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[Jazzy Network]

Skarner is terrible right now. Hes slow to jungle, bad at ganking, does 0 damage, and has only his ult really to do anything significant. I'd pick up Hecarim instead. He's alittle harder to learn and build, but has higher damage, better scaling, and better ganks.

 

[zkylon]

Skarner is terrible right now. Hes slow to jungle, bad at ganking, does 0 damage, and has only his ult really to do anything significant. I'd pick up Hecarim instead. He's alittle harder to learn and build, but has higher damage, better scaling, and better ganks.

Yeah I really would like him buffed :O

 

[brian!]

Thanks, I'll give Skarner a shot in the jungle and then maybe pickup Sej in a bit.

oh nooooooooo

 

[dimb]

Thanks, I'll give Skarner a shot in the jungle and then maybe pickup Sej in a bit.

You've made a poor decision.

 

[Barrel Cannon]

Skarner is terrible right now. Hes slow to jungle, bad at ganking, does 0 damage, and has only his ult really to do anything significant. I'd pick up Hecarim instead. He's alittle harder to learn and build, but has higher damage, better scaling, and better ganks.

His Q and W are amazing :S. The cooldown on his Q makes it even more amazing for ganks. Even without his ult landings his Q's usually results in the enemy having to flash.

My top recommendations for learning to jungle would still be udyr, shyvanna and mundo. It's just out of the 3 he mentioned I find skarner the easiest to learn use. There's little denying that.

 

[Ferrio]

His Q and W are amazing :S. The cooldown on his Q makes it even more amazing for ganks. Even without his ult landings his Q's usually results in the enemy having to flash.

My top recommendations for learning to jungle would still be udyr, shyvanna and mundo.

You rarely see any of those jungle nowadays...

 

[Jazzy Network]

His Q and W are amazing :S. The cooldown on his Q makes it even more amazing for ganks. Even without his ult landings his Q's usually results in the enemy having to flash.

My top recommendations for learning to jungle would still be udyr, shyvanna and mundo. It's just out of the 3 he mentioned I find skarner the easiest to learn use. There's little denying that.

How are you going to get in range to Q? And don't say run in with W.

 

[mercviper]

How are you going to get in range to Q? And don't say run in with W.

You have to bait the enemy into committing to a fight, or get a good gank path in. Don't forget to Q minions on your approach to gank so your first Q on the champion slows.

 

[dimb]

My top recommendations for learning to jungle would still be udyr, shyvanna and mundo.

Just pick like Xin or Jarvan or Cho'gath or something if you are learning to jungle. Shen or Amumu if you aren't getting banned out.

 

[PhillipCostigan]

Why me lol?

Because you were saying a while ago you wanted a fun new top laner.

 

[Ken]

LoL Facebook featuring an InstantIP piece.

 

[Jazzy Network]

You have to bait the enemy into committing to a fight, or get a good gank path in. Don't forget to Q minions on your approach to gank so your first Q on the champion slows.

Which isn't going to be the case 80% of the time in laning. He's just not that viable right now.

 

[scy]

Skarner has seen ... better days, let's say.

 

[SenorArdilla]

How would you buff Skarner?

 

[Jazzy Network]

How would you buff Skarner?

Give him a fourth skill for starters.

 

[dimb]

How would you buff Skarner?

Give him his ultimate back.

 

[PhillipCostigan]

Give him a fourth skill for starters.

Zing!

 

[garath]

Just pick like Xin or Jarvan or Cho'gath or something if you are learning to jungle. Shen or Amumu if you aren't getting banned out.

Dimb is right. Those 3 are great starter junglers. Xin and jarvan are good bankers with great base damages. Cho is just a tanky beast.

 

[Sr Kitsune]

Anyone know around what time the new rotation week comes online?

I want to try out Ahri. If I like her I wouldn't mind investing time getting better with her.

She is after all, the champion I want to buy as soon as she is on sale. I have 20k IP awaiting to equip her with runes. (That I'm still lvl 17)

 

[Blizzard]

LoL Facebook featuring an InstantIP piece.

