I know, I know. English is crazy. There are three words that no adult should ever be getting confused, and yet I keep seeing conflation here, so apparently some people need a lesson. The words I'm talking about are "yea," "yay," and "yeah."
Let's start with "yea." This is a word that is used to signal affirmation. It is similar to the more common "yes." However, and this is important, "yea" is rather archaic. It's almost never used in everyday speech other than when someone is being deliberately archaic or as part of the fixed expression "yea or nay." People don't usually get this one wrong, as it's not used that often anyway. I have seen people read Shakespeare aloud and pronounce the word "yea" as though it was "yeah."
"And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"
Even though it's pronounced in exactly the same way as "yea," the word "yay" is a much newer interjection, probably derived from "yea." Instead of being used to signify affirmation, "yay" signals exultation or triumph. It would often have an exclamation point after it, although probably not in the case when it's being used sarcastically, I guess.
The word "yeah" is another word used for affirmation, also similar to "yes." It is pronounced differently from the other words. The most common error I see with these words is for people to spell "yeah" as "yea." Denotatively, the two words are virtually identical. However, they are still different words. Also, their pronunciations are totally different.
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Change is weird
Haha, for the first time, or at least for the first time that it stood out, I found myself thinking, "I'll just remember to do that next time I'm on campus. Wait, what? I don't go there anymore?" I actually had that happen after both times I left GRCC too. Pretty sure I'm still too young for senility, so it's probably just normal or something.
Also, I totally was experiencing trouble recently with my monitor and I was worried that it was dying. I guess it would still be under warranty, but I didn't want to have to deal with that. Then I figured out that the power cord was loose. Problem solved.
This post doesn't really have anything to do with anything. I should go to bed. Good night.
Also, I totally was experiencing trouble recently with my monitor and I was worried that it was dying. I guess it would still be under warranty, but I didn't want to have to deal with that. Then I figured out that the power cord was loose. Problem solved.
This post doesn't really have anything to do with anything. I should go to bed. Good night.
League of Legends: 50 champions
Almost exactly a year ago, I wrote a post here about League of Legends. I've made a few notes on the subject here and there, but nothing substantial. For quite some time, I've wanted to write a long post about goals for improving my gameplay in League of Legends. Well, I kept putting it off, thinking I'd do it at some time that would coincide with various events. I thought I'd write a post once my normal wins total returned to more than 30 higher than my normal losses total (something that did happen briefly, then I went on a big losing streak immediately afterward). I thought I'd write a post once I owned some nice round number of champions, like 40 or 50 or 60 (well, I currently do own exactly 50, although it isn't that recent of a development). I thought I'd write a post once I had mastered three champions for each role on Summoner's Rift (and I don't know whether I can say I've done that). I thought I'd write a post once I was ready to start playing ranked games (and I don't feel like doing that at this time). I thought I'd write a post once I graduated, because that would give me more time to do it (and I have graduated). Well, some of my planned conditions have come to pass, and like I said, it's been almost a year since the other post. I'm already writing a post. It seems logical that this should be the post where I write all the things I've been planning to write. But it isn't.
There are two major factors in my decision not to write the post about improving my gameplay in League of Legends. The first is simply that I haven't played the game very much lately. I guess by "lately" I mean "this June." I think I only missed my first win of the day bonuses during finals week, but for the majority of the other days this month, I've been getting one win against bots and then not playing any more games. I'm not giving the game up or anything. I still play it almost every day and I still find it fun, but I'm not being particularly competitive about it. Many of my games have been ARAM and in a lot of the others, I've tried experimenting or just letting my team take the lead on everything. My gameplay probably isn't deteriorating much and might even be improving in some aspects, but it doesn't seem like a good time to write a detailed post about plans for improving. I'd have to be more seriously involved for that. The second, more prominent factor, is that I have other matters occupying my attention. "Playing more League of Legends" isn't a particular goal of mine right now. I have more important things to do about. I'm still writing a post, because writing more actually is a particular goal of mine right now. I'm just not writing the post I had planned on. This post will still be pretty long, but a comprehensive analysis of my strengths and weaknesses and such would be even longer. What I'll do instead of that will be a sort of revisitation of the post I wrote one year ago: I will list and expound on the champions I own. Last time, there were 20. This time, there are 50. Last time, I covered them in an order that was roughly the reverse of the order in which I obtained them. This time, I'll organize them by role. And as a compromise, I'll throw a few bits in there speculating on how I might improve.
Role: Mid
I try to be a flexible teammate, but if I had one preferred role, it would be mid. As a mid, I play pretty conservatively, and prefer champions that can farm really well. My plan is usually to be a late-game presence. I have different advantages and disadvantages with different champions, but my biggest weakness as a mid is that I sometimes let my lane opponent roam and kill my teammates while I get stuck in a spot where I cannot help or cannot safely help.
Karthus
My default champion. I've generally mastered playing Karthus, and whenever I'm losing as another mid, I can't help but think, "I wish I was playing Karthus right now." A lot of opponents underestimate my Karthus, assuming that since they are playing assassins (especially Fizz), they have me beat. But I just blow up every minion before my turret can, and duck behind my turret to secure kills with my ult, while my opponent can barely even touch me. It requires finesse, patience, and a knowledge of the abilities of my opponents, but after so many Karthus games, I've gotten the hang of it (mostly). Karthus is outlaned by almost everyone, but is a stronger presence late game than almost every mid in the game. The lane opponents I hate seeing most as Karthus are Mordekaiser because he can harass and outfarm me, Veigar because he's the one AP mid that carries harder than Karthus, and Kassadin because he counters the fuck out of me.
Anivia
I don't play Anivia too often, mostly because I could be playing Karthus instead. But I have been playing Anivia for a long time, and I can be pretty good with her. Anivia has better early pushing power than Karthus and more burst, so I can be more of a threat for more of the game. When I went on hiatus as Karthus toward the end of Season 2, Anivia became my main mid. I haven't played her outside ARAM for a while now and she's probably not my second best mid anymore, but I still think of her that way, so I'm listing her right after Karthus. As Anivia, even when I lose lane, I can catch up on farming pretty quickly. I do get countered by some assassins, such as Talon, Akali, and Fizz if they're good enough. Veigar is also a big problem because of how strong he becomes late game, although Anivia is better suited to denying Veigar CS than Karthus is.
Swain
A relatively recent acquisition compared to most of my mids, but Swain has rapidly become one of my favorites, possibly my second best mid. The one thing that keeps him from dethroning Anivia as my second most preferred mid is that he is a mediocre farmer. I am used to playing a farm-intense game as a mid. Swain isn't the worst farmer, but it doesn't come as naturally for him: he has to either drain his mana using his ult or waste his snare spell in order to kill more than one minion at a time. Everything else about him is great. He is harder to bully than Karthus and is strong throughout the game, especially once he has his ult. Even when I'm doing poorly as Swain and I'm behind, I can sort of "suicide bomb" into the enemy team with my ult, forcing them to focus me while my AD carry is attacking them. I have less experience with Swain than with Karthus or Anivia, but it seems that my biggest counters are Fizz because of his grievous wounds and mobility, Morgana because of her shield, and Orianna because she can tear Swain up before he can get close enough to do anything. Veigar has also been a problem, but only when backed up by a jungler. If the enemy jungler isn't threatening, I can bully Veigar all game.
Kassadin
Much like Swain, I've hesitated to focus on my Kassadin because he's a mediocre farmer. Also, I see Kassadin as something of a counterpick, although some of the times I have played him, I've dismantled entire teams. I should play this guy more. He's sort of the only true assassin that I ever became proficient with. And because of his kit, almost no AP champion can really counter him. AD champions can, though.
Ryze
A while back, I was going to make Ryze one of my mains, but I started having too many bad games with him. If Ryze gets behind, he has little recourse. In some sense, Swain became my replacement to Ryze: he doesn't falle behind as easily, and he can do more for his team if it does happen. Ryze isn't the most high-risk champion and he's really quite easy to play, but the sheer badness of the bad games I had with him made me hesitant to play him. That being said, the majority of my Ryze games have been ones in which I dominated.
