My picks for 1.14 Top
These are my picks for the update 1.14. They are here for my own reference, but you can use them if you want.
Here I want to outline the comps that I have seen this patch:
BUFF: This comp has a strong weapon power laner (who preferably builds attack speed), a crystal Adagio in the jungle, and most often a roam Ardan (occasionally Phinn). SAW, WP Vox, and WP Ringo are the common choices for this comp (in that order). They try to hyper-carry. Adagio is a good early game carry, but in the later stages of the game, he will become a secondary semi-support and focus on keeping the laner alive and giving him buffs. Ardan's job is solely to keep the other two alive. Ardan typically builds full health, to get the barrier on Vanguard to a respectable level. Phinn is less clear-cut; most of the time, you want Phinn to body-block, to get the fortified health from Polite Company, and get clutch drags to focus targets.
LATE: This comp is usually a CP Vox or CP Ringo in the lane, a WP Krul in the jungle, and a Phinn or Catherine roam. This is difficult to pull off, but can be extremely menacing in the late-game. Early-game, however, they are very weak. Invade hard, early, and often to deny both Krul and Phinn or Catherine of their farm. Pressure Vox or Ringo in the lane and force him to farm under the turret. Try to snowball, and win early.
EARLY: Typically a WP Ringo in lane, a CP Koshka in jungle, and Fortress or Ardan roam. Ringo is pressing in the early game. Try to withstand his pokes, and poke him back any chance you have. Learn how to farm under your turret. With Koshka, you need to try to keep away from her, but also don't allow her to invade your jungle. If she gets fed (she probably will), you will be hurting. Roam Ardan also packs a punch (excuse the pun) early game, and when Koshka and Ardan gank together, you will probably die. Fortress is not a great support anymore, but he is still potent with Koshka.
CP FORTRESS: The rise in the use of CP Fortress as a jungle carry has seen the introduction of this new comp. With a CP Fortress, you want to proc the bleed as often as possible, so having a laner with good attack speed will help that. WP Ringo is always a good choice, and Blackfeather isn't bad either. Ardan is great with both Blackfeather and CP Fortress because they both benefit from the speed-up and AoE slow barrier that is Vanguard.
SKYEFEATHER: Despite being broken for the last few patches and subsequently nerfed, this is still a common and powerful comp. WP Blackfeather lane, CP Skye jungle, support Ardan roam. Shouldn't need explaining.
MAGE: Most of the comps this patch have WP laners; however, Skaarf and Celeste are still some of the best laners this patch. Blackfeather and Glaive are good jungle counterparts, and Catherine is a great support. The stun from Catherine can set up for an enemy to be deleted from Skaarf's Goop and Spitfire combo or Celeste's Core Collapse and Heliogenesis combo, plus a Feint of Heart from Blackfeather, or cleaves from Glaive. Just because this comp is last doesn't mean it is the least powerful; in fact, it is probably one of the most synergistic comps in the meta.
Support Items Top
Catherine, Ardan, and Adagio are the top tier supports this patch, but Phinn is still certainly viable.
All supports should start with an Ironguard Contract, a flare, and a potion. They should also all rush a Fountain of Renewal. From there on, you need to pay attention to what the enemy team is building. If you have slippery enemies, build a Shiversteel. If you have enemies like Ringo, Krul, SAW, Glaive, Rona, or Blackfeather, build an Atlas Pauldron to counter their attack speed. If you have high health enemies like Glaive, Ardan, Rona, Krul, or Phinn, build Aftershock to take chunks out of their health. If you have multiple weapon carries or have enemies building lots of armor, build a Bonesaw. If you need vision, you should build Contraption. As a one-of offensive item, you should build Aftershock. It takes down cooldowns (always helpful), and provides a damage boost without relying on other crystal items.
Laners Top
The best laners this patch are WP Ringo, CP Vox, CP Skaarf, WP Blackfeather, and CP Celeste. You should know how to play these heroes if you want to seriously main lane.
WP Ringo is a sustained damage hero that has a true damage ultimate and an unblockable slow. To master, you need to know how to stutter step, how to push lane, and how to kite. Never jump into the middle of the fray. Build as many offensive items as you can, but be aware of how quickly you are dying. Reflex Block is never a bad purchase.
