Ionia: Why So Many Champions Are Overloaded | League of Legends

[@loganng2155]

Ionia, home of the 200 years of collective game design

[@salted5284]

S tier comment right here

[@indrickboreale7381]

tl;dr the Land of Anime Protags

[@chiidybang370]

Delete ionia and the game is much better

[@andrek6920]

@@chiidybang370 Noxus was right.

[@kepler4192]

@@chiidybang370 ivern fkn dies

[@pedroanger5944]

why complain when akali explained it herself: "You're dead, I'm alive. See? Balance."

[@damour3317]

and also irelia's "balanced be damned... wipe them out!"

[@sasatofe7707]

zed was the OG one : balance is a fool's master

[@dizzyheads]

And Kayn be like "Balance? Balance is a crutch for the weak"

[@empty.5046]

Zed : balance is a fool's master. Ionia a place of balance but seems like almost every character hates balance when it come to their personal views.

[@farconwill4708]

@@empty.5046 shen still love balanced though

[@tomdaboss2885]

Zed has a voiceline that describes riots balance team. “Balance is weakness”

[@I_Think_Its_Kaiden]

I love Ionia. It’s the most hypocritical place because it says it’s about balance yet has the most unbalanced characters.

[@Crowned_Hearts]

Ironicly all the unbalanced champs: Akali Irellia Zed etc. turned away from balance and choseto fight.

[@callmeandoru2627]

To be fair Ionia sounds like the place with the most human history out of all places

[@defensivepotato1998]

Where there are balanced champions there must be unbalanced ones

[@owo4470]

@@Crowned_Hearts karma too

[@sibericusthefrosty9950]

"If everyone is unbalanced, then the game is balanced."

[@kcStranger]

I think that Ionian champions have frequently been balance nightmares for the same reason that Blue cards have so often been broken in Magic: the Gathering. When bending the rules is part of your faction's identity, it opens up a lot of space that's really attractive to designers. At the same time, the developers are less likely to understand the strength of different mechanics and be able to properly balance them.

[@coolchrisable]

fucking counter spell in magic the gathering is bs but i do agree blue is probley the most broken cause for the msot part blue is all about controlling the battlefield and your oppenet what they can and cant play. ( me with my mono black zombie token deck)

[@sandromaspindzelashvili5767]

Reminds me of the turbo genius strategy

[@Aldebarean]

Green is the most BS now though, they get everything

[@pinovids]

@@Aldebarean greenwhite does, green on its own struggles with actually closing out games due to the lack of flyers and the over abundance of tokens

[@EternalFlame1337]

I love how you mentioned MTG now the replys are just magic players LOL

[@anonymousstout4759]

Saying Ionian is balance is like seeing whole years without new Lux, Ahri and MF skins

[@jusbetter7634]

+eve

[@caitlynsult2685]

@@jusbetter7634 nah more like leona

[@caitlynsult2685]

And ezreal

[@jusbetter7634]

It's all about KDA

[@caitlynsult2685]

@@jusbetter7634 your not too wrong. It’s also abt Star Guardian(or any skinline with popular champions I guess)

[@normalostrich6250]

Targon: Attention hoarders Shadow Isles: Premeditation Ionia: 200 years Demacia: honest Noxus: BONK! Bandle: Trickery Zaun: Poor smart people Piltover: Expansion Shurima: Positioning heavy Void: nom nom nom Freljord: head on Bilgewater: fire power

[@alexandermaxx]

I'd like to think of it more as Noxus being the expansion one (since that's literally their goal) and Piltover being more geared towards progress and technological advancement, but I liked the bonk description lmao

[@pokelinklink7354]

Damn Ixtal does't exist D:

[@idkwhatswhat2382]

@@pokelinklink7354 they're just built different

[@kylecurtis2786]

All Frelijordians have slow and/or stuns to reference their freezing homeland.

[@Underworlder5]

@@kylecurtis2786 tryndamere W braum passive, Q, R olaf Q sejuani Q, W, E, R (first hit of W displaces enemies for second hit) ashe passive, W, R trundle Q, E lissandra W, R nunu W, E, R yep. pretty much all of them. freljord might have the heaviest CC of all regions

[@eldritch0golem698]

I wonder if this time Vars will actually admit Karma exists XD

[@pinchylobster7392]

whos karma

[@djaiacaldin9012]

Nope, try again

[@walkelftexasranger]

@@pinchylobster7392 Fast running bitch who is ''Support'' ,yet for some reason she does same damage as Mage. She is also known as ''Middle finget to melee characters''.

