The State of Hypercarries in Season 3 - Part Three: Finale

First, let me apologize for the delay on this final part of the series. While the first two came out on time, personal issues prevented me from completing this in time. If you missed the first two parts of the series, this series is discussing the health of the Hypercarry role after the Season 3 changes in items and metagame.

In the first portion, we looked at the changes in the metagame, and discussed the increase in Assassins and high-disruption Junglers as a major issue for the Hypercarry. In the second portion, we discussed the Season 3 item changes and saw that there was an increased variety in the builds for each section of Hypercarries and that in general, it had been a healthy change for the Hypercarry role.

Today's section is going to be a little different, as we'll be looking at both these previous sections' subjects and the professional and amateur pick rates of Hypercarries to discuss the individual health of each Hypercarry champion. Finally, we'll finish up our investigation of the Hypercarry role with a discussion of those characters that might be considered Hypercarries in the future.

Now while pick rate's might be correlated to the overall health of a champion, they're not necessarily caused by the champion's health. A champion like Kog'Maw might be absolutely healthy, but unpopular in North America's LCS due to the player disliking his playstyle, or the environment of the local meta-game. This isn't to say they are useless, as they can give us a valuable lens on how much worth the community places on these champions, which can speak volumes in itself. 

Health Analysis - AD Hypercarries

Professional Pick/Ban Rate (Win Rate): NA LCS Summer Split - 21.2 (47.8), EU LCS Summer Split - 33.9 (54.8), OGN The Champions - 53.1 (77.3).

Pick Rate (Win Rate) in Solo Queue: North America - 27.1 (50.8), Europe West - 23.7 (48.9), Europe Nordic/East - 18.8 (50.3) 

Before talking about Vayne, two major things need to be stated about the pick rates of AD Hypercarries. The first is that, in professional play, Korea seems to value them more than the Western scene. The second is that pick rates for all Hypercarries are higher in Ranked than they are in Normals for Solo Queue. The former can be explained by the slowing down of the Korean metagame and the impetus for a high damage carry, with utility top laners and junglers being chosen. The second can be explained by the control that Hypercarries give to a player, as being able to take on a 5v1 and come out victorious is something that alot of players want in 

Vayne has remained the one of the most prevalent Hypercarries, as the Season 3 changes have been mostly to her benefit. While the popularity of high-disruption Junglers, especially Zac, has been a slight hit to her popularity, she's one of the safest AD Hypercarries to have in the bottom lane, and she is an absolute bully in the 2v1 lanes that have become popular competitively, due to the threat of Condemn making any jungle gank into an easy kill for the squad. She is hurt by the surging popularity of Caitlyn, who is able to abuse her early with a greater range, and some Support picks such as Alistar and Nami, but she has been aided by Thresh, who not only grants her an escape on the lantern express, but also allows her to condemn the Death Sentenced target for a guarenteed stun. The introduction of Blade of the Ruined King has also been a major boon for Vayne, who is able to effectively peel for herself by slowing with the active and creating her own distance with Condemn and Tumble. Vayne looks to be one of the healthiest Hypercarries in League right now, as she has strength while still having appropriate counterplay opportunities. 

Professional Pick/Ban Rate (Win Rate): NA LCS Summer Split - 5.3% (33.3), EU LCS Summer Split - 3.4 (50), OGN The Champions -  20.4 (44.4)

Pick Rate (Win Rate) in Solo Queue: North America - 2.4 (50.8), Europe West - 1.9 (52.7), Europe Nordic/East - 2.0 (49.1)

Kog'Maw doesn't see as much play as any of the other AD Hypercarries, and much of that comes from his lack of either an escape or evasion, making him a much riskier pick. However, with that risk comes the greatest potential damage out of an AD Hypercarry, with Bio-Arcane Barrage and Blade of the Ruined King allowing him to do absolutely disgusting levels of percentage damage from a safe distance. That being said, we haven't seen as much of him since the introduction of Zac. While Kog might actually be able to shred through Zac's health, Zac is able to get to the backlines of a Protect the Kog composition with Elastic Slingshot and disrupt Kog long enough for Zac's team to clean up the void puppy. The resurgence of the Assassin has also been brutal for Kog'Maw, as they're easily able to take advantage of his atrocious early game with no chance for Kog to escape. 

