Talk:Illaoi/@comment-27083427-20160229092153

I know people keep saying Illaoi is terrible, but honestly, I think people need to realise that she is capable of three things.

1) Dominating lane:  I've jokingly said in Skype calls with premade 5's 'Oh, landed an E on him, lane's over', but in all honesty, it's not far from the truth.  Landing that first E forces your opponent to play in such a way that they will likely miss farm, and wander into your own Q range, and all in all, get very frustrated at being forced to play a mini-game that equates to getting bashed in the face while earning 5 gold every 10 seconds.

2) Splitpushing:  Once she has her core items (The Black Cleaver and Iceborn Gauntlet), Illaoi smashes towers to bits stupidly quickly.  She is fully able to proc Spellblade every time it comes off cooldown, while also having the base damage to rip it down.  She's also a pain to actually stop, because, put simply, you can't take the fight to her.  She will just kill you.

3) Team-fight zoning:  While her actual raw team-fight capability is gated by her being a juggernaut with a clunky passive, just having Illaoi present is a terrifying prospect.  She completely shuts down a comp that wants to engage, and is very good in siege situations.  Grab a carry, or even a tank with E, and you're dropping that target to half HP.

So what does she function well in? Predominantly, she's great in siege or poke comps, where her lack of CC and range is balanced by the need for the enemy team to either go in or splitpush. She's a situationally amazing pick, and someone who I will happily take into a Malphite or Nautilus any day of the week, but struggles enormously against teams that aren't willing to engage. The typical core build is Boots of Swiftness, The Black Cleaver, Iceborn Gauntlet, Sterak's Gage. Your final two items are entirely situational, and your boots should be tailored to fit the enemy team comp. Final items typically are: Maw of Malmortius, Randuin's Omen, Deadman's Plate, Banshee's Veil, Frozen Mallet.