Theory: Sustain Champions (S-Z)

It's the final installment of my overview of sustain. If nothing else this will serve as fodder for retrospectives when two or so years from now I feel like looking back at the way things once were. The game is always changing, but it's still worthwhile to stop and take stock from time to time.

Shen's sustain is extremely flexible. Leveled first it is a simultaneous harass, sustain, and last-hitting tool. That Shen is an energy champion means he can spam it indefinitely, either to whittle down his opponent or mark targets so he can heal himself. Later in the game the heal is largely forgotten, but can still be notable when his team is focusing a target.

Skarner's sustain ability is largely considered his worst. While the heal can be notable when leveled, Skarner's priorities lie in his other abilities. By the time he gets around to leveling his sustain it's no longer worth mentioning.

Sona was the queen of sustain when she was released, and though she's received many nerfs since she's still one of the few supports with a viable spell for sustaining allies. Because her heal is inefficient unless both she and her ally need healing Sona tends to be picked primarily for her harass and offensive buffs. Still, her ability to sustain and defend when all else fails is a big part of what makes her viable.

Soraka is synonymous with sustain. Even though it's been repeatedly nerfed her heal is still one of the first abilities to come to mind when the word "sustain" enters a discussion. Soraka essentially is sustain, her kit is designed to do little else. Despite having few other strengths Soraka's sustain alone is enough to get her banned in tournaments.

Swain is the only sustain champion who has no sustain outside of his ultimate. However, Swain is still known for his sustain because of just how powerful that ultimate is. The three birds that constantly damage opponents during his ultimate also heal him for significant amounts, giving him incredible sustain in lane and durability in team fights. That it has barely any cooldown is just icing on the cake. A Swain with Blue buff is essentially invincible unless ignited or focused down.

Taric is known more for his laning offense and auras than his sustain. However, his heal remains a crucial part of his kit as a frontline support. Taric's heal will always heal him for at least as much as it heals an ally, and can be used with increased effectiveness on himself if necessary. It's this self-sustain, combined with his strong armor, that allows Taric to keep threatening his opponents with his stun.

Trundle has one of the most interesting, yet only mildly effective, sustain passives in the game. He gains a % of the maximum health of any enemy unit that dies in his presence, including minions, champions, and monsters. He doesn't even have to be the one killing them, he only has to be nearby. In a teamfight where multiple enemies with thousands of health die, Trundle can easily heal for hundreds of health. In the lane the constant stream of dying minions provides effective Hp5 for Trundle. However, the values are never high enough for Trundle's sustain to be that strong without items to supplement it.

Tryndamere's sustain ability simultaneously grants him healing and offense. Each rank in the ability gives him AD that scales with how much health he's lost, and healing that scales with how much Fury he's accrued. It can be used without any Fury whatsoever as well, a fact which encouraged many Tryndamere players to actually use AP runes and items for laning sustain. Tryndamere uses his sustain to survive until he has farmed enough to carry his team.

Udyr uses his sustain to bully his lane opponents or emerge from the jungle a full health, tanky monster. The combination of a shield with both Life Steal and mana regeneration is extremely potent, allowing him to survive the killer offense of many top lane champions even with nominal ranks in the ability. It's this ability which gives him so much mid-game tankiness.

Vladimir has been nerfed numerous times, in part because of his strong offensive sustain. Though many of his abilities cost health, his principal ability and nuke costs nothing, rapidly reduces in cooldown, and most importantly heals. As a result Vladimir must be shut down early or else he quickly becomes abusive. That he also has a strong late-game makes him a double threat.

Warwick's combination of a sustain passive and nuke make him extremely difficult to wrest out of a lane. Unlike Vladimir his nuke at least costs mana, potentially limiting him against another sustaining opponent. Still, so long as it's safe for him to auto-attack minions he can still heal for substantial amounts without spending mana. This makes him very strong against attrition lanes and in the jungle.

Xin Zhao's passive heals him every third auto-attack. It's ideal for jungling, and gives him mana free sustain while laning. Unfortunately Xin Zhao's poor late-game scaling and lack of escapes makes it hard for him to convert his sustain into an advantage for his team.

Yorick is the poster-child for abusive sustain. His ranged harass is highly spammable, heals him, spawns a ghoul for extra damage and healing, and even reduces the damage he takes. Diving into him results in a flurry of angry ghouls and minions. Because of his laning strength Yorick is an ideal champion for shutting down opponents or playing 1v2.

That's all of them. I wasn't able to go quite into the level of detail I wanted, but such are the limits of this sort of format. Hopefully this exercise has been informative and not too dry.

Quote: On Feeding

"Feeders are the geniuses of the game because only a player as intelligent as we could fake such stupidity."

