Season 5 AD Carry Meta

With season 5 fast approaching, lets take a look at the AD carry meta.

STRONGER CHAMPIONS

Lucian: Lucian was undoubtedly one of the top two AD carries at the tail end of season 4. However, Lucian’s latest nerf has thrown a spanner in the works. Lucian was mainly known for his strong presence through the game and not dropping off hard at any point. His lane dominance could be easily asserted by using Lightslinger, his passive, which enables a “double shot” auto attack on any given target. However, his latest nerf has reduced not only the damage of his passive, but also only enabling it for 3 seconds after an ability has been used. Lucian has gone from one of the top two AD carries, to a top end AD carry, with other champs now taking priority over him. Overall, Lucian is still a strong pick, but now struggles a lot more against lanes he is weak in.

Corki: As well as Lucian, Corki was seen as one of the top two AD’s at the back end of season 4, as well as still being played a lot at a competitive level. Corki’s mid game is what seems to make him so strong, as he is definitely one of the, if not, the strongest AD carry in the mid game, being able to duel almost any other AD 1v1. His late game is still quite strong, but as people start to build items and gain levels, his power dwindles. His early game is quite solid, but doesn’t have any really strong points or negative. Corki received a “nerf” in patch 4.21 however it only effected his missile speed on his phosphorus bomb (Q). He is still highly regarded as a “god tier” AD carry.

Kog Maw: Kog maw seems to be a hit or miss champion. His early game is quite bad, despite having decent auto attack range with W active, Kog Maw doesn’t have any effective spells or ways to trade, or push towers or waves effectively. However, during the mid game Kog Maw’s power starts to rise, and by level 9 Kog Maw has the longest auto attack range of any AD carry. You can easily outrade your lane opponent during this spike, and can even take it to mid game team fights which will be much easier to win due to Kog Maw starting to be revelant. Kog Maw’s late game is very good, as his kiting and damage levels are pretty high. However, the lack of escapes makes it easy for any CC to displace Kog and put him in a bad spot. This champion is still viable, but shouldn’t be picked against a team with lots of gap closers and heavy crowd control.

Varus: Varus has seen a lot of competitive play in recent years, mainly stemming from Gambit’s Genja. However, Varus’s status as being a top AD carry has never really been there. His immobility can cost him as he is unable to escape ganks or displacements (such as Lee Sins dragon rage) without the aid or a support such as Thresh. He doesn’t provide much to a team comp as his overall damage seems to be quite insignificant compared to other AD’s such as Corki and Lucian. Overall Varus is a pretty weak champ and unless majorly buffed, will most likely not see much competitive play at all in season 5.

Tristana: Good old Tristana, Tristana was a major force during the end of season 4 and starting to head into the pre-season. However, nerfs and counter play style have nulled her power and halted her popularity. In patch 4.17 Tristana’s Buster Shot cooldown was increased by a minimum at 10 seconds at the highest rank. This was then followed by a 4.18 minor nerf, in which her Rapid Fire duration was put down from 7 seconds to 5 seconds, but given a bigger attack speed steroid. Overall Tristana can still be effective in a game, but only when ahead as when behind she is too vulnerable to any form of cc, as her only escape can be easily stopped, and has quite a long cooldown. If you can make her work, go for it, but generally speaking, not the best champion to be playing as season 5 approaches.

Jinx: Jinx is slowly becoming one of the top AD carries as season 5 approaches. Jinx has strong wave-clear with her rockets as well as poke, but can also take objectives, and health bars fairly fast with the attack speed steroid given by her mini-gun. Rocket form allows Jinx to stay at a safe distance in team fights, whilst still dealing out lots of damage. Her passive allows for kiting, and easy escapes after taking towers.

However, her lack of escapes can easily cost her. With no reliable escape ability, it can be fairly easy for a champion to get to Jinx, even though she has her Chompers (E). As well as this, Jinx can be quite a difficult champion as skill shots need to be landed, such as her W and ult, but also the rotation between mini-gun and rocket launcher can be quite hard to manage. Overall, Jinx is a strong champion, master before taking into any kind of competitive play, but is a fairly strong champion in the meta.

Ezreal: Ezreal is quite a popular pick, and always has been, but has never been top priority for AD carries. Ezreal’s poke is what makes him so strong, as you can force out lane opponents, poke enemies away from objectives, and even potentially kill them. Ezreal’s ult is quite strong, as when ahead it deals massive amounts of damage. His attack speed buff allows team mates to take objectives faster.