I think the same piece of artwork was also one of the top finalists on the recent champion-with-an-item-preparing-for-season-3 contest on the forums.

 

[Type2]

Dimb is right. Those 3 are great starter junglers. Xin and jarvan are good bankers with great base damages. Cho is just a tanky beast.

I'd like to add that jarvan and nocturne are free with this rotation. Heck even malphite can be viable for jungle.

 

[zkylon]

LoL Facebook featuring an InstantIP piece.

Well that one's pretty mild and awesome.

Give him his ultimate back.

This. They should revert that back. If you don't want Ska to get you just flash earlier.

Because you were saying a while ago you wanted a fun new top laner.

Hmm, I really like playing her when she's on free week on my scrub account but she's pretty useless against real teams, I think.

 

[Ken]

Well that one's pretty mild and awesome.
.

Except for creeper Teemo.

 

[Pancakes]

Double pen runes are expensive but I'd sure love 'em :/

I've got 3 of them on my Sona/Lulu rune page and I can already see the difference. The loss of armor sucks but I think it's worth it to establish lane dominance.

 

[zkylon]

I've got 3 of them on my Sona/Lulu rune page and I can already see the difference. The loss of armor sucks but I think it's worth it to establish lane dominance.

I run mpen marks on Sona for dat kill secured.

 

[Arthrus]

With Hecarim so popular right now, I'm really enjoying Sejuani. You can't do a whole lot to stop him until lane phase ends, but then you cut his damage output considerably and can shut him down when he rushes the squishies.

<3 Bristle

EDIT: But Sej isn't an easy champ to jungle with if you're newer to it.

 

[njean777]

I would say Vi is a good person to learn the jungle with, easy clear, and can go full tank/carry by end game. Just dont miss the Q!

 

[Pancakes]

I run mpen marks on Sona for dat kill secured.

People expect Sona's Qs to hurt. They don't expect her AAs to hurt as much as they will with dual pen runes. Not to mention it makes your AA->Q->PowerChord AA combo very strong.

 

[Boken]

The best junglers now are the "utility bruisers" - high cc medium damage bulkyish champs.
In no particular order the most popular ones are - vi, hecRim, xin and j4
Apparently they counter each other too.

Anyway, skarner really isn't that bad. He is amazing in double AP comps and when you need powerful initiation. Nothing catches like a skarner with flash.
Korean teams won multiple times with him at IEM

And yes, hybrid pen is pretty awesome on sona. And zyra, and lulu

 

[Ferga]

The best junglers now are the "utility bruisers" - high cc medium damage bulkyish champs.
In no particular order the most popular ones are - vi, hecRim, xin and j4
Apparently they counter each other too.

Them rims

Wouldn't say they counter each other though. It's all up to play style and aggression.

J4 can be beat by almost anyone if he doesn't gank/counter gank at a level where he matches his opponent. He is a very safe jungler though who transitions into mid game well.
Xin zhao and Vi are easy wins. Strong throughout the entire game. Only way they can screw up is if the enemy invades and gets one of the buffs in the first clear rotation. And counter ganking his ganks. They are left stranded after they dash in. But if they get a lead, they can pretty much carry the game by themselves if you make the right decisions with the ults.

Hecarim you can either gank normally or farm up to mid game and destroy everyone with your:
-spirit elder
-spirit visage/warmogs
-iceborn gauntlets
He just sustains and deals a tonne of true damage with spirit elder.

From experience, the jungler who secures the first kill on the map will usually have dominance most of the time. You usually find that the other jungler will try to counter gank as much as possible and slowly becomes under leveled. It's a hard mindset to break free from because everyone blames the jungler for losses so you have this mentality of being forced to help cruddy players again and again. Hence all the smiteless leashes or level 2 red ganks. I don't think anyone actually waits until level 4 to gank anymore. It's a race for first blood to gain map control.

 

[zkylon]

I've come to the conclusion that the passive fix to Akali has made her stupidly OP. I'm also tired of seeing her every fucking game.