-Bill Cosby

Theory: Sustain Champions (I-R)

Without further ado, the second installment of the sustain champion analysis.

Irelia, like Dr. Mundo, is one of the few champions with two forms of sustain. The "better nerf Irelia" meme came about in part because of this. Despite many nerfs she remains a threat if allowed to farm, and her sustain tools are still potent. Maxing her W first makes it hard to trade with her except in short bursts, as any prolonged engagement favors her true damage and passive healing. Once she has her ultimate she can heal for very significant amounts off of creep waves, and the cooldown is short enough to do so every other wave. She may not be quite the monster she once was, but her sustain and carry potential still make her strong.

Karma remains the outcast support for a number of reasons, and her iffy sustain is one of them. While Q's healing has incredible potential late-game, it's extremely weak early on when champion health pools are low. Combined with mana costs and a dependency on Mantra, Karma has significant problems sustaining either herself or an ally.

Kayle is not known for her sustain, but her heal is still an important part of her kit. It is what allows her to emerge from her first jungle clear with full health, and provides her a notable edge in laning. However, Kayle rarely maxes this first or even second unless she's behind and forced to fall back on a pure support role.

Lee Sin has the most incredibly multipurpose sustain ability in the game. Not only does his W provide Life Steal and Spell Vamp, but also provides a shield, an escape/gap closer, and an Armor bonus. Because both his Q and E can be extremely effective even at low ranks, Lee Sin can easily invest in W against tough lane opponents. Lee Sin won't max W first in the jungle, but between his W and his E he has few sustain problems even before Wriggle's.

Maokai's passive gives him the sustain he needs to survive both the jungle and teamfights. While healing for 7% of maximum health every few spell casts may not seem like much, over the course of a clear or skirmish it can add up to a lot of health. Combined with his ultimate he becomes deceptively tanky even with only a handful of items.

Master Yi's sustain ability is unique in that no other sustain ability restricts the champion so completely. While Fiddlestick's Drain is similar it still serves an offensive purpose. However, this does not make the ability weak. If uninterrupted Master Yi can heal for incredible amounts, and is nearly impossible to kill while channeling. However, the ability's long cooldown means it must be used carefully; any interruption puts Master Yi at a potentially deadly disadvantage.

Morgana is an infamous sustain champion. Her passive gives her Spell Vamp which scales with her level, and she only needs to cast one spell to clear a creep wave. This combination allows her to absorb harass and farm indefinitely, using her Black Shield to escape any gank attempts. Morgana wins her lanes both by attrition and by being a huge teamfight threat later in the game. Few AP champions enjoy laning against her.

Nasus has the only passive in the game which grants Life Steal, but still requires significant help from items in order to lane. While starting with more Life Steal than a Vampiric Scepter sounds amazing, Nasus has conflicted priorities between his desire to last-hit with Q and his need to sustain by auto-attacking. Ultimately his passive puts him ahead in his strong matchups, but does little to help him against his counters.

Nidalee's heal is notable in that it is the only heal which doubles as an offensive steroid. As a result, most of her early laning harass is actually from auto-attacks. The heal itself has been nerfed a number of times, but is still strong and a part of what makes Nidalee so difficult to pin down and kill.

Nocturne's passive is almost exclusively designed for jungling. In a laning situation it will sustain him, but inevitably pushes the lane as well. While it scales with Attack Speed Nocturne does not go out of his way to itemize around his passive; it's simply too situational outside of jungling. For jungling, however, it gives him the sustain and damage needed to clear quickly and safely throughout the game.

Nunu's Consume was legendary in the old jungle for its counter-jungling potential. Today it's simply a situational sustain tool. Most of the time Nunu's priorities will be on maxing his W and E as those provide far better support, ganking, and teamfight utility. However, AP Nunu is practically impossible to kill in lane without outside interference because of his combination of harass and healing.

Olaf is another infamous sustain champion. Whether maxing his Q or E first Olaf has incredible offensive potential which enhances his Life Steal/Spell Vamp combination. Because it can be so dangerous to stand near Olaf it's easy for him to auto-attack creeps and heal. Olaf is a clear case where a little sustain combined with another strong point can lead to an extremely strong lane.

Renekton abuses opponents in lane by dashing to them, stunning them, and then healing for a significant amount off both them and their minions with his Q as he walks/dashes away. With no mana costs worth mentioning, Renekton can sustain himself so long as he can safely Q his opponent and/or their minions. While there's a cap, it hardly matters when the ability has only an 8 second cooldown.

We're nearing the end of the overview/analysis of sustain champions. Many of these champions could easily be worthy of their own dedicated posts detailing how their sustain interacts with their other abilities to make them strong. That's sadly out of scope for this style of post, but hopefully there's some good information to glean regardless.