Annie
By the time I experimented with Annie, I was too comfortable with my other mids to actually play her in PVP games. I don't think I'm bad with her, but I never really opt to play her, figuring I could do better with Anivia. I can't actually remember if I've played Annie in an normal game on Summoner's Rift ever, but I think I must've at some point.
Veigar
When I bought Veigar, he seemed like a perfect choice for me. He's weak early, but keeps building up and building up and building up, becoming the ultimate late-game AP mid. A champion that is weak early on, but destroys anything once the game goes long enough is my style, so I was eager to practice with him. And I found him to be simply too weak early on. Karthus might lose the laning phase, but he can hold a turret under quite a siege for some time. My Veigar couldn't survive against harassment, so I gave up on him. But recently, I've been coming back to him for my co-op first win games. I discounted Veigar wrongly. I think I can make him work.
Katarina
I think Katarina is my most recent acquisition. She's easy to use, but the trick to playing her is to have a good feel for when you can jump in and outdamage your opponents and when not to try. Because of how little I've been playing recently, I have not attempted to take her into PVP (although I got her in ARAM and did fine).
Karma
I didn't really know whether to include Karmo for mid or for support. I've done a little of both, but not enough to be really confident with her. She's probably better as a support, but I also think I prefer to play her mid.
Role: Top
Top is a role I have hardly played lately, because it seems to be in demand somewhat, probably because in solo-queue a lot of players want the most independent role, and going top puts on far away from the rest of the team. I'm usually comfortable top. As a top, I play with a very extended laning phase in mind, building for late-game like I do with mid, only moreso. Because I don't play this role as frequently, I'm a bit out of practice as a top. One big weakness is that I lose exchanges more than I should. Another is that I fail to coordinate with my jungler.
Singed
The problem that I have with my reliance on Karthus as a mid is greatly magnified here with Singed. I don't play top as often as I'd like and when I have played top in normal games, it's been Singed more than all of my other champions combined. Singed was my first champion ever, and my gameplay with him has evolved a lot in the two years that I've played him. Even with how much I've played him, I've made really stupid mistakes and lots a lot of matchups that I could have won. I play Singed with the goal of becoming an extremely mobile, highly tanky champion that puts out a lot of damage over a wide area and can toss enemies into or away from my teammates with impunity. Only a handful of enemy tops can have that much presence late-game. As Singed, I have trouble laning against Darius, Jayce, and Yorick. I also can't stop Nasus and hate it when the opposing jungler is Hecarim, Evelynn, or someone else that can potentially show up quickly and outrun me.
Sion
I haven't played Sion in a while, but he's still my favorite solo top. I tend not to play him too often in solo queue because he's a pretty big risk. My Sion is a cowardly little girl in the laning phase, and that sort of requires a team, especially a jungler, to plan around that. But if Sion can farm and if he doesn't feed too much, he is the ultimate late-game bruiser, and I build Sion with that in mind.
Elise
Even though she's not quite the late-game terror that Singed or Sion can be, Elise has the potential to assassinate squishy enemy champions, even in really hectic teamfights, so she can win fights for her team with her damage and mobility. She's a strong farmer and counters some of the champions that Singed struggles against. She requires a lot of skill, which I haven't fully developed. Not playing top a lot recently, my Elise gameplay has stagnated. She has the potential to outlane almost anyone. I just need to realize that potential.
Nasus
Much like Sion, Nasus is a late-game monster. As a solo top pick, Nasus is a bit safer than Sion. Also, even though I'd think it would be obvious with both champions, my solo queue teammates tend to recognize what's going on while I'm farming with Nasus, but fail to appreciate it when I do the same with Sion. Like most of my tops, I haven't gotten any Nasus practice in lately.
Mordekaiser
I could list Mordekaiser as either top or mid: I've played him as both plenty of times. Like Singed, he has trouble against Jayce and Yorick. Unlike Singed, he can't be everywhere at once during late-game fights, so I haven't used him quite as much. Nevertheless, I am comfortable with Mordekaiser. He's a juggernaut.
Vi
Have you ever really wanted to be a total rebel flipping tables on the enemy? Did you ever try to further improve how fast you punch people through the roof? Was there ever any certain time when you thought brute force and style combined? I guess now's time to shine, 'cause finally she's here. Here comes Vi...
Tryndamere
Another champion that I just don't have sufficient recent experience with. I used to play Tryndamere top, and it worked. I think it probably still would, but it wouldn't be optimal.
Jax
I bought Jax, in part, because he has such a strong late-game presence, something that's important for me in a solo top. I practiced with him, but never really played more than a handful of normal games with Jax. I'm more comfortable with Vi.
Garen
Another champion that I have practiced with and could definitely play solo top, but not one I have a lot of experience with. I'd be more comfortable with Vi. Garen is pretty simple, mechanically, though. Also, he can run really fast.
Nidalee
I practiced Nidalee in co-op games and experimented with different builds. I settled on a nice bruiser build that suited my playstyle best. And then they nerfed her. I don't have any interest in picking her up again at this time.
Master Yi
I could play him in other lanes too or in the jungle. I don't play him very much and don't have any plans to get better with him any time soon. That's why he's kind of far down on this list. Everything below Vi is somewhat capricious, really.
Kayle
I got Kayle for free at the end of Season One. I've played her enough to know how to use her, but I never really invested much into her. I've tried AD, AP, AP/AD hybrid, AP/AS, on-hit, and AD bruiser. On-hit is my favorite, but the problem there is that Riot has made so many changes that affect on-hit builds that I'm no longer comfortable with them.
Poppy
Poppy has never really been a strong pick for me. She takes too much gold to get going. There's a popular belief that she's godlike once she has a full build, but the same could be said for some of my other tops, and they're not as precarious as she is. Even Sion seems to have an easier time laning.
Role: Bot Carry
I have mixed feelings about playing this role, and I used to think it was the second hardest one for me. I actually do fairly well as a carry most of the time. I tend to play a pretty passive laning phase, and in solo queue, my laning partners often get impatient with that. I don't intend to give it up, as when I actually do have a support that works well with me, we win the war of attrition (my opponents get impatient too). My biggest weakness as a carry is that I don't pick up as many early kills as I should, which often lets my counterpart on the enemy team snowball.
Sivir
Sivir is an excellent farmer, probably the best pusher out of any ranged champion, and she can kill squishy enemies by focusing the tank. She requires finesse, but I'd say she's currently my best AD carry. Sivir got me my only pentakill in a normal game.
Vayne
While she's not the great farmer that Sivir is, Vayne is a useful quasi-assassin early and mid-game. If she gets farmed and/or fed, she's just about the most threatening AD carry there is. I haven't played her lately, but for a time she was my best AD carry.
Kog'Maw
I actually started focusing on Kog'Maw on Nick's suggestion. Since then, I've improved my Kog'Maw gameplay a lot. I can play him AD, AP/CDR, or AS/on-hit. The one I've done the most is to play him AD bot, so that's where I'm placing him. With a full, build, Kog'Maw outdamages and outranges almost everything.
Tristana
Tristana is really quite easy to play. Mechanically, she's a bit weird because she falls behind mid-game as her flat damage values on her abilities can't match what other champions are getting, but eventually, with items, her massive range, attack speed boost, mobility, healing reduction, and knockback combine to make her one of the strongest AD carries. I probably have more experience with her than I do with Vayne or Kog'Maw, but I like those two better and they suit my playstyle more, so I'm ranking them above her.
Ashe
I actually have comparatively little Ashe experience. Until not that long ago, Sivir, Vayne, and Tristana were essentially my only AD carries, with my Kog'Maw skills improving over the last several months. Despite all that, Ashe is my obvious choice after those four. I've actually done quite well when I have played her. Maybe I've gotten lucky or something.
