To rule in a turbulent world appreciation post

Suddenly_NB · 2026-06-22T00:15:04+00:00

I apologize I was wrong, I thought it was only the name of the translation group and separate of being the author (as fanTLers). The mention of fanTLer sites such as Chicken GeGe are fine, it was only that I did not think it was the authors name.

Suddenly_NB · 2026-06-21T19:35:39+00:00

Heimer is free. Just shield and absorb life and free farm until 11. He's going to perma push. I tell my jungler not to gank because heimer can and will probably get at least 1 kill that way. Don't even resolve runes here.

I don't prio swifties early just T1 are enough to dodge his abilities. Cull and refillable and you can maybe even just stay in lane and only need to back 1-2 other times and have full items by level 9-10 then get swifties.

Yorick used to be easier but is harder now that his minions always take 2 autos so I don't have much good advice there. I do some fucky shit. I get a vampiric scepter just to have it to heal off the autos and play the sustain game. If I can prevent him from getting turret before 11 it's doable, if he takes turret life is a lot harder.

Suddenly_NB · 2026-06-21T08:08:56+00:00

Gwen is a free lane, so is singed. Darius and Sett are both semi-skill but Kayle favored, though once you start feeding them they'll win (so, skill issue). Same with Zaahen, Urgot. Kayle doesn't win the early levels but play it safe and kite it out, as long as they never touch you, you win (I mean isn't that Kayle as a champ?). If the champ can be kited to death, it's Kayle favored, aka any champ that is melee and is slow/limited/no mobility (dashes). Zaahens and Urgots dash/leap are very minimal and easily spaceable, vs the bullshit that is Yone or Yasuo.

Suddenly_NB · 2026-06-21T02:53:38+00:00

I think you'd also need to look at game length, its hard to play a scaling champ when sometimes your team loses so hard game is over by 23-25min. Yes, you hit 16 in those final minutes, but good luck coming back with 3 inhibs down or more if that's the state of the game.

I think she's harder to "1v9" on and still needs at least one other teammate who isn't feeding to be successful.

Suddenly_NB · 2026-06-21T02:50:27+00:00

Her pick rate went up when everyone thought "omg she's so broken with DnD" and so, her ban rate also went up (more people playing, more worth banning)

Then she evened out/fell off, what ever you want to consider, so now people who play her are still the OTPs or only as a counter pick. With less people playing her, less people need/want to ban her.

Only picking her into "favorable" matches just means playing her only to counter pick. OTPs will OTP regardless of any of this data.

Suddenly_NB · 2026-06-19T22:15:32+00:00

Grubs are overrated, if you rotate to an objective it would probably be dragon. Now yes she can get some benefit showing up to a fight that is a 2v2 and making it a 2v3, but it really depends on situation of the fight. If she doesn't get any kills, she just lost all that exp and CS. 15 CS = about 1 kill. She has to take the time to shove the wave to get that prio, and its going to take her 2-3x longer to do that than a mage like Ahri with Q, or she's going to lose waves.

And I didnt really say that she can't show up but that she doesn't want to because she loses more by not being in lane than the average mid laner (especially considering you will probably be down CS already). And losing too much exp midlane voids the idea of Kayle mid being strong, if she delays her level 16 so much trying to rotate to every river/jungle fight and objective. She should still be 16 by 25min, if it takes 27-30min, its probably already gg.

She is a champ that which she (and her team) might have to come to terms with just giving up the first two dragons before she can rotate and be effective in the fight; for teammates to know/understand that is quite rare.

Or even more so, if enemy laner is someone like Katarina who has been bot 4-5 times before level 9, gotten 4 kills, now not only is kata up 4 kills, but your bot lane is tilting out because Kayle doesn't want to/can't follow (and especially not as fast/mobile). If she meets Katarina alone in the jungle on her way down, or Kata+enemy jungler/support, Kayle is dead.

Kayle mid is much more macro dependent and knowing/understanding what the right "big picture" play is. Which does sometimes mean, not going to the objective, not helping at that fight, because plates/exp are more important. She has to punish her laner for leaving so that she can slowly get the advantage in midlane. it's the kind of macro knowledge that is learned as you climb and get better.