Theory: Sustain Champions (A-H)

Today I'll be covering the first 13 out of 39 notable sustain champions. There's more to say about some than others, so don't be surprised when one champion gets multiple paragraphs while another only gets a few lines.

Ahri's passive is a complicated place to start, but is fairly simple in practice. Every ability she uses generates up to 3 charges based on the number of targets she hits, and at 9 charges her next ability gains 35% Spell Vamp. Practically speaking this means Ahri has bonus Spell Vamp on every fourth ability cast.

At first this might seem weak, but the condition is there to make up for the passive's high value and usability. It's quick and easy for Ahri to hit an entire creep wave with her Q, and her W is considered a single-target ability for the purposes of Spell Vamp. 35% is also a very large amount of Spell Vamp, especially during the crucial early game. Ahri's passive, when used properly, is a large part of what makes her strong in lane and in team fights.

Akali's passive grants her 8% Spell Vamp upon reaching 9.5 bonus AD, and an additional 1% for every 6 AD thereafter. Typically Akali players use Flat AD Marks to activate this part of her passive, as buying AD items on an AP assassin is extremely inefficient.

While 8% Spell Vamp isn't a lot, Akali's infinite energy allows her to spam her abilities and reap the healing rewards. Her damage is also primarily single-target, meaning she doesn't suffer the AoE Spell Vamp penalty. Because her sustain and resources are both free she can trade unfavorably with opponents and still end up ahead in the long run.

Alistar is better known for his crowd control, but his healing spell is a very important part of his kit. It's an incredibly efficient self-heal and critical to mitigating the damage that Alistar inevitably takes as a jungler or frontline support. That his heal also heals allies and doubles as a pushing tool is icing on the cake.

Cho'gath is the first champion whose passive sustain is predicated upon last-hitting. With perfect last-hitting he can heal for as much as 200 health per creep wave even at level 1. The scaling of this passive is weak, but that high base value makes Cho'gath practically immovable during the laning phase.

However, Cho'gath's early-game offensive potential is fairly limited in many matchups, and his late-game is primarily about disruption. Despite being a defensive fortress he's a rare pick because he can't suppress or outscale most opponents.

Dr. Mundo is one of the few champions who can be said to have two forms of sustain. His passive provides him with significant Hp5, and his ultimate is on a surprisingly low cooldown. The longer the game goes on the better Mundo's sustain gets, up to a fairly ridiculous point if you ever complete his trifecta of Warmog's Armor, Force of Nature, and Spirit Visage.

Fiddlesticks' Drain is so potent he can sustain himself with only one or two ranks in the ability. It is also one of the few sustain abilities which can be interrupted by CC or movement. This makes Drain a very binary ability; if uninterrupted Fiddlesticks can be extremely hard to kill, but if there's CC on the field he can easily die while waiting on his cooldown to return.

Fiora's passive is clearly designed for lane trading and sustain, but it's very weak. At 7+Level healing over 6 seconds the edge granted by this ability is very small. Even four stacks, obtained by attacking a champion, will only grant 100 total healing at level 18. In the end it's nothing to write home about.

Galio is well known for being a counter to AP champions, and a large part of that is his Bulwark. Bulwark turns the incidental damage from minions into significant healing, up to five times the tooltip value depending on how many hits he takes. With just a single rank and a little MR/AP Galio can heal for hundreds of health. This makes him a monster of attrition, and his high base mana regen allows him to perpetually farm with or without blue buff.

Gangplank has the infamous CC breaking oranges for his sustain. The dual-purpose of this ability makes it a double-edged sword; spamming it for sustain leaves Gangplank vulnerable to CC. However, leveling this first is a well known stopgap tactic when facing an unfavorable lane. With 360 healing at rank 5, Gangplank can survive almost any lane.

Garen's passive is a significant contributor to his love of bushes. Because he must avoid taking damage in order to prevent his Hp5 passive from dropping, bushes are an extremely safe place for him to hide. So long as it's active Garen's passive is far stronger than Mundo's, but in practice even bushes can't keep Garen's passive up consistently. In the end Garen isn't known for his sustain, but for his signature battlecry.

Gragas is often forgotten amongst the sustain champions; few people even realize that's what his passive does. While 2% of his maximum health in healing when he uses abilities seems weak, it adds up quickly when he has blue buff. Combined with the innate damage reduction from his W, Gragas can be difficult to push out of lane.

Hecarim's Spirit of Dread is perhaps the most interesting sustain ability in the game. All damage done to champions within the area of affect heals Hecarim for a %. The cap on healing from minions and monsters is there to prevent abuse, as otherwise the ability would effectively be 30% free Life Steal and Spell Vamp. Still, it functions that way when fighting champions, making Hecarim incredibly hard to kill in duels or teamfights. While it shouldn't be leveled first when jungling, laning Hecarims often grab it first to play aggressively and crush their opponents.

