League of Low Elo

Hi everyone, my name is FalcoCreed, and I'm a low elo player who thinks he has some interesting thoughts on League of Legends. This blog is dedicated to posting all my thoughts on not only playing in low elo, but also League as a whole. Feel free to message me any thoughts or opinions.

[falcocreed-blog]

[4.12] Essence Reaver

The new Essence Reaver changes came as a shock to me when I saw them. Essence Reaver was, to me, a balanced sustain item that had a decent mid game power spike, despite not having any sustain built into the item. To preface the rest of this post, I'll explain what I think a "sustain item" should be/do. A sustain item should give you some way to keep yourself in the fight, it should be cheap enough to get early, and the sustain it provides should remain relevant later in the game.

Now to dive into the changes.

Because I don't like the change, I immediately ran some numbers on the new Essence Reaver. The 4.11 Essence Reaver was about 114% gold efficient, while the new, 4.12 one is about 110% gold efficient (without passive for both). The gold efficiency in and of itself is lower, thus a nerf, if only slightly. However, this isn't the biggest issue.

The biggest issue is the build path for what the item offers. Essence Reaver is a sustain item, pure and simple, and trying to make it a flat damage item is a bad idea. The biggest issue that it had upon release in 4.10 was that there was no mana component, so you had to wait for the total 2650 before you got any mana sustain. However, the flip side was that farming for a Vamp Scepter and Pickaxe was pretty easy and gave decent power spikes after buying each item. 4.11 brought the total AD up without a price increase, which was nice since that was a big issue as well when comparing it to other possible AD items. Also, if you were conservative with your mana for the first 10 minutes, you could safely farm up an easy Essence Reaver without having to give up combat stats, which is the biggest issue with farming up a Tear. Additionally, mana becomes an issue around 10 minutes for an AD caster due to team fights demanding mana. The 4.11 build path wasn't an issue since an AD caster can still rely on auto attacks for significant damage, and the build gave a healthy amount of flat AD in addition to the lifesteal.

Now, with 4.12, the build path is bad for a sustain item. To start, the idea of a sustain item is that it should be a pay off of sacrificing raw power to gain sustain/the ability to keep fighting. The 4.11 Essence Reaver did this successfully. I would compare the sustain to power ratio of the 4.11 Essence Reaver to that of Athene's Unholy Grail. Both are easy to piece together and give a good sustain + power spike after completion. However, the 4.12 Essence Reaver does not accomplish this. BF Sword is a huge item to farm up for, especially if you are playing in a role where rushing a BF Sword is not the norm (so basically anyone other than ADC). Having to farm up for a BF Sword early is difficult, especially when your lane partner can back, buy significantly cheaper items, and have a greater power spike over you. If you can't get your BF Sword power spike at the same time your lane opponent gets their item power spike, you risk losing lane.

Let's look at a lane match up to illustrate. Jayce vs Shyvana. On 4.11, assuming each person backs with 1000g 3 times (which is fairly typical in top lane matches): Jayce can complete a Vamp Scepter + pots and wards, Pickaxe + pots and wards, Full item + pots and wards. Shyvana can complete Chain Vest + pots and wards, Giant's Belt, Sunfire Cape + pots. This a pretty even power curve, with both parties able to respond in kind to the power spike of their lane opponent. On 4.12, assuming each person backs with 1000g 3 times: Jayce can complete Vamp Scepter + pots and wards, nothing (maybe pick up some pots or even boots, so long as he still returns to lane with at least 550g unspent), BF Sword. Shyvana can pick up the same items as before. Shyvana now has a lead over Jayce simply due to the item build. At points 2 and 3, Shyvana will be up a full item on Jayce. If a 4th back happens with an even 1000g between the two, Jayce will finally get his Essence Reaver (it's actually 1050 combine, but we'll let that slip), while Shyvana has many more options. She can begin work on her boots, picking up either a full Ninja Tabi or boots + pots and wards, or she can pick up another item, possibly a Negatron Cloak + pots and wards, another Chain Vest + pots and wards, a full Warden's Mail, or even another Giant's Belt.

