Dear SF Blog, I don't understand people

[eclipse]

Liking is for Facebook and sarcastically saying "I like how..."

You would've totally loved it if you were the lone mafia member against an idiot townie.

My "favorite" game involves a townie pretending to be a cop leading a mislynch on me. Retarded times~!

[BEST TRYNDAMERE PLAYER]

The only myth about elo hell is that you can get out of it. I actually preferred ~1500 elo games because I could usually carry...

Out of curiosity what did you do to carry? I usually just played Jungle Xin(it's actually not bad, can still clear jungle within 4mins and get some REALLY nice ganks off)/Udyr

[Paperblade]

Out of curiosity what did you do to carry? I usually just played Jungle Xin(it's actually not bad, can still clear jungle within 4mins and get some REALLY nice ganks off)/Udyr

Nunu jungle (you can chase down pretty much anything and your ult is like a taunt for disables, plus bloodboil is very nice for the carry)

Malphite (eats solo lanes alive)

Kassadin (op)

I also played Shen and Rammus but they're usually banned

Edited April 18, 2011 by Paperblade

[BEST TRYNDAMERE PLAYER]

I duo queue with a friend of mine, and we do our best to throw the team on our backs and try to squeeze out a win that the team usually doesn't deserve. There is no feasible way to carry a team in a support or tank role, so for the time being it's all about snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. I play an AP farmer/defender role (aka Anivia), and he plays an AD mobility/pushing/raging role (aka Twisted Fate or Yi). We'll try to win normally, but if the team is too retarded, I'll button down on defense while he backdoors the shit out of the other team.

When duo queuing, try having one person jungle and one person take the solo lane. Jungling is usually easy wins in this bracket.

Sometimes me and my girlfriend would duo queue and she'd usually be solo lane Nidalee while I played Jungle Udyr and we'd win most of our games but since she doesn't play ranked nearly as much as I do she still gets +40 ELO per win while I get +13, we are of similar ELOs too.

[Interceptor]

When duo queuing, try having one person jungle and one person take the solo lane. Jungling is usually easy wins in this bracket.

Sometimes me and my girlfriend would duo queue and she'd usually be solo lane Nidalee while I played Jungle Udyr and we'd win most of our games but since she doesn't play ranked nearly as much as I do she still gets +40 ELO per win while I get +13, we are of similar ELOs too.

I don't really have any junglers that I can carry with, unfortunately.

- Nunu: awesomesauce in more ways that I could list quickly, but lategame he peters out.

- Akali: assassins can't carry.

- Amumu: ALWAYS BANNED.

I could do jungle Sion, that's about it for my core competencies. Rest of my toons are better in lanes. My friend has more flexibility in the jungle (Warwick, Trundle, Olaf, etc) than I do in ranked. I suppose that Anivia/Yi would work out well, since Aniv lanes liek a boss, and Yi can jungle whilst being a good ganker. And this preserves BD'ing.

I'll think about it.

[BEST TRYNDAMERE PLAYER]

Nunu jungle (you can chase down pretty much anything and your ult is like a taunt for disables, plus bloodboil is very nice for the carry)

Nunu's a great counterjungler too and can steal enemy's jungle easy. I've actually been thinking of playing Nunu/WW by starting at the enemy's red since if the other team has a jungle they usually start at their blue and by the time they finish their blue, you will take their red and it will probably work because nobody ever teamfights at level 1 in 1200 ELO so while its still somewhat risky, it can probably work out.

I also played Shen and Rammus but they're usually banned

I remember before Shen was autoban sometimes I'd do a Shen/Nidalee lane with my duo queue partner and give her most of my CS if our team had a jungler, it works out pretty good I ended up winning both of my Shen games by just doing that.

I don't really have any junglers that I can carry with, unfortunately.

- Nunu: awesomesauce in more ways that I could list quickly, but lategame he peters out.

- Akali: assassins can't carry.

- Amumu: ALWAYS BANNED.

I could do jungle Sion, that's about it for my core competencies. Rest of my toons are better in lanes. My friend has more flexibility in the jungle (Warwick, Trundle, Olaf, etc) than I do in ranked. I suppose that Anivia/Yi would work out well, since Aniv lanes liek a boss, and Yi can jungle whilst being a good ganker. And this preserves BD'ing.

I'll think about it.

If you can steal enemy jungle/get a lot of good ganks early in the game as Nunu you will usually win your games in 20-30 mins. Also, Kassadin/Akali can carry it's just that their pre-6 laning phase is VERY iffy but once they turn 6 you will pretty much be able to take total lane control.

IMO Sion is better off in a solo lane as he can easily get better farm and harass with ease because of his skillset. You also have to keep in mind his E gives him health permanently for each creep you kill and you generally get more CS from farming a solo lane than you do in jungle.