The professional circuits really reflect this, with Kog's pick rate decreasing across the board in the Summer season, in line with the introduction of Zac. Kog'Maw's pick rate is also influenced by his need to be picked late in the draft, to avoid such horrid matchups. The second game between Incredible Miracle and MiG Blitz shows exactly why, as IM picked Koggles right into Zac and Varus picks, which, while Paragon was able to avoid being picked off for most of the game, forced him to be incredibly conservative with his play during the match. In the end game fights, he was forced so far back to avoid MiG Blitz's disruption, that he was unable to contribute.

Sidenote: As risky a pick as it was, Paragon played incredibly well that game, and was by far the shining spot for LG-IM. Even with such as heavy disruption composition, he was able to avoid being caught by Zac for much of the game, with some help from GGyuang's Zyra.

With the need for a peel heavy support such as Thresh, Leona, or Zyra, and for the enemy to not have a disruption heavy jungler such as Jarvan or Zac, Kog has seen himself be relegated to a niche pick. Despite this, Kog is in a healthy spot, remaining the go-to pick for his namesake composition. 

Professional Pick/Ban Rate (Win Rate): NA LCS Summer Split - 23.0 (55.6), EU LCS Summer Split - 2.5 (0), OGN The Champions - 2 (0)

Pick Rate (Win Rate) in Solo Queue: North America - 19.6 (49.3), Europe West - 19.1 (48.0), Europe Nordic/East - 16.9 (51.4)

Tristana is interesting in that she isn't highly valued in Korea or Europe, but is popular in the North American circuit, mainly because she is Vulcun Zuna's comfort pick. Tristana has an incredibly weak early game, and is able to be abused by nearly every other ADC Marksman in the game. She does have one of the best steroids in the game in Rapid Fire, and have an strong escape in Rocket Jump, but Rocket Jump doesn't make her immune fron disables. Tristana is also hurt by the recent nerf to Blade of the Ruined King, much more so than Vayne, as the reduced range means that it is less likely that Tristana will be able to use it as an offensive item unless she puts herself in danger by Rocket Jumping in.

Trist's major advantages come from how comparatively safe she is to other Hypercarries, as Buster Shot and Rocket Jump allow her to create a massive amount of distance almost instantaneously. This allows her to fit into team compositions that aren't able to baby-sit her in the bottom lane. However, in competitive League, the thought of being guarenteed a lane behind is anathema to most teams, and as such, we've seen Tristana relegated to the sidelines. 

In Solo Queue, Tristana remains a strong contender, as the safety is much more important with the lack of communication most teams have (and the lack of wards). While she is still negatively affected by the high disruption Junglers and BotRK nerf, she has high burst damage that allows her to burst down Assassins and opposing ADC's in the late game and sustained damage to tear down the rest of the team. Tristana remains in a relatively healthy state, as while she has a weak early game, her safety and late game damage allow her to be comfortably picked into most compositions.

Professiona Pick/Ban Rate (Win Rate): NA LCS Summer Split - 28.3 (50.0), EU LCS Summer Split - 16.9 (34.8), OGN The Champions - 40.8 (53.3)

Pick Rate (Win Rate) in Solo Queue: North America - 16.1 (53.7), Europe West - 16.1 (53.1), Europe Nordic/East - 12.4 (53.1)

Twitch is the second most popular AD Hypercarry, and most of that has to do with the popularity of layering AoE CC. With Orianna, Jarvan, Zac, Nami, and Sona being leading picks in competitive play, Spray and Pray allows Twitch to do, by far, more damage to opposing teams than any other Hypercarry. While he isn't necessarily safe in lane, Ambush allows him to escape ganks with enough vision, and allows him to position himself well in teamfights. BotRK also helps, by whittling down the health of those frontline fighters he's firing through to hit the squishy backline, and the nerf doesn't impact him too greatly, as he hopes to get into close range when Ambushing a lone target anyways. Twitch's main issue remains his general squishiness and inability to self-peel, and as such Assassins such as Zed still eat him for breakfast. Season 3 hasn't changed this fact, but Twitch will remain a high priority pick as long as Spray and Pray applies on-hit effects. 