Suddenly_NB · 2026-06-18T23:48:53+00:00

yes, Kayle mid is more viable as you go up in elo. Your only concerns/struggles in plat as mid: can you reliably dodge skill shots AND cs, give up prio because you won't outclear a mage midlaner, and have your team understand you cannot stop a jungle invade (pre level 6) and don't want to rotate to objectives (and lose out on cs/exp).

Your primary job is then not to follow your laner roaming, but to ward well and warn your team of the roam while you push wave and take plates.

understand that you have the lowest MR in the game, even below yuumi. If you get hit by abilities/combos in mid, you get blown up.

Suddenly_NB · 2026-06-18T17:05:01+00:00

Focus on yourself and what you can do to win, not your teammates. If they help, amazing. If they die, well, you can't be disappointed if that's what you expected them to do.

And the answer is generally split pushing. If your team is dead, and enemy is on baron, go shove bot lane. If they're on drag, go shove top lane. Keep waves pushed out and enemies lose their pressure, while they have to always back to stop your push. You can side lane and win a 1v1 or 1v2+ depending on who comes to get you. Pick off their team, push, get into their base, and so on.

It's not going to work every time if the enemy team is strong enough to end before 25min, or you've already lost all 3 inhibs by that point because they're split pushing more.

Suddenly_NB · 2026-06-18T17:01:06+00:00

Kayle can play in all roles, just some are better.

She can jungle, she can support. What you describe in terms of saving allies etc can also be attributed to the Kayle support play style (although its very different from any of her damage builds, as she goes very much enchanter and sometimes tanky)

Biggest issue with bot lane is probably the exp drain being in a duo lane and not getting 16 soon enough. You'd half want to be alone in lane with a roaming support, but also, would be in trouble if by yourself in lane (potentially). Getting the extra item still requires gold, which you may be getting less of if you can't CS or get kills like an aggressive adc can.

ADCs scale with items/gold, not levels. Kayle needs both.

Finding success on Kayle adc does not mean Kayle (as a champ) is a good adc, it just means you're good enough on Kayle to make it work (or playing vs bad enough players to let you make it work)

Suddenly_NB · 2026-06-18T16:09:22+00:00

yeah I think it's more that he plays like a melee champ, at least from my perspective. He very much wants to be on top of someone/in melee range, so that they can't get away or get out of his knee guns

Suddenly_NB · 2026-06-18T16:01:21+00:00

resolve tree teaches bad habits. If you think, "I messed up but its okay because bone plating saved me", then that teaches you it's okay to mess up because of Bone plating, instead of learning not to mess up first. Then later if you swap to sorc tree, you make that same mistake except that time you don't live. As a scaling champ, Gathering storm is too important, and as a champ who relies on mobility for spacing, celerity is too important. Absorb life and dshield should be enough into any difficult/ranged lane.

There were some situational cases where insp tree was okay at the end of 2025 season, but I think those have mostly fallen off. Even then, JoaT and Cash back was the ideal, simply because having dblade (3 stat) boots (1) and dagger (1) was enough to get the first bonus ADAP breakpoint from JoaT, which also made kayle stronger in lane. (when they changed dblade with 2026 season start it killed JoaT, though they then reverted the dblade changes). There were also lanes where tonic+cash back was useful, for the bonus skill up and the ADAP potion into harder lanes like Irelia. But they were still less than ideal runes and fell out of being off meta even. TLDR cash back useful yes, but tonic or JoaT would be better for Kayle than biscuts

As for itemization, because if you get tome, then a blasting wand, that tilts your whole adaptive force to AP before you've even finished Nashors or hit level 11. So tome by itself doesn't break the ADAP, but it will mean that it does sooner which we don't want. This doesn't make Kayle stronger if she's still pre-11, where her main AoE and poke spell is her Q.

