if the enemy has no dash or if the dash is on CD. A niche use is to cancel channels like TP, Malz R, Sion Q, Nunu R or as Wall for Sion R, Kled R
etc.
Completely agree with you, it's also the most hit or miss ability on his kit and shows how good you are with the champ depending on how you use it.
Also I feel like Yorick is far from being a mordekaiser counter, if he closes rylais it becomes painful to play
As a support main, the most mediocre skill for me is Rakan's Q- Gleaming Quill, it's a 25/75 risk (unless you are good at skillshot)
1. Short ranged poke tool
2. Can be blocked by any enemy unit
3. Early game "meh-heal"
4. The only good thing about it is you can use it for drakes and br and herald but still get heal.
As an anivia main, I say no, no we would not prefer trundles over ours, her's in the right hands, has much more value than trundles and fits the preferred fights she wants.
I really disagree with Anivia W being worse than Trundle E. Anivia W is one of the most creative abilities in the game.
You can:
-> Manipulate enemy walk path, making hitting Q easier.
-> Freeze Minions waves behind turret.
->Control Teamfights || Disengage,
-> Force out enemy Mobility tools.
-> Cancel certain abilities
I agree with most of the list except for Ahri W. Ahri W is honestly a really strong laning tool due to its consistency and low mana cost, and many times I'll take it at level 1 over Q when I play her. Also can proc electrocute if you auto between the first and last fire, which can kinda just win you lane at level 1.
As a yorick main i find w to be really usefull in situations where I am getting chased from a distance in jungle.
W is wide enough for almost anywhere in jungle to completely cover the area.
When someone has a dash they can only dash in, not out again. So then they have to auto the thing to remove it which often takes (looking at you lucian) long enough for me to get out or e them to slow.
As an Anivia main, there has been times where I go without leveling the W Wall until after I finished QE, not optimal but against a lot of mobile dash champs I just didn’t want to waste on an ability that didn’t do much to stop
This ignores entirely, that you leave your self open to more punishment, without counterplay. Your w can cancel dashes and burn dashes, making them more vulnerable to your Q and ult.
You need to work on your w usage, if you think the spell is bad vs dashers.
Skill and hardware issue. Use it more actively and proactively rather than passively and defensively. You're giving the opponent time to react, and even worse with your fear, they have time to plan.
Dont listen to the experts lmao
Froggen also used to level it up later. And i assume he knows what he's doing
6:47 amumu w does not mark enemies, only basic attacks (=autos) and his ult does, so his W is indeed only used for AOE DPS, NOT to apply passive
W is used to maintain it so Amumu just has to keep them in range.
@@azelynhirano thanks, totally misunderstood him there 😅
It feels weird that WR added a lot of QoL to some of these abilities, like how Jarvan shield scale with hp instead of ad upto 15% max hp at 5 enemies and TF stacked deck can be activated for a bigger attack speed increase and triggering the loaded dice effect whenever you at attack an enemy
anivia w is not used to "push" champions into a q, but force them to walk that way by guiding the autopathing of the enemy champ with the new terrain
They all feel very... Meh. Nothing too bad, nothing trully good, all situational. I do believe most of them have been good abilities once, but the game ran past most of their utility
Rakan's Q is also one of these abilities. It does almost no damage, and the heal is also somewhat underwhelming
Nah. That one goes into bad abilities
Not sure what the skill order is now, but at one point I'm pretty sure Yuumi used to alternate between leveling Q and E
Kayle has three of the most mediocre basic spells in the game and her optimal level up order changes a lot between matchups.
potentially interesting question: do you think there is value in designing a champion's ability to be bad or mediocre?