As one can see, going Essence Reaver is a really bad idea on 4.12 for standard AD Casters, like Jayce, not because of the stats, but because of the build path.

As for ADC building Essence Reaver, the goal of an ADC is to auto attack first and foremost. If an ADC isn't auto attacking, they aren't doing their job. Essence Reaver is thus completely useless to an ADC since it doesn't fit with the ADC play style. Ezreal and Corki are two ADC that could use Essence Reaver since they both rely heavily on weaving spells between auto attacks. It might still be a viable option on them, but I doubt it will gain much traction. Additionally, the current IE rush meta beats out Essence Reaver in terms of pure damage. Essence Reaver doesn't provide nearly enough lifesteal to be effective against trading with an IE ADC. Additionally, BotRK provides more damage sooner to the ADC who rush BotRK first, as well as having an easier build path with smaller/cheaper components. On top of all this, simply picking up a Trinity Force is enough to solve many ADC mana issues, thus making the mana sustain provided by Essence Reaver completely unnecessary.

I think that covers all the issues with the 4.12 Essence Reaver. If they make another change (likely 4.13), I'll probably write about it.

TL;DR: Essence Reaver is a bad sustain item now because it doesn't give access to mana early in the build path, the pieces are too expensive when competing against other lane itemizations (not ADC), and the overall price is too expensive for an early sustain item.

NB: I posted this originally to Reddit, but reformatted/added some stuff for this post.

[falcocreed-blog]

[Patch 4.10] New Blue Ezreal

With the new AD items, I think Blue Ezreal, or at least the idea of "Blue Ezreal," will make a resurgence, but not as an ADC. I'll explain why not as an ADC later, but I want to go through the build first.

The Old Build:

The old Blue Ezreal that was popular mid season 3 consisted of Manamune, Spirit of the Elder Lizard, Frozen Gauntlets, cdr boots, Last Whisper, BotRK. This build worked because of not only the meta at the time, but also the items were a little different. Tear was a little easier to stack, and the Spirit Stone items gave flat mana and health regen. However, it was a really slow build, and still is due to the both the cost and the need to stack Manamune. After the Spirit Stone items were changed so that they couldn't be built in lane (only give regen by attacking jungle creeps), many people stopped playing Blue Ezreal, but others simply adapted and built Black Cleaver instead. That iteration has kind of been the standard Blue Build for awhile. However, with the new AD item changes, the Blue Build is seeing a little change.

The New Build:

I'm not sure what other people are building, but this is what I think to be the best option. Essence Reaver > Brutalizer > CDR Boots > Frozen Gauntlets > Black Cleaver > Last Whisper > BT/BotRK. I think Essence Reaver is a really awesome sustain item that is cheap but effective. It doesn't give the same late game power that Muramana gives, but it allows for an earlier power spike, and gives pretty much every stat that you want. The sustain is pretty solid on Essence Reaver, and so gives Blue Ezreal the ability to sustain up after long trades. Brutalizer/Black Cleaver is a necessary second then 4th purchase since you will be lacking in damage. Brutalizer gives flat armor pen, so early in the game, when your opponent doesn't have much armor, you will deal more damage. Additionally, Black Cleaver's passive is really good in team fights. Frosty Mittens give Blue Ezreal his kiting power and are the real reason why this build works. With these, you can kite for days, and are basically the hardest champ in the game to catch. With max cdr, your E is on about a 6 sec cd, and you can throw out a Q about once every 2 sec. And that is exactly why this build is popular/attractive. It gives Ezreal so much utility. Anyways, Last Whisper is a must at some point since it gives plenty of armor shred, and will let you deal with tanks a little easier. Pretty standard stuff. Finally, the defensive/last item. This really depends on what you like in a build/what the enemy team composition is. If you like greater kiting power, BotRK is the way to go. If you want stronger burst, BT is the way to go. If they have one or two big tanks, you probably want BotRK for the hp shred. If they are all glass cannons, BT will give you a passive shield to block some of the damage, but you'll have slightly stronger burst. I actually like the new BT passive, but after reading up on some of the numbers, BotRK does a lot more damage in sustained fights than BT due to the %HP damage. However, you can always get a Banshee's or GA, but I think a lifesteal item is better for the purposes of the build.