[@pinchylobster7392]

@@walkelftexasranger she brings karma to those who play scummy melee characters, such as the rest of ionia

[@lal6005]

@@pinchylobster7392 so you want us to play ranged toplaners? Fine then.

[@pmathewizard]

If people known back then what champions will ionia give to this game during the noxian invasion event, Noxus should one the vote

[@walkelftexasranger]

God bless Singed and his weapons. Now Noxus doesn't have to deal with full village of Master Yis.

[@luizotavio44]

@@walkelftexasranger imagine they pull the yone strategy and revive one of master yi's family

[@franconunez925]

People back then: AND RISK GETTING DARIUS 2.0!? Nah dude, I'll vote Ionia. *People now seeing how they have darius 3.0 but with infinite dashes and more damage and surviability than any joggernaut* ... What have we done?

[@DemonerLycan]

@@walkelftexasranger I keep forgetting that Singed did the funny. You watch Arcane, see a man that is adamant in his beliefs and has an unshakeable resolve to cheat death by any means necessary, and after that he was like "how to win a war faster? M, I can cook you some poison gas and then run around and spray those asians with it"

[@indrickboreale7381]

Noxus - High Risk - High Reward champions

[@leonardosalustriano6791]

As Zed said himself “Balance is a fool’s master”

[@davidvolf8010]

it might be random but i love the fact that zed and shen are the oposite of each other zed wears red shen wears blue zed Q is a skillshot for longer range shens Q is close range basic attack zed W is for escaping and attacking shens W is for defending and staying in the circle zed E is around damage and slow while shens E small dash can taunt 5 people in line not around and finnaly ults zeds ult is that he will kill that one target while shens ult is that he will protect that 1 target

[@pyrokatarina]

props to riot designing team

[@Dairkun]

Too bad they missed giving the Scorpion themed skin to Zed instead of both Sub Zero & Scorpion to Shen.

[@pinoyabe5409]

@@Dairkun TRUE

[@wolfulf3339]

@@Dairkun the issue is that those are shens base skins, zed did not exist as a concept when those where released

[@unknowguy9642]

That genius, i didnt even notice before

[@Sina-dv1eg]

Interestingly, at lot of what you said about Ionian champions also applies to Riven, who has been living in Ionia for about a decade now. Her story has a strong focus on self-realization, hell, she even has a voice line where she says "choose your own path." Her abilities also fit with Ionia's multi-function abilities. Her Q is basically deeper than some champions' entire kit. That being said, she doesn't really stand out among skirmishers, but I'd say this is where her Noxian heritage shines through. She is still a relatively straightforward, constantly in your face aggressive champion, which seems to fit in line with Noxus. So yeah, I just really love how Riven's gameplay functions as a cross between Noxus and Ionia to reflect her story

[@Miirzh]

Also fuck riven

[@hello-gx6oi]

And then there's Xin'Zhao Born from Ionia, has experience as a noxian reckoner, and now has the tools of Demacian steel

[@Sina-dv1eg]

@@hello-gx6oi Mr. Worldwide

[@kfkf6569]

noxus and ionia produce half of the broken champions

[@evenjesuscantsaveyouanymor6163]

@@kfkf6569 What champs are broken from noxus? Can't remeber witch ones are from where...

[@groundbeef_]

Can't wait for your review of Targon, my fave region. I'm no expert, but I see Targon champs as champs that have a really powerful gimmick, but you have to work really hard to pull it off. The payoff though, is that you give your team a godly advantage by virtue of your existence. Examples: Zoe has so much potential damage for her Q, but it's so hard to hit. In exchange for mastering her, you have a champ that can nuke anyone with almost no downtime Leona has one of the best early game lockdown, having 2 hard cc abilities at lvl 2. But, she's mostly single target, so you gotta know who you should spend your cc on. In exchange, you have a champ of unrelenting force that can almost guarantee you death because of how long you're going to be standing in place with her cc

[@kepler4192]

Aphelios is literally the best example for this

[@golden-kappa5921]

@@kepler4192 Yep cause if you fall behind on Aphelios its almost impossible to come back

[@kepler4192]

@@golden-kappa5921 true

[@empty.5046]

ASol the space lizard. The strongest character in Leauge universe being the weakest champion in game, the irony.

