Blogs

By Slymantis

Ozlem Adacan

Uncommon picks - Pros and Cons

Sun 8th Jul 2012 - 6:21pm Category: League of Legends

Many people will often have a negative attitude towards players who pick champions who are not established as familiar picks in the current metagame. The following article contains a list of a few champions who are rarely seen but viable when played correctly and hopes to help dispel some of the stigma regarding unfamiliar picks. I’ve often witnessed the benefits outweigh the disadvantages for these picks and would like to cover the strengths and weaknesses of each.

SUPPORT FIDDLESTICKS

Fiddlesticks can be a very effective support because he is capable of a long range silence for harass and can disable an opponent for a short duration with his terrify ability. Fiddlesticks should aim to be forcing the enemy out of lane at all times, and should give vision as often as possible. Even with support items, fiddlesticks can deal a large amount of damage although he is quite squishy so good positioning is essential.

His ultimate also allows for really good initiation for ganks. Crowstorm can be hard to master, but if executed at the right moment, you can turn a losing fight into a win. However, if his is poorly executed, it can turn a winning fight into a loss. It is also recommended to channel Crowstorm in a brush, because it can be interrupted easily by enemy CC. In addition, fiddlesticks can tank dragon relatively well with his drain.

WUKONG JUNGLE

Many people have mixed feelings about Wukong jungle. Nevertheless, Jungle Wukong is a remarkable pick. This is because he can clear the jungle relatively quick and efficiently, as well as having stable early game ganks before level 6, compared to someone like Warwick for example, who relies more on his ultimate. However, precautions should be taken since Wukong is squishy early game, and is item reliant so he requires successful ganks.

Additionally, he does not fall off late game, he has a much superior team fight presence compared to someone like Shaco, and can turn a losing game around. He is also a very good initiator because of his ultimate, although this can be challenging to find the ideal moment to use because it can cause death if not used correctly. Wukong has a great escape mechanic, making him more problematic to kill. This can also be used to juke opponents, or to get them to waste cooldowns on your decoy before initiating. Wukong can also adapt to any team composition. No matter what you decide to build, he is incredibly tanky due to his passive.

BLITZCRANK JUNGLE

Blitzcrank jungle is a great deal of fun to play. He has a versatile skill set and can be effective with virtually every build. However, he requires successful ganks in early game as he is dependent on items. He can be very dangerous if a gank is executed flawlessly, but this can be hard to master, as he primarily relies on his grabs to perform his combo.

A successful grab means a high chance of getting a guaranteed kill, since he has nice burst damage, great cc and a silence at level 6 which makes it very difficult for the target to escape. During the team fight phase, initiating with a grab can be game changing, as you can pick out opponents if they are out of position. He also has nice mobility, making him very useful for roaming and is reasonably tanky because of his passive. Blitzcrank is not a fast jungler, but the main drawback of playing Blitzcrank is that he is very mana dependant, resulting in him requiring blue buff.

AD TWISTED FATE

AD TF is an underestimated and versatile pick. Opponents don’t expect an AD TF, and therefore don’t know how to handle it. Red cards make it straightforward for TF to farm, making his lane easy to manage. Just like Caitlyn’s headshot, TF should aim to harass opponents when his stacked deck is up. When an opportunity arises and an opponent is about to last hit a minion, TF should draw a yellow card to pursue a good trade.

This is difficult to do since TF has a short range, but if this is executed correctly each time, then opponents should be pushed off lane frequently. AD TF struggles early game compared to other AD’s, but has exceptionally high DPS end game. Moreover TF is a great assassin because of his ultimate which enables him to gank, escape, or scout. This makes him a great asset to the team. Wild cards are practically useless for AD TF and shouldn’t be touched until endgame. AD TF is not mana dependant, making him a great 1v1. Positioning is key, since TF is squishy, and is generally focused when seen as a threat.

JUNGLE TARIC

It’s not every day you will see a jungle Taric, but he can be just as dangerous as any other jungler if played correctly. When picking jungle Taric, people will think you are trolling and will often queue dodge. Jungle Taric is one of those champions that depends on his combo to deal enough damage as well as being mana dependant. Taric’s burst is incredibly strong but can vary depending on the spell order and casting distance.

People will underestimate his damage and will be surprised by his damage output. Nonetheless, Taric clears the jungle relatively slow early game, and can easily fall behind if ganks fail often. In addition, Taric has good CC and short cooldowns making him a good ganker and extremely useful in teamfights. During teamfights, Taric can deal fast burst combo if the opponents are clustered together. It will be unlikely that you will get focused, since Taric is naturally tanky. He also has immense heals late game making him a great team asset.