Heimerdinger is perhaps the most dubious mention on the entire list. While the 10-25 Hp5 his passive grants to him and any nearby allies does count as sustain, he has no way to capitalize on it. Like Fiora, it's a slight advantage and better than nothing, but does little to amplify Heimerdinger's strengths or compensate for his weaknesses.

Tomorrow the analysis will continue with letters I through R. This is going to take some time, so bear with me.

Theory: Sustain Champions (Preface)

There's a lot to cover on the subject of sustain champions. More than a third of all champions have an ability or passive which gives them sustain. The sheer number and variety of sustain abilities, combined with how they interact with their specific champions, makes tackling this subject a monstrous undertaking.

Champions also feature a different sustain type not seen on runes or items, healing. Most healing abilities are on-demand, making them much more flexible than other forms of sustain. Combined with AP ratios and CDR, healing abilities can scale powerfully into the late game. Healing can also often useable on allies, something no other form of sustain can do. Healing is one of the final pieces of the sustain puzzle, and I'll discuss it further as we examine more closely the nature of sustain on champions.

Despite my insistence that sustain is a critical asset for any champion, the astute will have realized from some of my earlier statements that the majority of champions have none. Many of the champions with sustain only have it in small amounts or must wait for their ultimates. Strong sustain is actually fairly rare on champions, and even champions who possess it typically have to sacrifice damage or other utility to level it. While good sustain is a significant boon to a champion, it is neither sufficient nor necessary for a champion to be viable.

It is the ability to capitalize on sustain which sets champions apart. The champions best known for their sustain are those who can convert their sustain advantage into a greater advantage for their team. Laning champions either use sustain to go on the offensive, whittling down their opponent in successive trades before going for the kill, or to play defensively, holding out until their champion's superior late-game carries their team. It's similar for junglers, gankers want to maintain high health so they can gank anywhere, anytime without a second thought, while farmers need sustain to be safe within their own jungle. Without specialties, strengths, and opportunities to apply them, sustain is little more than a convenience.

There are so many champions to cover that forcing them all into one post wouldn't give them the attention they deserve. As such I'll be splitting it up into three or four additional posts, sorted alphabetically. Apologies to Yorick fans, but you won't get my thoughts on him for a number of days.

Quote: On Duo Queue

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single player in possession of a good Elo must be in want of a duo queue partner."

-Jane Austen

Thought: Server Issues

It's been approximately one week since I've been able to play without login queues, lag, disconnections and the like. I thought I'd weigh in on the topic.

Obviously as a player being unable to play the game is disappointing. I want to play on my schedule, and if the game is consistently unavailable I'm bound to grow restless. I personally will stick around regardless because I'm heavily invested in the game, but other players might take the opportunity to find something else to play.

Situations such as these represent a significant problem for companies looking to use the Internet itself as a form of DRM. Any time there is unexpected or inconvenient downtime player retention and opinion will suffer. Convincing players that they, and not the company's interests, are being served by games being online only is as of yet an unfulfilled challenge.

Riot isn't the only company that grapples with this issue; Blizzard has faced significant criticism for the extremely shaky launch of Diablo 3. Riot, however, has the advantage of a game which all but requires other people to play. So long as Riot resolves this problem soon it's unlikely they'll have any long term problems as a result.

Still, for a patch to cause such severe problems twice is a bad sign. It will be interesting an infuriating to see how much longer these matters take to resolve.

Quote: On Jungling

"If you want to be a jungler, my advice is to learn your routes and don't bump into the other players."

-Cary Grant

Quote: On Katarina

"You don't fight a fed Kat in the lane. I mean you might, but why?"

- Neil deGrasse Tyson

Theory: Sustain Items

I am remiss for taking so long to continue the sustain series, but at last I have compiled my thoughts on sustain items.

Sustain items differ from runes in that they lack purity of purpose. While most items only feature one type of sustain, they come with a plethora of other stats that complicate comparisons between them. Choosing sustain items is as much about their other benefits as it about the sustain itself.

Thankfully the various sustain items largely play to the strengths of their sustain type. Hp5 items tend to be focused on defenses because they scale well off each other. Life Steal items always feature attributes which benefit auto-attacking. Spell Vamp items generally feature AP as most champions interested in Spell Vamp have significant AP ratios. While certain choices will often be highly situational, few sustain items are completely useless.