Also I'm trying to think the easiest, dumbest team in the game:
top: Garen
mid: ? maybe Kayle?
jungle: Xin
adc: MF
support: Taric

People expect Sona's Qs to hurt. They don't expect her AAs to hurt as much as they will with dual pen runes. Not to mention it makes your AA->Q->PowerChord AA combo very strong.

Yeah, DP runes would be nice for Lux/Orianna too but 820 per rune is just too much.

Speaking of runes, I'm thinking of replacing my mana regen yellows. My options are:
Flat AP: a bit over 5 more AP. I'm starting with 17, so this would jump it to 22. Not so bad.
Scaling AP: from level 6 onwards they outscale flat AP but I'm not sure I care by then.
CDR: 2.6% CDR, maybe a bit more with the next buffs. Eh, doesn't seem too tempting.
Flat MR: 6 and a half MR. Kinda meh, but still kinda nice.
Scaling MR: beats flat at level 8, fuck that.
Flat HP: 50 more HP at level one is awesome, but they're pretty expensive and it's basically one spell.
Scaling HP: 200 more HP at level 18 is kinda cool, but I dunno.

Nothign really tempts me 'cept flat AP and health. Where's scy when you need 'im?

 

[dimb]

I take it all back, matchmaking is broken and stupid.

 

[CountBlack]

I've come to the conclusion that the passive fix to Akali has made her stupidly OP. I'm also tired of seeing her every fucking game.

Also I'm trying to think the easiest, dumbest team in the game:
top: Garen
mid: ? maybe Kayle?
jungle: Xin
adc: MF
support: Taric

I played a team of

top: Gangplank
mid: Morgana
jungle: Amumu
ADC: Varus
support: Sona

We were down 8 when the laning phase ended, then when a team fight started they couldn't move for like 15 seconds it was hilarious

amumu ult, then varus, then sona, gangplank ult to make the whole area slow, then my random q's and ult

so much CC

Also I just started playing Morgana, she's really good! Reminds me of lux but a bit different. I got Morgana for free from EB games for buying riot points lol

 

[Ferga]

I've come to the conclusion that the passive fix to Akali has made her stupidly OP. I'm also tired of seeing her every fucking game.

Akali was always stupid. It's just that people didn't play her until now. Her pre 6 still sucks ass so all you have to do is buy 9 pots, wait until level 6 and then kill anything you see.

 

[zkylon]

So I'm thinking of going

Flat AP Quints
6 flat AP blues
3 flat MR blues
9 flat MR yellows
9 mpen reds (maybe double pen if I have enough money)

From 14.85 AP, 12.06 MR, who knows how much mana regen I'll go to 21.99 AP, 10.68 MR no mana regen.

I'll try it, I guess.

Akali was always stupid. It's just that people didn't play her until now. Her pre 6 still sucks ass so all you have to do is buy 9 pots, wait until level 6 and then kill anything you see.

Yeah, but now all Akali's come with 9 mpen reds and level one double passives. 2% less damage and spellvamp is too small a nerf when they just buy a billion pots and wait it out until 6.

Pre patch I was almost glad to be pitted against an Akali, now it's ridiculous.

 

[Ferga]

Yeah, but now all Akali's come with 9 mpen reds and level one double passives. 2% less damage and spellvamp is too small a nerf when they just buy a billion pots and wait it out until 6.

Pre patch I was almost glad to be pitted against an Akali, now it's ridiculous.

Armour pen reds? That seems really cruddy. I mean her damage comes from procing Q, not E and auto attacking.

And akali's main weakness was getting ganked pre 6. It's not because of the hotfix, it's because the meta has changed a bit regarding starting items. Now I can get 2 wards and never get caught out of position pre level 6 but remember you coudl do this at anytime during the 3 seasons.

In the end of season 1 and preseason 2, I started playing akali in draft with the pots/ward/red elixir start and noone knew any counter plays against it because I was ungankable with the ward coverage.

I'm pretty sure it's not because of the patch that she seems a lot stronger. I think it's because you're playing against people who know how to play her and she's slowly becoming fotm.

