Okay, so I freaking love league of legends. I play league almost every freaking day and its so addicting. As a tribute to the awesome game, I'm going to do a series of posts (yes, another one, bear with me) regarding about the champions I use, and why they are so awesome. Take note that I do have a main, but the rest of the champions are just the ones I enjoy using.
Up to date there are 99 champions in the league, and I have used most of them at least once, but there are a few I like to play more than others, and thus these are the ones I use a lot more. Take note that I am in no way a pro in this game (I still get my ass kicked, despite having a good amount of games under my belt), so these are all based on my opinion and experience in the game.
Sit back and enjoy!
Swain
The Master Tactician
Oh hell yes. Guys, meet my main in LoL, Swain, the Master Tactician. Not only is he a badass looking dude, his play style fits to my liking in almost EVERY way. Swain is mostly played as an AP carry, but I would like to refer to him as a bruiser that deals magic damage. He is kind of like Mordekaiser. In a team fight, he brings more sustain to a team fight rather than the burst that other AP carries can achieve. Still, he is great for bursting single target squishies, and can easily lock down his targets.
I mostly play Swain mid, because he can beat down most other AP mids when played right. But of course there are situations where I go top or bot when mid has an obviously more dominant AP character (looking right at you Brand). His nevermove snare combined with torment and decrepift provides great early game damage, and usually when some is caught by that combo more than twice early on can be considered as gold for 1st blood. When laned with a partner, a nevermove snare can set up an easy kill if your partner is one that can do decent DPS early on.
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| Tyrant swain looks incredibly badasss. |
In Team fights Swain's job is simple. Activate Ravenous flock, nevermove + torment + decrepify the nearest squishy, and just walk around going crazy. When his ult is active, ravens move out of him and hit the 3 nearest enemies, dealing minor damage and healing him for 50% of the damage done. The damage on his ult is low (+0.2 ap scaling, dafuq?), but the ravens come out rapidly, and if Swain is ignored throughout the teamfiight, the damage can stack to quite ridiculous amounts. And IF he is fed and they decide to aim him (the likely scenario when I'm playing Swain :P), his sustain is so ridiculous that he just doesn't die!
As you can see, I love Swain. As my main and favorite champ in LoL, I do think he is a viable pick, and that he is very under rated. If only a major competitive player picks Swain for a tournament game and manages to do something incredible..maybe then the community's view on Swain will change for the better.
My build for Swain
-Doran's ring/ Boots + 3 potions
-Doran's ring
-Sorcerer's boots
-Rod of ages
-Will of ancients
-Rabadon's deathcap
-Zhonya's hourglass
-Banshee's veil/Rylai's crystal scepter
Pantheon
The Artisan of War
I have no secondary main, but if I were to comment on my current status, Pantheon, the Artisan of War, is my second favorite character at the moment. He is SO fun to play in SO many ways. He is very different from Swain, and is fun in his own way. He may not be very strong in comparisons to other solo tops, but he is an extremely fun pick, and can be quite a bully. Pantheon is supposedly a character that does quick burst damage, but due to his half ass move set, I like to either build him as a full glass cannon or as a semi-tank DPS burster.
Pantheon is mostly played solo top, but I like to go bot with someone with great DPS like pantheon, or someone with a stun, gap closer or fling. Champions like Jax, Volibear, Xinzhao or Sion can do the trick. Pantheon jumps, the other champions stuns, goes in or flings, the enemy champ is dead. He can work in synergy with so many champions its not even funny, and before you know it, your opponent will be hugging the tower for their dear lives. Lets not forget when he does go solo top, he can constantly harass with SPEAR!!!! Scaring the enemy off and dropping their health bar off bit by bit, before jumping in for the kill.
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| SPARTA!! |
Skyfall is the key, that is the battle call for a Pantheon player. See a team fight happen? SOUND THE BATTLE CRY. Skyfall into team fights, and watch their health bars take a dynamic dip. When you land, stun the squishy and use heartseeker strike. After that, just watch them die! If they aren't dead, SPEAR THEM! That should do the job. However, you're probably going to get focused real quick, not much you can do about that since Pantheon does not have a solid escape tool. Still, if you aimed that skyfall right, the team fight should most definitely be yours. Always remember though, do not engage fights with pantheon. Even if your aegis of zeonia is an awesome initiating tool, going in first like that is only going to get you killed.
Pantheon is a lot of fun. Still, for maximum effectiveness, I suggest playing Pantheon when you have a friend who's willing to pick another stunner and go bot with you, you will, 85% of the time, dominate the lane so hard. Heads up for everybody's favorite sparta!
My build for Pantheon
Bot lane glass cannon
-Doran's blade
-Ionian boots
-Brutalizer
-Bloodthrister
-Frozen mallet
-Infinity edge
-Last whisperer
-Youmuu's ghostblade
Top lane Semi tank DPS
-Regrowth pendant + 1 pot
-Philo stone
-Ionian boots
-Infinity edge
-Frozen mallet
-Warmog's armor
-Atma's impaler
-Guardian angel
Malphite
Shard of the Monolith
Malphite is probably the champion I have been playing for the longest time. When I started league, Malphite was free, and he was the coolest looking free champion, so I went ahead and picked him. Guess what, I loved him, and for quite some time, I was the tank for my group of friends. Most of the time, I picked Malphite. Soon enough, my Malphite became a staple for the team, but of course after I became better at the game, I used different tanks, but Malphite is still seen in my match history once in awhile.
I used to play Malphite bot when I was a noob, but nowadays I either play him solo top or jungle. With a regrowth pendant, he can do anything. His passive gives him a free health shield to absorb harass and minions attacks, and like Garen, he only needs to stand back in a bush to get his armor back. In lane, seismic shard is a good harass, and ground slam is great for farming. In the jungle, his clearing speeds are freaking insane. Ground slam plus brutal strikes make for some crazy fast minion clears in the jungle, and with his passive plus a regrowth pendant, he has practically infinite sustain.
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| Who doesn't like playing a floating rock? |
As a tank, its your job to initiate, simple as that. Malphite's ultimate, unstoppable force, sends him flying to the enemy team and knocks them all up in the air, dealing good damage. Its a good ultimate, but not as good as some others. Still, its his main initiating tool, and its like the war cry to start a team fight. See a malphite pop his ultimate? Go in and slaughter the enemy team. After his ultimate, do your job as a tank and protect your carries by making yourself look as scary as possible. Ground slam will keep those pesky tryns and yis off your Ashe's back, and seimic shard will slow any running or chasing enemies.
Malphite is a great tank, but most importantly, its fun to play him. Its great to go take hits from your enemies and come back with almost full health, because your shield is so op. Also, its fun to scream SEISMIS SHARD when you skype with your friends as you constantly disc your enemy laners. One thing though, while his jungling is solid, his ganking is crap, so make sure you have some god tier team mates if you want to jungle.
My build for Malphite
-Regrowth pendant + 1 pot
-Philo stone
-Heart of gold
-Mercury treads/Ninja tabi
-Frozen heart
-Force of nature
-Randuin's omen
-Aegis of the legion
-Guardian angel
