Freeweek thoughts

The usual rollover of free weeks characters has happened. Here's my thoughts for maximally efficient picking fun.

Graves: He's a fairly standard AD carry. His popularity appears to ebb and flow but he seems pretty competent. Has a dual purpose inititate / escape as well as a pretty good ultimate with a relatively low Cooldown (80 seconds). I expect to see him alot this week.

Jahrvan IV: This guy is weird. If you're looking for a "diver" that can isolate people, he's your guy. Has a weird little ultimate where he creates an "arena" around himself and whoever else is nearby. Gets used occasionally by the pros so he's presumably not bad. There are tricks he can play with his E and Q to get out of his own cataclysm so it can be used to isolate a melee champ if need be (though that's not ideal). Pick and choose Cataclysm targets carefully as people with easy escapes (Corki, Ezreal, Diana, Katarina) are poor choices. Someone like Karthus will have to burn a flash (although getting in close to Karthus and trapping yourself there may not be ideal ;)

Morgana: She's really interesting. Has a really good shield, an aoe damage / MR debuff, a root and built in spell vamp. Her ultimate is also very good. She's kind of an AP Carry support (which isn't really a thing in the current meta). She gets played occasionally as an AP carry but she doesn't quite fit that role as her main abilities (Q/W) have such long cooldowns (11 and 10 seconds respectively). Probably best if you have an AP Carry top or a Zyra support bottom that can swap Carry / Support roles late game (just make sure to do the mental shift).

Nasus: I like Nasus. You need to be a pretty good last hitter but his Q helps with that. He can single handedly start CRUSHING people late game. It's not uncommon for me to have this at a stack of 60-70 and I'm not the best last hitter in the world (by ANY stretch). At that level, you're probably Qing every 4 seconds for around 500ish damage (200 from this, 116 base, 200 from items). If you're good at last hitting, you could easily double my number meaning you're hitting for 700ish. He's also very tanky due to his built in lifesteal (interesting that we got the built in lifesteal and built in spellvamp champs in the same week).

Rammus: The only champion in the game more tanky then Malphite. He builds kind of hybrid due to his passive. His Q scales ludicrously well but it's really his only thing going. Expect him to roll into fights, go defensive and taunt. Don't primary him. Stun him if he does his ultimate and then move on to a squishy because there's  not a lot he can do to you after his initiate and you'll only hurt yourself trying to attack through his shell of doom.

Twisted Fate: He's fun. If you're good with the rhythm champions, he's a good one for you. The ability to have a relatively strong stun, mana return or aoe gives him all the tools he needs. You can build him AD or AP and both seem to be playable (he scales REALLY well off AD... but AP seems to be more standard). He's fun and his ultimate can be game changing (and is on a low cooldown). Remember for his ultimate you need to R twice (once to activate the stealth detection and a second time to teleport. I'd suggest using the mini-map to teleport.

Sona: Support par excellence. Alternating between Hymn of Valor and Aria of Perserverence gives you two strong abilities (auto-targeted heal + self heal and auto-targeted double attack). She gets played alot in high level play and, along with Lulu, appears to be the support of choice in the current meta. Her ultimate is also a wide range AoE stun and can really shift the complexion of team fights.

Caitlyn: Longest range of any champion in the game for base attack (650). She doesn't bring a lot to late game team fights but she's a monster in lane. Note: Her passives count as two shots for accruing head shot when she's in bush so keep that in mind. Also, her 90 caliber net can be used as an escape and even be used to leap across walls if you get it right. Build AD out the yang and take advantage of her range.

Brand: I know very little about him. I did play with someone last night who played as him and tore up the other team. The key here is that his abilities combo off each other so the FIRST spell you land will do it's normal job and the SECOND spell (within 4 seconds) will do something a little extra (stun, extra damage, adjacent enemies ablaze, etc). His ultimate really shines when confronting two opponents as it will bounce back and forth hitting the main target three times and the secondary target twice (much like Fiddlesticks' silence). In the mid game, this can be really nice so look for chances where there aren't creeps around to really pound your opponents.

Zed: New champion. Was getting played alot but now seems to have fallen off significantly. Where Elise has been accepted by the community and even played semi-regularly at the pro level, Zed seems to be shunned. He's an AD assassin which is a little weird and probably doesn't really fit the current meta all that well. VERY bursty with his passive in place (will do an additional 10% of your health in magic damage on an auto-attack when you're below 50%). That effect only occurs every 10 seconds, however. So if he tries and is short, you have a moment before he can go nuclear on you again. He is VERY bursty, however. Build armor.