I’ve watched a LOT of professional League of Legends in my time, and I’ve found that certain champions just aren’t fun to watch, no matter how well played. They don’t have skillshots that can set up big plays, or flashy ultimates - they just kind of exist in the game, pressing buttons and going through the motions while their team performs around them.
Today’s Top 5 covers the champions that just aren’t interesting in professional play. May Riot read this and do something about their bland kits.
#5: Elise
Elise has been around for a long time in professional play, but sadly has never been fun to watch. She does have some high moments with her Cocoon, but unfortunately the rest of her kit is just bland. Targeted damage, targeted gapclosers, and a full tank build means that Elise is a boring champion to watch in teamfights. The days of AP Elise top were at least somewhat fun, but her years as a jungler have dulled by interest. Fortunately she’s not a top-tier jungler for the moment - I don’t think I could take seeing her again.
#4: Rek’Sai
As much as I love playing Rek’Sai, I can’t stand to see her in professional play. At least Elise has a skillshot she needs to land - Rek’Sai’s just a knockup bot who tunnels in before ineffectually flailing on enemies with Queen’s Wrath. If pros built her as a diver, I’m sure Rek’Sai would be a lot more fun to watch, but because she’s always built full tank she’s never an interesting pick. Hopefully the rework makes her a little bit more entertaining in professional play…
#3: Varus
I used to kind of like watching Varus players back in the day, but that was before the flat pen/lethality builds on him became common.Nowadays, Varus is nothing more than a Q bot - he just hangs out on the backline and fires Piercing Arrow after Piercing Arrow at the enemy team, barely even pausing to autoattack. It’s the worst kind of poke too, since it can’t be body-blocked by other team members. At least Nidalee had some kind of drama with her Javelin Toss.
If crit/AS Varus ever came back, he’d probably fall off this list. Until then, he takes the spot as the third most boring champion to watch.
#2: Sona
I am so incredibly grateful that Sona hasn’t been meta in a long time, because man was she boring to watch. Since all of her power was tied up in auras back in the day, Sona’s best playstyle was “Flash-ult someone, the spam all of your buttons.” It was about as interesting to watch as it sounds.
Sona hasn’t changed significantly since then, but at least she has some kind of playmaking potential outside of her ult.Even still, I’m hoping that Sona never comes back to pro games.
#1: Maokai
Words cannot express how sick of Maokai I am. The champion has zero high moments, zero skill expression, and is zero fun to watch. At least Nautilus Dredge Lines or Shen Shadow Dashes can be avoided - but not Maokai’s W. He just points and clicks, and boom! the teamfight starts, with no fanfare at all.
The worst part about Maokai is how ubiquitous he’s been over the last few years. Riot even replaced the “Renekton bar” with the “Maokai bar” - which goes to show just how important he’s been in shaping the current pro meta. It also means that he’s unlikely to drop from the meta for long, so I’ll have to keep watching the Twisted Treant in game after game. Someone save me.
We've all got champions we hate watching in professional play - let me know yours in the comments!
