Lulu, awesome support that might be nerfed into the ground.

Since the release of Lulu I have had a blast on League of Legends. She's a great support champion, Riot have given her a plethora of useful abilities. Much to my dismay, her skills may need a little toning down and nerfed to some degree.

Beasty auto attacks!

Lulu, the Fae Sorceress

• Pix, Faerie Companion (Passive) - Pix fires magical bolts of energy whenever his owner attacks another enemy unit. These bolts are homing, but can be intercepted by other units.
• Glitterlance - Pix and Lulu each fire a bolt of magical energy that heavily slows all enemies it hits. An enemy can only be damaged by one bolt.
• Whimsy - If cast on an ally, grants them movement speed and ability power for a short time. If cast on an enemy, turns them into an adorable critter that can't attack or cast spells.
• Help, Pix! - If cast on an ally, commands Pix to jump to an ally and shield them. He then follows them and aids their attacks. If cast on an enemy, commands Pix to jump to an enemy and damage them. He then follows them and grants you vision of that enemy.
• Wild Growth (Ultimate) - Lulu enlarges an ally, knocking enemies away from them and granting them a large amount of bonus health. For the next few seconds, that ally gains an aura that slows nearby enemies.

The speed boost is amazing for escape.

Playing support up until now has always been an irk of mine. Why risk supporting someone who might fail, or can't successfully carry like you can? If your team cannot utilise and keep their support champion alive, it turns the game into a 4v5. However, I feel Lulu makes an exception to this rule. If you position yourself well and keep your team alive, she can very noticeably turn the tables. She can also defend herself well and you do not want to dive her.

Lulu brings a lot of utility to the team. She excels at the laning phase and can even handle mid. By using a combination of Pix auto-attacks and Glitterlance, you can deter the enemy and keep them at bay. Champions with lower starting health can be sent straight back in a couple of combos.

Do not stand in the team fight!

Whimsy is my favorite ability. Turning the enemy Tryndamere into a critter is not only amusing but also useful. It can also be used to speed up allies for a satisfying amount of time. The ability power bonus should not be ignored either.

The shield is nothing special but incredibly useful nonetheless. I rarely find myself using it as a back up nuke, but it does do a fair amount of damage and has gotten a few kills here and there. Help, Pix! has once gotten me a kill whilst attached to a friend.

Wild Growth is an amazing ultimate, and certainly something not to be trifled with. This ability is what makes Lulu terrifying and awesome. It can turn a gank into a well planned ambush, or a desperate escape into a manageable retreat.

Her nuke isn't too great but slows.

Despite the plethora of escape skills at your command, Lulu is not immortal. High burst or CC will make her splat. I've found building Aegis of the Legion early a great demotivator for would be divers. She also doesn't bring much damage to the team fights, so providing buffs is something you want to think about.

All in all, I truly hope Riot does not break Lulu if they nerf her. She makes playing support not a chore, but a privilege. She has great synergy with a lot of champions, especially those that can put out plenty of damage.

So if you're looking for a new support to play, consider the new Yordle to kick some ass.

Nocturne!

Allegedly a new stealth hero finally joins the ranks of the League next week, Nocturne.

I'm one of those people who just loves playing characters with invisibility, or any escape ability for that matter. Here's an image of our shadowy champion, for those who haven't seen the awesome. The fact that he uses stealth has not been clarified.

Riot have released a little information on Nocturne, but not much so far.

Nocturne is an assassin type character who functions very differently than the traditional archetypes. Unlike a traditional stealth character such as Twitch who becomes personally invisible, or a character such as Nidalee who has special synergy with the brush, Nocturne’s ultimate ability afflicts the entire enemy team with a specialized debuff. This ultimate – dubbed Paranoia – removes the player’s shared vision with allied units, leaving them blind to anything beyond the sight range of their own champion. In this way, Nocturne is able to sow confusion amongst the enemy team, striking quickly and taking down enemy champions while their allies are blind to their need for assistance.

While this ulti is copied directly from HoN, and probably the DotA equivalent as well, I think it's an excellent addition to the ranks which can disrupt the enemy effectively. Most pub teams will split up and get wiped out during Paranoia, but I believe the good teams will quickly batten down the hatches and ride it out.

I'm a little excited about this guy, more excited than Jarvan anyway! I think a LOT of people are going to be buying him, mainly because of how he looks so awesome. Good one Riot!

Maokai spotlight

All past grievances aside, I bring to you today the Maokai spotlight. I've already played a few games laning with him, as my friend tests him out. So far, he seems incredibly useful. Not only does he have uses in the lane with his stun and harassing; his ulti can really benefit you in a team fight too. Take a look at the spotlight if you want to understand more about him.

It's a good idea to watch it, even if it's only so you can understand how to fight against him.

Bear in mind every spotlight makes champions look overpowered, so don't start complaining until you've played him. All I can say so far, is he seems to have excellent synergy with Xin Zhao. Me and my friend have managed to carry several pub games to victory, probably because nobody understands how to fight him yet.

I dislike the fact he has a heal for lane staying power, because it's hard to send him back. 

Anyway, I know this post is a little filler, it's because I'm waiting for the recipient of my next interview. Should be back to normal tomorrow guys, so this is until then.