League of Legends has an incredible roster of characters your summoner can play as known as champions. These champs have a skill set of four unique usable abilities [Q,W,E,R] and a passive. Although each character is slightly unique to one another, most spells fall under two categories: damage and crowd control. Damage is dealt in either physical or magical damage. Crowd control consists of abilities that either slow, stun, silence, root, or a similar variation. There are also healing and buffing abilities. As League of Legends has grown in nearly 5 years, certain types of champions have fallen out of viable play in games. It is not to say these champs can’t still be played or played well in general, but these champions do not bring a strong enough skillset to the Fields of Justice making them obsolete usually to newer more versatile champions. This week we wanted to cover the top 5 champions we wish would get reworked sooner to see them leave the bench and get put back in the game.
Maokai:
“I do your bidding, for now.”
Tank, Mage
Sap Magic
Passive: Each time a champion’s ability is used near Maokai, he gains a charge of Sap Magic. When he has 5 charges, his next basic attack will heal him for 7% of his maximum health.
Although I think Sap Magic is an interesting skill, I feel it would be stronger if it were a passive included in his skill Arcane Smash.
With his passive moved to his Q this leaves room for a new passive.
Revamped Passive: Force of Nature
Maokai’s cooldowns are reduced by an extra 10% while he moves through brush.
Q: Arcane Smash
Active: Maokai smashes the ground and sends an arcane shockwave forward, dealing magic damage and slowing enemies hit for 2 seconds. Enemies within 100 range of Maokai are also briefly knocked back.
RevampedPassive: Sap Magic: Each time Maokai lands an Arcane Smash on an enemy unit he gains two charges of Sap Magic. If he does not hit an enemy unit with his Arcane Smash he gains one charge. When he has 5 charges, his next basic attack will heal him for 7% of his maximum health.
W: Twisted Advance
Active: Maokai transforms into a cloud of arcane energy, becoming untargetable while quickly travelling to a target enemy. Once Maokai reaches the target, the target takes magic damage and is rooted for a short time.
E: Sapling Toss
Active: Maokai hurls a sapling to a target area, dealing magic damage on impact within 175 range. The sapling becomes implanted in the ground, granting 350 range vision of its surroundings for up to 35 seconds.
After a 1 second delay after landing, the sapling will seek out nearby enemies. When an enemy comes within 250 range, the sapling will chase for up to 2.5 seconds and explode in an arcane blast that deals magic damage to enemies within 175 range.
R: Vengeful Maelstrom
TOGGLE: Maokai creates a great vortex of natural energy in a 575 radius area, reducing non-tower damage done to allied champions in the area by 20%. Maokai can prolong the effect as long as he has mana to spend on it.
When the effect ends the energy is released, dealing magic damage to enemies within the vortex, plus bonus magic damage based off the damage stored by the damage reduction effect.
Revamped Passive: If an enemy champion is killed from the released energy, maokai is refunded 20% of the mana cost per champion killed.
Poppy
“Valoran will know harmony”
Fighter, Assassin.
Poppy’s kit overall is pretty solid it is just to heavily reliant on landing a stun with terrain on heroic charge and ulting perfectly in team fights. The biggest change with Poppy I would like to see is her ultimate:
R: Diplomatic Immunity
Active: Poppy focuses intensely on a single enemy champion, dealing amplified damage to them, and becoming immune to all damage and abilities that are not from the marked champion.
Revamped R: Demacian Challenge
Active: Poppy challenges a single enemy champion, dealing amplified damage to them and taking reduced damage from towers and champions depending on the number of champions and towers present.
Passive: Poppy gains 15% movement speed bonus after landing a Devasting Blow or activating Demacian Challenge. The passive is not in effect when Demacian Challenge is on cooldown.
Zilean
“I knew you would do that…”
Support, Mage
Zilean’s kit relies on early poke with bombs and a slow with his E. Unlike many other current supports, Zilean doesn’t quite bring enough to a teamfight to justify choosing him with most team compositions. His damage scaling falls off rather abruptly mid to late game. In order to better provide for his team throughout the duration of the game a subtle change to his E would be enough.
E: Time Warp
Active: Zilean bends time around a champion, slowing an enemy champion or increasing an ally champion’s movement speed by 55% for a short time.
Revamped Time Warp
Active: Zilean bends time around a champion, slowing an enemy champion or increasing an ally champion’s movement speed by 55% for a short time.
Passive: Using Time Warp twice on the same target within 5 seconds causes that champion to experience temporary chrono-dysplasia. Allied champions are rejuvenated gaining back 10% of their health over a short time. Enemy champions take 5-6-7-8-10% of their current health as magical damage over a short time.
Zilean already experiences permanent chrono-dysplasia and as a result does not receive the healing effects.
Sion
“I do it.”
Fighter, Mage.
Sion is a classic champion and has an interesting skill set. His skill set however is not as fully developed as it could be. There was a time where AP Sion was overpowered and ridiculously strong. There are still people who play a strong AD Sion as well. However Sion struggles from a kit that is primarily AP based with only one non AP ratio on his E: Enrage.
Passive: Feel No Pain
Sion has a 40% chance to ignore up to 30 / 40 / 50 damage each time he is hit by a basic attack. The damage reduction is calculated before armor and percentage damage reduction benefits are taken into account.
Q: Cryptic Gaze
ACTIVE: Sion’s gaze terrifies a single enemy, dealing magic damage and stunning it for 1.5 seconds.
W: Enrage
TOGGLE: While toggled on, Sion has increased attack damage at the cost of some health for each basic attack.
While Enrage is active, Sion permanently increases his maximum health whenever he kills a unit with either his attacks or abilities (doubled against champions and large units).
R: Cannibalism
ACTIVE: For 20 seconds, Sion gains bonus lifesteal and 50% attack speed. Additionally, Sion’s basic attacks will heal surrounding allies for a percentage of the damage dealt.
Sion’s kit needs to a rework. For a kit as messy as this, I’ll leave it up to Riot to find just exactly how they want their classic champion and his axe Chopper to find his way back onto the fields and into the meta.
Viktor
“Join the glorious evolution.”
Mage
Viktor’s kit is pretty usefull and he isn’t even that far from being viable. In a meta with where assassins primarily dominate the mid lane where most mages find themselves, Viktor is just not quite ready for battle.
Passive: Evolving Technology
Viktor starts each game with The Hex Core, an item that takes up one of his item slots, but provides him with stats and can be upgraded in the store to augment one of his abilities and improve its stats. The Hex Core can only be upgraded once, for 1000 gold, and cannot be sold back to the store.
This is one of the core characteristics about VIktor that makes him both unique and also makes him weak. Finding a balance between Viktor’s Hex Core being too strong and too weak is a difficult one. However, much like the changes made to Rengar’s Bonetooth Necklace, I think it’s more logical that Viktor evolves his hex core in a similar way that Kha’zix evolves his abilities. Making The Hex Core an item that he is forced to use that cannot be sold back to the store and costs 1000 gold limits his item choices.