Teemo
My Teemo experience has been too varied for me to rank him anywhere in particular. I could play him in another lane, but I threw him in here arbitrarily. I used to play him on-hit, but much like Kayle, Riot has changed that enough that I don't know quite where I stand with Teemo. I have a general understanding of him: one time I even got a pentakill with him in a co-op game. But he's never been one of my mains.
Urgot
I really like Urgot. I've absolutely demolished some co-op games with him. But I've never won a normal game while playing. Never. Not once. After enough attempts, I gave up. I'm not touching Urgot for now. I hope to return to him some day. The nerfs have put him in a bad spot. It's too bad.
Role: Bot Support
This role can be the most frustrating in solo queue, because once a teammate starts feeding, it can seem hopeless and I can't really expect to be able to turn things around. Support is, I think, mostly an easy role for me to play, but it's also a hard one to analyze, as my performances in winning games can look similar to my performances in losing games. It can be hard to tell what I'm doing wrong, but my biggest failing as a support is probably something that stems from the same thing that lets me win in other roles: being so used to planning for late game, I often itemize improperly as a support and have a weaker mid-game than I should.
Sona
I list Sona first, but she's probably more like "first among equals." Support has never been my preferred role, but I'm reasonably competent with several full support champions and I've even occasionally supported with champions I'd never normally use in that role. Sona was the third champion I ever bought with IP. The first normal game that I won, I carried with Sona. By now, I've probably become more comfortable with some of my other support bot champions, but Sona has a special place for me.
Alistar
You can't really go wrong with Alistar. Well, you can, but I don't really see why anyone would. He has a heal, a knockup, a knockback, and he can become incredibly tanky. I haven't played him much lately, mainly in order to give myself more opportunities to play other supports, as I already know what I can do with Alistar.
Malphite
Some people hate Malphite as a support pick. His only ability that actually helps allies is a targeted slow. Oh, he can also knock enemies up with his ult, but that's on a long cooldown. In order to function as a support, Malphite has to be more aggressive. And since I'm usually a more passive laner, having the option to play a support I can use aggressively (when many of my laning partners will expect aggression on my part) is really helpful. Malphite has damage that scales off his armor, he can slow enemies down while speeding himself up, his ult wins teamfights, and he has the potential to be one of the most implacable tanks in the game. I could jungle with him or play him solo top, but I've gotten accustomed to playing him as a support, harassing opponents and soaking up attacks.
Blitzcrank
I've attained a reasonable level of competence utilizing Blitzcrank's skills, but itemization is a challenge that continues to frustrate me. I'm sure I'm still doing it badly. Still, his abilties are enough of a threat that I rarely mind supporting as Blitzcrank.
Soraka
Like Sona, Soraka occupies a sort of "dedicated healer" niche. I have way more Sona experience than Soraka experience. Despite my relative lack of experience, I hardly ever do poorly as Soraka and I've seriously carried games with her, even when I was supposed to be supporting. If I'd actually played more Soraka games, I'd totally rank her over Malphite. She's in the same strange situation as Ashe: I hardly ever play her, but when I do, I almost always win.
Janna
My Janna is a troll build. I focus on movement speed above all else, so that I an zoom across the map casting spells. It works. I'm not quite as comfortable with Janna as I am with my other supports, so I'm ranking her lower. But it does work.
Morgana
I could have placed Morgana as a mid. Realistically, if I'd put her in with the mids, she would rank highly, probably above Annie, maybe even above Kassadin. I'm putting her here instead because I never really play her mid anymore, nor do I feel much reason to. The way I was playing her, I might as well have been playing Karthus, but unlike Morgana, Karthus really makes it work. When I play her as a support, it's more of a "pretend support." I actually just build the same items as I would if I was playing mid. I merely shift the focus from farming to harassing (and to shielding my lane partner) and level up my skills in a different order. It's just a little too capricious for me to seriously consider, which is why I'm ranking her so low. I've actually had great success with this approach, so maybe I should give it the benefit of the doubt.
Zilean
I used to play Zilean as a support, but I hardly touch him anymore, and pretty much never in normal games. While I can certainly play him, I think I can do more as one of my other supports.
Role: Jungler
Jungling is the hardest role for me, but I've had to do it a lot, especially in solo queue, when no one else was willing. I prefer laning to jungling, but I'd much rather have a jungler on my team than not have one. My biggest weakness as a jungler is counterjungling. I don't usually engage in it myself, and I'm often unprepared for enemies doing it.
Maokai
I was impressed with Maokai's utility as a jungler for a long time. They reduced the IP price on him, and I picked him up right away. I think he's officially dethroned Amumu as my default jungler. Because I play him more often than my other junglers, and because I'm often jungling in solo queue with unfamiliar teammates, I probably have a poor win/loss ratio with Maokai, but I still trust my jungling capabiltiy with him more than with any other champion.
Amumu
My original jungler. I don't remember what level I was when I started jungling as Amumu. I do remember that I got into a Skype group with these guys and we were goofing off in co-op games. They wanted to do all yordles, but we didn't all own enough of the different yordles to make it work. I had a lot of IP, so I bought Amumu and tried him out. The next day, I began practicing jungling with him. Amumu destroys other tanks, but his main perquisite is having a combo that can put him in the middle of the enemy team, then snare all of them. I've found my Maokai to be more reliable and more resilient against counterjungling, so I tend to save Amumu for special situations, like when his ult has synergy with an allied champion.
Diana
The nerf to Diana's ult has really made playing her awkward. Also, I used to build Malady on her, and now that's gone. Still, I've played her pretty recently and I can still make her work. I bought her when she came out because I liked her aesthetic. At first, I was going to play her mid, but it occurred to me that I needed another jungler at the time and, by now, I've gotten so used to jungling her that I never play her as a laner. If I'm the jungler and my team has no full tank, I almost always play either Maokai or Amumu. If my team does have a full tank and doesn't look like it'll require a secondary tank, I've played Diana far more than any other jungler I own. That's why I'm ranking her third. I don't really do so well with assassins though. I fully expect that if I practice with more junglers, I'd start ranking some of them above her.
Lee Sin
I sort of had to get him. Lee Sin is just so versatile and has been such a powerful fighter for so long. He's nerfed from time to time, but never to the point that he's useless. Once I got some co-op practice in, I started playing him in normal games. His kit is a bit intricate. He clears jungle camps quite well (although it took me a while to learn how to do that, as all of the guides seem to have it wrong), has mobility, utility, and he's a great duelist. There's just one issue that prevents me from wanting to devote more attention to playing him, and it's tied to an issue that I haven't brought up yet, but that affects all of my jungling, maybe is even a big part of why jungling is a role I balk at a bit. Lee Sin as a jungler is popular because of his proclivity for early ganks. I do not do early ganks. Ever. No really, I mean it. I-do-not-do-early-ganks. E-V-E-R. Sometimes my teammates expect it, and while I don't say it this way to them, the situation is this: "See that little number next to my health bar? Is it below 4? Well then, I'm not ganking yet." I'm well aware that an early gank can give a team an advantage that builds up into a victory. But those ganks aren't going to be coming from me (I'm referring, of course, to ganks by the jungler in the early laning phase, and not to team efforts to gank the enemy jungler or things of that nature). So yeah, I like Lee Sin, but I'm apprehensive about playing him more.
Skarner
If Skarner didn't take so long to get going, I would probably make him my primary jungler. I've had one too many games where I fell behind or couldn't help my team because I couldn't get in close enough to actually contribute. Late-game, Skarner is amazing, and I've been directly responsible for a few ridiculous comebacks where my team was losing and I was useless, but the game dragged on and at some point, Skarner reached critical ass-kicking levels, diving into the opposing team and annihilating them.
