Are you following the league competitive scene? If you have, are you following the LCS? You really should, lots of sick plays there.
Volibear
The Thunder's Roar
Volibear has always been one of my more favored champions, though I don't get to play him often because my team's support likes to pick him to go bottom lane for some major dunking. For quite awhile now, ever since Diamondprox picked him up, Volibear has suddenly received a lot of attention...I mean, he has been tier 5 in Elementz tier list and everyone called him trash. Now suddenly he becomes a top pick?! Dafuq man. In the jungle, he has strong ganks and amazing dueling potential, because of this, he pretty much gets laners on their toes. Like any strong ganking jungler, if you want to make your opponents fear the might of a bear...pick the bear.
Volibear's jungling route in season 3 has been made SO much better. There was a time in season 2 where Volibear's E (his roar) would re-aggro the jungle minions after the fear, well they fixed that. His clears are not the fastest, but he sustains himself well because of some very high base stats, and his passive. Although you shouldn't have to burn your passive while jungling, because it comes in very handy during ganks. His ganks are brain dead easy, just rolling thunder into lane and toss the enemy TOWARDS your laner. Roar at their face for the slow and just start mauling them. Or, for a more foolproof solution, walk normally into the lane and just E them for the slow. Wait for the flash, then rolling thunder in for the fling. Guaranteed kill if your laner cooperates with you.
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| You don't mess with a Russian bear. |
Volibear's team fighting is pretty iffy for me. Against certain team compositions, he can do pretty well as a front line initiator. However against most competent teams, he will just get kited. While rolling thunder is an excellent speed boost, he has no solid gap closer like a Warwick or Rengar ultimate. Normally you'd want to be the one to initiate, but if you can't because you'd get kited to hell and back, get someone with a gap closer to do it first, then follow up. Or, if all else fails, flash fling always works. Believe it or not, with your ultimate, you do quite a bit of damage when combined with frenzy (your W). Try sticking to their AP or AD carry (top priority), and just maul them continuously. You might be able to go toe to toe with an AP carry (if they waste their burst on you to kill you you've already won), but with an AD carry, just fight them until you're low enough the retreat, because you've probably already bought enough time for your team. If you can kill the AD carry by yourself, you are one fed bear.
Volibear is a strong ganking jungler that gets really tanky, but falls off pretty hard late game. He pretty much serves as an initiator or a body in fights, but he can also peel well for his carries if he chooses to go for that route. He has received nerfs since he was heavily played, but that shouldn't hurt him TOO much. Remember to gank often as the bear, and you should do fine, that's his forte.
My build for Volibear
- Hunter's Machete + 5 pots
- Boots of mobility/Boots of Swiftness (for da ganks)
- Madred's razors
- Kindlegem
- Warmog's armor
- Locket of the iron solari
- Ruinic Bulwark
- Sunfire cape
- Randuin's omen (against AD heavy)/ Spirit visage (Against AP heavy)
Vi
The Piltover Enforcer
A woman that is overly manly isn't attractive at all, but Vi is a badass. She is a pretty strong bruiser jungler at the moment, and playing as Vi pretty much means diving straight into enemy back lines as you blow up their carries. Building Vi has always been pretty fishy, as some people tend to go for the damage route while others go for the defensive route. I think Vi, as the aggressive character that she is, needs to build offensive to abuse her crazy initiation and power. If you're the kind that likes to go all in, Vi is the pick for you. Just prepare to beat up some helpless sons of bitches.
Vi's jungling is easy. Not the easiest, but still pretty much a breeze in most situations. She clears fast, she has above average sustain with that passive of hers, and she duels VERY well against other junglers. In fact, I think that is her best selling point. Her early dueling and escaping can be pretty overwhelming (that Q lets her punch through SO many walls), so don't be afraid to waltz into the enemy's jungle to pick a fight (as long as they aren't some god tier duelist like Trundle/Lee sin/Shyvana). Her pre-6 ganking can be a little bad, because vault breaker is SO predictable. You pretty much need to charge it up for a gank, and if they see you coming while you charge that Q, its pretty much easy to dodge unless you can play mind games with your opponent. If you land a surprise Q from the brush, its a win for you though. Ganking after 6 is pure win. Like Warwick, you can instantly lock down an opponent from afar while your team mate bashes in the skull of your enemy. Flashes won't be enough to escape the brunt of your fists.