[Paperblade]

I don't like WW that much anymore. I feel like the jungle changes hurt him a lot and he's not good enough in teamfights to warrant using him if he's not the best at controlling the jungle.

Supposedly there's an MPen Lanewick (not to be confused with that awful AP Lanewick) that's good...

[BEST TRYNDAMERE PLAYER]

I still think he's a decent asset to teamfights. But of course that means having your team initiate the fight and then as the fight is beginning you ult the carry so you have to kinda rely on your team in that essence but I can see it work out. And then if the game drags on long enough you can build Banshees+GA after Bloodrazor and probably get decent results.

I've actually been thinking of running MPen on him without building AP at all as well considering MPen is what boosts his Q, ult, and Bloodrazor damage which is where 80% of his damage comes from anyways.

Edited April 18, 2011 by Joey

[Interceptor]

Nunu's a great counterjungler too and can steal enemy's jungle easy. I've actually been thinking of playing Nunu/WW by starting at the enemy's red since if the other team has a jungle they usually start at their blue and by the time they finish their blue, you will take their red and it will probably work because nobody ever teamfights at level 1 in 1200 ELO so while its still somewhat risky, it can probably work out.

Nunu is definitely awesomesauce in the jungle, no doubt about it. Lasts forever, great ganker, natural counter-jungler, etc. But I don't find him useful for slog-out games that go long, because he's too reliant on his ultimate, and can't adequately protect the carry that he's roid'ing up with Blood Boil.

Props to the yeti rider from me, but I think he's not really the best choice for dragging a team to the finish line.

If you can steal enemy jungle/get a lot of good ganks early in the game as Nunu you will usually win your games in 20-30 mins. Also, Kassadin/Akali can carry it's just that their pre-6 laning phase is VERY iffy but once they turn 6 you will pretty much be able to take total lane control.

Assassins ain't carrying, especially those two. They are too easy to kill, and too bursty. I love jungle Akali more than jellybeans, but being able to toast a couple of people is a dicey advantage given the proximity that she needs to be at to get kills off.

Katarina, OTOH, is an entirely different story, because of Death Lotus and her passive.

IMO Sion is better off in a solo lane as he can easily get better farm and harass with ease because of his skillset. You also have to keep in mind his E gives him health permanently for each creep you kill and you generally get more CS from farming a solo lane than you do in jungle.

I just listed him because he's amongst my assets. I prefer him in the lane as well, but it's not like TF or Anivia or Crank who just can't jungle effectively period.

[Paperblade]

Akali is a pretty good laner from what I've seen. She can hide in her smoke bomb at your side wave and beat on you if you try to last hit, and there's not really much you can do about it (or at least not much Kass can).

Kat sucks, but Kass is good and can carry well (or at least could a couple months ago, I think he got nerfed since then)

[Interceptor]

Akali is very good in a lane as long as it's not a 2v1 (where she's just OK, since it's too easy to shove minions at her tower).

But I prefer her coming out of the jungle. Nobody expects it, you never know when she's going to come out of a bush with red buff (she can start on any camp, has no "set" path), and she's a fast clear and hits level 6 almost the same time as a solo lane. Once she has her ultimate, you can't get away from her, and she's also pretty epic at tower-diving with nothing more than a Sheen.

Kat is awesome. Her ult is channeled like Nunu's sure, but she's a lot harder to locate (size + Shunpo), and your only visual warning is an evaporating health bar. Maybe you have only played with bad ones. I particularly like her in a combo with Morgana, because Black Shield shuts down most of the things that stop Death Lotus.

[Esau of Isaac]

Speaking of League of Legends, I've been having a fun time with Mundo lately. My pals keep bugging me to play him all conventional-like (Warmogs, Boots, Spirit Visage, Force of Nature, Atmas, Youmuu's), but I've been wanting to change it up a bit. Put in some more offensive power.

How does he work when you concentrate on strengthening Burning Agony?

[Zanarkin]

In epic mafia the ratio of psych players to good players is like...

3000:1

[Interceptor]

He works about as well as as a submarine with a screen door. Burning Agony is the only ability with an AP ratio, and it's a horrible one at that. You'd just be trolling your team by building him AP. It's like going Boots of Mobility plus 5 Zeals on Janna.

The only reason that Mundo has an AP ratio on anything at all, is so that he gets at least SOME use out of combo items like Trinity Force, Malady, Haunting Guise, etc.

[Strawman]

Umm...Whats epicmafia...?

[Zanarkin]

A place where you play mafia and everybody is talking real time (would that be considered real time?) anywho they talk and vote in a chat and night phases take place pretty much the same way.

[Strawman]

Ah.

