I’m starting up a new column, mostly because League of Legends is pretty slow during non-patch weeks, not counting the new champion ability posts. I really like writing about League of Legends but I needed a new focus so here we are. I’ll be choosing one champion each week as my Champ of the Week and playing that character significantly more than others and reporting on the experience. After my Cassiopeia post, I thought she would be a good place to start.

I’ll let you read through most of my initial thoughts there – no sense rehashing them. After a few games with her, my biggest problem is that her W is easy to land but low damage and her Q is difficult to land but really big damage, especially with a bit of AP. I know it makes sense – the higher damage should be harder to land – but it’s tough to know which spell to prioritize. Do I go for the cast with the highest potential damage or the reliable, albeit smaller damage?

For now, I’m rocking W after Twin Fang, just to get some reliable burst out of that combo. Later in the week I’m planning to try a build that relies very little on Twin Fang for damage. Hopefully my Noxious Blast skills will be to the point that I can make some use of them.

Check back throughout the week for more on Cassiopeia and in coming weeks for more Champ of the Week profiles.

There has been a lot of talk, and frankly a lot of action on Riot’s part, aimed at fixing the kiting/healing metagame that has become so popular. There are a lot of people, though, who would tell you it isn’t really a problem, just that the game has taken a shift and people haven’t quite figured out how to fight it. In a way, I think those people are right, at least when it comes to arranged team fights, but the kiting metagame is brutal in solo queue, which is why I think we see it so often.

Phreak recently responded to a post about kiting with the following advice:

The average matchmaking game doesn’t have everyone picking A-tier champions, as Janna and co. are. The average matchmaking game doesn’t have “perfect” team comps (tank, ranged dps, mage, support, support). This team relies heavily on Ashe’s ability to carry the game. Certainly Heimer can deal lots of damage, but it’s very inconsistent: Grenade can miss, Rockets may not hit champions, and the same with Turrets. Meanwhile his ultimate actually deals no damage.

Certainly you can make the case that the team comp revolves around Ashe very well: Heimer’s turrets, Janna, Alistar all can babysit her. However, I want to bring up a counter-example:

Amumu, Morgana, Fiddlesticks, Pirate, [insert champion]. Primarily this comp focuses on the first 3. Fiddlesticks + Black Shield is going to be able to easily Crowstorm onto the enemy team, Fear/Silence the Janna, and mop up all the squishies (Heimer, Ashe, Janna). While this is happening, Amumu and Morgana Ults keep everyone in place. The 2.5 seconds on Amumu lets Morgana finish her channel, and everyone’s just been stunned during the entirety of Crowstorm. Certainly all of Heimer’s turrets and Janna are dead at this point. The disables don’t do enough damage to punch through Black Shield, so Janna can’t bounce Fiddlesticks away with her ult. Great success! Pirate adds to the mix of course, etc.

Thing is, the 5man ultimate Press-R-And-Win was flavor all through late 2009. I’m surprised it hasn’t come back, because it seems to me that if you can kill everyone in 5 seconds, you win.

First, he makes some really valid points. When things go as he described, you’ll beat any kite team in basically any game. The problem, of course, is that things never go like that for anyone not in a 5-man premade, and even if you play it perfectly, there’s still the fact that the kite team could also be full of good players, in which case the likelihood of a perfectly timed Fiddle ult drops significantly (wards, CV, general map awareness).

The other point about kite teams is simply that they don’t have to be grouped up to be totally effective. In fact, they’re usually better off when they’re spread out, forcing you to take at least one extra teammate to ensure the kill (remember, kiters are great at escaping). The kiting comps are also made up of the best pushers in the game so when you leave lane to help other folks deal with the early game pain that a lot of kiters have (zoning, general lane control), you’re leaving your lane open to the push.

In the end, it takes crazy coordination to beat most kite comps, and that’s just not something you get in the average game. Hopefully draft mode will help some of this, but for the time being, kite comps are a safe and fairly easy way to guarantee yourself some wins.