Health Analysis - AP Hypercarries

Professional Pick/Ban Rate (Win Rate): NA LCS Summer Split - 49.6 (43.5), EU LCS Summer Split - 11.9 (50.0), OGN The Champions - 24.5 (50.0)

Pick Rate (Win Rate) in Solo Queue: North America - 4.5 (49.6), Europe West - 3.7 (45.1), Europe Nordic/East - 3.6 (44.2)

Let's preface this with Karthus is a silly champion, as the goal during teamfights is to die well. At the beginning of the Season we saw his play rate dip a slight amount due to the popularity of AD Assassins in the mid lane, but Seeker's Armguard has made his early game quite a bit safer. Karthus is the Hypercarry that is probably the least affected by the popularity of high disruption junglers, as Death Defied ensures that he will still get quite a bit of damage out on the opposing team and even if he is caught out of position, Requiem allows him to contribute to the following teamfight. His popularity has waned as of late in the professional circuit, as high-mobility picks like Zed and Ahri have begun to pick up steam, which makes his Defile a less reliable source of damage during skirmishes in lane. 

Karthus' extremely high pick/ban rate in North America is slightly inflated due to him being TSM Reginald's comfort pick, and opposing teams have decided to prevent Reginald from playing him during the season. However, Karthus finds himself much less popular in Solo Queue globally, stemming from the popularity of Kassadin, Diana, and Ahri as of late. However, Karthus remains in a healthy position as the premier AP Hypercarry, as players seek to play him for the most damage you can put out of a mage.

Professional Pick/Ban Rate (Win Rate): NA LCS Summer Split - N/A, EU LCS Summer Split - N/A, OGN The Champions - N/A

Pick Rate (Win Rate) in Solo Queue: North America - 1.7 (50.2), Europe West - 1.8 (50.7), Europe Nordic/East - 2.0 (48.8)

That's misplaced however, as Cassiopeia offers the single highest potential single-target damage output of any Hypercarry. That being said, League's resident medusa is also the Hypercarry in the worst shape after the Season 3 changes. Much like Kog'Maw, she suffers from a total lack of escapes in lane, which means that high disruption Junglers are able to pick her off easily, and she doesn't have access to a Support to peel Zac off of her. The popularity of Assassins in the middle lane similarly hurts Cassiopeia, as she is hapless until she gets Petrifying Gaze at level 6. Cassiopeia's troubles were multiplied by the popularity of Runic Bulwark and Cleanse, which hurt her ability to lock-down and obliterate targets in the late game.

Cassiopeia's troubles can be seen in that no professional team in the West or Korea picked her up during the Summer Split, nor was she tested in the experimental waters of the Chinese metagame. Cassiopeia has never been a popular pick, but she was played in the latter portions of Season 2 due to the sheer damage output she threatened. There was one change as of late that has helped her, which is Twin Fangs finally being classified as a Single-Target spell in regards to Rylai's Crystal Scepter. While this change terrifies Xypherous, it's a welcome, if minor, buff to the most battered of Hypercarries.

Health Analysis - Bruiser Hypercarries

Professional Pick/Ban Rate (Win Rate): NA LCS Summer Split - N/A, EU LCS Summer Split - N/A, OGN The Champions - 14.3 (40.0)

Pick Rate (Win Rate) in Solo Queue: North America - 9.6 (48.6), Europe West - 12.5 (49.4), Europe Nordic/East - 17.6 (48.1)

Jax's days as the single strongest Bruiser in the top lane are long gone, as Rumble and Shen now battle for it, but Jax still sees activities in competitive play. While the West hasn't played Jax this summer, Korean teams have occassionally picked Jax, but they've had to be careful not to pick him into lanes that telegraph a 2v1 lane. Jax isn't particularly suited to 2v1 play, as while Counter-Strike allows him to be safe, the threat of harassment prevents him from farming, and the Support will peel him off the AD Carry if he decides to begin Plan Beat Your Face In With A Lamppost.  However, Blade of the Ruined King has been good to Jax, and he can safely win trades against most opponents he would face in a solo-lane. Perhaps the reason we're so dissapointed in Jax's current state is because we long for the days of yore when he would single-handedly murder our teams after he build up a Cutlass at twelve minutes. (Actually I don't think anyone looks back at those times fondly)