[@odintakerprime6595]

You tell me. Until this day, I still can't aim Pantheon's ult properly.

[@panlis6243]

I feel the problem with "subverts their class expectation" design is that these champions often get to keep the strenghts of the class they belong to while also migating their class weakness. The thing is you can't also just remove the class strength from them without any thought. If you were to let keep Yone his 1v5 AOE damage CC thing but also nerf him anyway that would make him bad in 1v1 is he even a skirmisher at this point? Wouldn't that turn him to some kind of whacky teamfight specialist? It's hard to design them in a way that would not turn them into some kind of niche pick that is either only played in very specific situations or played only by OTPs (Ivern, Lillia etc.)

[@LumenFox777]

I think the ideal is that they subvert one weakness of the class and turn it into a strength while being weak at one of the classes normal strengths or you can make them more of an "all arounder" and go with the lessen or negate the class weakness while not being the strongest of that class at the job. So maybe yeah Yone can teamfight better and he can still 1v1 a good number of champs against other 1v1 specialists he should struggle if you are gonna break the rules they need to either have their weakness shifted to something else or they shouldn't be as good at their role as champs that follow their roles more traditional rules at least that is my view on it.

[@Justin73791]

@@LumenFox777 OP has the right idea here. You can't cover a classes weakness while taking away their strength, and expect it to even be part of the same class. They will receive the yone treatment,. Nerf their early game to the ground since they are just OP, and since most games never reach late it keeps the win rate low enough to satisfy the community. However put 6 items on yone and there is litterally no weakness for that champ. Not one.

[@Celestial-yq6hz]

Well, one description of Yone my friend gave me was, “Teamfight Disruption”, that’s all I remember from his description 😅

[@arntry8072]

Just give them stat debuff, its fine for Yone to have multiple dash and can deal magic damage but in turn he should only benefit 25% to 15% on lifesteal. Like how aatrox deals damage on minions, he can AoE it but deals less damage.

[@madsgrams2069]

There are plenty of champions that blur the lines between classes: Xin Zhao is a diver but has high, consistent enough DPS, that he also works like a skirmisher, Diana's an assassin because of her high burst, but is bulky and straightforward enough, that she plays more like a diver, Rumble's technically a battle-mage, but is melee and with very short range spells and is also bulky and immobile enough to almost be considered a juggernaut (same with Vladimir), Lee Sin's a diver, but has burst comparable to an assassin. But some combinations of classes should never be found in one champion. For example, being both a skirmisher and an assasin at the same time, like Yone is? Yeah...that should be a no-no.

[@fallenangel7364]

No wonder Swain wanted Ionia gone Maybe he is the good guy

[@walkelftexasranger]

He was always the good guy.

[@plgu3_mmvll439]

Swain and singed are the real heroes that will bring balance to runeterra

[@drwal2018]

"Monsters of today will be the heroes of tomorom" -Swain the grand general

[@raulsauceda7392]

They CREATED more than half of these champions brother.

[@plgu3_mmvll439]

@@raulsauceda7392 they would have never existed if noxus won the Ionian invasion

[@yellowtrickster69]

I think it’s interesting how while talking about each Ionian champion’s self realization in gameplay you didn’t mention Kayn literally choosing which if two fates befalls him

[@kamikazelemming1552]

"Balanced" is certainly the best way to describe the Champions of Ionia and their ridiculous bullshit. I'd say my most hated of the bunch would have to be Master Yi with Duskblade. There is something seriously wrong with a Champion that can go invisible and un-targetable without any sort of consequence.

[@VigilTheProtogen]

They recently "nerfed" Master Yi to reduce his lethality synergy, via redirecting scaling to on-hit effects and giving him some quality of life changes... Naturally, this buffed him in low elo and now the balance team is preparing a hotfix nerf

[@hatakekakashi3228]

Shaco be like :

[@vinnythewebsurfer]

I mean I find it hilarious that the reworked Fiora and got rid of the ultimate that’s essentially Alpha strike but even more BALANCED while Master Yi gets to still be a thing. I guess he’s considered too iconic to touch like Annie or something. Idk

[@vinnythewebsurfer]

