Talk:Elise/@comment-24082086-20150707014754/@comment-15667791-20150707110158

Warning: This is basically a big "don't play her" message. I have strategy on her workings in here, but the overall message is that your friends are right, she's not very good. In case that doesn't scare you off, the rest of this should help you get started.

She's very bad with new players. You have to adapt to a scavenger's mentality, I would say. In fact, the way I play her, she's almost playing to be biting off more than she can chew on purpose. That is a hard strategy to get good at, especially soloqueue.

Basically, Elise can't tank. At least, not well. But, in order to be effective in her typical lanes, she needs to be able to tank, or peel, or both, or at least dish out heavy damage at will. However, none of that is actually easy for her. So how do you cope? Generally, the only way is to artificially tank for the team, or more precisely, directing enemy fire at you through your alpha-dog behavior, and then coming up with methods to dodge skillshots altogether. Your best bet is to drag a couple of enemy champions to chase you fruitlessly while the rest of your team 4v3's. Your team has to recognize that typical 5v5 scenarios will not go in your favor.

A couple of hints to getting the job done:

1. Watch for the enemy trying to take 5-man ganks/pushes. Should this happen, work around them as best as possible while split-pushing. With any luck, either the enemy will stop doing full teamfighting, or you will get decent progress with split-pushing on your own.

2. She needs another tank. I have won games without another tank, but it gets really hard. Someone needs to be there to actually initiate when Elise successfully splits the enemy force down a tad.

3. She likes to have a mage with decent range. Doesn't have to be Xerath or anything, but something that can handle large groups in case of 4v5's with a split-pusher, and that can halt progress at towers. Again, I can win without it, but it becomes much harder without one.

4. Full CDR is mandatory. Her mobility is defined by it, and without her mobility, she can be squashed like the spider she is. Movement speed is near-mandatory, too, as both her artificial tanking and her damage rely heavily on that as well.

5. And, most importantly, it's actually a really bad time to pick up Elise. The "buffs" she got recently play as nerfs in most situations. I would wait until they actually pull their heads out of their butts and give Elise some proper recognition. She rocks the 3rd lowest win-rate in the League, and that's with one of the lowest play-rates, too, meaning even experienced Elise players can't drag up that percentage. It sucks to say there is a champion that can't be played effectively, but if there was one, Elise would be a strong runner for it.

If you want more, several players have spit-balled a few ideas below, and I'm sure a heavy amount of them can point you in a good direction. Not all of them may agree with what I say, but I just don't believe you can stray from this general formula. Allow them to prove me wrong, if you wish.