Jax's struggles in 2v1 lanes aren't a problem in Solo Queue, where strategy is seldom implemented; and Jax finds himself benefitting from the resurgence of the high disruption Jungler, as he is suited to escaping easily with Counter-Strike/Leap Strike, but can follow up his own Jungler's initiation with the same. While he is no longer the dominant presence in the top lane, Jax remains in a healthy state. 

Professional Pick/Ban Rate (Win Rate): NA LCS Summer Split - 6.2 (50.0), EU LCS Summer Split - N/A, OGN The Champions - N/A

Pick Rate (Win Rate) in Solo Queue: North America - 11.1 (54.9), Europe West - 9.7 (52.7), Europe Nordic/East - 12.5 (52.4)

Tryndamere has gone through an interesting phase, as he thought he was a wizard for a few weeks in Season 3. However, the AP Tryndamere phase has ended, as Riot eliminated that build with extreme prejudice, and the Barbarian King now finds himself back where he started, as a niche Hypercarry pick. His picks in professional play can be traced back to Curse's Voyboy, who used both AP and AD Tryndamere, and were used in Voyboy's signature aggressive style to abuse his lane opponent. Tryndamere finds himself much more vunerable to crowd control than his tankier counterpart in Jax, but the high disruption shift hasn't hurt Tryndamere in any major way.

The interesting thing about Tryndamere is that his resurgence is mostly due to the now extinct AP build, as it brought him back into the public eye. Before the AP build came into the limelight, he was seeing play in the low single digits, and while his playrate has receded since the AP build's elimination, he's seen as a much more viable pick now. Blade of the Ruined King and Phantom Dancer/Shiv give him some needed sticking power, but the biggest item introduction for Trynd was Zephyr, which provides him an offensive source of Tenacity that he lacked before Season 3. 

Conclusion - What Makes a Hypercarry?

Looking back at the Hypercarry role, it's generally in a healthy position that, outside Cassiopeia, is widely seen as a viable and vital part of the metagame. But this brings us back to a question that was asked in the first section of this series, which is "What makes a Hypercarry?" I chose to look at these characters because they best represent the Hypercarry role in LoL and are commonly accepted to be described as such. However, there are other characters that might be considered Hypercarries. One that I mentioned repeatedly in the previous articles was Ryze, who puts out aggressive amounts of damage in the late game, but lacks the "weak early game" that is considered a characteristic of the role. Does this strength actually exclude him from discussion as a Hypercarry?

To me, there are two characters outside the ones I have discussed that can be described as a Hypercarry: Syndra and Master Yi. Syndra is a Hypercarry in a similar manner to Cassiopeia, in that she is able to put out an absolutely disgusting amount of single-target damage in relative short order, and shares the vulnerability to early abuse by lane bullies and Junglers. However, Syndra has the capacity to be a lane bully herself, and has access to a earlier escape in Force of Will. With short cooldowns and a reliable damage rotation, I think Syndra has the stuff to be described as a Hypercarry.

Any doubts I have with Syndra are absolutely non-existent with the new Master Yi. Able to solo teams in short order if fed, with access to single and multi-target damage, the Wuju Master is a throwback to the terror that a player faced when against a fed Jax in Season 1. While by no means unkillable, Master Yi offers the same sort of sustained damage that AD Hypercarries have, but on the steroid of Highlander. The only hesitation I have with Master Yi is that he is part of the long maligned Melee AD Carry class, and even Fiora looked great when she first came out.  

The Hypercarry role is alive and well, but it isn't overpowering the meta. Variety, in pick and item choice, is the theme of Season 3, and while certain regions prefer the AD Hypercarry, and others enjoy Karthus, they remain strong picks in the game.