@@VigilTheProtogen wow, who would’ve guessed giving champs that shouldn’t have it on hit effects. Surely people learnt their lesson after Katarina… lol

[@TerminaBroTheFirst]

My favorite build has to be Duskblade Jhin because there is seriously something wrong with going around 500 ms, invisible and appear right behind the enemy ADC

[@Amaling]

Edit to the top for recognition: great vid dude. Threw in a bit of Yone and Jhin circlejerk but it wasn't nearly as dominant as other vids or what I'd expect from a vid on Ionia :) Worth noting that Iona has THE MOST reps out of any region. Sure there's these characters on thumbnail and a couple of other "balanced" champs, but there's also Shen, Rakan, Syndra, Kennen, Monke, Jhin. Hope this gets across in the video, but I'm expecting mostly Yone Akali Sett etc salt

[@vinnythewebsurfer]

Shen is hardly a good example of balance. Maybe if you consider “champs that contribute the bare minimum/neutralizes any 1v1 matchup but relies on team to carry him since he does Jack shit after 20 mins but press R” as balanced then I guess. Syndra gets thrown around on the balance Carousal from being Meta to dogshit on a whim, same with Kennen and Wukong especially after his “””rework”” Aside from Jhin, the only well designed character from Ionia in my eyes is Lee Sin even if too many stupid people play the champ to suggest otherwise and be the biggest meat head youve ever seen.

[@Amaling]

@@vinnythewebsurfer I don't think Vars gets that tight about how meta a champ is tho. They bring it up sure but never really complain about it, like I don't think he gives a shit about Syndra being top/high-tier in pro play rn, nor does he give a shit about how rare Yone is in pro play especially relative to how much people whine about him. If he doesn't like the design ideas/mechanics of a character, that's where the complaining starts. Yone has two dashes both of which knock up, mixed damage including true damage, a shield for good measure, and his e. He don't give a shit what tier Yone is, how dogwater his soloq winrate is, how much his items and runes get nerfed, how rare he is in pro play etc, champ design unbalanced. Kai'Sa could be the worst adc in the game and he'd be complaining somewhere, same as if Orianna or Jhin were the best characters of their respective position. Syndra I'd have to imagine is a "balanced champion design" in their eyes, same for the others I brought up. Shen is a simple champion who plays for their team, leading to games where even if they fall behind in the island of toplane they game is not a lost cause (who knows maybe they have Shen PTSD lmao). As in "not overloaded" and "not having feature creep like the newer champs"

[@longstar5001]

@@vinnythewebsurfer yeah sure thing buddy syndra and wukong gets thrown around in terms of balance so they are bad design but lee is always balanced he totally doesnt have his moments of being op af so hes well designed

[@baptistecochennec5956]

@@Amaling I don't know how u can shen good design if u play toplane or even league in general

[@TerminaBroTheFirst]

@@baptistecochennec5956 River Shen

[@sirspudalot3223]

Honestly I'm just impressed that you're able to release these videos as often as you do. Very insightful, and they're all pretty interesting just from the game design perspective that you typically maintain. Best of luck keeping things going.

[@HamsterPants522]

Ah yes, such balance.

[@julianpradarodriguez7336]

Also, its funny to me how people forget that, in lore, they are killing Vastayans like Demacia kills mages. When I talk with my friends about the lore they think its the utopia of Runaterra

[@zorandire3946]

Finally someone who agrees

[@keomi6228]

Isn't there a voiceline from Sylas where he offers vastayans to join his mage revolution?

[@raulsauceda7392]

Depends on who and where. Ionia is not like Demacia or any other regions where the land as a whole is against Vastaya. Plenty of provinces and villages are living just fine alongside Vastayans but the Navori Brotherhood and the new Order of Shadow are not so kind.

[@kilowyatt1107]

Because there is only three champs who even mention it lore wise and Sylas with a single line, Sett because people bullied him for being half beast and Rakan and xayah, those are the only people who even bring up the fact that people are racists towards them, it's such a weird mishmash considering that Rengar, Nami and Neeko are all also Vastyans champs. it's like how riot makes any tiny person a yordle

[@redgokudera]

@@kilowyatt1107 Rengar, Nami and Neeko don't live in Ionia, that's why lol. The vastaya champions that lives in Ionia are Ahri, Xayah, Rakan, Wukong, Sett and that's it. Wukong and Ahri lived outside society, but Ahri mentions how she was persecuted in Ruined King.