Sejuani
I'm not the only person to compare Sejuani to Amumu. Before her rework, I tried her out, but decided she was too weak as a jungler. Since the rework, she's more than just viable. Her first clear is still bad and she's not the fastest or the most sustainable, but she builds into a great tank. I already have a lot of experience with two full tank junglers, so devoting attention to improving my Sejuani gameplay doesn't really seem warranted.
Fiddlesticks
I don't really know whether to place him here or as a mid. Fiddlesticks is a bad farmer. A lot of opponents that can't really stand up against him in a fight can outpush him. I concluded as much back when I first bought him, so I tried him as a jungler instead. In the jungle, he's very, very sustainable. Counterjungling, which I've offered as a weakness of mine, is inadvisable against Fiddlesticks. The reasons I haven't played him more are the same reasons most people would give: his clear times are too slow and his early ganks are bad. In summation, I could play him mid but he has a weakness that I just don't want to bother with and I could play him in the jungle but he has a weakness that I just don't want to bother with. That's Summoner's Rift, though. When I get him in ARAM, he's amazing. Between that and what I've seen other people do with Fiddlesticks, I plan to revisit him.
Udyr
My second successful jungler. I bought Fiddlesticks before I bought Udyr, but like I said, I sort of gave up on Fiddlesticks for a long time. For a long time, Udyr was my best jungler. There was a lot for me to like about him: he cleared faster than almost anyone, letting me begin ganking earlier, he was more sustainable than Amumu and could more conveniently solo Dragon, he moved quickly with a speed boost on a short cooldown, he dished out both physical and magic damage, he employed an interesting mechanic by having really big weaknesses (absolutely no ability to do anything outside of melee range whatsoever and having no ult) in exchange for strengths that appealed to me. Udyr rapidly overtook Amumu as my best jungler. He won me a lot of games. I was focusing on learning other junglers because I wanted to be more versatile, but I still saw Udyr as being my best. I just happened to find myself on a hiatus from playing him. And then there were changes. They changed the items, so I knew I'd have to take the time to figure out how to build him. They changed the jungle, which affected all of my junglers, but Udyr wasn't a priority for me because I figured he'd be the easiest to adapt, so I put off playing him at all. They changed Udyr himself. By that point, everything would be so different that returning to Udyr would be an ordeal, so I continued to put it off. They changed the jungle yet again. Because of all the changes, I've essentially lost Udyr as one of my go-to champions. Recently, I've played him in a few co-op games to test item builds, but the results weren't encouraging. Some day I will return to Udyr. But until then, I'm ranking him here because I've certainly jungled him in more games than any champion besides Amumu and Maokai.
Warwick
Other than one underwhelming ability, I like everything about Warwick. His early ganks are even worse than those of Fiddlesticks, but I like him. If I can figure out a way to set things up so that my team requires only minimal ganking, I would love to jungle Warwick.
Dr. Mundo
Maybe not the fastest jungler right now, but he's got to be one of the fastest. He also makes a great tank. Item changes caused me to neglect Mundo, similarly to Udyr.
Shaco
Sort of like Lee Sin, Shaco does really well with early ganks, which I don't do. Also, he's an assassin. Also, they ruined my item builds for him. An unlikely candidate for me to jungle, but he used to work for me, so I'm not ranking him dead last.
Nunu
I could also play him as a support or a solo top. He's pretty versatile and easy to play. But I haven't invested the time to make him a real asset. People are often surprised that I have so much IP saved up, and this gets at the reason. Among champions I designate as junglers alone, there are at least five champions that I own, but am not using. Some champions, like Nunu, are just not ones I would be comfortable playing in normal games because I'd have to play knowing that I could be playing a champion I have more experience with, and not being as good as I could be might cost me the game.
Evelynn
Probably the only champions I've ever wanted to refund. I don't hate her, but I also don't have anything particularly good to say about her right now. I bought her before the "stealth rework." I lost a lot of my early games against champions with stealth mechanics, and I thought (correctly) that getting more experience with stealth by playing such a champion would help me develop skills to fight against stealth. This was a long time ago and I didn't even have any rune pages for an attack damage champion, so an AP stealth champion was looking like the best option. Because of the huge duration of her stealth, I settled on Evelynn. But I never became proficient with her.
Well, that's it. Those are my 50 champions. As a bonus, because this post is already too long, I'll include the champions for each role that I do not yet own, but have my eyes on. I mean, I could buy them right now. I have lot of IP stored up. But I'm not in any hurry.
Mid: Cassiopeia
Top: Gangplank
ADC: Quinn
Support: Lulu
Jungler: Hecarim
There are two major factors in my decision not to write the post about improving my gameplay in League of Legends. The first is simply that I haven't played the game very much lately. I guess by "lately" I mean "this June." I think I only missed my first win of the day bonuses during finals week, but for the majority of the other days this month, I've been getting one win against bots and then not playing any more games. I'm not giving the game up or anything. I still play it almost every day and I still find it fun, but I'm not being particularly competitive about it. Many of my games have been ARAM and in a lot of the others, I've tried experimenting or just letting my team take the lead on everything. My gameplay probably isn't deteriorating much and might even be improving in some aspects, but it doesn't seem like a good time to write a detailed post about plans for improving. I'd have to be more seriously involved for that. The second, more prominent factor, is that I have other matters occupying my attention. "Playing more League of Legends" isn't a particular goal of mine right now. I have more important things to do about. I'm still writing a post, because writing more actually is a particular goal of mine right now. I'm just not writing the post I had planned on. This post will still be pretty long, but a comprehensive analysis of my strengths and weaknesses and such would be even longer. What I'll do instead of that will be a sort of revisitation of the post I wrote one year ago: I will list and expound on the champions I own. Last time, there were 20. This time, there are 50. Last time, I covered them in an order that was roughly the reverse of the order in which I obtained them. This time, I'll organize them by role. And as a compromise, I'll throw a few bits in there speculating on how I might improve.
Role: Mid
I try to be a flexible teammate, but if I had one preferred role, it would be mid. As a mid, I play pretty conservatively, and prefer champions that can farm really well. My plan is usually to be a late-game presence. I have different advantages and disadvantages with different champions, but my biggest weakness as a mid is that I sometimes let my lane opponent roam and kill my teammates while I get stuck in a spot where I cannot help or cannot safely help.
Karthus
My default champion. I've generally mastered playing Karthus, and whenever I'm losing as another mid, I can't help but think, "I wish I was playing Karthus right now." A lot of opponents underestimate my Karthus, assuming that since they are playing assassins (especially Fizz), they have me beat. But I just blow up every minion before my turret can, and duck behind my turret to secure kills with my ult, while my opponent can barely even touch me. It requires finesse, patience, and a knowledge of the abilities of my opponents, but after so many Karthus games, I've gotten the hang of it (mostly). Karthus is outlaned by almost everyone, but is a stronger presence late game than almost every mid in the game. The lane opponents I hate seeing most as Karthus are Mordekaiser because he can harass and outfarm me, Veigar because he's the one AP mid that carries harder than Karthus, and Kassadin because he counters the fuck out of me.
Anivia
I don't play Anivia too often, mostly because I could be playing Karthus instead. But I have been playing Anivia for a long time, and I can be pretty good with her. Anivia has better early pushing power than Karthus and more burst, so I can be more of a threat for more of the game. When I went on hiatus as Karthus toward the end of Season 2, Anivia became my main mid. I haven't played her outside ARAM for a while now and she's probably not my second best mid anymore, but I still think of her that way, so I'm listing her right after Karthus. As Anivia, even when I lose lane, I can catch up on farming pretty quickly. I do get countered by some assassins, such as Talon, Akali, and Fizz if they're good enough. Veigar is also a big problem because of how strong he becomes late game, although Anivia is better suited to denying Veigar CS than Karthus is.