Even though champions tend to clearly favor a specific sustain type, the diversity in what sustain items offer can make choosing between them difficult. As such, here are my thoughts on the major sustain items:

Hp5:

• Philosopher's Stone: A strong sustain item while laning, it turns into the excellent Shurelya's Reverie later in the game. It is likely the most common sustain item in the game. Later in the game it loses effectiveness due to its lack of defensive stats and the overwhelming damage that begins to surface.
• Doran's Shield: Extremely efficient for its cost, this is a good purchase for a harried champion needing a quick mix of defense and safe sustain. It's not a particularly good buy when you aren't at a disadvantage.
• Warmog's Armor: Bought more for its health than its Hp5, and rarely early. While 40 Hp5 is a lot, it pales in comparison to the damage being thrown around. It makes a big difference, however, when the enemy AP carry is out of mana or when another tanky champion is trying to take you down. It has very strong synergy with Force of Nature.
• Force of Nature: Easily provides 60-100 Hp5, depending on your health. Rarely an early buy as it is fairly weak without health, but later in the game it can make tanky champions seem unkillable. Combined with Warmog's you can often exit a teamfight within an inch of death only to return with enough health to clean up at the end.
• Randuin's Omen/Warden's Mail: Few remember that these items even have Hp5. Both are extremely effective for sustaining against AD opponents top lane due to the combination of armor, Hp5, and the passive proc, with bonus health and an active on Randuin's. That Randuin's is also the single best defense against AD carries is a big bonus.
• Locket of the Iron Solari/Emblem of Valor: Essentially a weaker Randuin's. Despite being designed for supports it is rarely bought during the laning phase due to its cost. It isn't a bad purchase later in the game for its active, but ultimately it's a fairly weak sustain item.

 Life Steal:

• Wriggle's Lantern: One of the most cost-efficient items in the game, and easily the second most common sustain item. However, it offers exactly the same sustain as a simple Vampiric Scepter. Because of this it's rarely bought as a second or third item as you're better off building something stronger.
• Doran's Blade: A very common buy for easier last hitting and a little sustain. A couple Doran's Blades provide nearly the same AD as Wriggle's Lantern for roughly half the cost, but at the same time only provide half the sustain. AD carries often prefer a couple of these to Wriggle's; they are effective immediately and help the AD carry rush toward their important items.
• Bloodthirster: Most commonly seen on specific AD carries or very fed bruisers with good AD scaling. The offensive potential of this item is unparalleled by any other Life Steal item. It is also expensive, and loses effectiveness if you frequently die.
• Executioner's Calling: A rare purchase, but extremely potent in lane because it combines sustain with anti-sustain. Many players underestimate the effectiveness of a pseudo-ignite on a 20 second cooldown. It's also a good item to have late-game against burst healing.
• Zeke's Herald: Typically purchased to give someone else sustain, this is a common mid-late game item and rarely seen during laning. Like many other aura items Zeke's is heavily undervalued by the community.
  
• Hextech Gunblade/Bilgewater Cutlass: Unfortunately, Hextech Gunblade gives exactly the same Life Steal as Bilgewater Cutlass, and only five more AD. Any champions interested primarily in Life Steal have little or no reason to upgrade to Gunblade. The lack of an upgrade path generally deters most from building Cutlass.

Spell Vamp:

• Hextech Revolver: A very cheap and efficient source of Spell Vamp, if you can make use of the AP. This is a very common buy on any AP bruiser or manaless AP champion.
• Will of the Ancients: The team oriented upgrade to Hextech Revolver. The personal benefit is somewhat limited, so most champions will hold onto Revolver until team fighting begins in earnest.
• Hextech Gunblade: The highly situational hybrid upgrade to Revolver. Very few champions make good use of this item's mixed attributes. On those that do, however, it's a viable alternative to Will of the Ancients. Gunblade is generally either rushed or saved until last in item builds.

Miscellaneous:

• Spirit Visage: Notable because it increases the effectiveness of all three sustain types by 15%. However, this rarely translates to more than 1-2% Life Steal/Spell Vamp or more than 20 Hp5, even in the late stages of the game. Spirit Visage therefore isn't taken for sustain, but for its synergy with massive self-healing abilities.

You should notice immediately that Spell Vamp has the most limited itemization of all the sustain types. There's no basic Spell Vamp item, and only two finished items to consider. This reflects Spell Vamp's late entry into the game's itemization. All three current Spell Vamp items were added roughly 9 months after launch, and none have been added since. Perhaps more Spell Vamp items will be added in the future, but for now Spell Vamp is significantly harder to obtain than other sustain types.

For Life Steal and Hp5 the variety of choices allows them to be more easily incorporated into a build or role. While not endlessly flexible there's a reasonable option for almost any scenario. Even in the worst case there are cheap, basic items to provide that sustaining edge. Whatever the situation these two types of sustain are readily available.

You may not always buy sustain items, but the difference they can make in a matchup or teamfight is significant. Whether it's in the disorganized chaos of low Elos or the drawn out epic engagements in higher rankings, sustain is a critical factor. Item-centric compositions like double-WotA didn't emerge for no reason.