I mean, NOONE would play akali without the double passive at level 1 pre patch so nothing has changed. If you were vsing akalis who didn't have the double passive then they were probably first time akali players. All the patch did for me was that I could add more spell pen into my rune page while giving up some ad runes. It's more of a mid game investment and it's not that big.

 

[Boken]

I take it all back, matchmaking is broken and stupid.

yo ur broken and stupid

Armour pen reds? That seems really cruddy. I mean her damage comes from procing Q, not E and auto attacking.

And akali's main weakness was getting ganked pre 6. It's not because of the hotfix, it's because the meta has changed a bit regarding starting items. Now I can get 2 wards and never get caught out of position pre level 6 but remember you coudl do this at anytime during the 3 seasons.

In the end of season 1 and preseason 2, I started playing akali in draft with the pots/ward/red elixir start and noone knew any counter plays against it because I was ungankable with the ward coverage.

I'm pretty sure it's not because of the patch that she seems a lot stronger. I think it's because you're playing against people who know how to play her and she's slowly becoming fotm.

I mean, NOONE would play akali without the double passive at level 1 pre patch so nothing has changed. If you were vsing akalis who didn't have the double passive then they were probably first time akali players. All the patch did for me was that I could add more spell pen into my rune page while giving up some ad runes. It's more of a mid game investment and it's not that big.

he says mpen
hybrid pen is pretty hot on her too
its not about the double passive, allowing her to run pen marks increases her damage
and its not a "midgame" investment. It's better or comparable for every level except level 1/2. she does plenty of magic damage in laning, 10% increase in that damage is comparable to the extra damage from the AP/AD runes. then afterwards, the pen adds way more than them

 

[zkylon]

Armour pen reds? That seems really cruddy. I mean her damage comes from procing Q, not E and auto attacking.

? Where did I say armor pen reds?

Anyways, probably you're right about the starting items, but really, before this patch I played against dozens of Akalis and I almost always ended up ahead. Deny pre-6 and prepare for the damage spike. Right now I just can't. The damage is just too much, I'm buying all defensive (like literally a giant belt with lux) and she still can burst me down.

And she's like in every single fucking match, it's just too damn annoying.

he says mpen
hybrid pen is pretty hot on her too
its not about the double passive, allowing her to run pen marks increases her damage
and its not a midgame investment. she does heaps of magic damage in laning, 10% increase in that damage is comparable to the extra damage from the AP/AD runes

Yup, it's crazy, but she seems a lot stronger now.

Really in a week I went from grinning to throwing my arms in the air when I see her.

Either I'm having really bad luck or the patch really boosted her up.

 

[Boken]

? Where did I say armor pen reds?

Anyways, probably you're right about the starting items, but really, before this patch I played against dozens of Akalis and I almost always ended up ahead. Deny pre-6 and prepare for the damage spike. Right now I just can't. The damage is just too much, I'm buying all defensive (like literally a giant belt with lux) and she still can burst me down.

And she's like in every single fucking match, it's just too damn annoying.

Though I think lux does pretty alright v akali, it's just easier for the akali to own your ass

chalice is the greatest item you can get, whats a giants belt?

 

[Ken]

Well, I'm installing Dota2.

 

[Boken]

Well, I'm installing Dota2.

ill miss you

 

[Neki]

ill miss you

installing SC2

 

[dimb]

Well, I'm installing Dota2.

Whoops.

 

[Boken]

installing SC2

yo lets practice 1v1

Whoops.

Figures it was your fault

u probably played top on hit ap lulusejuani

 

[dimb]

Figures it was your fault

u probably played top on hit ap lulusejuani

No...it was Twitch again.

 

[Boken]

No...it was Twitch again.

u were the core of our 4 support 1 adc team man

 

[Ferrio]

Well, I'm installing Dota2.

Good, maybe we'll have enough for an inhouse now. The bots... they no work so well with humans.

 

[Ferga]

I misread.

 

[PhillipCostigan]

I has Dota 2 installed but nobody to play with/teach me.

Add me on Steam: nemesisND1derboy

 

[SafeinSound]

I've have Dota2 for so long, but still haven't installed it. It just doesn't look very good to me.