Swain
A relatively recent acquisition compared to most of my mids, but Swain has rapidly become one of my favorites, possibly my second best mid. The one thing that keeps him from dethroning Anivia as my second most preferred mid is that he is a mediocre farmer. I am used to playing a farm-intense game as a mid. Swain isn't the worst farmer, but it doesn't come as naturally for him: he has to either drain his mana using his ult or waste his snare spell in order to kill more than one minion at a time. Everything else about him is great. He is harder to bully than Karthus and is strong throughout the game, especially once he has his ult. Even when I'm doing poorly as Swain and I'm behind, I can sort of "suicide bomb" into the enemy team with my ult, forcing them to focus me while my AD carry is attacking them. I have less experience with Swain than with Karthus or Anivia, but it seems that my biggest counters are Fizz because of his grievous wounds and mobility, Morgana because of her shield, and Orianna because she can tear Swain up before he can get close enough to do anything. Veigar has also been a problem, but only when backed up by a jungler. If the enemy jungler isn't threatening, I can bully Veigar all game.
Kassadin
Much like Swain, I've hesitated to focus on my Kassadin because he's a mediocre farmer. Also, I see Kassadin as something of a counterpick, although some of the times I have played him, I've dismantled entire teams. I should play this guy more. He's sort of the only true assassin that I ever became proficient with. And because of his kit, almost no AP champion can really counter him. AD champions can, though.
Ryze
A while back, I was going to make Ryze one of my mains, but I started having too many bad games with him. If Ryze gets behind, he has little recourse. In some sense, Swain became my replacement to Ryze: he doesn't falle behind as easily, and he can do more for his team if it does happen. Ryze isn't the most high-risk champion and he's really quite easy to play, but the sheer badness of the bad games I had with him made me hesitant to play him. That being said, the majority of my Ryze games have been ones in which I dominated.
Annie
By the time I experimented with Annie, I was too comfortable with my other mids to actually play her in PVP games. I don't think I'm bad with her, but I never really opt to play her, figuring I could do better with Anivia. I can't actually remember if I've played Annie in an normal game on Summoner's Rift ever, but I think I must've at some point.
Veigar
When I bought Veigar, he seemed like a perfect choice for me. He's weak early, but keeps building up and building up and building up, becoming the ultimate late-game AP mid. A champion that is weak early on, but destroys anything once the game goes long enough is my style, so I was eager to practice with him. And I found him to be simply too weak early on. Karthus might lose the laning phase, but he can hold a turret under quite a siege for some time. My Veigar couldn't survive against harassment, so I gave up on him. But recently, I've been coming back to him for my co-op first win games. I discounted Veigar wrongly. I think I can make him work.
Katarina
I think Katarina is my most recent acquisition. She's easy to use, but the trick to playing her is to have a good feel for when you can jump in and outdamage your opponents and when not to try. Because of how little I've been playing recently, I have not attempted to take her into PVP (although I got her in ARAM and did fine).
Karma
I didn't really know whether to include Karmo for mid or for support. I've done a little of both, but not enough to be really confident with her. She's probably better as a support, but I also think I prefer to play her mid.
Role: Top
Top is a role I have hardly played lately, because it seems to be in demand somewhat, probably because in solo-queue a lot of players want the most independent role, and going top puts on far away from the rest of the team. I'm usually comfortable top. As a top, I play with a very extended laning phase in mind, building for late-game like I do with mid, only moreso. Because I don't play this role as frequently, I'm a bit out of practice as a top. One big weakness is that I lose exchanges more than I should. Another is that I fail to coordinate with my jungler.
Singed
The problem that I have with my reliance on Karthus as a mid is greatly magnified here with Singed. I don't play top as often as I'd like and when I have played top in normal games, it's been Singed more than all of my other champions combined. Singed was my first champion ever, and my gameplay with him has evolved a lot in the two years that I've played him. Even with how much I've played him, I've made really stupid mistakes and lots a lot of matchups that I could have won. I play Singed with the goal of becoming an extremely mobile, highly tanky champion that puts out a lot of damage over a wide area and can toss enemies into or away from my teammates with impunity. Only a handful of enemy tops can have that much presence late-game. As Singed, I have trouble laning against Darius, Jayce, and Yorick. I also can't stop Nasus and hate it when the opposing jungler is Hecarim, Evelynn, or someone else that can potentially show up quickly and outrun me.
Sion
I haven't played Sion in a while, but he's still my favorite solo top. I tend not to play him too often in solo queue because he's a pretty big risk. My Sion is a cowardly little girl in the laning phase, and that sort of requires a team, especially a jungler, to plan around that. But if Sion can farm and if he doesn't feed too much, he is the ultimate late-game bruiser, and I build Sion with that in mind.
Elise
Even though she's not quite the late-game terror that Singed or Sion can be, Elise has the potential to assassinate squishy enemy champions, even in really hectic teamfights, so she can win fights for her team with her damage and mobility. She's a strong farmer and counters some of the champions that Singed struggles against. She requires a lot of skill, which I haven't fully developed. Not playing top a lot recently, my Elise gameplay has stagnated. She has the potential to outlane almost anyone. I just need to realize that potential.
Nasus
Much like Sion, Nasus is a late-game monster. As a solo top pick, Nasus is a bit safer than Sion. Also, even though I'd think it would be obvious with both champions, my solo queue teammates tend to recognize what's going on while I'm farming with Nasus, but fail to appreciate it when I do the same with Sion. Like most of my tops, I haven't gotten any Nasus practice in lately.
Mordekaiser
I could list Mordekaiser as either top or mid: I've played him as both plenty of times. Like Singed, he has trouble against Jayce and Yorick. Unlike Singed, he can't be everywhere at once during late-game fights, so I haven't used him quite as much. Nevertheless, I am comfortable with Mordekaiser. He's a juggernaut.
Vi
Have you ever really wanted to be a total rebel flipping tables on the enemy? Did you ever try to further improve how fast you punch people through the roof? Was there ever any certain time when you thought brute force and style combined? I guess now's time to shine, 'cause finally she's here. Here comes Vi...
Tryndamere
Another champion that I just don't have sufficient recent experience with. I used to play Tryndamere top, and it worked. I think it probably still would, but it wouldn't be optimal.
Jax
I bought Jax, in part, because he has such a strong late-game presence, something that's important for me in a solo top. I practiced with him, but never really played more than a handful of normal games with Jax. I'm more comfortable with Vi.
Garen
Another champion that I have practiced with and could definitely play solo top, but not one I have a lot of experience with. I'd be more comfortable with Vi. Garen is pretty simple, mechanically, though. Also, he can run really fast.
Nidalee
I practiced Nidalee in co-op games and experimented with different builds. I settled on a nice bruiser build that suited my playstyle best. And then they nerfed her. I don't have any interest in picking her up again at this time.
Master Yi
I could play him in other lanes too or in the jungle. I don't play him very much and don't have any plans to get better with him any time soon. That's why he's kind of far down on this list. Everything below Vi is somewhat capricious, really.
Kayle
I got Kayle for free at the end of Season One. I've played her enough to know how to use her, but I never really invested much into her. I've tried AD, AP, AP/AD hybrid, AP/AS, on-hit, and AD bruiser. On-hit is my favorite, but the problem there is that Riot has made so many changes that affect on-hit builds that I'm no longer comfortable with them.
Poppy
Poppy has never really been a strong pick for me. She takes too much gold to get going. There's a popular belief that she's godlike once she has a full build, but the same could be said for some of my other tops, and they're not as precarious as she is. Even Sion seems to have an easier time laning.
Role: Bot Carry
I have mixed feelings about playing this role, and I used to think it was the second hardest one for me. I actually do fairly well as a carry most of the time. I tend to play a pretty passive laning phase, and in solo queue, my laning partners often get impatient with that. I don't intend to give it up, as when I actually do have a support that works well with me, we win the war of attrition (my opponents get impatient too). My biggest weakness as a carry is that I don't pick up as many early kills as I should, which often lets my counterpart on the enemy team snowball.
Sivir
Sivir is an excellent farmer, probably the best pusher out of any ranged champion, and she can kill squishy enemies by focusing the tank. She requires finesse, but I'd say she's currently my best AD carry. Sivir got me my only pentakill in a normal game.