I've learned from my hubris and will not guarantee when the next and final installment in this series on sustain will come. If I decide to discuss the various types of sustain champions bring to the table in the same detail as I did items it could be some time. Either way, look forward to it.

Quote: On Brains

"The brain is a wonderful organ; it starts working the moment you log in and does not stop until you get into solo queue."

 -Robert Frost

Quote: On Reading

"Half of all players have never read the patch notes. Half never played a ranked game. One hopes it is the same half."

-Gore Vidal

Quote: On Explanation

“If you can't explain it to a 900 Elo player, you don't understand it yourself.”

-Albert Einstein

Theory: Sustain Runes

Continuing with the topic of sustain, today I'll be examining sustain runes.

Up until recently there were actually very limited options for sustain runes. You either used flat Hp5 Quints or you didn't use sustain runes at all. The alternatives, flat Hp5 Seals/Glyphs and scaling Hp5 Quints, were too inefficient and ineffective to be serious options. It took the addition of Life Steal and Spell Vamp Quints to give players a reason to consider the possibilities of sustain runes again.

Before comparing sustain runes against one another, it's important to remember that they are also in competition with other rune types as well. To use sustain runes is to sacrifice potential offense, defense, or another form of utility. Though I'll be examining sustain runes only in the context of their peers, always keep in mind the opportunity costs of your choices.

Of the sustain runes, flat Hp5 rune are the safest option. A full set of flat Hp5 Quints heal for as much as a potion every minute and a half, a substantial amount during the early game. They are also effective in many situations where Life Steal and Spell Vamp are not, such as while hiding under a tower or camping brush. Overall flat Hp5 is stronger than its peers early on, but loses effectiveness as the game progresses.

Life Steal and Spell Vamp are not as safe as flat Hp5, but provide significant benefits later. For a laner these runes are risky because their early healing is half that of flat Hp5 unless you are in a position to auto-attack or spam spells, and drops to nothing if you get zoned. For a jungler flat Hp5 becomes more effective the moment you do anything outside of farm. However, Life Steal and Spell Vamp quickly outscale flat Hp5 as your damage increases, and their immediate returns are better during skirmishes and fights. Offense-oriented champions favor these runes for their mid and late-game power.

As examples, here are some situations where I use each type of rune:

• Flat Hp5: I typically use these when jungling Dr. Mundo. They allow me to start Boots and 3 potions and still gank. Flat Hp5 is preferable to Spell Vamp and Life Steal because it already heals slightly more than them while clearing the jungle, but also heals while traveling to lanes to gank or ward.
• Life Steal: These are my go to runes when I have to play an AD carry with a non-sustain support, especially when I'm against a lane which is likely to push and force me to auto-attack minions. I'll even start with a Doran's Blade, giving me a total of 12% Life Steal at the very outset. When simply last-hitting heals you for as much as a potion every minute it's not the end of the world to lane without them.
• Spell Vamp: Obviously I use them when playing jungle Akali for fun, but they're also useful on AP champions who can freely spam their spells (typically but not always resourceless champions). When I'm on a champion who's going to be running Revolver or WotA later, these are a prime choice for me.

Runes are only one part of the picture, but an important part. They can replace or augment other forms of sustain, and should always be considered when sustain is a concern. We'll touch on another facet tomorrow as the examination of sustain continues.

Theory: Sustain

Sustain is a critical issue for both laners and junglers, and over the next few days I'm going to be looking at this facet of the game in-depth. Today I'll be discussing why sustain itself is so important.

At a fundamental level the ability to maintain or recover health is extremely valuable regardless of role or team position. As a player's health level decreases their options and opportunities shrink until they're forced to return to base or risk death. Sustain keeps players in the field and battle-ready, allowing them to continue farming and exerting their presence.

While not the be all and end all of laning, a gap in sustain is a clear advantage. The champion with more sustain will often come out ahead not by winning damage trades but by recovering significantly more health afterward. Many lanes revolve around weathering the damage of an opponent until they've exhausted their resources, then forcing them into a position where they must either cede huge amounts of farm or risk dying. Sustain also pressures an opponent by placing a timer on any damage they do, if they don't apply more damage soon their previous efforts will be made worthless. Out-sustaining an opponent can easily lead to victory in lane.

For a jungler sustain is incredibly important. Maintaining a high health-level directly translates into stronger presence and jungle control. A jungler whose health drops low can't repel invasions, gank, counter-gank, hold lanes, or even ward without putting themselves in danger. Junglers with enough sustain to fully heal simply by clearing the jungle can become omnipresent monsters, constantly applying pressure everywhere without a need to rest. A jungler without sustain is essentially worthless.

