Talk:Diana/@comment-25912163-20150222025426/@comment-5606883-20150224134455

First I'm sorry Talonmain, I tried to word my reply to not reinforce her being strong in soloq but rather state her strengths in general, I must've lost my way at some point :(

And the Akali nerfs did what I think they were supposed to do. As you said new players no longer play her to just R-Q-E get insta double kill. People who have played Akali for years before the nerf probably adjusted to the change and are still able to play her fine, and people who practice now can still carry with her. However, when is the last time you've seen Akali in ranked? In my experience (usually around Gold II elo) Akali is almost as popular as Poppy... I can't speak for Diamond/Challenger ranks however- though on the streams I watch I don't see her.


 * You are right with the strengths of Akali, don't get me wrong. Past lvl 8 her Q becomes a "don't enter" sign, unless you know you're ahead you can't go in with that mark on you. However, pre6 she struggles against most matchups (against Xerath, Lux, etc she rides the struggle-bus all the way home).

All in all, Diana is tankier than Akali, and is more helpful to the team (best way I can think of phrasing it). Like... she has very high AoE damage, her E pulls and slows a large group AND cancels channeled abilities, her damage is high enough to make her a prime target and therefor she will most likely be focused but is tanky enough with her W to survive to get atleast one combo off- all of these points are helpful to a team, which is why I consider Diana to be an "off-assassin" because she  can do that, but its not her main focus.

And personally I rush Rod of Ages :) Gives tankiness and damage (see any of my comments on other posts for my rants lol). So her fragile nature isn't a factor and, atleast the way I play her, she still has high kill potential. Though a few friends have called my playstyle "suicidal".... Ohh shh, it works =P

Kassadin has always been a difficult champion to balance. His kit itself is the problem, not the stats on it. Until Riot changes his abilities he will always have this problem. However, he is no longer a 0 counterplay champion. He can get away or he can go in- he has to make that choice (pre-lvl 16 he doesn't have the cooldowns to do both, and post-lvl 16 the enemy team  should have too much damage/CC to not allow him to do both).

I don't remember mentioning top-lane Diana? I personally don't like Diana top- it's possible but I think bad overall. She is too matchup-dependant top lane, and the chance of not being able to get blue makes me sad (blue is love... doesn't matter which champ you are. Blue is love).

And I agree that "counter" is the wrong word for the Diana v.s. Katarina matchup. Neither of them shut down the other (which most people consider "counter" to mean). I think that Diana keeps Katarina in check. As long as the Diana player is smart, she can stop Katarina from snowballing. She tries to roam? Diana should be able to take mid tower in response. Katarina tries to kill Diana? If she starts the fight she's screwed, if not neither should die.


 * I think the reason people are excited about the Diana v.s. Kat matchup is because there really isn't another champion that is this effective at keeping Katarina in her place. Don't get me wrong, if Katarina plays a teamfight well, it doesn't matter how she did in lane- she's snowballing :)