Old League of Legends Thread

[Vandole]

i have bandaids for his spankings. worry not rivero.


EU players are completely different than US players. they are somewhat old fashioned when it comes to most meta. i remember last summer there was a USA vs EU match where they based their entire team around TF and won their match. after that the americans banned TF picked amumu and just completely facerolled their asses off for two easy wins and a shitton of money. the EU had nothing other than a TF based team.

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maokai is badkai. the way to counter him is just fight outside of his ultimate using guerilla tactics. wards win games

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pretty much how to win every game really

[Tyrath]

Biggest carry of my fucking life. My idiot karthus would not get off the "phone with his ex" and pretty much fed the entire time. I've never gotten this many kills in TT before, nor have I seen anyone die that many times.

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/4859/unledag.png

[Kisamoo]

I only mentioned the EU thing because if you watch EU streams you'll see Maokai often. He is not as weak as you guys are making him out to be, you just havn't seen him played at a high level. There are people who make champions look good and bad but when you get right down to the nitty gritty and analyze his skills there is nothing particularly bad about him.

650 range/13sCD 1-2s Bind that is unflashable.
700 range/6sCD knock back AND slow
The range on these two skills is huge.

Saplings suck but have their uses.

575range ulti that reduces 20% damage even at lvl1. The damage is a non-factor, it's nice but not its defining property. There are Maokais who will waste this immediately, let the other team walk away then accomplish nothing with it but if you save it for situations in which the team has committed to the fight, its very powerful. 20% damage reduction is nothing to scoff at. Synergizing with aura champions like Taric or Jarvan will further augment the overall damage reduction for your team. He isn't a hard-tank or initator as people seem to think, but he can protect your carrys (knockup + slow or bind) and shield your entire team. There is nothing negative about that. His laning phase is also very strong due to his passive.

Honestly, try Taric + Maokai and you'll see what I mean. Have either one buy Aegis of the Legion then your team is beefy as hell. Timing is everything with his ulti and it shouldn't be used early- wait until you're sure they've committed to the fight. Also trying roaming with him: It is far more devastating than Alistar and you don't need any summoners to effectively gank. Maokai has the toolsets of a great champion, people just aren't seeing it yet.

[Rivero]

If you're going to say "lol no" you better follow it up with "because of X,Y and Z" and then finish off with an "in my opinion"
Otherwise Tonko will spank.

I'd be glad to. Let's look at other examples of similar tanks.

1) Cho'Gath - AoE Silence, AoE Slow, AoE Stun (It's a knock-up), Insane Ultimate which is great for taking out those soft carries ASAP. (I would NEVER take a Maokai over a good Cho'Gath, ask any pro you want and they will say the same. If not then they bad.)

2) Alistar - Again. AoE Stun, Amazing Initiation, A Blitz-esque style ability that could spell the doom for the other team if you pull it off right. I've had loads of fights end by starting a fight, head butting their carry smack dab into my team and proceeding to chase and kill the fleeing team.

3) Shen/Rammus are pretty much just obvious cause they are usually banned if not grabbed.

4) Amumu - Amazing Jungler + Tank. A great Amumu is <3.

I think the only time I'd like a Maokai is when my other options are like Galio but since 5 tanks aren't going to be banned, never gonna happen unfortunately.

[The_OG_Nelta]

Congrats, you just gave a list of what other tanks can do. As a roamer his snare is pretty damn OP.

[Rivero]

What else do you expect me to list? He's a tank. lol

[Akanei]

I'd be glad to. Let's look at other examples of similar tanks.

1) Cho'Gath - AoE Silence, AoE Slow, AoE Stun (It's a knock-up), Insane Ultimate which is great for taking out those soft carries ASAP. (I would NEVER take a Maokai over a good Cho'Gath, ask any pro you want and they will say the same. If not then they bad.)

2) Alistar - Again. AoE Stun, Amazing Initiation, A Blitz-esque style ability that could spell the doom for the other team if you pull it off right. I've had loads of fights end by starting a fight, head butting their carry smack dab into my team and proceeding to chase and kill the fleeing team.

3) Shen/Rammus are pretty much just obvious cause they are usually banned if not grabbed.

4) Amumu - Amazing Jungler + Tank. A great Amumu is <3.

I think the only time I'd like a Maokai is when my other options are like Galio but since 5 tanks aren't going to be banned, never gonna happen unfortunately.

Devil's advocate, here, but I'm more on the train that Maokai is a viable tank.

Cho'Gath is mediocre in a duo lane and absolutely has to take a solo to make any sort of presence, in team fights. In high level play, you NEVER give a tank a solo; they're either your jungler, roamer, or duo laner (Disclaimer: Tanky DPS != tank, for the sake of this argument.)

Shen is always banned. Amumu's usually banned (especially with 6 bans becoming more common, lately). Rammus ganks are counterable and he's easily counter-jungled.

That leaves... Malphite, Mao, Galio, Alistar, Olaf, Nunu and Singed.

Malphite's okay, but a slow jungler, and meh in a duo lane. Alistar roams and/or babysits a carry Euro-style. Galio suffers the same problems Cho does, with the added expense of being extremely gimmicky. Olaf jungles. Nunu jungles.

Maokai's best comparison is to Singed, in my opinion. Extremely huge pain in the ass to kill, can single-handedly shut down a single person, whether they be a carry, assassin, mage, or tank and chase down just about any character that thinks they can run away from a gank or fight, sans blinks. Instead of Singed's ability to maintain constant damage, he brings map presence, a huge zoning advantage and the ability to make his team harder to kill, without item-reliance. tldr; he's really fucking annoying in the duo lane and in team fighs.

