Talk:Bard/@comment-4091261-20150701020919/@comment-25665877-20150710185723

Very nice analysis of Bard's kit. I agree that Magical Journey is much more easily used for chasing and engaging than it is for escaping.

You were inquiring about Bard synergies and counters below, and I figured I'd throw in my five cents. I'm posting here because I didn't know if you'd still be following that thread. Plus, considering how thought-out your above comment is, it was a shame that no one had replied to it yet.

Bard needs a bottom lane matchup that won't punish his side in his absence. In part, this means that he needs an ADC who can hold their own in lane. Champions like Caitlyn, Sivir, and Jinx are difficult for the enemy laners to lock down, and they have strong-enough poke and waveclear that they won't get bullied too badly. If the enemy support is capable of hard-engaging despite your ADC's disengages (Leona), then choosing Bard isnt' a good idea.

Bard also relies a tremendous amount on having control over neutral and friendly jungle area; he needs to be able to collect chimes and pressure the middle lane. As you pointed out, this means that he snowballs--the more area your team controls, the stronger Bard is, and vice-versa. If the enemy team has a counterjungler, such as Rek'Sai or Shaco, then Bard will not be able to roam safely. On the other hand, if your team has a jungler who is able to reliably keep control of their turf, such as Udyr, Olaf, or Trundle, then Bard will be able to operate more effectively.

As far as the team at large goes, Bard synergizes well with mid- to heavy-weight fighters who can crush face, except that they have trouble getting in their opponent's face in the first place. In this sense, Bard has a lot of the same synergies with Kayle. His Q slows opponents while his W speeds and heals allies. Combine that with his E (and Twin Shadows, if you choose to build it), and you've got a duo who can hunt down champions who are thousands of units ahead of them. All four of his abilities are useful for getting those same allies into position during a teamfight. Even if they are behind slightly behind in experience and gold, the fact that they are durable and have actually reached their opponents should more than make up for a minor to moderate stat deficit. Champions who fall into this category include the aforementioned Udyr, Olaf, and Trundle, as well as Nasus, Darius, and Jax.

I don't really understand what others were posting about synergies with AoE champions. Even though anyone caught in Bard's R could be followed up perfectly by another AoE ability, Bard still has to land the his AoE ability in the first place, and it's not as if his R does damage by itself, so... it doesn't really seem to be a synergy to me, unless your team has got, say, three other high-damage or high-CC AoE abilities that they could land on the opponents directly after Bard's. That way, only one player needs to be skillful with AoE placement, rather than three or four.

Wow, that's a wall of text. Anyhow, I appreciate your insights, and I would be happy to see you on the Rift.