Jumping through hoops with League of Legends

I know I’ve done a thing recently about League of Legends, but that was mostly about the lore and backstory of the game. The footage used in the video is made from a chopped up recording of aabicus’s first non-tutorial game, playing against intro bots. Except it’s from my perspective – he was the Jinx in the game, and I was obviously the Terror of the Void. But when aabicus and I sat down to do a few more games and discuss how things worked, I realised how convoluted everything sounded. The first thing we did was look for champions… [Continue Reading]

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On the molasses-like progress of League of Legends lore

Hi everyone! Today, I’ll be talking about the lore of League of Legends. Around the time of the Shurima update, the League of Legends was abruptly removed from the lore of League of Legends. At the time, Riot’s Lore team said that the League and the Institute of War were holding them back creatively, as they had to give each champion reasons to be there. They promised that, with the League gone, they’d be able to expand into new territories, improve their writing and be able to come out with more content. At the same time, the Lore team removed… [Continue Reading]

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Medic plays Dota 2

I’m not a big fan of MOBAs, but Dota 2 was the first one I ever played, before I played League of Legends. I didn’t understand anything. At all. I’m pretty certain I spent the entire tutorial having no clue what was going on, back when the tutorial consisted of Dragon Knight wandering round a very non-Dota-2-esque map, completing quests and spending a long time repeating tasks because I couldn’t get the concept of couriers and last-hits. Eventually, I gave up, unable to get my head around anything. League of Legends started on similar rocky territory, but their tutorial back… [Continue Reading]

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Rest in Peace, Dominion

Just like Team Fortress 2 and Arena mode, League of Legends has a game mode with a hardcore but very small following. Dominion was basically a cross between Robot Destruction and 5CP, but done in a MOBA-esque sort of way. I’m pretty sure Dota 2 has a similar game mode but I don’t know what it’s called. Either way, it is a simple, fun little game mode with more focus on killing the enemy and capturing control points, rather than farming minions and moving towards the enemy nexus. Dominion also had the bonus of being a much faster game mode,… [Continue Reading]

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“Just a girl with a fucking huge hammer!”

Poppy as a League of Legends champion has been a pain in the ass for years. She had very little voice lines, a horrible model and a selection of abilities that either made her automatically lose the game or automatically win the game depending on the last time she got buffed, often leaning towards the former, because the latter was fucking terrifying. Poppy’s ultimate ability, for example, allowed her to become invulnerable to almost all damage from everyone except her target. The idea was that she and her target would fight to the death, but most Poppys used their ultimate… [Continue Reading]

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On League of Legends and its Lore

The other day, the new revamp for one of League of Legends’ least popular and hardest to balance champions was announced, and bloody hell, it really is a revamp. The new Poppy looks both amazing and much easier to balance. Because sadly Ubercharge-style abilities don’t work in LoL. This is following the release of Illaoi, the second of the tentacle-using champions and someone who can rip your soul out and use it as a punching bag. Of course, with new characters comes new lore, but League of Legends hasn’t been doing great on that mark. A while ago, before the… [Continue Reading]

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The LCS is here but…

The LCS, the World Championship, Worlds, whatever you want to call it, the biggest League of Legends tournament, featuring the best teams across the planet, is here. Well, actually, it’s here, on the League of Legends E-Sports website, but I am sure you blog-goers would understand. Unfortunately, due to my duties in Demacia and on the Fields of Justice, I was actually late to make this announcement. There is a problem though. I wonder how much of the community actually cares? Of course, the Asian communities almost certainly care. E-sports is a steadily growing phenomenon, and some places like South… [Continue Reading]

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What have they done to him?

So I spoke to Garen recently and asked him why he wasn’t posting on the Daily SPUF as of late. Turns out, his balance changes came through and he’s absolutely loving them. He’s gone crazy. He’s… I don’t know. He’s someone else. What have they done to him? What have they done to my poor Garen? No, seriously though, it’s pretty bad. Garen used to have an average win rate. As did fellow so-called juggernaut champion Skarner. Fellow updated champion Fiora had an average win rate, which dropped after they reworked her then shot through the roof after they kinda… [Continue Reading]

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The Hammer of Change draws closer…

Greetings citizens. I come to you with glum news. It seems as though the Riot Summoners have chosen me to be sacrificed to the Lords of Balance. The Hammer of Change is near, hovering above me dangerously, with a hideous squint in its bearer’s eyes. Yes, you heard me correctly, I am about to be nerfed into the ground. Or possibly not. You see, Riot has no idea what to do with one of the faces of League of Legends. As I stand, I am a glorious tank. I will soak up all the damage, spin around a bit, make… [Continue Reading]

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