He can roam, sure, but he isn't someone like Alistar who can pretty much say they're done with items/levels after getting 6, having an aegis and boots.

[Rivero]

Olaf should not be placed in a tank category. Rammus is great, say what you will about map awareness, a good Rammus can easily find clever ways to get around it.

I don't know what's my problem with Malphite. I really like him but he does seem sort of lackluster compared to the god tier of tanks. Galio is just appears to be bad, I don't think I've ever seen a legit Galio played in any serious tournament matches.

I love Nunu though, for a tank he does his job quite well. Very beefy and provides your carries with an amazing peel/buff.

In the end it just comes down to the same reason no one likes Karma or Lee Sin or any other underplayed hero, if you want to do good or rather improve your chances of winning you're just going to pick a better alternative and that is always going to be the case with Maokai unfortunately.

The funny thing is, I bet you think I'm bashing Maokai for no reason. But I actually was looking forward to playing him and was severely let down.

[The_OG_Nelta]

Maybe you're playing him wrong or not with the right people. I play pre-made almost everynight and maokai is one of the most beast champions i own as a tank. Malphite would be the second.

At the moment, it just seems like you're bashing him because you don't know how to play him..?

[Rivero]

Nope. You don't have to be bad with a champion to dislike him. That's a stupid thing to assume. I'm not bad with Maokai, I'd just rather play any other tank and at the same time I'd be contributing more to my team.

[The_OG_Nelta]

And what I am saying is not all tanks are the same, he is just as viable as Shen or Rammus.

[LidenbokValour]

Does anyone know whats up with the error I get when I try and make an account? Unknown error or something. Tried googling but can't find anything, just thought I'd ask here.

[Akanei]

Olaf should not be placed in a tank category. Rammus is great, say what you will about map awareness, a good Rammus can easily find clever ways to get around it.

Olaf's best role is a tank, no ifs or buts. To say he's not is to say Singed isn't; they do the exact same thing in a team fight and he needs tank items to do it. Not all tanks are initiators.

Anyway, it's not even map awareness that is Rammus's problem. Wards directly stuff powerball, he relies on blue buff to jungle at a reasonable pace, he can't counter-jungle and easily gets his camps stolen from and is extremely susceptible to disruptions, because he has to start at blue or blue pill too much. Better junglers can recover from being fucked with, he can't. As a tank, yeah, he's solid. He doesn't jungle because he's godmode at it, though; he sucks in lane.

[The_OG_Nelta]

Olaf's best role is a tank, no ifs or buts. To say he's not is to say Singed isn't; they do the exact same thing in a team fight and he needs tank items to do it. Not all tanks are initiators.

Anyway, it's not even map awareness that is Rammus's problem. Wards directly stuff powerball, he relies on blue buff to jungle at a reasonable pace, he can't counter-jungle and easily gets his camps stolen from and is extremely susceptible to disruptions, because he has to start at blue or blue pill too much. Better junglers can recover from being fucked with, he can't. As a tank, yeah, he's solid. He doesn't jungle because he's godmode at it, though; he sucks in lane.

You're wrong, Olaf is TANKY, not a tank. Big difference.

[Lebzile]

You guys seriously think Maokai is bad? You realize he is starting to get picked more and more in the higher Elo games don't you? I've been playing him since release since he is one of the greatest intiaters in the game right now that won't be banned (Shen, Amumu, Malphite, hell even Nocturne I've seen banned).

You build him like Singed, but Singed must be bad to right?

R>E>W>Q

That is the skill priority. You start with a Mana Crystal and 2 health pots, build that into a Catalyst, get a RoA, then you build your tank items and for extra AP you get an Abyssal Scepter. His ult alone gives you a flat 20% resistance to EVERYTHING, except True Damage of course, but currently Maokai is a fantastic tank the only problem with him are his AP Ratios are a tad low.

Olaf's best role is a tank

Olaf isn't a tank, he's an Anti-Carry.

[Dantrag]

Just started playing recently and all these terms are confusing

[Qeomash]

Which ones are confusing?

As for Maokai...a friend of mine is very good at him. Then again, anyone with a decent AP ratio he does very well with. Still, he plays him like he plays Singed: not necessarily your only tank, but a magey off tank. And, just like his Singed, he plays crazy. "It's 3 v 5? So what?! I'm a goddamn TREE!" *teleport bind* I'd definitely put Maokai in the category of "scary in the right hands"

[Rivero]

Yeah. I agree with the posters. Olaf is definitely NOT a tank. Just cause you stack HP/Defensive items does not mean he should be played like one.

And no tank is as good as Shen, that's just blasphemy!

Just started playing recently and all these terms are confusing

You'll get a hang of it over time. It's just one of those things you pick up through lots of playing.

[Tyrath]

So all this discussion of tanky people, and I was just thinking to myself I should try out Alistair. When I've seen people play him he generally is ridiculous. And go figure, hes free this week. Win!

Any suggestions on how to build him?

[Rivero]

Sheen is always a great choice. Get lots of CDR no matter what route you take.

Tank would be: Mana Pot > Boots > Sheen > Merc Treads/Spirit Visage > Take your pick of tank item > Trinity/More Tank Items

AP Alistar sort of builds like Sion: You basically want Raba/Lich Bane ASAP. Except Ionian might be a better choice here since you REALLY need your CDR to be capped with AP Alistar.

You can also try Tower Destruction Alistar which is like Yommus/Trinity/Starks and whatever else type of Attack Speed you can grab on him. You basically suicide into towers and force the entire team to run over and deal with you while your mates complete other objectives (push bot, grab nashor, steal their buffs, etc).