The two that immediately come to mind are Kalista W & Thresh Passive, which are both bad to mediocre abilities. In both cases, I feel that the champions have so much in their kit that giving them a dead ability helps keep them from shooting off into the stratosphere, especially since both champions are designed around the idea that they can theoretically do anything they want, assuming the person piloting them is both skilled and creative enough to do so. Azir also does this where he has 3 super synergistic and open-ended basic abilities, a really strong ult that leaves a lot of room for creativity, and a passive that kinda just exists. Just thought it would be interesting to discuss. Like, how much of a problem would Zeri be, for example, if one of her basic abilities was replaced with something objectively mediocre? And apply that question to any other recent-ish champion that's infamous for being overloaded. And I'm not trying to push a conclusion or anything, I'm just thinking of some talking points that could be interesting to explore.
When I saw Hwei I thought ww was the mediocre ability, cant believe you put wq. In a full game, you will use much more wq than ww, and also there will be far more scenarios where wq is useful, while ww almost never is (Its shield its almost non-existent)
Think about it
WQ gives ms which is useful, if it weren’t for hwei having so much range he usually doesn’t need it, except for running away
But if you’re disengaging, why not use any of your Es?
WW gives something he needs, that being instant survivability, as opposed to WQ, which has a cast time
@@Ale-km3ux W being the last ability you invest in means the shield barely does anything (plus it ramps up over time, is in a small fixed zone, and the shield duration is shit so you can't even set up before going in), whereas the 20% ms boost helps you kite and dodge skillshots.
@@azelynhirano yes, but yyou need to stand still for a sec to get that ms, while also following a straight path
WW helps you (and your teammates) tank long range skillshots
@@Ale-km3ux the move speed zone is deceptively wide, and you get move speed as long as you're in the area. Like I said, the shield is too small, plus it only ramps up in the zone. 90% of the time the shield zone just mind controls your teammates to get hit by skillshots.
if you don't know the thing with aatrox W pulling after people flash at the last second got "fixed" meaning now people take the 2nd instance of damage of the W which is the pull... without a pull.
I feel like Ahri's W is the most controversial pick out of the list. In the start (1-3 lvls) it allows to easily outtrade your opponent and basically take control of the lane when first objectives are spawning. Besides, it easily activates electrocute so it interacts with lots of game mechanics.
Good list though
Exactly, it's a combat ability only in name and has damage slapped onto it so it counts.
It's a combo ability for things like electrocute and Liandry's
If I could, I'd trade the damage for a debuff, perhaps a slow to make her charm easier to hit?
12:26 they did a tether update recently and you can no longer fail to flash out of Aatrox W 😢
I use hwei's wq quite often in a match.
After backing, at the start of a roam...
But the two situations it really shines is 1. Against a low mobility bruiser so you and your adc can reposition (or getting away in general. qe + wq gives a slowing field and a speed up field. Great to lay down when running away in choke points)
2. When your team is catching someone. You bombard them with qw, trying to get them to sidestep/backstep. You and your teammate(s) are faster while the opponent is slowed down by dodging your qw's
How is thresh passive not on the list lmao.
Can confirm, yorick Dark procession completely stomps some matchups, you just poke the enemy down, then when they are low they are forced out of wave for fear of dark precession
And yorick just very much loves having the wave all to himself
Swain complete Kit
Urgot's Q is a good contender for this list. It has certain unique upsides like being a significant enough slow, good for use against escaping enemies outside of your E's reach and marking enemies, and it deals decent damage for the early-mid stage of the game (enough to be the 2nd ability you work on), but ironically enough it's less essential than his E despite that one often being the last to upgrade. Disdain is a strong one point ability for both defense and counterplay, and the correct usage of it can either turn the tide of battle into a successful kill, or at the very least ensure a trade doesn't go bad on your end. Corrosive Charge is sort of like a cherry on top of the ice cream, and oftentimes you can get good plays without ever having used it once (Urgot's ult might also have something to do with that fact since it can serve as a decent enough slow on escaping champions). Still a good enough ability to be used, but mediocre in not being essential in every fight or trade even.