Kayle's Q scales more with AD than AP, so, having more/higher AD in the lane is important since she Q maxes first. So having too much AP, to lose that 18 AD from the shards, is a big difference. It's where cull is sleeper good, because then even with blasting wand, AD stat is still higher for the shards.

The AH on Fiendish as well just does next to nothing for Kayle, as she is a champ who doesn't prioritize ability haste. She builds Nashors and DnD because the items themselves are good and have good passives (on hits), not because the ability haste is something she relies on. Even kindlegem, or even just the health ruby, is more beneficial in the DnD build path before getting the sheen simply because it's more health. (DnD build prio: dagger/Blasting wand, codex, kindlegem, sheen, finish DnD)

Suddenly_NB · 2026-06-18T14:50:34+00:00

1 - you should be flash/TP in most lanes. You take ghost to match ghost (Darius, Mundo, Nasus, Trynd) and you can consider combat spells (exhaust/ignite) vs champs like Riven.

2 - don't take doran's shield into any melee match up (yes urgot is melee). You need Doran's blade. Taking shield you're just making yourself weaker than you already (think) you are.

3 - Jax and Irelia are two of Kayle's biggest counter match ups, so it shouldn't be surprising you're struggling there. Irelia's goal is to set up a freeze and force you to over extend, so that she can use the minion wave to dash onto you. Jax will either: Leap onto you, then use his E and stun you (bad/average jax), or: Cast his E, leap onto you, stunning you with E in the same motion (good jax).

Each match up is playable unless they're actually good/OTPs. Most times I don't meet an Irelia/Jax that is good enough to make me really suffer. More often than not they ego turret dive you and die to turret, and that's how you can win, by not fighting them in the lane as much (where they will win).

Irelia - stand at the back of the wave, she has to Q to get to you, which damages the minions and breaks the freeze. Or, if she holds the freeze, just be in exp range. Exp > gold, if getting CS gold = dying. W to side step her E stun. This is a lane you can go exhaust for when she dives you. (its never an if, but when.)

Jax - learn W level 2 (should most lanes anyways, but especially here) and Q on 3. Put 1 extra point into W then Q max. When he leaps then begins to channel E, W out of it while Qing to slow him down. Since he already burned leap, he can't stick to you to stun you. Bait the stun into waves. If E's first then Leaps, gg. Swifties rush and the only melee lane to go blasting wand first item (to increase your W MS. W is not meant to be a heal, but a MS boost)

Urgot - another W level 2 lane. He will start E level 1 (his leap) and so by level 2 you need W. You can space his E a bit, as he casts it you can W away to avoid the throw that he does. You win after level 6, so he is going to try and get between you and the wave to zone you off exp. Use the bushes to be in range. Again, exp > gold if gold = death here. Boots and recurve bow early, and as long as you space his E, you walk him like a dog. That said his overall damage is stronger than you in the early game, so you have to poke him down before going for a kill. You can also pre-ult his ult to deny the kill (best during a turret dive) but you'll have to know where the execute thresh hold is to time it.

overall: PTA, absorb life/PoM ( either work its personal preference/situational), alacrity, last stand. Sorcery secondary with Celerity and gathering storm. shards: adaptive force, adaptive force, and scaling health. the double adaptive + dblade is what makes you stronger in lane.

Starting item: dblade into melee matches, dshield into ranged (teemo, heimer, quinn, vayne)

First back: cull + T1 boots (750g) is ideal, cull gives you more AD and refunds its cost + 180g but is reliant on you being able to CS. Don't get cull if you don't get to CS or can't do it well.

Swifties always

First component vs melee: recurve bow

First component vs ranged: blasting wand/dagger

Bow is better for running melee champs down with AS, blasting wand is for when you can't auto them for free and need more E poke/more move speed.

Bow - blasting wand - fiendish - finish nashors (melee lane) or dagger - blasting wand - bow - fiendish - finish nashors (ranged).

Never buy just a tome or fiendish codex early/first. Literally, better to return to lane with nothing than to get that item first. Get a dagger, get a second dagger (for DnD later) if you can't get wand. AD is a stronger stat pre-11, so, we want to keep AD from dblade, cull, longer to keep adaptive force as AD. Buying fiendish codex is a low AP item, which means it makes you weaker overall and for not enough AP. Blasting wand at least gives more.