In summary, sustain is so valuable because it it is an enabler; sustain directly translates into additional farm, advantages, and opportunities. Even after countless nerfs to champions and items which have or provide sustain, it remains one of the most important factors in deciding the early phase of the game. Keep this in mind as we examine sustain over the next couple of days.

Prognostication: Junglers

Everyone loves predicting which champions will be overpowered in the future, including me. In the wake of MLG I'd like to predict which junglers will soon become popular/overpowered, and why.

Amumu: He brings incredible CC and damage scaling for a jungler, and isn't as mana-dependent as people assume. His clear speeds are also phenomenal. When Nautilus is inevitably nerfed Amumu is going to be the next big tanky jungler.

Hecarim: Junglers who can both clear fast and gank well dominated MLG. Hecarim fits the bill, and brings incredible teamfighting to the table as well. Once people stop derping his skill order/item build he'll be a force to be reckoned with.

Those are the two junglers I believe we'll see dominate the scene in the future, but there are others I think are good but not that good.

Kayle: While her ultimate is always super good and her worst case scenario is she becomes a half-decent support, Kayle shines when she can have lane farm (e.g. top). She's not a bad jungle pick, but situational enough that she won't become popular.

Shen: The ability to instantly gank or counter-gank any lane is strong, but Shen is still inhibited by his slow clear times. He, like Kayle, is a good but situational pick.

Finally, one jungler who will become insane if Riot makes the mistake of overbuffing her.

Sejuani: Unlike Nautilus her CC is largely soft in nature, and she's significantly more mana-dependent. However, a few ill-conceived tweaks could easily make her and her built-in red buff super strong.

The time limit is three months, at which point we'll see how well I did (though there may be updates in the meantime). I'll gauge my success based on forum discussions, pro opinions, and tournament matches. This is the true test of a would-be analyst, one's ability to predict the future and then hem and haw when it doesn't work out the way you thought it would.

Post-Mortem: MLG Anaheim 2012

Big tournaments are always a chance for dissecting the thought and valuations of pros, and this past weekend's MLG Spring Finals were no exception. As a jungler I'll primarily dig into that aspect of the tournament, but there's plenty more that could be analyzed.

Three jungle picks clearly stood out amongst the others in both frequency and effectiveness: Mundo, Nautilus, and Nocturne. While many other junglers made cameo appearances, these champions were the most frequent bans and picks throughout the tournament. With just a cursory analysis it's pretty clear why these champions were so highly favored.

These three champions have absurdly good fundamentals. All three can start anywhere, start with various items, clear without blue, clear quickly, hold a lane well, and gank effectively. Very few junglers can do all of those things well. Because they are not only jacks of all trades, but [i]masters[/i] of all trades they were head and shoulders better than other options.

Beyond the basics all three also brought incredible utility to their teams. Mundo is ridiculously tanky and has the best poke of any jungler. Nautilus has incredible initiation, lockdown, and peeling. Nocturne completely bypasses wards to gank, can split-push, and can ignore enemy frontlines and peeling to hit a high-priority target. They aren't just better fundamentally, but their more advanced applications crush most of their peers.

You can absolutely expect to see all three nerfed in the future. You've already seen a few minor changes aimed at weakening them, but they're barely noticeable. If these three continue to see play in future tournaments you can expect far larger changes aimed at opening up the jungling field.

As a side note, Kayle really shown during the finals. While it was a laning Kayle instead of a jungle Kayle, similar principles can be applied. Combining Kayle with a champion like Karthus, whose high damage is balanced by his vulnerability, is deadly. Abusing that type of combination can lead to devastating victories.

All in all it was an exciting tournament, and well worth watching. If the VODs ever become publicly available I'm inclined to do some in-depth analysis of some of the more interesting jungle choices that were made.

Quote: On MLG

"Look upon my wins, ye MLG, and despair."

-TSM Ozymandias

Linkdump: Advanced Warding

Someone using the moniker "chickenfingers" made an absolutely fantastic video showing some unintuitive but powerful warding techniques.


Mitigating danger by warding using this technique can be huge, especially if you're under pressure top/bottom and need to ward that river brush. I know I'm going to be practicing these.

Thought: Critical Strike Runes

Critical Strike runes are generally considered to be a cheese, used only for luck-based wins during laning. However, when I made a spreadsheet to compare physical damage runes on AD carries I was surprised to find that Critical Strike runes were actually one of the best late-game rune options. In fact, the only runes which provide more damage than Critical Strike late-game are Attack Speed and AD/Level.

In retrospect it shouldn't be all that surprising. Critical Strike is one of the key scaling factors which make AD carries scary late-game, but is the only one which is directly affected by Critical Damage. Meanwhile Critical Damage is itself utterly dependent upon Critical Strike, and Armor Penetration is devalued by Last Whisper. These factors give Critical Strike an edge in the late-game.