Vayne
While she's not the great farmer that Sivir is, Vayne is a useful quasi-assassin early and mid-game. If she gets farmed and/or fed, she's just about the most threatening AD carry there is. I haven't played her lately, but for a time she was my best AD carry.
Kog'Maw
I actually started focusing on Kog'Maw on Nick's suggestion. Since then, I've improved my Kog'Maw gameplay a lot. I can play him AD, AP/CDR, or AS/on-hit. The one I've done the most is to play him AD bot, so that's where I'm placing him. With a full, build, Kog'Maw outdamages and outranges almost everything.
Tristana
Tristana is really quite easy to play. Mechanically, she's a bit weird because she falls behind mid-game as her flat damage values on her abilities can't match what other champions are getting, but eventually, with items, her massive range, attack speed boost, mobility, healing reduction, and knockback combine to make her one of the strongest AD carries. I probably have more experience with her than I do with Vayne or Kog'Maw, but I like those two better and they suit my playstyle more, so I'm ranking them above her.
Ashe
I actually have comparatively little Ashe experience. Until not that long ago, Sivir, Vayne, and Tristana were essentially my only AD carries, with my Kog'Maw skills improving over the last several months. Despite all that, Ashe is my obvious choice after those four. I've actually done quite well when I have played her. Maybe I've gotten lucky or something.
Teemo
My Teemo experience has been too varied for me to rank him anywhere in particular. I could play him in another lane, but I threw him in here arbitrarily. I used to play him on-hit, but much like Kayle, Riot has changed that enough that I don't know quite where I stand with Teemo. I have a general understanding of him: one time I even got a pentakill with him in a co-op game. But he's never been one of my mains.
Urgot
I really like Urgot. I've absolutely demolished some co-op games with him. But I've never won a normal game while playing. Never. Not once. After enough attempts, I gave up. I'm not touching Urgot for now. I hope to return to him some day. The nerfs have put him in a bad spot. It's too bad.
Role: Bot Support
This role can be the most frustrating in solo queue, because once a teammate starts feeding, it can seem hopeless and I can't really expect to be able to turn things around. Support is, I think, mostly an easy role for me to play, but it's also a hard one to analyze, as my performances in winning games can look similar to my performances in losing games. It can be hard to tell what I'm doing wrong, but my biggest failing as a support is probably something that stems from the same thing that lets me win in other roles: being so used to planning for late game, I often itemize improperly as a support and have a weaker mid-game than I should.
Sona
I list Sona first, but she's probably more like "first among equals." Support has never been my preferred role, but I'm reasonably competent with several full support champions and I've even occasionally supported with champions I'd never normally use in that role. Sona was the third champion I ever bought with IP. The first normal game that I won, I carried with Sona. By now, I've probably become more comfortable with some of my other support bot champions, but Sona has a special place for me.
Alistar
You can't really go wrong with Alistar. Well, you can, but I don't really see why anyone would. He has a heal, a knockup, a knockback, and he can become incredibly tanky. I haven't played him much lately, mainly in order to give myself more opportunities to play other supports, as I already know what I can do with Alistar.
Malphite
Some people hate Malphite as a support pick. His only ability that actually helps allies is a targeted slow. Oh, he can also knock enemies up with his ult, but that's on a long cooldown. In order to function as a support, Malphite has to be more aggressive. And since I'm usually a more passive laner, having the option to play a support I can use aggressively (when many of my laning partners will expect aggression on my part) is really helpful. Malphite has damage that scales off his armor, he can slow enemies down while speeding himself up, his ult wins teamfights, and he has the potential to be one of the most implacable tanks in the game. I could jungle with him or play him solo top, but I've gotten accustomed to playing him as a support, harassing opponents and soaking up attacks.
Blitzcrank
I've attained a reasonable level of competence utilizing Blitzcrank's skills, but itemization is a challenge that continues to frustrate me. I'm sure I'm still doing it badly. Still, his abilties are enough of a threat that I rarely mind supporting as Blitzcrank.
Soraka
Like Sona, Soraka occupies a sort of "dedicated healer" niche. I have way more Sona experience than Soraka experience. Despite my relative lack of experience, I hardly ever do poorly as Soraka and I've seriously carried games with her, even when I was supposed to be supporting. If I'd actually played more Soraka games, I'd totally rank her over Malphite. She's in the same strange situation as Ashe: I hardly ever play her, but when I do, I almost always win.
Janna
My Janna is a troll build. I focus on movement speed above all else, so that I an zoom across the map casting spells. It works. I'm not quite as comfortable with Janna as I am with my other supports, so I'm ranking her lower. But it does work.
Morgana
I could have placed Morgana as a mid. Realistically, if I'd put her in with the mids, she would rank highly, probably above Annie, maybe even above Kassadin. I'm putting her here instead because I never really play her mid anymore, nor do I feel much reason to. The way I was playing her, I might as well have been playing Karthus, but unlike Morgana, Karthus really makes it work. When I play her as a support, it's more of a "pretend support." I actually just build the same items as I would if I was playing mid. I merely shift the focus from farming to harassing (and to shielding my lane partner) and level up my skills in a different order. It's just a little too capricious for me to seriously consider, which is why I'm ranking her so low. I've actually had great success with this approach, so maybe I should give it the benefit of the doubt.
Zilean
I used to play Zilean as a support, but I hardly touch him anymore, and pretty much never in normal games. While I can certainly play him, I think I can do more as one of my other supports.
Role: Jungler
Jungling is the hardest role for me, but I've had to do it a lot, especially in solo queue, when no one else was willing. I prefer laning to jungling, but I'd much rather have a jungler on my team than not have one. My biggest weakness as a jungler is counterjungling. I don't usually engage in it myself, and I'm often unprepared for enemies doing it.
Maokai
I was impressed with Maokai's utility as a jungler for a long time. They reduced the IP price on him, and I picked him up right away. I think he's officially dethroned Amumu as my default jungler. Because I play him more often than my other junglers, and because I'm often jungling in solo queue with unfamiliar teammates, I probably have a poor win/loss ratio with Maokai, but I still trust my jungling capabiltiy with him more than with any other champion.
Amumu
My original jungler. I don't remember what level I was when I started jungling as Amumu. I do remember that I got into a Skype group with these guys and we were goofing off in co-op games. They wanted to do all yordles, but we didn't all own enough of the different yordles to make it work. I had a lot of IP, so I bought Amumu and tried him out. The next day, I began practicing jungling with him. Amumu destroys other tanks, but his main perquisite is having a combo that can put him in the middle of the enemy team, then snare all of them. I've found my Maokai to be more reliable and more resilient against counterjungling, so I tend to save Amumu for special situations, like when his ult has synergy with an allied champion.
Diana
The nerf to Diana's ult has really made playing her awkward. Also, I used to build Malady on her, and now that's gone. Still, I've played her pretty recently and I can still make her work. I bought her when she came out because I liked her aesthetic. At first, I was going to play her mid, but it occurred to me that I needed another jungler at the time and, by now, I've gotten so used to jungling her that I never play her as a laner. If I'm the jungler and my team has no full tank, I almost always play either Maokai or Amumu. If my team does have a full tank and doesn't look like it'll require a secondary tank, I've played Diana far more than any other jungler I own. That's why I'm ranking her third. I don't really do so well with assassins though. I fully expect that if I practice with more junglers, I'd start ranking some of them above her.