8:52 the thing is, the wall forces the enemy to use up a dash, making them less threatening!
i think the most underrated abilite is teemos w right now if you go swifties you can literally have perma 417 ms if a decen match up and not a toddler player which is a lot more op than it sounds
So funny story actually, I was sent this by my friend because I main Yorick and my first thought was passive and then my friend pointed out it was W and I was like…”huh, that’s weird.” Then I realized and my friends response was “oh, it’s because he’s talking mediocre abilities not terrible ones.” Damn, my friends aren’t wrong, I hate that his passive is so meh. Wall is a really good point and you put it totally AMAZINGLY. I really appreciate how you articulated it, it really is feast or famine for Yorick in general.
For champions that alternated abilities, I believe Talon did that for a while until sometime between s11-13, and akshan for a couple months on release I believe
8:22 Would just like to point out that Hwei's E+W and E+E are switched. Gaze of the Abyss, the follow-up, is E+W; Crushing Maw, the zoning/grouping tool, is E+E
Aatrox W no longer pulls after flash because the 0.25 second grace period no longer exists. That's why people are complaining about how worthless it is recently.
12:36 In defense of those that try to flash out of Aatrox so late. Its intuitive, since Aatrox tries to line up his next sweetspot right there and then. If you flash way earlier he wont.
I would 10000% take trundle pillar ovee anivia wall. Trundle pillar at least has a slow to better hit your q and ult. If anivia wall was given a slow or given its vision back or even some punishment to dashing through it like applying some sort of debuff id be so happy
“There are no mediocre abilities, just mediocre players” - Shen Tsu
About champions not maxing a spell, doesn't Alistar level up q and w alternatively so that they keep the same cooldown for the combo ?
8:22 I would like to point out that the effects of Hwei’s EW and EE were erroneously swapped. Totally fair mistake to make considering how many abilities he has though lol
I do find myself using WQ more often than WW. I’ll concede that I don’t know how powerful the WW shield becomes when playing support Hwei since I don’t play him there. I just would’ve chosen WW over WQ for being most mediocre.
split max q/e kalista is pretty ok
Now do the "10 abilities that would amongus my gyattless skibidi in 2021"
I actually tend to use hwei's WQ hella often, although I tend to build things like liandry's and rylai's to be more of a controller than a burst mage. The extra ms comes in handy really often for dodging skillshots that you otherwise wouldn't be able to get past, and the extra distance you can put between yourself and the enemy will actually get you your E back surprisingly often.
WW imo is the most mediocre of his kit. Shields are great, yeah, but you can hardly get the full value of it even if you stand in the zone the entire time. The value of the immediate shield is very small, and the bonus you get for staying in the area isn't worth rooting yourself down. I really only tend to use it on allies, or to protect any number of people from DOTs... If it were any better, hwei is instantly s tier for being too unkillable, and yet the way it is now its very rarely worth the mana cost when it shares your WQ and WE cooldowns.
To touch on you saying that you typically want to level one ability before going to another in the start of the video. The Hecarim meta in the patch(es) before stattik shiv came back was level e or q to 3 if u can gank a lane or not, if you can gank you level q after that but some situations call for it
6:05 I like to put rid of ages on bard so he does a little more damage and his heal goes up to like 400hp which is pretty solid
5:20 You consider Gwen a ranged champion ?
ex but also back pocket bard main here, bards heal is actually INSANE late game it can heal a squishy for like half for a (at that point in the game) no mana cost, no time and THREE times sure early game its really bad since the mana for healing cost is meh, the speed boost is nothing and your adc wont always pick it up but my god its so good
Teemos W useless especially when ghost is better, Garen is faster, yi faster, karma etc
Well at least it makes a funny little noise when you use it But that's all
of all abilities, i did not expect to see anivia's W on this list. yes, it can be completely useless, and it can even hinder your team. but when used right, it is extremely powerful. it's a great zoning tool especially when combined with your ultimate, and it can be used to basically guarantee your q stun. IMO it's too strong when used well to be considered mediocre. it is extremely weak against dashes though. i do think that it should perhaps slow enemies that dash / jump over it, or apply chill. something small like that could make it a much better ability. but as an anivia main, i think whatever nerf riot would cook up to allow that to happen would probably ruin the ability
"Crystalize is mediocre"
I will wall you in for that...
