[TL R&D] T.R.O.L.L.S. - Page 48

Skill Order: QWQE R>Q>W>E
Primary Items: Philo Stone, Kage's, Sightstone
Secondary Items: Deathcap, Shurelya's, Crucible, Shard, Tear
Abilities:

• Heightened Learning: Beyond simply assuring that his team will generally have a level advantage, the exp boost gives all his lanes the potential to hit level 6 first. This provides a potential timing for a sudden kill.
  
• Time Bomb: When cast one bomb at a time this is a very sustainable and deadly form of harass. The high base damage and potent scaling makes Zilean one of the hardest hitting harass supports in the game, and also a good source of wave clear later.
  
• Rewind: More bombs, slows, and ultimates. This is why you make sure you cap CDR on Zilean.
  
• Time Warp: Speeding up a lane ganking jungler, slowing down an out of place opponent, helping a carry escape to safety. There are a plethora of applications for this ability. This is actually longest duration CC in the entire game, clocking in at 5.5 seconds, and with CDR Zilean can keep it up permanently.
  
• Chronoshift: The reason to use Zilean in any role. Having a GA available for every team fight is incredibly powerful, especially as it's independent of maximum health. With maximum CDR and back to back Rewinds, it has an effective cooldown of a mere 30 seconds.

Best AD Carries:

• Twitch: The amount of early pressure this pair can put down is absolutely brutal, and having a get out of jail free card for Twitch later is extremely valuable.
  
• Graves: A tanky AD carry combined with a revive is extremely difficult to deal with.
  
• Kog'maw: Let's be clear, any hard carry with a revive every teamfight is difficult to deal with. Zilean's ability to help Kog'maw from getting overwhelmed by a hard push is also useful.
  
• Tristana: Having a revive available for overly gung-ho Tristana players is a literal life-saver. Zilean's strong mid-game, even as a support, helps make up for Tristana's lack of one.
  
• Jayce: Stacking movement speed boosts is fun, and slowed targets are easy targets for Shock Blast.

Notes: Like Nasus, Zilean needs capped CDR to truly realize his potential. Unlike Nasus, he also needs a lot of mana and mana regeneration to support his spell usage. Acquiring some considerable amount of AP is also desirable as it greatly increases the potency of his ultimate, clear, and harass.

Skill Order: WEQ R>E>W>Q
Primary Items: Philo Stone, Sightstone, Locket
Secondary Items: Shurelya's, Zeke's, Aegis
Abilities:

• Soul Eater: As a support this passive isn't particularly amazing. However, it does give Nasus some extra survivability when slugging it out in a skirmish.
  
• Soul Siphon: Because this is an auto-attack reset Nasus can potentially eat an opponent's brush wards if his AD is nearby and prepared. While support Nasus will never be able to stack this ability as much as when he solos or jungles, he should still take every reasonable opportunity to stack its damage. Last-hitting wards does stack Q, so acting as a ward hunter is beneficial for support Nasus.
  
• Wither: The most powerful Attack Speed slow in the game, even at low ranks. Because of this ability's strength and long duration it is imperative that Nasus quickly cap CDR. At 40% CDR and rank 5 Wither there is a mere 1.6 second gap between them, making it difficult or impossible for any AD carry without Cleanse or QSS to contribute to a fight. It is also an insanely effective counter to movement speed boosts.
  
• Spirit Fire: This ability does a lot of damage and provides the single largest flat armor reduction debuff in the game. It's this ability which makes pairing heavy physical damage dealing carries with Nasus ideal. It is extremely important that Spirit Fire be placed in such a way as to maximize the time the enemy spends within it. When Wither is on a target it is better to spend a couple seconds closing the distance; this gives you the greatest degree of freedom when placing it, while also aligning with the most potent moments of Wither.
  
• Fury of the Sands: Do not underestimate the power of a sudden chunk of bonus health, AoE %Health damage, and an ever increasing AD buff. It might not be self-apparent, but this ultimate allows Nasus to engage the opposing duo with an aggressiveness that only Alistar can safely duplicate.

