User blog comment:RoznosicielCiast/Least popular champions/@comment-98.232.242.48-20130125160021

Some of those champions deserve to be on the list because they are clearly underpowered, ignored by Riot and further destroyed by season 3 (Tryndamere comes to mind, along with Heimerdinger and the now overnerfed Urgot).

But some of the champions you listed are not only more than capable, they tend to dominate if played right. Karma, for example, is a champion that has a difficult time fitting into the meta which is why she's hated. People tend to want to play champions that clearly fit into a role and are not difficult to understand. Sadly, they also appear to want to play champions that are aesthetically pleasing and can 1v1, which is why I imagine one of the best junglers in the entire game (Trundle) gets ignored as often as he does.

I have spent much time trumpeting exactly how amazing Trundle is. Pillar is, hands down, my favorite skill on any champion. Go ahead and find me another move that prevents escape of enemies, secures escape of your teammates, AoE slows, checks bushes, holds turrets, blocks turret diving and guarantees a flash or kill in laning phase every time. But does anyone care? No. Why? Because he's ugly. And because he's more utility than assassin. Players wanna kill shit and look damn good while doing it. As someone who really enjoys playing support and utility roles and is aware this is a team game, I'm happy to give kills to my teammates. They can have whatever they want if it makes us win. But as we've been shown time and time again, people only notice a champion is any good after it's FotM because some pro player proved their worth in a tournament. And then they get nerfed. Hi Gragas, how you doin?

Poppy is another underused champion for similar reasons: ugly, not so great 1v1, doesn't fit into the meta perfectly and has a skillset that requires some thinking (her ult is very hard to understand for a lot of people). Look at the slew of recently released champions - unambiguous roles, fit into existing meta, straightforward skillsets. It makes me sad that Riot is encouraging Summoners to not have to think about their champions outside of their prescribed role. The meta is supposed to evolve and if they keep playing into the meta then we're going to be stuck there and never leave.