Where should you take the new Blue Ezreal?

Do not play Blue Ezreal as an ADC. Building Essence Reaver first will put you at a huge disadvantage in terms of overall damage output. The build also doesn't really spike until 3-4 items in. You can build the Frosty Mitts second for greater defense, but a standard ADC build will straight up out class you. As soon as you fall behind with Blue Ezreal, you will stay behind. That has been the downside of this build for the longest time, and building it in the ADC role is just asking to lose lane.

Do play Blue Ezreal as a solo laner, most likely mid, or possibly top depending on the match up. Both lanes tend to be farm heavy and take awhile to scale up. The Blue build also has kiting potential in it, so laning against a tanky top laner isn't the worst thing in the world, since you can kite backwards if they engage. Ezreal has decent wave clear and solid poke, so playing in a solo lane lets him safely farm up and get all the items he wants. Plus, you can usually pick up a kill here or there. His range is hard for some mid laners to deal with, and can be a weird match up if you don't usually play against him. Also, your low damage won't be a big issue since many mid laners start with some form of mana sustain, and don't usually get to much damage until Deathcap, so you have some time to scale up. Also, ask your jungler for ganks to help get you going. A few early kills can make this slower build go much faster, and be much more effective.

Summary

New Blue Ezreal Build: ER > FG > CDR Boots> BC > LW > BotRK. Play him in a solo lane, not as an ADC.

[falcocreed-blog]

[Patch 4.10] New AD Items

I was really excited when the new AD items came out, thinking that they will completely change the way bot lane is played. However, It looks like more of the same old same old. A big reason for this is that sustain is king while flat damage is not as necessary. Also the current top supports are all about poke/pick, so sustain is a necessary for the ADC to stay in lane. However, with the new Ardent Censer, Karma, Nami, and Janna will likely see a resurgence. Nami has already been pulled back into NA and EU competitive play recently (she was always a solid pick in Korea), and I think the new item will make her mid game even better when paired with attack speed based champions, like Jinx or Kog'Maw. However, I predict double lifesteal to be the norm. Basically, new AD items haven't affected the bot lane much. It's still a little stale, but I'm sure some innovations will make it more interesting.

However, the new AD items are going to affect other AD champs, specifically AD casters, like Jayce, Yorick, Urgot, and Blue Ezreal. The reason? Essence Reaver. This AD item is super awesome if you are looking for sustain rather than damage. It allows champs that would normally stack Tear to bypass that and go straight for some AD and lifesteal. Why is this good? It allows for more efficient builds and an earlier power spike. Many AD champs aren't able to fully stack a Tear or Manamune until around 25-30 minutes. That means that you are sitting at a damage deficit until you get the beloved Muramana power spike. Essence Reaver, on the other hand, gives solid mana sustain (can maintain about 3/4 mana at all times with controlled spell usage), 50 AD, 10% lifesteal, and 10% cdr. Additionally, assuming near perfect cs, it can be bought close to 10 minutes into the game. This is a much earlier power spike and lets you build other core damage items sooner. However, the cost of it giving you every stat that you want is that it doesn't give you all that much damage. Again, this is made up by the fact that you now have an earlier power spike and can move onto other damage items much sooner. Personally, I think it's a really good choice for Top and Mid lane AD casters.

That being said, I do not advise building Essence Reaver on and ADCs, since it hurts their damage output substantially, and they typically do not need the mana sustain late game. The exception would be Blue Ezreal, however, I would strongly advise not to play Blue Ezreal as an ADC, but rather as a solo laner. I plan on making another post about the current Blue Ezreal.