Best AD Carries:

• Miss Fortune: The combination of Wither + Make It Rain with Spirit Fire and Bullet Time is absolutely devastating both in lane and in teamfights.
  
• Twitch: Wither gives Twitch more than ample time to apply his passive, and Expunge + Spirit Fire is extremely painful. Spray and Pray is also devastating when all of Twitch's targets are in Spirit Fire.
  
• Graves: His instantaneous, high damage AoE burst damage can be thrown down before his opponents can exit Spirit Fire. Wither buys him the time he needs for his passive to stack.
  
• Draven: When it comes to physical damage, no one has more than Draven. So long as Draven unloads everything while his opponents are still in Spirit Fire (and doesn't knock them out of it with E), they will melt.
  
• Caitlyn: Wither can't set up her traps, but Spirit Fire will let her practically one shot a creep wave with her Q.
  
• Urgot: Wither into Noxious Charge is unavoidable, and extremely deadly.
  
• Jayce: A Withered target will not only be stuck in Spirit Fire, but will be extremely easy to hit with Shock Blast.

Notes: I can't emphasis enough how important CDR is to Nasus. The difference between no CDR and capped CDR is night and day.

Skill Order: QEQW R>Q>W>E
Primary Items: Bloodthirster, Brutalizer
Secondary Items: Black Cleaver, Last Whisper, Warmog's Armor, Infinity Edge

Best Supports::

• Leona: Her ability to lock down a target gives Jayce ample time to set up a Shock Blast -> all-in, and his acceleration gate can greatly help her initiation.
  
• Taric: His stun and armor shred is a perfect setup for a Shock Blast -> all-in. The sustain he brings and beneficial auras are icing on the cake.
  
• Alistar: The combination of not one, but two displacement abilities is extremely nasty for both engaging and disengaging.
  
• Zilean: Throwing a bomb on Jayce's head as he zooms headlong into a heavily harassed opponent, followed by a revive in case of emergency, is a thing of beauty.
  
• Nasus: It's impossible to dodge Shock Blast when Withered, and oh do they hurt when you have zero armor.

Abilities excluded in favor of simply discussing such matters in the Notes section.

Notes: Jayce does not fit the standard AD carry paradigm. Unlike almost every other AD carry, Attack Speed is largely an irrelevant stat for him. Instead, Jayce derives an incredible amount of power from CDR. With capped CDR Jayce's Cannon-W is roughly equivalent to a 130% Attack Speed steroid (without accounting for the increased damage). In many ways it is superior to such a steroid, as Jayce can burst an opponent with four quick attacks, disengage, and then reengage once the cooldown returns. Combined with his built-in speed boosts and above average (for an AD carry) movement speed, Jayce can afford to completely ignore AS/Movement itemization vital to other AD carries.

Jayce excels as an AD who can largely protect himself. His Hammer-Q -> Hammer-W combo on an adjacent target slows them and creates distance simultaneously (while also doing significant damage). Switching back to Cannon mode gives him a 25% Armor/MR reduction on the aggressor, which assures that the incoming burst will hurt like hell. With capped CDR this pattern can be repeated every 3.6 seconds, putting all but the most dogged of opponents in an impossible position.

Jayce's primary weakness is mana, but then other prominent ADs are also common recipients of Blue buff (Ezreal, Urgot). Jayce also works best with aggressive supports who can create space for Jayce to harass and farm.

Skill Order: QEW R>W>E>Q
Primary Items: Bloodthirster, Infinity Edge
Secondary Items: Blade of the Ruined King, Phantom Dancer, Last Whisper

Best Supports::

• Leona: Nami's sustain makes up for Leona's primary weakness, and it's extremely easy to follow up Leona's CC with Nami's. This super-heavy CC combination should be able to punish a large variety of lanes.
  
• Thresh: Any successful hook should essentially be a kill given proper coordination. The sheer amount of CC in this lane should make it an easy gank even for oddball junglers who have no CC or even gap closers.
  