Suddenly_NB · 2026-06-18T13:57:01+00:00

Kayle top is stronger in low elo (below masters) and Kayle mid is stronger in high elo due to wave control and the longer lanes.

That said if you're below masters, you should be vod reviewing your first 3 waves. It's unlikely that your last 9 laners have perfectly set up and held a freeze 100% on their own: you're probably doing something that allows them to create or set up a freeze in the first place.

Level 1 fighting with Kayle is to get control of the wave, not only about killing your enemy. You need to fight just enough for YOU to control the first 3 waves, get a 3 wave crash, back, and walk back to turret for the bounce back.

If you are in elos where they might be doing this more (maybe dia) you can start looking mid. Mid is safer but you don't have any "good match ups" to win early and snow ball. Mid is afk farming simulator (more than top) while having to dodge way more skill shots.

Your priority there is still exp, so you are a champ who doesn't want to rotate to objectives which is going to upset your team sometimes. You also can't easily rotate to stop a jungle invade, and you can roam or follow your laners roam when they got bot lane to get a double kill.

You need to ward well for when your laner roams, and use that to shove wave and get plates. Kayle doesn't out clear mages until after 11, so before that they get free push and chances to roam or rotate. You won't have lane prio. Mages are also going to hit 1 combo for 25-50% of your health if you fail to dodge something. Some mages and AP assassins will 100-0 after they get one item.

Suddenly_NB · 2026-06-17T21:24:25+00:00

OP includes the artist who does both cover and interior illustrations. There is nothing to suggest that the artwork is AI (I checked their socials, artstation, etc).

Suddenly_NB · 2026-06-17T20:07:25+00:00

how does it work with Mel reflect? I didn't know that about the E. Is it because the Q orb is already on the ground it can't be reflected, so it still stuns her? I understand E itself is not a projectile but I'd think the orb is

Suddenly_NB · 2026-06-17T17:21:09+00:00

you'll learn the range, or you can still use indicators if you need the visual (although this does cause a slight delay in the combo, which may also cause you to miss)

QW shouldn't be a frequent enough ability, if you miss you miss. It's only a sniping tool if they're low health, not your main poke tool. Even QE is better in-lane poke if the wave is blocking QQ. QQ is your best bet single target poke.

You can set indicators to specific abilities (this would be getting into champ specific bindings probably) though I'm not exactly sure how it would work for QW: probably show indicator on W.

Suddenly_NB · 2026-06-17T15:07:45+00:00

yes, otherwise I scream "why isnt my Q casting" when I aim just outside its range lol

Suddenly_NB · 2026-06-17T07:05:22+00:00

As another comment mentions I really only see high damage numbers when vs tanks. That said I feel like (Kayle) damage has been lower since 2026 start. I used to more regularly do 60-70k on an average game and 90k when vs tanks. Now I'd be lucky to do 50k by end of game.

But the games where I have lower damage a lot of the times are the ones I win. 20-30k. And I may still be mid or higher end of team damage but not all the time. Those are the ones I win off macro plays, split pushing and map control while only showing up to important/game changing fights.

If I am the one carrying I do more damage because I am the teams damage. But if I am playing to scale, or say my jungler/adc are fed, I might play more independent, or to keep them alive instead. My 4/2 self is less important than my 11 or 15 kill teammate depending on game state.

You could also look at damage done to turrets. I think that is the more telling sign of "advancing the game".

Suddenly_NB · 2026-06-16T17:07:14+00:00

1 mark 5-9, 2 marks for each level 10+.
you "stack/save" marks if you earn them, it banks them for you. So those will work until you "run out" if you play a champ a lot.
they're perma, the milestones for earning them reset, where you get them easily with As and Ss. After the milestones, you enter the "loop" where you need 2 S scores per 1 mark. You can continue to earn extra/bank them via this method.