Lee Sin
I sort of had to get him. Lee Sin is just so versatile and has been such a powerful fighter for so long. He's nerfed from time to time, but never to the point that he's useless. Once I got some co-op practice in, I started playing him in normal games. His kit is a bit intricate. He clears jungle camps quite well (although it took me a while to learn how to do that, as all of the guides seem to have it wrong), has mobility, utility, and he's a great duelist. There's just one issue that prevents me from wanting to devote more attention to playing him, and it's tied to an issue that I haven't brought up yet, but that affects all of my jungling, maybe is even a big part of why jungling is a role I balk at a bit. Lee Sin as a jungler is popular because of his proclivity for early ganks. I do not do early ganks. Ever. No really, I mean it. I-do-not-do-early-ganks. E-V-E-R. Sometimes my teammates expect it, and while I don't say it this way to them, the situation is this: "See that little number next to my health bar? Is it below 4? Well then, I'm not ganking yet." I'm well aware that an early gank can give a team an advantage that builds up into a victory. But those ganks aren't going to be coming from me (I'm referring, of course, to ganks by the jungler in the early laning phase, and not to team efforts to gank the enemy jungler or things of that nature). So yeah, I like Lee Sin, but I'm apprehensive about playing him more.
Skarner
If Skarner didn't take so long to get going, I would probably make him my primary jungler. I've had one too many games where I fell behind or couldn't help my team because I couldn't get in close enough to actually contribute. Late-game, Skarner is amazing, and I've been directly responsible for a few ridiculous comebacks where my team was losing and I was useless, but the game dragged on and at some point, Skarner reached critical ass-kicking levels, diving into the opposing team and annihilating them.
Sejuani
I'm not the only person to compare Sejuani to Amumu. Before her rework, I tried her out, but decided she was too weak as a jungler. Since the rework, she's more than just viable. Her first clear is still bad and she's not the fastest or the most sustainable, but she builds into a great tank. I already have a lot of experience with two full tank junglers, so devoting attention to improving my Sejuani gameplay doesn't really seem warranted.
Fiddlesticks
I don't really know whether to place him here or as a mid. Fiddlesticks is a bad farmer. A lot of opponents that can't really stand up against him in a fight can outpush him. I concluded as much back when I first bought him, so I tried him as a jungler instead. In the jungle, he's very, very sustainable. Counterjungling, which I've offered as a weakness of mine, is inadvisable against Fiddlesticks. The reasons I haven't played him more are the same reasons most people would give: his clear times are too slow and his early ganks are bad. In summation, I could play him mid but he has a weakness that I just don't want to bother with and I could play him in the jungle but he has a weakness that I just don't want to bother with. That's Summoner's Rift, though. When I get him in ARAM, he's amazing. Between that and what I've seen other people do with Fiddlesticks, I plan to revisit him.
Udyr
My second successful jungler. I bought Fiddlesticks before I bought Udyr, but like I said, I sort of gave up on Fiddlesticks for a long time. For a long time, Udyr was my best jungler. There was a lot for me to like about him: he cleared faster than almost anyone, letting me begin ganking earlier, he was more sustainable than Amumu and could more conveniently solo Dragon, he moved quickly with a speed boost on a short cooldown, he dished out both physical and magic damage, he employed an interesting mechanic by having really big weaknesses (absolutely no ability to do anything outside of melee range whatsoever and having no ult) in exchange for strengths that appealed to me. Udyr rapidly overtook Amumu as my best jungler. He won me a lot of games. I was focusing on learning other junglers because I wanted to be more versatile, but I still saw Udyr as being my best. I just happened to find myself on a hiatus from playing him. And then there were changes. They changed the items, so I knew I'd have to take the time to figure out how to build him. They changed the jungle, which affected all of my junglers, but Udyr wasn't a priority for me because I figured he'd be the easiest to adapt, so I put off playing him at all. They changed Udyr himself. By that point, everything would be so different that returning to Udyr would be an ordeal, so I continued to put it off. They changed the jungle yet again. Because of all the changes, I've essentially lost Udyr as one of my go-to champions. Recently, I've played him in a few co-op games to test item builds, but the results weren't encouraging. Some day I will return to Udyr. But until then, I'm ranking him here because I've certainly jungled him in more games than any champion besides Amumu and Maokai.
Warwick
Other than one underwhelming ability, I like everything about Warwick. His early ganks are even worse than those of Fiddlesticks, but I like him. If I can figure out a way to set things up so that my team requires only minimal ganking, I would love to jungle Warwick.
Dr. Mundo
Maybe not the fastest jungler right now, but he's got to be one of the fastest. He also makes a great tank. Item changes caused me to neglect Mundo, similarly to Udyr.
Shaco
Sort of like Lee Sin, Shaco does really well with early ganks, which I don't do. Also, he's an assassin. Also, they ruined my item builds for him. An unlikely candidate for me to jungle, but he used to work for me, so I'm not ranking him dead last.
Nunu
I could also play him as a support or a solo top. He's pretty versatile and easy to play. But I haven't invested the time to make him a real asset. People are often surprised that I have so much IP saved up, and this gets at the reason. Among champions I designate as junglers alone, there are at least five champions that I own, but am not using. Some champions, like Nunu, are just not ones I would be comfortable playing in normal games because I'd have to play knowing that I could be playing a champion I have more experience with, and not being as good as I could be might cost me the game.
Evelynn
Probably the only champions I've ever wanted to refund. I don't hate her, but I also don't have anything particularly good to say about her right now. I bought her before the "stealth rework." I lost a lot of my early games against champions with stealth mechanics, and I thought (correctly) that getting more experience with stealth by playing such a champion would help me develop skills to fight against stealth. This was a long time ago and I didn't even have any rune pages for an attack damage champion, so an AP stealth champion was looking like the best option. Because of the huge duration of her stealth, I settled on Evelynn. But I never became proficient with her.
Well, that's it. Those are my 50 champions. As a bonus, because this post is already too long, I'll include the champions for each role that I do not yet own, but have my eyes on. I mean, I could buy them right now. I have lot of IP stored up. But I'm not in any hurry.
Mid: Cassiopeia
Top: Gangplank
ADC: Quinn
Support: Lulu
Jungler: Hecarim
Monday, June 24, 2013
The post-graduation books post (post post)
I've been reading a lot more than I've been posting here, so I'm behind on saying anything about most of what I've been reading. Instead of saying anything substantial about any particular book, I'll make brief comments about the things that I've read and the things that I still haven't. Before I do that, I'll note that there are two major exceptions. The first is Frederik Pohl's Heechee Saga, a series that I finished a while back. I intend to write a more detailed post about that series at some point in the future. If I fail to do so, feel free to call me out on that. But it's not going to be any time this month. Probably not even next month. There's one more book that, as I understand it, is not part of the main series but does share some characters with those books. I may or may not read it before posting about the Heechee books. The second exception is George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. I am arbitrarily refusing to use this blog to say anything substantial about those books until I've read all of them. Two of them haven't even been published, so maybe that'll never happen. We'll see.
Dying of the Light by George R.R. Martin
I had a hold coming in, but knew that I'd need more reading material. I saw the same author name as A Song of Ice and Fire. I'd also read his foreword to The Jack Vance Treasury and it had me interested in reading some of his earlier work. The pacing feels a bit weird and the character development sometimes seems forced. For such a short book, it seems as though a lot of the work goes into building an interesting world that goes beyond the specific setting in which the actual narrative events occur (the book devotes a lot to background information). But that's sort of a common trap for science fiction. Overall, I liked the characters and the presentation. If this had been the only book by the author that I'd ever read, I'd be quite willing to check out more of his work. Good, just not great.