Yeah static field active is so whatever. The mana return on hit is nice but ultimately gate is a key to his highest damage ability which automatically makes it more valuable. And there are even match ups where you max E second due to how much damage melee E can do when maxed. Twenty perecent max health and 100% AD converted to magic damage can make it a crazy good spell.
Anivia's wall is lowkey an incredible tool and I'd easily take it over a Trundle Pillar.
Yes, enemies can flash/dash over the wall. But you're forgetting that you're basically forcing them to use their mobility spell or let you get out for free.
As Anivia, you kinda want enemies to be close to you, their mobility spell being on CD is easily punishable for Anivia considering the rest of her kit.
I tend to run Phase Rush on Anivia for this exact reason. Unless they have champions with mobility + a point & click stun, they can't get to you.
I'd consider something like Ezreal's W way less valuable overall than Anivia's wall.
0:30 I think sometimes AP shaco does with his W and E
You also might want to max Yorick's W earlier if your opponent doesn't have a dash.
Alistar q & w also so the cd stays the same no?
@@brakhai5605 makes sense but I don’t play yorick ever so it didn’t come to mind
Nasus goes E max if he goes Full AP, or needs the poke damage
to be fair, AD shacos also sometimes go for 2-3 points in W for faster clear/more CC :)
I think chogath is interesting here because he can max all his 3 skills and he can also mix. 1 skill max will still be best, specially w+e since the cc goes up while cd goes down but many are still going q max because of the 60 base dmg it adds (which is just bonkers)
A couple that I can think of are vi's w, and Poppy's ult sure, they're both impactful, but for vi, it is literally a second passive, and for Poppy it is used most often for just the one second knock-up because the charge is just way too inconsistent. If you ask most poppy players, they're alt is their ability that they would be most happy to swap out from their kit.
Zilean (Mr. Balanced Himself) can level up either his Q or his E depending on build or playstyle. E is a supportive, CC focused playstyle while Q aims for harass, zoning, and earlier damage. You might level both to 3, as the slow is significant enough at that point to cripple slow champs, and the Q has a nonlinear damage growth.
His W is useless without his Q or E but some weirdos actually try to put points in early because it is central to his stun and sustained pressure. But since it is a multiplier of other abilities it usually goes last.
I think alistar switching between maxing Q and W makes you have your combo on the same time, while when you max Q you have Q always before W. So depends if you need combos in that game cuz enemy long ranged or u're against melees and Q is better.
The - ability destroys someone if [condition] and doesn't exist if not - thing is part of the gameplay, it's an interaction: ezreal used e, then you yorick w him and he dies. Assassin vibes, but not about damage
I really want to argue about Fox-fire, as this is the ability that defines Ahri's playstyle the most. The low damage is balanced by the fact that it is autotarget AND it has a very low cooldown and manacost. I believe with a standard build it is ~3 sec, which means she can spam it to follow up nearly every dash. Also, it grants huge movement speed buff in neutral, which allows her to dodge skillshots and kite without wasting her ult. And it helps her to roam, as you can spam this ability while moving between lanes. In lane you use it between aa to harass opponents without wasting mana on Q, or you even can use the movement speed buff to land Q 2nd time.
Moreover, in comparison to other burst mages, q is just damage, e is a standard CC, but W is the only ability beside Annie's E that gives you offensive mobility, which is crucial for Ahri.
Don't underestimate the ability, just because the damage is low, it has a plenty of functions otrher than "killing people".
blud really made a whole catergory called "mid abilities"
For Anivia her W is here identity.
The only thing that makes it mediocre is the fact that there exists similar abilities that can be cancelled/removed on will (e.g. Jarvan's Ult).
If they ever want to double Anivia's current power then Riot only has to give Anivia the option to cancel/remove her W, thus allowing her or teammates to chase after opponents that used their dash and/or flash to escape, without having to burn their own flash and/or dash.
As a former Anivia main:
Her W is definitely underwhelming, but it has a ton of impact in the right situations. The problem is that it takes a lot, like a TON, of skill to use it really well where you’re stopping dashes and moving people into your Q, and as you mentioned every champion and their sister had a dash these days so it’s becoming less useful over time. Does that make it mediocre? Maybe. I think it needs a slight rework.
