Over Powered Champions with Insomnia: Sleeper OP

Editor's note: there will definitely be other champions which you think belong on this list, but please keep in mind that this is an opinional article and opinions can be different. Enjoy the read though!

I'd like to focus this article on examining possibly overpowered champions that many people don't generally accept as overpowered.  These champions could be overlooked for many reasons.  They may not have found their "place" yet in today's Meta.  They may not have yet been exposed to builds that allow them to reach their full potential.  Or they might have simply been forgotten about.  

What does sleeper OP mean?
A sleeper OP champion is a champion that is picked very seldomly, or a champion that is generally regarded as “bad”, but that has potential to appear over powered in certain situations, or if played in a certain manner. This could also refer to champions that no one has found the true potential of yet.

Wouldn’t the pros already have found these broken champions?
Look how long it took people to start building AP Tryndamere, blue Ezreal, and jungle Eve. These champions are usually very unattractive because they don’t really fit into the Meta of the time, or because there are other champions who can do what these, apparently bad, champions can do, but are much better at it. This is almost the problem in itself. If a champion is deemed as unworthy of the current Meta, or proclaimed as “bad”, who is going to put extensive work into that champion to try and find its niche? Not many people. That’s why it takes so long for these sleeper OPs to get noticed.

Which champions are OP?
If I had that information as undeniable fact, they would no longer be “sleeper” OP. I can however, give you a list of champions that I consider sleeper OP.

Disclaimer: The following is my personal opinion, which I urge you to look into before making any rash judgments about.

 

Champion: Cassiopeia
Cass was one of the first sleeper OP champions I remember noticing on my own. She had insane poke, unmatched damage output, and a, potentially, team wide AoE stun that doubled as a nuke, which even if you failed to pull off properly still hit like a truck and slowed everyone affected. Her one drawback? No one played her. It took roughly a year from the time I started playing League (right after beta) for people to start picking up Cass as a serious choice for AP mid. She promptly got recognized as hard to counter and started receiving her much needed attention. So, you may be wondering, if people noticed how good she was, why is she on my list of sleeper OPs? Simple. People stopped playing her. Granted, you will see her from time to time, but not near as much as you should considering how strong she is. Not to mention you can do some pretty funny things with her if you have any other champions with poison on your team. It’s not a widely known fact that Cass’s Twin Fang(E) can be refreshed from any source of poison. So go play a Singed/Cass lane and let the fun begin.

 

Champion: Tristana
But, Ezbake, people play Trist all the time!
You’re right. A lot of people have been playing Tristana for her late game hyper carry potential as an ADC. But have you ever tried playing her as an AP mid? Trist actually has huge potential to be one of the best AP champions in the game. She has low risk harass on her Explosive Shot(E), she has great mobility with her Rocket Jump(w) , and she has some of the strongest burst in the game with her full combo. And even if the enemy did somehow survive through your ult, they will still have your E and possibly ignite ticking away on them. Mark my words here. Tristana will be played as AP one day, and then she will promptly be nerfed back into an ADC.

 

Champion: Sejuani
After her updates Sejuani received some quality of life buffs. Her whole kit now flows much better than it used to. Which leaves me to wonder why she hasn’t seen much play. She has some of the strongest, most consistent CC in the game. She can literally slow an entire team while doing decent damage, and then top it off with a team wide stun. Not to mention she has the mobility on her Q that Junglers so desperately need. I think it’s just a matter of time before we see her being a strong pick.

 

Champion: Twisted Fate (Shout out to TheSnugglar for showing me AD TF isn’t dead.)
Of course I don’t mean the extremely strong AP Twisted Fate that we all know and love, or hate. I am talking about the completely underappreciated ADC Twisted Fate. Before you exit this page because of my blasphemy, you must understand that there was a time when AD Twisted Fate was how people chose to build TF, and AP Twisted Fate was considered trolling. Somewhere along the way everyone noticed that building AP on Twisted Fate was actually great, just like I think people will realize about Tristana one day, and so AD Twisted Fate got forgotten, and eventually nerfed.

Pros are starting to use more utility focused ADCs these days, as we see with the resurgence of Ashe, and Twisted Fate fits into this mind set. He has a low cooldown stun and a pseudo-global mobility ult. He may lack in early game damage compared to champions like Draven, but late game an AD Twisted Fate could have a Draven dead before the first gold card wears off. Twisted Fate also gains extra gold from killing units with his passive, which only helps him get into the mid and late game faster than his opponent, even if he is behind in farm. I admit that I wouldn’t really consider ADC TF over-powered, but there certainly is a lot of hidden potential.

 

I urge you to go out and try some of these champions in different ways. You might be surprised to find their viability.

Remember, don’t be afraid to break the Meta. You never know when the next thing you try might change the current Meta for the better. If no one ever experimented with “weird” and “unorthodox” champions and builds, we would still be sending Ashe mid every game, or 5 man pushing mid as all tanks with promote.

Break the Meta, change the game.