A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
I was torn between noting this and not noting this, but I'll do it. I figured I probably didn't need a long book, but that something besides Dying of the Light would be necessary to hold me over until holds started coming in. I saw this in the fiction stacks at the library and thought, "I've been wanting to read this for many years and it's short and it's here right now, so it's perfect!" Even so, I almost avoided checking it out. It had cover art that was obviously from a 1950's or 1960's reprint that was deliberately racy and gaudy (or if I was being generous I'd say "exotic" because that's probably what the publisher was going for). Since about half of my reading time was on trains and buses, I initially put the book back on the shelf because I thought about other people seeing me reading a book with that cover. So then I slapped myself. Or probably not, but I should have. I was actually rather disturbed that such a thought had even occurred to me. I certainly hadn't anticipated it. So I checked the book out. It was everything I'd expected. While I don't know exactly how I'd rate the quality, I did like it enough to put a hold on the second book in the series. Also, I'll note that I'd love to learn to write in a way that captures that style. It's not specific to Burroughs. I'm thinking of the general writing style of authors in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson
I'd heard good things about it and I've finally gotten around to reading it for myself. A deeply intriguing book, but not a very compelling one. Where it's good, it's often very, very good. I read this very quickly and got into it, enraptured by it. But in the end, I was disappointed, with a sort of sinking feeling leading up to the conclusion. The Diamond Age is either too long or far too short. I would explain why, but that would be saying something substantial.
All Seated on the Ground by Connie Willis
This was another sort of "filler" book I'd grabbed because I didn't want to get stuck with nothing to read before I could make it to the library. Having limited room in my bag on account of how often I was dragging my p-chem textbook to school meant I was looking for something thin. If not for that, I'd not have read this one. Connie Willis never really seems to disappoint. This is a really short, really simple novel with the premise that aliens land on Earth in a spaceship, but don't do anything other than glare at people in an annoyed manner, while the government scrambles to set up a research team to figure out how to communicate with the aliens. It's fun.
Revolt in 2100 & Methuselah's Children by Robert Heinlein
I decided that I was overdue for reading some more Heinlein. When I saw both of these books collected in one volume, I knew I had to check it out. I was thoroughly enjoying reading this, and then I reached the postscript to Revolt in 2100, a six-page note expounding on stories in the same continuity as the stories in this book (and some of his earlier stories, some of which I've also read) that he gave up on. In the middle of the postscript, Heinlein explains why he used two of the circumstances in the Revolt in 2100 stories, which may or may not have been further detailed in the "stories never written." The first circumstance was that we might develop and advance space travel, then allow it to become deprecated. The second was that there could be a theocratic takeover of the United States.
The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Like I said, I was sufficiently enamored of A Princess of Mars that I put the second book on hold. I haven't read it yet, but it's next on the list.
Rainbow's End by Vernor Vinge
This will be the first full Vinge novel I'll read that isn't part of the "Zones of Thought" series. I'm really looking forward to this one.
I also grabbed four books that the Covington Library put in a "free" box to make room for other stuff for their book sale. I don't know that I'll read any of those any time soon. I was going to say insubstantial things about them too, but I'll just remark on the existence of those books and end this post, as it has enough book titles in it already.
Dying of the Light by George R.R. Martin
I had a hold coming in, but knew that I'd need more reading material. I saw the same author name as A Song of Ice and Fire. I'd also read his foreword to The Jack Vance Treasury and it had me interested in reading some of his earlier work. The pacing feels a bit weird and the character development sometimes seems forced. For such a short book, it seems as though a lot of the work goes into building an interesting world that goes beyond the specific setting in which the actual narrative events occur (the book devotes a lot to background information). But that's sort of a common trap for science fiction. Overall, I liked the characters and the presentation. If this had been the only book by the author that I'd ever read, I'd be quite willing to check out more of his work. Good, just not great.
A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
I was torn between noting this and not noting this, but I'll do it. I figured I probably didn't need a long book, but that something besides Dying of the Light would be necessary to hold me over until holds started coming in. I saw this in the fiction stacks at the library and thought, "I've been wanting to read this for many years and it's short and it's here right now, so it's perfect!" Even so, I almost avoided checking it out. It had cover art that was obviously from a 1950's or 1960's reprint that was deliberately racy and gaudy (or if I was being generous I'd say "exotic" because that's probably what the publisher was going for). Since about half of my reading time was on trains and buses, I initially put the book back on the shelf because I thought about other people seeing me reading a book with that cover. So then I slapped myself. Or probably not, but I should have. I was actually rather disturbed that such a thought had even occurred to me. I certainly hadn't anticipated it. So I checked the book out. It was everything I'd expected. While I don't know exactly how I'd rate the quality, I did like it enough to put a hold on the second book in the series. Also, I'll note that I'd love to learn to write in a way that captures that style. It's not specific to Burroughs. I'm thinking of the general writing style of authors in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson
I'd heard good things about it and I've finally gotten around to reading it for myself. A deeply intriguing book, but not a very compelling one. Where it's good, it's often very, very good. I read this very quickly and got into it, enraptured by it. But in the end, I was disappointed, with a sort of sinking feeling leading up to the conclusion. The Diamond Age is either too long or far too short. I would explain why, but that would be saying something substantial.
All Seated on the Ground by Connie Willis
This was another sort of "filler" book I'd grabbed because I didn't want to get stuck with nothing to read before I could make it to the library. Having limited room in my bag on account of how often I was dragging my p-chem textbook to school meant I was looking for something thin. If not for that, I'd not have read this one. Connie Willis never really seems to disappoint. This is a really short, really simple novel with the premise that aliens land on Earth in a spaceship, but don't do anything other than glare at people in an annoyed manner, while the government scrambles to set up a research team to figure out how to communicate with the aliens. It's fun.
Revolt in 2100 & Methuselah's Children by Robert Heinlein
I decided that I was overdue for reading some more Heinlein. When I saw both of these books collected in one volume, I knew I had to check it out. I was thoroughly enjoying reading this, and then I reached the postscript to Revolt in 2100, a six-page note expounding on stories in the same continuity as the stories in this book (and some of his earlier stories, some of which I've also read) that he gave up on. In the middle of the postscript, Heinlein explains why he used two of the circumstances in the Revolt in 2100 stories, which may or may not have been further detailed in the "stories never written." The first circumstance was that we might develop and advance space travel, then allow it to become deprecated. The second was that there could be a theocratic takeover of the United States.
I am aware that the themes of the unwritten stories linking the second and this the third volume thus briefly stated above have not been elaborated sufficiently to lend conviction, particularly with reference to the notions; the idea that space travel, once apparently firmly established, could fall into disuse, and secondly the idea that the United States could lapse into dictatorship of superstition. As for the first, consider the explorations of the Vikings a thousand years ago and the colonies they established in North America. Their labors were fruitless; Columbus and his successors had to do it all over again. Space travel in the near future is likely to be a marginal proposition at best, subsidized for military reasons. It could die out—then undergo a renaissance through new techniques and through new economic and political pressures. I am not saying these things will happen, I do say they could happen.The postscript is dated October of 1952. That's five years before Sputnik 1. And the next paragraph was the same sort of thing, but on the topic of the United States falling into dictatorship. Oh shit.
The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Like I said, I was sufficiently enamored of A Princess of Mars that I put the second book on hold. I haven't read it yet, but it's next on the list.
Rainbow's End by Vernor Vinge
This will be the first full Vinge novel I'll read that isn't part of the "Zones of Thought" series. I'm really looking forward to this one.
I also grabbed four books that the Covington Library put in a "free" box to make room for other stuff for their book sale. I don't know that I'll read any of those any time soon. I was going to say insubstantial things about them too, but I'll just remark on the existence of those books and end this post, as it has enough book titles in it already.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Ding dong, the witch is dead
Well, I graduated. It's been two and a half years, but I did it. I have a B.S. in chemistry. Well, I don't actually have a paper in my hands that says I do or anything. Not yet. But I earned the degree. It's been, well, really pretty bad. And now it's over. I'm not ecstatic or anything right now, the feeling isn't so intense as that, but at least I'm relieved. Also, confused. I have a lot more to say about this. Also, I have a lot of other things I want to write about here. No, really. I mean it this time: actual content incoming. I will be writing more soon. It's important. But right now, I don't know quite where to begin. This is merely a rushed post I'm throwing here because it's only today that I've finally found out that I really did graduate. But more later. And like I said, I really do mean it this time.
Monday, June 10, 2013
I hate finals week
I'm between exams today, but I'm still taking the time to deliver this important message. Finals week is terrible. I hate it so much.
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