Talk:Xin Zhao/@comment-10767476-20130912110636/@comment-9048637-20130925201937

Apart from all the other perfectly valid criticisms of tier lists, I'll point out that even in the first place, that particular list is geared towards Solo Q, or "Teamwork Is Illegal" as it might otherwise be called. Champions who aren good picks there are ones whose playstyle is fairly 'idiot-proof', not in the sense that they themselves are no-skill, but rather that they don't need other players to be on the ball so much to do their job. For instance, my friend (who used to main jungle before his current stint as a support primarily) likes to describe Maokai as a fairly idiot-proof jungler, insofar as even the most slow-witted of laners tend to have time to react to the jungler being on their lane when he's snared the enemy, knocked them back and slowed them.

But that means nothing in more organized play, where you can actually rely on your team. Believe it or not, such play does exist, and there are some champions who, while risky picks on solo Q, can really shine here. Just off the top of my head - Karthus. Karthus has a weak laning phase that may need attention from his team to get him through, and even late game, if he can't rely on his team to keep the enemy in place for the duration of his passive, then a lot of his potential's going to be wasted. But that potential? Highest AoE DPS mage in the game. So, yeah. Solo Q isn't the be all and end all of champ viability.