• Alistar: Nami's speed boost, slow from her autos, and (again) chain CC makes this a frightening lane. The double sustain combo should also make it extremely resilient.
  
• Sona: Double poke, double sustain. Nami's CC makes up for Sona's lake thereof, and she can easily help keep Sona out of danger.

Abilities excluded in favor of simply discussing such matters in the Notes section.

Notes: Nami lacks any true AD steroid or scaling, but her base Attack Speed and level scaling are decent. While she won't be terrible late game, she won't be able to match the power of late-game carries. As a result she, like Ashe, relies heavily on utility to be useful later, whatever her item build.

Nami's built in sustain makes her strong with supports lacking it, and her CC complements her support's. A Nami lane should thus be played aggressively, wearing down opponents until an opportunity arises for an all-in.

Skill Order: QWE R>Q>W>E
Primary Items: Bloodthirster, Infinity Edge
Secondary Items: Last Whisper, Warmog's Armor, Mercurial Scimitar
Abilities:

• Damnation: This ability essentially gives Thresh the highest base Armor of any potential AD in the game. Moreover, each soul increases the damage from his auto-attacks by a significant amount. The AP is just icing on the cake.
  
• Death Sentence: The primary benefit of this ability is its AD steroid. 200% of Thresh's total AD is a huge amount of burst damage even without the addition of all the souls he's collected. Even when attacking continuously a significant % of Thresh's AD is still added to his damage, resulting in very significant damage against his target.
  
  The hook is also extremely useful. Thresh can initiate skirmishes in his lane for his support, setting up a Leona, Alistar, or other support, or following up their initiation. It also serves as a potential escape mechanism or as a way to buy time.
  
• Dark Passage: Thresh's Lantern is an excellent personal defense tool, especially when his passive is taken into account. Its uses to pull allies to him for both offensive and defensive maneuvers are well-documented. An AD that brings a built-in Locket to his team is a valuable asset.
  
• Flay: While not as impressive as some other distance-creating abilities, Flay augments Thresh's tankiness by helping him lock down or lock out opponents.
  
• The Box: Thresh's ultimate is an incredible tool for self-peeling. A would-be diver can trip multiple walls attempting to reach Thresh, who then still has Flay to continue to keep them at bay. Its damage is also significant, especially if multiple walls are encountered.

Best Supports:

• Blitzcrank: No team in their right mind should let you get both Blitzcrank and Thresh, but those who are foolish enough to do so will suffer for it.
  
• Lulu: Her shields and health boosts work well with Thresh's passive. Together they present an almost unassailable combination.
  
• Leona: Paired with Thresh, it's neither safe for the carry to stand near their creeps, nor away from their creeps.
  
• Taric: His Armor aura paired with Thresh's shield makes them both nearly impossible to kill.
  
• Sona: Her harass and sustain paired with the threat of Thresh helps keep both of them safe.

Notes: Like Jayce, Thresh is perfectly happy forgoing Attack Speed itemization. He's more than content to simply wallop whatever tanky champion comes too close and then finish them off. If an enemy squishy is caught his massive burst damage from Q's passive is practically a guarantee they will die. His combination of damage and tankiness is so potent he can 1v1 an AP Tryndamere through his ultimate. Diving Thresh alone simply doesn't work the way it does against other carries.

Thresh's self-peel is also excellent against multiple targets, and in some situations he can even use his Q to reach
safety. Thresh's autonomy makes him a huge asset to his team, though he can't carry quite as hard as a Vayne or Kog'maw. Of all AD champions, he arguably bring the most to a level 1 team fight with his hook.

Thresh's notable weakness is his lack of defenses against AP assassins and his lack of mobility. He can be overwhelmed when out of position, and burst down by a clever AP. This is one of the reasons why Mercurial Scimitar is an extremely strong item for him, especially in conjunction with his shield. Making certain there is a Runic Bulwark on the team to help defend Thresh against AP champions is important. Still, his "come at me" playstyle is very strong in this era of heavy dive champions like Xin and Vi.