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| Pilover's finest! |
Team fighting is easy for Vi. Unlike many bruisers who get kited, she gets two gap closers, that means that diving for the enemy carry is a VERY viable option. With some damage items, you are bound to beat up and destroy the enemy carry as long as you have some defenses as well. Assault and battery nets the enemy carry for some damage, and if you follow that up with a quick vault breaker, you have your target CC-locked for a good 2 seconds or so. That is great if you have another team mate that jumps into the fray with you to destroy the enemy carry. If you've blown up the enemy carry after that, your job is done. For now, shove the enemies with Excessive forces until they all bite the dust.
Vi excels in diving enemy teams, going straight for the back-lines. She is a bad early game ganker but can power level to 6 for some strong ganks. In a lot of ways she is like Warwick, but with an uninterrupted ultimate...which is invaluable to teams. She is pretty strong with the right team compositions, and with those dive heavy champions, she can destroy carries.
My build for Vi
- Hunter's Machete + 5 pots
- Madred's razors
- Boots of mobility
- Brutalizer
- Phage
- Black cleaver/Frozen mallet (Complete both in any order)
- Ruinic bulwark/Locket of the iron solari (Choose one, see which benefits your team most)
- Sunfire cape
- Randuin's omen
Kayle
The Judicator
Kayle is god right now, and everybody can see that. Despite being a sexy angel, she is one of the top picks in the game in the moment. She is super diverse and can play EVERY role. You heard me, all 5 of them....I'm not joking. She can go top, mid, jungle, support and I have seen people Ad-carrying as Kayle to GREAT extent. For me, I love her in the jungle, as you know, I'm a jungler. And believe it or not, she's great at what she does (yes, even with the nerf to her Q), and still makes a potentially scary jungler.
Kayle jungle is easy. You have the sustain from W, the clear speed with E, and Q for your ganks. Its pretty all BUILT in for you. She has the tools to be a jungler, and makes good use of them. Her clearing speed is pretty insane, its up there with guys like Malphite and Lee sin, but not quite the levels of Mundo or Shyvana. Going for an early madreds will make your clearing speed sky rocket even further. W sustains her pretty well, and pretty much using it every damn time its off cooldown makes you a healthy angel in the jungle. Your Q slows targets from afar, so as long as your laner has CC, you will have guaranteed at least a flash or kill with your red-buffed auto attacks with E.
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| Expensive skin is expensive, though admittedly this skin is pretty cool. |
Team fights....boy where do I even begin. She excels at every aspect here. I build Kayle AP, and if she is built with AP, she does insane DPS . Q to E with a lichbane proc-ed auto attack can ONE SHOT the enemy AD carry if you have good AP. Even if you don't, E scales with AP, so you will be putting out insane damage...so insane that you cannot go ignored. Your W can be used to heal injured team mates, usually the ones getting focused and still provide a speed boost for them to escape or kite. Your ultimate pretty much NEGATES any damage on one character. See your AD carry getting mauled by those Zeds and Jarvans? Pop it on them and watch him laugh off any damage from them. You getting focused? Pop it on yourself and laugh at those idiots as you gauge out their health bars. Your AP carry going down before they can throw out the burst? Use it on them to make them survive more. Kayle is just a god in team fights.
Kayle is so broken right now. She is always banned, so its hard to pick her up, but if you do get the chance, you pretty much get free reign to destroy the enemy team, whichever role you are opting for as the angel. Kayle is one of the best characters in the game, and its not a stretch to say that she fits well in almost every team composition.
My build for Kayle
- Hunter's Machete + 5 pots
- Madred's razors
- Sorcerer boots
- Haunting guise
- Sheen
- Liandry's torment
- Lichbane
- Rabadon's deathcap
- Deathfire grasp
- Zhonya's hourglass
Peace.
