Talk:Fiora/@comment-4922088-20150722040233/@comment-4922088-20150722041036

For those of you who don't know: Irelia was originally meant to be a melee carry who built pure damage and used her sustain to survive teamfights. Needless to say she didn't work out that way when she hit live and was considered trash for quite some time.

This was during a time when melee carries were failing and Riot was trying to find a way to make them viable as a role. They had already tried one earlier and released Xin to hellish results, and Irelia was another attempt in a slightly different direction. Much more sustain and much less up-front damage.

When she failed as a melee carry she sat in the unplayed zone for quite some time until someone decided to build her full tank with Triforce/Atmas to give her a little damage.

It worked so well she's been a bruiser ever since.