Skill Order: QEQW R>Q>E>W
Primary Items: Spirit of the Spectral Wraith, Tear, Haunting Guise, Seeker's Armguard
Secondary Items: Zhonya's Hourglass, Deathfire Grasp, Void Staff

Abilities excluded in favor of simply discussing such matters in the Notes section.

Notes: Jungle Karthus is arguably most reasonable AP jungler outside of Jungle Akali. With Spell Vamp quints he sustains extremely well through his first clear, and can even clear with relative ease if his Blue is stolen thanks to the efficiency of his Q. Invasion in his early levels is his biggest threat, but he quickly reaches a point where escape is not only possible, but unnecessary in the face of his extremely powerful and spammable Lay Waste.

Karthus' ganks are actually frightening. Wall of Pain has 1000 range, far more than champion vision, allowing him to initiate a gank from out of sight. This makes him exceptional at ganking mid-lane champions, particularly those whose only escape is Flash. The duration of the slow is 5 seconds, as much as Wither, which means a lot of easy to aim Lay Wastes and plenty of opportunity for your ally to pick up the fact that they should be murdering something.

Jungle Karthus is best used to either bait out a would-be counter-pick, or to provide an AP carry in team compositions with a bruiser/AD assassin mid. Coupling him with a blue-hungry mid is nothing short of a fatal error.

In dire circumstances Karthus can forgo Tear of the Goddess and max W before E. This results in less damage but better utility, and much less mana drained in protracted fights. This can also be done in times of plenty if you believe your AP and penetration will make up for reduced Defile damage.

This showed considerable promise in last week's testing. While the matchup and execution thereof didn't make it definitive, the potential for Sejuani as a top laner should be examined.

Skill Order: QWE R>W>Q>E
Primary Items: Warmog's Armor, Locket
Secondary Items: Haunting Guise, Aegis/Bulwark, Sunfire Cape, Randuin's Omen, Spirit Visage, Rylai's, Void Staff
Abilities:

• Frost: Not as amazing as a Frozen Mallet, but useful nonetheless.
  
• Arctic Assault: Sejuani's gap closer/escape. The cooldown is nearly halved by rank 5, making it a priority to max this second. Note that it applies Frost, and your escape can be blocked as it stops upon collision with an enemy champion.
  
• Northern Winds: This is Sejuani's core ability. Its Health -> Damage ratio is based on rank, making it important to max this first. A Frosted target takes 396 + 18% of Sejuani's Maximum Health in damage over the duration, making it hard for any opponent to win in an extended trade.
  
• Permafrost: The slow's efficacy increases greatly with rank, but little else improves significantly. While a very valuable skill it's arguably the least important to rank up.
  
• Glacial Prison: An incredible initiation tool or gank assist. Sejuani can suddenly dive forward with Arctic Assault and launch this long range stun, or simply dive headlong into the enemy team herself before firing it point blank. Combined with Permafrost as soon as the stun fades, Sejuani is a strong initiator.

Notes: It's important to Sejuani to make every trade an extended one. Brief, fleeting trades hurt her significantly. For this reason Sejuani should hold onto her Q whenever dealing with opponents who possess an escape, so that she can close on them and punish them for trading.

Notes: In the past we played around with the Hook composition, consisting of Darius Top, Diana Mid, Nautilus Jungle, Thresh AD, and Blitz Support. It was obnoxious, but brittle in the face of bans and counter-picks. However, the possibility of expanding the notion out into an Abduction composition (which has fallen by the way side) came up in discussion.

The most important pick for this strategy is Thresh, as he can literally play any role while still fitting into the composition. All other picks are essentially optional, but should consist of a balance between isolating an opponent and preventing the opposing team from rushing to their rescue. As such, potential picks include (but are not limited to):

• Solo A: Darius, Singed, Lee Sin
  
• Solo B: Diana, Orianna, Anivia, Gragas, Ahri
  
• Jungle: Nautilus, Volibear, Lee Sin, Hecarim, Skarner
  
• Support: Blitz, Alistar, Janna
  
• AD: Tristana, Vayne, Jayce, Urgot

Some key champions to ban or counter-pick include Kayle, Lulu, Shen, Thresh or any other champion who excels at saving an isolated ally.