It's not enough of an advantage to make Critical Strike the best mathematically, but it's possible to argue that Critical Strike is the best overall. Attack Speed is only better on paper if the carry has no Attack Speed steroid or external buff, and requires the player be able to continuously attack in a fight. Even though it's hands down better than Critical Strike in all scenarios late game, AD/Level is nearly useless early on. Because Critical Strike is a rare steroid, does not exist as a buff, and has early game value it can be far more valuable than Attack Speed or AD/Level.

The big downside to Critical Strike is the RNG game you play during laning. If you do not crit, which is possible, you're at a disadvantage during trades. Moreover, your last-hitting can be screwed up by errant crits on creeps. It's risky to run Critical Strike and right now most players, even pros, are very risk averse.

Still, Critical Strike runes are very much worth considering on AD carries. If you're going to be aggressive early, but still want late game strength, Critical Strike runes are the best option available.

Quote: On Prediction

"People ask me to predict the meta, when all I want to do is prevent it. Better yet, change it."

-Ray Bradbury (22 August 1920 - June 5, 2012)

Patch Day: Draven

The Darius patch is finally live. There's not a lot here for junglers, but there are a few points of note.

The nerf to Jax' empower only barely affects his jungling. It's his ultimate, passive, and items that really drive him past level 6. That said, a nerf's a nerf and this will impact how quickly Jax can kill Dragon.

Nautilus' W has had its damage nerfed at later ranks. This change will slightly slow down his later jungling, but not by enough for most players to notice. Nautilus will still be a top tier jungler without question.

Nocturne's passive has been adjusted in an attempt to hit his early sustain. The 5 health will add up fairly quickly on his first clear, but ultimately this punishes people who can't tailor their rune pages more than it nerfs Nocturne.

Shen's Ki Strike nerf will slow his jungling, not that he's a common jungler. There aren't any adjustments to be made for this, it's just a nerf to Shen.

Overall the patch lacks any sweeping changes, save for the introduction of Draven. While he can jungle it's not all that great. He's almost certainly an AD bot or top lane champion given how well he scales with farm and levels. Draven is ban worthy if only because the majority of players are going to try him and find out they can't catch axes to save their lives, but the mechanically strong players who can will utterly crush people.

Quote: On Eve

"Eve is very misunderstood. Eve, I suggest, may be the oldest victim of bad press."

-Michael Jackson

eSports: On Carmac

Michal Blicharz, aka Carmac, recently made an interesting post regarding eSports sustainability. To summarize, Carmac states that eSports in general are not sustainable because there's no incentive for the developer or publisher to support them. That's a great insight, and one worth digging into.

Carmac's thoughts are particularly valuable because he's primarily concerned with money. Most discussions of a game's eSports potential center on its competitiveness, depth, or broad appeal. That's only natural; those are the areas that matter to the gamers driving the discussion. Gamers often forget that money is a huge driving force behind sports, and therefore eSports.

Though that is the case, I believe Carmac makes three critical mistakes in his thought process:

1. He neglects sources of support outside of the developer or publisher.
2. He assumes that games which do not change will become boring.
3. He believes that an eSport must maintain its playerbase to survive.

While the developers and publishers are important, they are not the sole sources of support, financial or otherwise. Much of the history of eSports to date has occurred in spite of the developers and publishers rather than because of them. StarCraft didn't take off in South Korea because of any effort on Blizzard's part, but because of simple popularity and the subsequent establishment of KESPA and other organizations to support eSports. Ultimately demand is the most powerful force of support, and where it exists organizations will appear with supply.

Sports stand as a living rebuttal to the notion that an unchanging game will become boring. The rules of most popular sports have hardly changed in decades if not longer, yet they continue to pull in millions of viewers and fans. What keeps these games fresh are the efforts of the teams and players, not continual changes to the rules. Perhaps the continual state of flux that LoL exists in helps keep it from fading, but it's by no means a requirement.

Finally, more people watch sports than actively play them. While it's important for a sport to have a healthy base of players to draw new blood from, it's not necessary for its base of viewers to play. So long as the spectators can understand simply by watching they can be participants in the sport or eSport without having to actually play.

Carmac's insights are helpful, but in the end he's oversimplifying an incredibly complex and only partially understood phenomenon. We gamers could pay more attention to the money side of things when discussing eSports, but if becoming a sustainable eSport was as simple as choosing the right business model LoL wouldn't have been the first.

Quote: On Ranked

"I believe in the existence of a Supreme Unintelligence pervading Ranked."

-Thomas Edison

Quote: On Matchmaking

"There is an algorithm which has the control of our matchmaking, not to be resisted by the strongest efforts of AD carries."

-George Washington