Tahm Kench
There are two kinds of League of Legends players. Those that enjoy the game because all of the cool things that they are able to do, and those that derive their enjoyment from denying that first group. For all of you in the latter camp that love nothing more than watching the enemy Yasuo or Thresh run around in frustration, we have the perfect champion for you. Tahm Kench.
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Is the fed enemy Yasuo ripping your ADC to pieces? Gobble them up and remove the threat yourself! Did your mid laner just take an Enchanted Crystal Arrow to the face? Gobble them up and run like mad for the nearest turret! Enemy split pusher got you down? Just gobble up your nearest carry and ride the Tahm Kench express straight into their lane!
Tahm Kench isn’t exactly a versatile champion, but he does what he does very, very well. Devour is one of the most powerful and versatile abilities in the game, and that’s only one of his four abilities! Anyone that enjoys the support role and loves unique champions should pick up Tahm Kench while he’s on sale. You won’t regret it.
Graves
Graves is the power farming jungler’s best friend, as he offers all the scaling of a pick like Master Yi, but has few of the weaknesses. Graves is both ranged and has utility, something that most other carry junglers can’t claim, and it’s for that reason that he’s spent most of the last year as a competitive staple.
Unfortunately, the nerf bat has hit Graves pretty hard lately, so he’s not in the strongest state at the moment. His solo queue win rate amongst players that haven’t put enough time into learning him is abysmal, so he’s not the kind of champion that you can just buy and expect to dominate with. Graves’ unique passive means that he has a surprisingly high skill cap considering how simple his kit looks on paper. He’s definitely a great addition to any jungler’s arsenal, just be forewarned that he has a learning curve and you will lose some games while you try to scale it.
Blitzcrank
Playmaking supports are in vogue at the moment, and while Blitzcrank isn’t Thresh, the king of playmaking, he’s a very near second. There’s no question that an expert Thresh will have a bigger impact on a game than an expert Blitzcrank, but the strength of Blitzcrank comes from his ease of use. Thresh is much more complex that simply hitting a single skillshot, despite what it might seem like in lower skill tiers, but that’s not at all the case with Blitzcrank. If you can hit Rocket Grab reliably you can play Blitzcrank. That’s all there is to it.
There’s few champions that I could recommend more strongly for newer players than Blitzcrank. He provides a wonderful introduction into what the support role can be, without asking for the same devotion that similar champions like Thresh and Rakan require in order to be effective. If you find yourself supporting often and have the RP to spare, there’s no better purchase than Blitzcrank.
Jax
Jax is in an odd spot in the moment, as he’s undeniably strong, but also overshadowed. He’s certainly one of the stronger top lane carries in solo queue at the moment, but he’s behind Fiora by a wide margin, making it hard to justify picking him. What he does have over Fiora, however, is ease of use. While Fiora is busy trying to dance all around her enemies in order to hit their vitals, Jax simply hops on his target and fights them until one of the two dies. The fact that he actually has the tools to come out ahead in those exchanges makes him not only a viable pick, but a strong one.
Anyone who’s interested in learning how to carry from either the jungle or the top lane should pick up Jax. He’s easy to learn, effective most of the way up the ranked ladder, and provides a good foundation for learning more advanced picks like Fiora or Tryndamere.