Baron spawns at 15:00, but is rarely taken before 25:00. For an objective worth so much, it should be worthwhile to try and force it early. This strategy would work well as part of an overall strategy where early towers are prioritized. If all or most of an opponent's outer towers are down before 15:00, Baron control can be established.

There should be a concerted effort on the part of the jungler, top, and mid to clear the baron area of wards around 12:30-13:00. Getting rid of vision well before Baron spawns should keep opponents uncertain. Clearing wards right before Baron spawns without any previous provocation is a dead giveaway

Because 15:00 comes up quickly, all champions involved will tend to get more out of their skills than their items. For this reason champions whose skills provide them significant damage or sustain are the most critical. For this reason a champion like Kog'maw or Vayne, whose Ws provide significant damage on a stationary target, are better than Tristana or Graves despite the powerful attack speed steroids on the former pair.

Notes: We will be avoiding lane swapping again this week, even when it seems an obvious choice. The goal is to put our best three side lane AP carries through their paces when facing an opposing duo.

And screw you Monte, I'll play Tristana if I want!

AP Carries:

• Ryze: Pair him with Soraka, Alistar, Leona, or Lulu. These supports all have some wave clear to make up for Ryze's lack thereof, and either sustain or the ability to follow up on his root.
  
• Cassiopeia: Pair her with Soraka, Blitzcrank, Sona, Lulu, or Zyra. These supports give her the space or sustain she needs to function, and/or combo well with her ultimate.
  
• Annie: Pair her with Lulu, Alistar, Sona, Zyra, or Leona. These supports capitalize on Tibbers and increase the intense pressure Annie brings to a lane.

Future Options: We will likely examine further champions in the future, after we've completed our further examination of these big three. Some Examples:

• Xerath: Because his damage is practically all based on Q his side lane scaling is decent. This also frees him from his early wave clear problems. His extreme range and dangerous ultimate can shut down almost any AD if he gets a lead.
  
• Teemo: His blind and auto-attack passive essentially ensure he'll win trades with almost any AD, and he has significant AP scaling through his auto-attacks.
  
• Mordekaiser is a potential option. With a sustain support that also brings pushing power, he can continuously force his opponents to their tower to last-hit.

Again, these options are only for future consideration and will not be used this week.

It's been verified that this is a tough composition to play against, although execution errors were arguably to blame. However, you can't expect a run of the mill ranked 5s team to handle the rush well. Despite that advantage, I'd like to examine alternatives to Heimerdinger that don't give away the composition.
Roles:

• Support (Push Type): These supports excel at supporting a push via wave clear and other means. The goal is to shove, and shove they will. (Soraka, Lulu, Zyra)
  
• Support (Catch Type): These supports are present for the sole purpose of pressuring the defenders. They may offer other benefits, but primarily their goal is to catch someone, kill them, and give their team the opportunity to push hard as a result. (Blitzcrank, Thresh)
  
• AP: Any AP champion in this composition must have exceptional wave clear at a minimum. Sustainability, utility, and zoning potential are also important attributes. (Twisted Fate, Lux, Ziggs)
  
• AD: Any AD should also have significant wave clear, and enough range to safely poke at the turret. Utility for catching or confusing opponents is a plus. (Caitlyn, Graves, Varus)
  
• Solo: One champion should be elsewhere in order to act as an additional threat to the defenders. Able to free farm and push, this champion should be a strong 1v1 champion who poses a significant threat if left alone. This champion should almost always have teleport and be capable of pushing hard. (Nasus, Jayce, Nidalee)
  
• Jungle: The jungler can actually act as a filler, but should err toward established or traditional-looking junglers to avoid suspicion. Wave clear, catch potential, and utility are important. (Cho'gath, Nocturne, Nautilus, Maokai)

Notes: Grabbing items such as Mana Manipulator and Emblem of Valor quickly is important to sustaining the push.