It could be the only non-dashable terrain in the game - it is true ice after all, or it could deny vision like an Ivern bush, or it could come with a slowing field like Trundle’s pillar.
I actually think Anivia mains would enjoy a change like this - yes, Anivia has a perma-high win rate and she would need some sort of power budget cut somewhere else - but the wall is supposed to be an INTEGRAL part of your kit, not an afterthought. It’s supposed to be the “you’ve activated my trap card” play where an overeager enemy gets stuck in your ult and dies. Instead Kayn, Riven, Tryndamere, and every other champ you’re supposed to lock down by freezing in literal ice, they just dash over and kill you anyway.
It would make the gameplay more interesting and more fun to play too. If done correctly, she would be more like Cassiopeia - yes, the W feels unfair to certain champs, but there’s still a lot of counter play.
Ahri's W is what makes her a ridiculously annoying lane poker. Her ability to proc electrocute and reposition at the same time makes her W an amazing ability and tied to her main kit. While playing ahri, you'll always try to hit her second part of Q. So having a move speed ability really helps in that, not to mention the help in catching up far targets. Not every ability needs to be a damage focused one, and I really think that movement or depositioning abilities are so underrated.
Hweis WQ is another example. I'm frequently playing him, and the extra move speed on a almost instant cast skill is amazing for him, especially because of his lack of mobility in general
Oh, forgot to mention it. I'm a Ahri main! So I can say with confidence that her W is my second favorite ability of her kit, losing only to her new refreshing on kills R
Hum, honestly i like to up both Q and Z at the same rate on alistar so they are on the same CD, because having both at the same time is realy good to keep doing the classic combo.
Warwick current optimal build for top lane is 3 points into q and then max e. Which results on somewhat even abilities
I felt that stacked deck. I love my card throwin swindler, but god if it just doesn't feel right 90% of the time.
As an urgot main, Yoricks wall can still screw you if say, minions, ghouls or hes in your face. Since the wall is LAST priority. I prefer it that way but woth urgots BIG hurtbox, sometimes he LEGIT cant move in it haha. Just wanted to throw that out there
yorick W also still cancels sion's Q pretty consistently, putting it on full CD without having to displace him. Its a stupid bug
anivia w is so important imo becausw it allows you to trap the enemy in your ult, if they dont have a dash they are forced to stay in the ult till the wall comes down or slowly walk around it, letting you e them and get free qs off if you havent shot it already, i would never swap it for trundle plillar
I think most of the value from aatrox w come not from the pull, but the fact that in order to avoid the pull the enemy pathing becomes super predictsble
0:27 "I don't think there is a single champion who alternates between two abilities as the most efficient use of your level"
Old Udyr would like to know your location (and also max R Udyr, to some extent)
I agree with your choices, but in a way when i think it also should be this way, for example hwei WQ is one of my favourite ability, because it can garantee you hit with your QE from close distance and after using EQ you can easily run, its one of my favourite undertuned ability because its capable of so much but not in every situation, so its actually ballanced…
Nah, anivia w is one of the best spells in the game, I would put it in top 10% of spells, that’s how broken it is.
No other ability splits up Teams this easily, trundle pillar is definitely not the better choice, because anything anivia can do with pillar, she can do with W. Cancel dashes got that, slows anivia has an ult on a 2 second cd, usually less than 1 with malignance on lvl 16.
The wall covers way more area and doesn’t require awkward positioning, it’s the best wall spell in the game.
I live amumu's despair. It builds up conquerer quickly and since I build crystal scepter on him, it's a permanent slow.
0:29 for zilean support, its actually very good to put 2-3 points in q (depending on the matchup) then max e, then w and THEN maxing q
Especially when there's a juggernaut on your team/the enemy team. A sped up Darius is a menace.
i just max E>W>Q and don’t bother with the early Q points
@@welkin7321 I do that as well, when we have sufficient damage in the lane like with draven for example
i still have a strong opinion on Viktor W.