Blue Ez is more commonly seen now-a-days, as it provides good poke, good overall damage, but also is insane for kiting tanks and champions in general. However, Ezreal requires a bit of skill to play him, as most of his abilities are skill shot based. As well as this, Ezreal has the lowest base HP out of all the AD carries, which makes him very squishy and easy to kill. In conclusion, Ezreal is, and most likely always will be a strong and viable AD carry, but can be countered and made quite useless. Good pick in the current meta.

Vayne: Vayne is one of the, if not the, strongest AD carries, but only in the late-game. Vayne’s early game is quite weak and csing well is very important in order to fast forward her power spike. Despite this, and easy auto-attack, Tumble (Q), auto attack combo, which will proc your Silver Bolts (W) can easily chunk the enemy laner, forcing them to retreat and leaving you with free farm. Vayne’s mid game is focused on gaining more farm, to get those crucial items which will allow the late game to be easier.

Vayne’s late game is probably the best out of all the AD Carries. The damage output from her is insane, and her kiting potential is nuts. All in all, make sure you cs well and don’t feed the enemy laner too much. Vayne is quite a good pick in the current meta.

Graves: Graves is quickly becoming one of the most popular and “OP” AD carries in the game. During the early game, Graves can chunk the enemy laner with a simple E→ Q combo, which releases any lane pressure and allows you to cs. Graves' mid game is his power point, with a few items you can easily take over a team fight and set your team on the way to victory.

Graves' ult, Collateral Damage, can easily turn a teamfight, as it provides insane amounts of damage with a few items. Graves late game is like most other AD carries, quite strong. Graves can kite enemy champions by using his Smoke Screen (W) and Quickdraw (E). Be sure to include a Last Whisper in your build as it will be pivotal in taking down tanky enemies. Overall Graves is a strong pick in the current meta.

Kalista: Kalista is the newest addition to AD carries and has seen a lot of tweaks in the past few patches. Kalista can snowball insanely hard by gaining an advantage in lane, as well as having the best kiting ability out of all the AD’s, due to her passive. Her E, Rend, can provide insane amounts of damage in a prolonged teamfight, as it is much like Twitch’s E, but with unlimited stacking. As well as this, she is a very fun champion to play.

However, she can be countered easily and if losing lane, can be quite useless and not relevant throughout the game. After gaining a few core items, such as Blade of The Ruined King, her kiting becomes much easier, but beware, as Kalista is a hard champion to play and master, due to her passive kiting ability. Overall she is a fun AD carry, but not the best. Needs to be mastered before played well.

BRIEF ANAYLSIS

Draven: Insane damage when snowballed. Late game he is a monster but needs to have all the main items. Has quite a high skill cap due to axes flying everywhere. Decent pick, but not the best.

Caitlyn: Good laner, very strong and can chunk the enemy laner down lots using her passive Headshot. Quite good if snowballed, but her lack of mobility makes it easy for her to be shutdown. Easy champ to learn, recommend Caitlyn if you are just beginning to learn ADC. Decent pick, not the best but not the worst.

Twitch: Has a pretty weak laning phase, very short range and this can be easily punished. Twitch is a snowbally champ, very strong if he has core items before anyone else. Good range when ult has been popped, but lacks mobility, especially since his Q takes a few seconds to go invisible. Overall, a weak pick, but can make it work.

Sivir: Decent all round champ, not too much to say about Sivir. Good mobility and teamfight presence but lacks the insane amount of damage the other AD carries have.

Ashe: Decent laning phase, use her passive crit to chunk enemy laner down a bit. Lacks insane amounts of damage, and very easy to gank due to lack of mobility. Her ult is not that great, as it’s hard to hit from far away and close up only stuns for a couple of seconds. Overall, pretty weak pick.

Miss Fortune: Another snowball type champ, only if ahead can she do lots of damage in a teamfight. Her ult is quite weak, as well as most of her other abilities. Overall pretty bad and weak pick, is around the same weakness level as Ashe.

Quinn: Good if snowballed, short range makes it quite hard against CC champs. Her ult is nothing special, and her abilities force her to go into enemies, which is not what you want to do as an AD carry. Overall okay pick, can be viable in certain situations.

CONCLUSION

This anaylsis should open your eyes to the AD carry meta going into season 5, and should allow you to pick strong AD's based off this, which will lead to more succes in any game mode!