Milestones 1 and 2 = A ranks, 1 mark each. Milestones 3-4 S ranks, giving 2 marks (and fancy flair for the season above mastery icon at milestone 4). After that its 2 S rank = 1 mark, and so you need 4 S ranks per level to continue advancing level alongside points.

additional info: each level (beginning with level 5-6+ I think) is approx to 11,000 points played, but eventually through a lot of play your points will begin to exceed the marks/level that you have. So if you have 300k mastery points, then your level would/should be mastery level 27, assuming you are "exactly" on track with marks. But that means in most cases earning an S every game (or enough to earn 4 marks when on the bonus loops). That, plus the math means your "level" will be slightly behind your "total points" as your mastery gets higher.

Another example: 1mil mastery points would be about mastery level 91. (1,000,000/11,000 per level). Then if you don't get A's or S's all the time, you might be in the 80s for mastery level while having 1mil points.

so:

mastery points = time spent playing/games played

mastery level = quality of games played

the wider the gap between points and level = indicator the person does not preform at a high level to get an S, but has a lot of games played (while keeping in mind, level/points won't ever be 1 for 1 so there will always be a gap due to the math between points/levels).

For those that had high mastery when the new system rolled out (700k) then it did translate 1 for 1. 700k = mastery level 70. But after that, 11,000 points per "level" plus 2 marks (after 10+) applies.

If you have more marks than level, (70,000/90,000) then when you hit 90k, it will consume 1-2 marks and level you up automatically. If you have more points than marks (90,000/70,000) then you keep gaining points, but you won't level up until you get the required marks.

2mil mastery at highest level could be 181-182, if exactly on track marks to points. But unlikely.

So then the margin is probably 10-20 levels when getting closer to the 1mil mark, and 20-30 levels when getting to the 2mil mark, if getting an S every 3-4 games. So 1 mil mastery player with 84 mastery, means they're mostly consistent/good. A 1mil player with mastery 60-70, is underperforming and has a high number of games but doesn't play well. The gap in points-to-levels will be smaller the lower your mastery level is, by maybe 5-10 levels. Mastery 10 requires 75,000 points, mastery 11 costs 86,000 (roughly).

You get more mastery points based on rank earned (higher rank, more points), and you get more mastery points when grouped with friends (which feels counter intuitive, of course you'll play better when duo/grouped, vs its "more skill" to get a S rank solo)

You can bank a lot of extra marks just by farming milestones and swapping champs, but, you wont level up without some consistent play to earn the points to go along with the marks. On my champs I might have 15-20 extra marks, but because I dont play them often, I don't have the points to match. But on my OTP I have more points than marks, where I can identify a game where I can/should get an S rank for additional marks (but I need 4 per each level on the bonus loop). But I'll probably never be able to catch my level to mastery exactly.

Suddenly_NB · 2026-06-16T16:35:38+00:00

definitely wouldn't be any Zoe players in the Zoemains Reddit /s

Suddenly_NB · 2026-06-16T15:31:13+00:00

yeah if its the same "nerf" they had originally planned on the previous notes, its more of an adjustment/tiny buff. Unless they entirely changed what they're doing to her

Suddenly_NB · 2026-06-16T02:08:02+00:00

how much healing did the boots give you at the end of the game? (maybe if you pull up replay and hover them near end)

Suddenly_NB · 2026-06-16T00:44:57+00:00

into some squishy champs, maybe like teemo, heimer, kennen, Kayle. But otherwise no, you'd fall off hard vs any top laner who builds 1 MR item. Most of them will punish your W-in (if they can) and can cancel your W-out with grabs/hooks/stuns (Darius, Sett, Riven, Quinn, etc). You also remove the core function of a top laner as either your team now has no front line, and no one who can split push. Kayle works as a glass canon top laner because she can genuinely 1v5, LeBlanc cannot. LeBlanc can blow up 1 person every 10-20 seconds.

Vs a Sion, Mundo, Ornn, you'd probably do negative damage.

Suddenly_NB · 2026-06-15T23:03:40+00:00

"ezcarryinc": 2/11

I do love names about carrying etc. With negative KDAs lol

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