Underrated Heroes #1: Suffering is Magic

Hey League Enthusiasts. So one of the things I really enjoy about League of Legends is the amount of choice you have in terms of characters. But I find that in most games, mostly in Ranked, but sometimes in normals, out of the current 99 heroes, only about 30 or 40 of them are considered "viable" by the general playerbase. This is by no account Riot's fault, as the other sixty odd heroes are definitely strong in their own rights (Except for those left deliberately weak. I'm looking at you, Evelynn). The playerbase has just come under the impression that because you don't see them on streams, or in big league tournaments, that there's no reason to play them.

That's not an unfair opinion. I understand that when you see the best of the best playing a hero on more than one occasion, it lends to the idea that the hero is really good. But it also causes a little bit of stagnation. Every single game almost the same heroes are either banned or picked, because apparently, there's just no other choice. Ahri and Morgana dominate middle lane. Jax, Lee Sin and Vladimir are always top lane, and so on. I'm seeing less and less choice being available, despite how much choice there actually is.

My favorite hero at the moment is probably Hecarim. You know, that ghost centaur with the huge lance/scythe and yells a lot when you see him. But you might not know that. Because the last time I saw a Hecarim that wasn't me was on release, and everyone's forgotten he exists. I've played him a few times recently and in every game I've done really well, ganking and counterganking, initiating and just being downright scary and trampling over everybody.

The last game I played him, in champ select, a person told me that Hecarim isn't a real champion, that I should play a jungler that makes a difference. It's discouraging, how people think that certain heroes are absolute trash, that I'm considered a troll for picking a character that I personally like a lot, and can do really well with. Because beyond what everybody thinks, player skill has a lot more to do with the game than the character you're playing.

I understand where they're coming from though. Most players wouldn't be able to tell me without looking it up that Hecarim's W heals him based on the damage that enemies take as a whole, not just what the centaur slaps them for personally. And that's because nobody who's anybody plays him. I might be wrong, but I do watch a lot of streams and keep up with the scene, and I very, very rarely see anyone talking about Hecarim beyond saying he's not very good. And that flows down to the lower ELO players, because if so and so said it, it must be true. Well, I'm going to say different. And I'll be saying it about other heroes as well, ones that most people consider bad, unplayable, too weak to pick.

I know his weaknesses and I know his strengths. His jungle speed before levels 7-9 and beyond is a bit slow, and he can be a little crippled if counterjungled. His gank, while strong, isn't as good as Lee Sin's or Alistar's, and his Devastating Charge can often bug out and lose you a kill if used improperly. But after those initial bumps, which can be prevented through good map awareness and wards, he becomes an absolute monster. His damage output, considering his bruiser class and mobility, is insane. His W heals him for a surprising amount in a teamfight, and his ultimate is crazy good for initiation and peeling. He puts out a large amount of initial burst, and has the tools to do incredible sustained damage as well. And unless you're Rammus or Master Yi, it's very hard to get away from him.

So I'll keep picking him. And I'll keep securing victories where it's possible, to try and prove that my favorite horse-man is good enough to stand up. Hopefully, people will give him a chance.