CP Vox is probably one of the worst level one heroes, put once he reaches the late game he can be a monster. His specialty is AoE damage, and when he has enough items, he becomes monstrously good at it. However, he gets pressured very easily in the early game. You need to learn to farm under a turret, and don't be afraid to buy defense to counter your enemy laner.
CP Skaarf is very balanced at all stages of the game. The DPS from his Spitfire and Goop combo is insane, and can melt many of the heroes on the fold. Farming is not easy though, because Skaarf's basics aren't very powerful. Most of the time, you will not want to get your ult early; the A+B damage is far greater. Skaarf hits noticeable power spikes at levels 8 and 10, and when he completes Frostburn, Eve, and his third damage item.
WP Blackfeather has been nerfed but remains one of the top laners. His A has been changed to weapon power scaling, making it the best build path. He can still get away with building only two or three damage items. He is good in both lane and jungle but excels in lane, where he can get more gold more quickly. He hits noticeable spikes at levels 6 and 8.
CP Celeste has always been a solid choice. Her range and damage output are still superb and her basic attacks are not useless (they scale with CP). Make sure to use your suns for vision and chain stuns with Core Collapse.
Off-meta but still viable laners include CP Ringo, WP Vox, and WP Skye:
CP Ringo is not a DPS hero like WP Ringo. With CP Ringo, you need to focus on being bursty and landing critical Achilles Shots and Hellfire Brews. Be careful early in the lane, because CP Ringo can be pressured to his turret. You need a well-coordinated team to be good with CP Ringo.
WP Vox is focused more on single-target damage. He uses his B to mark enemies and the A to hit them with two very powerful attacks. The C is good for the silence and marking enemies. This Vox has a better mid game than CP Vox. You still need to be careful however.
WP Skye can be a very fun laner if you have a high enough skill. Without a Frostburn, landing the entire duration of that Forward Barrage can be difficult. Be sure to use Suri Strike to reposition and to refund your cooldown on Forward Barrage. The ult is pure utility. She takes some skill, but she is very good.
Junglers Top
The best junglers this patch are CP Koshka, CP Fortress, Skye, WP Blackfeather, and WP Glaive.
CP Koshka is probably the strongest jungler this patch. She is extremely aggressive early game, and if she can snowball early it can be almost impossible to come back from. She doesn't even need that many damage items to hurt, and it takes relatively little skill to play her. She falls off hard in the late game.
CP Fortress is somewhat new, but he is very strong. It often seems like he kills enemies out of nowhere with his bleed. His wolves also become quite a nuisance, forcing you to deal with them before your enemies in battle. CP Fortress is a mid to late game monster that has taken over the meta.
CP Skye is still one of the most reliable junglers on the fold. She has great early gam pressure but scales well into the late game to provide lots of damage for her team. She is excellent at kiting and maneuvering during battle and she has a fantastic utility ultimate.
WP Skye is very different from CP Skye. Usually she is played in lane, where she can accumulate more gold for expensive core items, but she also sees play in the jungle. She still has good early game pressure but she scales much better into the late game than CP Skye. Forward Barrage on WP Skye is easier to dodge though.
WP Blackfeather is still a strong hero even after getting the nerf bat from SEMC. His relatively cheap build allow him to be played in the jungle and he is certainly a formidable hero. Invade him early, because he is fairly weak in the early game, but watch out late game where he becomes a force to reckon with.
WP Glaive is one of the most versatile WP junglers. His Afterburn contnues to be one of the best abilities on the fold, and he is naturally tanky that it is hard to take him down. He is very good at ganking and he scales well into all phases of the game. Watch out for this big kitty.
For the buff comp I outlined above to actually work, you need a CP Adagio in the jungle.
CP Adagio in the jungle is meant to apply huge early game pressure, but shift into a secondary semi-support role in the mid to late game. Eventually, you should be focused on just healing and buffing your teammates. This build doesn't truly work outside of the buff comp.
Thanks for reading my wall of text! Comment if I did anything wrong or there are mistakes. Thanks! Top
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