Its is a stun and slow but cant stop engages and is only there to either to block of an area or to make an alies stun prolonged. So i often dont skill it for about 7 or 8 levels and put more into Q and E. Tbh the Q on Viktor often already saves you and does tons of damage and the E is a realy strong poke and makes his farm great. So i feel like it would be too strong if he could also stun you with no problem.
The W isnt useless as its good for team fights but its horrible in lanning phase.
Jayce lighting field really shoulda gave him a shield so he could idk box a bit more up close. U could even make it so the more champions it hits with the first intial spark will increase how big the shield is. Imo it would probably make jayce a way better top laner and actually be kind of a tank.
They could change Amumu's passive, having to auto with him is really lackluster. I would preffer an area debuff like, ''the more time you stay near him more dmg u take''
A kinda stupid way to change ahri w is to make it so if theres a champion nearby she needs to hit abilities to launch the orbs, so a E Q+Q back launches all 3 for like twice the damage. This should only work near champions so it doesnt prevent her from farming with it, and during the laning phase if tbe ability expires it automatically targets minions again
I would add jhin E. Great vid
Morganas W, on support atleast, is honestly so mediocre and inconsistent. The only reason its there is to have a damaging follow up for when you land your Q. I honestly have a problem with Morganas entire kit, with how you’re practically useless if you miss your Q, but her w is just such a weird ability on a champion made to be a support. I could go on an entire rant on morgana but for now i think you get the point
Yeah I feel like she needs a minirework to be more of a support or more of a jg but not in between
It is admittedly really good on Morgana jungle however
One strength it has is that you can basically refund it whole cooldown if you put it down immediately after landing a q on someone
Morgana W is fine. It’s her main damage and sustain tool and it lowers the cooldown of her other abilities. Morgana’s kit on the whole is one of the better designs in league. There’s a reason it’s been changed so little over the years.
@@alexdenslow7095 first off it only refunds the cooldown of her W, not the rest of her kit, and in my opinion, Morgana is one of the worst designed champions. As i said if you miss your Q you’re just useless until it comes up. Her w doesnt work unless the target stands still, her E is fine but one E from a lux and its gone, and her ult makes you the primary target for 3 seconds, which kinda makes zhonyas a must buy for her and its expensive on a support budget. Morgana is in desperate need of a rework since none of her abilities other than Q have value as seperate abilities, they’re oriented on landing your Q and getting your ult off.
Seraphine actually benefits from putting 3 points into E and then maxing W to level 10. Her W isnt useful enough to max in lane, but extremely powerful once teams start grouping and she provides a ton of teamwide shields and heals.
Still, shes the exception to the rule. Most champs will max different abilities depending on the matchup and builds too.
Someone once told me Akali W was bad and I LAUGHED
I'd be glad to change Lucian's W with any other abylity that is actually fuj to use and not just a way to enhance AA
I would add heimerdinger R+E, It is really rare to use it because the stun of heimer's granade is hard to get, since it is a slow projectile with a slow animation most people can just flash it or dash of they react fast enough, and R+E is the same thing, hard to hit, hard to get the most from it and the other abilities from his ultimate are just stronger like his R+Q and R+W
R+E is actually pretty strong. The scaling on ult is completely independent from the points you put in his other abilities, so Heimer benefits much less from R+Q and R+W than from R+E since you always max E last. On top of that, it's a massive AOE stun with very long range. And it's not really slow either. You could also charge the turret laser with each explosion, so don't be surprised when your turret instantly fires multiple lasers and one-shots someone.
R+W is strong too, but it's even easier to flash or dash out than R+E, so it's only good for immobile targets. R+Q is probably the worst one after early game. It's pretty disappointing damage for an ult, and once Bruisers or ADCs get 2-3 items, R+Q just gets melted within 3 secs.
Did you get a new editor for this? I like this style and it feels different.
I remember the time, when on camille u would switch between maxing all 3 abilities, depending the matchup