It would sound fun, but I just read 2 pages complaining about it...haha

[BEST TRYNDAMERE PLAYER]

Akali is very good in a lane as long as it's not a 2v1 (where she's just OK, since it's too easy to shove minions at her tower).

But I prefer her coming out of the jungle. Nobody expects it, you never know when she's going to come out of a bush with red buff (she can start on any camp, has no "set" path), and she's a fast clear and hits level 6 almost the same time as a solo lane. Once she has her ultimate, you can't get away from her, and she's also pretty epic at tower-diving with nothing more than a Sheen.

The issue is her ganking pre-6 are pretty meh and doesn't have the jungle control capabilities to make up for it.

Speaking of League of Legends, I've been having a fun time with Mundo lately. My pals keep bugging me to play him all conventional-like (Warmogs, Boots, Spirit Visage, Force of Nature, Atmas, Youmuu's), but I've been wanting to change it up a bit. Put in some more offensive power.

How does he work when you concentrate on strengthening Burning Agony?

IMO the build your friends suggested you isn't too great either. You don't need Warmogs+Atmas either. Get Visage, CDR Boots or Merc Treads, FoN, and Sunfire as your core then build the rest of your items depending on situation, Quicksilver Sash is also a great item to get on Mundo if the opposing team has multiple ignites and Executioner's Calling. Building him as a tank is usually the way to go. Mundo's cleavers don't really require items to make stronger and Sunfire Cape goes well with his Burning Agony.

Edited April 19, 2011 by Joey

[Interceptor]

The issue is her ganking pre-6 are pretty meh and doesn't have the jungle control capabilities to make up for it.

It's an issue for people who don't know how to play her, certainly. Akali's jungle strength is the combination of her path flexibility, her clear speed (she is one of the fastest junglers in the game, keeping pace with a solo lane), and the havoc she can cause on the other jungle (I love wraith-stealing, personally).

Ganking lanes early is horribly overrated with the new death timers, but she's no worse pre-six than the likes of Warwick or Olaf when it comes to that. Unless there is a god-tier jungler like Nunu on the team, I feel that she's better coming out of the jungle than she is in a lane. Once Akali gets Shadow Dance, hide your children.

[BEST TRYNDAMERE PLAYER]

Ganking lanes still has its pros. I mean sure, the person will respawn in like 6seconds now but those 6+the 10 or so it takes to get back to the lane is still enough for your lane to get a hefty farm/level advantage over the opposing lane.

Olaf can actually gank pre-6 effectively with Undertow as well. And he actually has the quickest and most efficient clear times out of any jungler if you know how to use your Undertows. He can be ready to gank in less than four minutes and still have at least half health remaining.

Edited April 19, 2011 by Joey

[Esau of Isaac]

So, uh, Joey. I was trying your build, and I accidentally forgot that Sunfire was nerfed and made unique like a million patches ago.

Whoops.

[Paperblade]

Last I checked for Akali to have any semblance of speed she gets low on HP due to item build which makes her easy to counter.

[BEST TRYNDAMERE PLAYER]

She's also a snowball jungler IIRC meaning if even one big creep is stolen earlygame it could greatly set her back.

So, uh, Joey. I was trying your build, and I accidentally forgot that Sunfire was nerfed and made unique like a million patches ago.

Whoops.

How many did you stack and did you still win? lulz

[Esau of Isaac]

Dos. And yes indeedy. Our team was a cocksure Blitzcrank, an accurate Anivia, and myself as Mundo versus a ridiculously greedy AD Shaco, a stealth-crazy Teemo, and a Nocturne that didn't seem to do much. Shaco got ridiculously fed walking around the map and getting the last hit on whoever was weakened, was doing some pretty brazen ks'ing. Ended up letting the team get a ridiculous lead in kills, but let the game drag out for too long and we built up. They ended up continuously deciding it would be a good idea to run right into us while we'd set up all of our AOEs, so it usually consisted of us popping our abilities, scoring an ace --or right near it-- and then pushing and getting closer back to evening the game up.

They never really got around to trying another tactic, for some reason. >.>

[BEST TRYNDAMERE PLAYER]

I remember I had a game as Mundo where I solo'd top against an AP Sion and we both ended up spending the first 25minutes of the game just farming top and healing with our ults whenever it was up. We ended up winning because by the time we finished farming I had like 50+ creep kills on the Sion and had my Visage, FoN, and Sunfire. Even with their whole team on me my health would not go below half because of the ridiculous farm I had and after the first two teamfights I participated in the other team surrendered.

But yeah, once I have Visage and ult I just pretty much farm my lane without having to b at all due to the ridiculous amount of healing given until the turret dies or I overextend and there's people MIA.

Edited April 19, 2011 by Joey