There is one champ I would like to mention: Riven. With the new passive on BT, I think she will be stupidly OP, especially if she builds multiple lifesteal items. I expect the new build path to go BT > Black Cleaver > Last Whisper > Hydra > a 2nd BT/BotRK. I'm not sure if the new BT passive will stack (I'm going to go ahead and say that it won't), but the raw damage and life steal will give her shields all the time. However, a Mercurial Scimitar, GA, or Banshee's Veil will probably be the normal last item, with IE being a possibility.

So basically, New AD items haven't changed much bot lane, but the new Essence Reaver is going to bring back many AD casters, while the rest of the AD items buff other AD champs.

[falcocreed-blog]

[Patch 4.10] Changes to Nidalee

So with the changes to Nidalee, I think players will be in a much happier state of mind when playing against Nidalee. She feels like she deals more damage overall, but it is definitely from her new passive/assassination play style. However, late game, max ranged spears are still going to hurt, except they'll be easier to dodge and won't chunk you as much. As for how she actually feels to handle, Nidalee feels much more organic and natural, and he new passive really utilizes that "Hunter" flavor.

How I see her being played:

I think Nidalee will be a solid pick now in the mid lane. Pre 6 ganks will actually be a thing since she can follow up any cc with a solid pounce. Her scaling is still really good, so going full glass cannon works, and will be extremely deadly come late game sieges. She's still quite squishy, but proper timing with her heal will mitigate most harass. As for build, I think there are 2 mid builds that will work. 1) Athene's - Deathcap 2) Litchbane - Deathcap. 1 is the traditional build. It gives her solid sustain as well as damage and late game scaling. You can spam spears and heals and still deal a lot of damage in cougar form. On the other hand, 2 is much more about burst and assassination. I think this works best in her current iteration since her passive now gives a bonus for dealing damage to marked targets. From what I have found so far, at level 6 with a Sheen, you can all in and kill an enemy laner if they fall below 3/4 hp and you mark them with a spear. However, champions like Lulu and Kayle will give her grief throughout the game since they have ways to both harass in lane and mitigate all ins.

However, I think Nidalee will also excel in the top lane. Her sustain and early all in potential is a nightmare for current top laners. Irelia and Jax might be able to handle the all in because of their own damage potential, as well as the cc their kits bring. Shyvana, my personal favorite, will probably have a difficult time, but will outscale into the late game, while Mundo will get wrecked early, but again, will scale better into the late game. I'm still figuring out the best build for late game bruiser Nidalee, but early game, you should definitely pick up a sheen (like AP Nid), and then build either Trinity Force or Frozen Gauntlets. Trinity Force is amazing since it gives her really good sticking potential, and mixed damage. The extra AD mixed with the AP is really good for trading, since you can harass more effectively with autos, while dealing tons of damage with an all in. I think Sorc Shoes are the way to go since you'll need the early pen, plus it just amplifies your damage. Once you get TF, you should start looking to roam mid, maybe even make a few TP ganks bot. With bruiser Nidalee, the harder you snowball early, the easier it will be for you to win early. As for the rest of the build, I'm not sure what you should build next, but I think Hextech Gunblade is a cool item if you are really far ahead early, otherwise BotRK is a much better late game item, and will make you a split push/dueling monster. After that, you can puild more damage, or tank stats. From my understanding, bruiser Nidalee has always been a little weird, but her current state should make things a little easier.

As for other roles, I think she could jungle, but I haven't tried it. It would be similar to Yi jungle, except your entire gank you depend of you hitting a spear. ADC Nidalee might be a thing due to the AD ratio on her Q when in cougar form. Going BotRK TF LW would make you a split pushing monster as well as an effective assassin. Again, a lot of your damage relies on you hitting a Spear or having someone step on a trap, so it might work. Although the attack speed buff on her heal is what makes the ADC Nidalee look promising. Finally, support Nidalee will still be garbage, but if you mark an enemy, you can go all in at the early levels and hopefully force them out of lane. However, again, I think support Nidalee is bad and you really shouldn't do it.

That's pretty much all I have to say about Nidalee for now. I look forward to seeing her in soloq as well as competitive play without having to groan when she gets picked.