[@noodles65]

that bit on how self-actualization contributes so well to champs in ionia is something i never thought about damn. hyped for whenever the bilgewater episode is personally. to me the main theme of that region is subversion of expectations and playing dirty. almost all of them have a way to turn a fight around. an mf pinned to her tower getting dove can hit a 3 man ult and save herself, gp oranges can get you out of a lot of sticky situations, pyke is an incredibly slippery support who can invis out of view, catch you off guard, cc chain you then execute you, fizz, just when you think you have him, he e’s and then qs into and oneshots you, tk’s massive shield, tf’s stun card/ult, illaoi’s ultimate, nautilus cc chaining you, graves kiting you out, etc

[@majinflo9359]

I also really love the fact that sett kinda stands out with his simple kitt but which is explained with his father coming from noxus. Also great content keep it up!

[@cosmicbard6998]

Let's be fair here, every region has at least a few unbalanced champions. Ionia just stands out because it is the region with the most champions, while most of their champions are also squishy high damage ones, which are usually the champs that Riot messes up with (which is especially clear now that damage is just insane). Oh, and let's not forget that Ionian champions are also very popular, because people like cool ninjas and samurais and such. It's not like Azir wasn't a toxic design like Akali, but one is kept on constant life support from Riot, while the other is left in the dust (or I guess, in the sand xd)

[@luckas221a]

let's look at akali's patch history and talk about that life support. she was permanerfed for years with numerous reworks to her abilities and scalings, mechanics removed, core items erased and still has hybrid scaling even though she has no way to use it effectively. she's received a couple buffs here and there and the inclusion of shadowflame to the item shop gives her a good (although very expensive) build path, but she's had her reigns pulled in a whole lot over her lifespan as a chanpion. I'm an Akali main so obviously biased here, and I'm not taking anything away from your argument about Azir's treatment by riot and how that applies to other champions with similar history

[@catoblepas8697]

dude azir is only strong in pro play, its obviously people don't complain him

[@baptistecochennec5956]

@@catoblepas8697 azir is only strong bc the number are so low if the number were just a bit higher he would be considered as toxic like ionian cham0

[@catoblepas8697]

@@baptistecochennec5956 dude only main plays with that and even with that he only have a decent win rate, azir is weak whether you want to accept it or not. If he was strong as you say, he would have the same win rate as aurelion sol because he has a very low play rate but he doesn't have

[@defensivepotato1998]

My one complaint about akali is this. What do you do against a good akali. What is the counter play against an akali after level 6. Keep your distance and lose cs letting her push while she roams towards other lanes. Try to poke her until she unleashes her full combo? I may be bias because I’m a mage user but the only thing I can find is to slow push so her e doesn’t hit immediately. But her e isn’t even for damage. It’s to proc passive. Half the time trying to play against akali in a fight is hoping you haven’t died after they used their entire combo. It’s not fun. Especially because of how dashes work in this game stunning people in a dash isn’t going to stop them from actually dashing.

[@JN-qg1eo]

The characters on thumbnail are way to balanced

[@vo1ce147]

Ionia home of contradiction they said everything must balance and yet the most unstable one is the most balance one

[@Ivy_Snowfox]

Funny right :Đ ?

[@EuclideanVision]

I like the core idea of independent co-existence :) cool to see how far that actually permeates through the champions, characters & the region itself! Great work as ever, I'd been looking forward to more of this series :)

[@Hellothere-ss4jq]

Ionia, the land of immensely fun to play kits and the one stop catalogue of Rito balance blunders.

[@peradomato]

Here in Brasil, there's a youtuber that defined Ionia in the best way possible in my opinion: League's Chernobyl

[@alexandermaxx]

I think the Shadow Isles fits that description more since its literally a deathly region that was beautiful before a certain explosion occurred

[@6bambolbi6]

I think Ionia is unbalaced for the rest of Runeterra, but in the territory of Ionia balance exist because "if everything is OP, nothing is OP".

[@davidtogi5878]

This is just my guess but i think Ionian had 1 thing in common. Skill honing. That is why Ionia had so many martial artist like ninjas, samurais, wujus, wrestler, kungfu, etc. Martial arts represents the honing of skills. Heck even Jhin is honing his art whatever that is. Players are expected to learn these champions comprehensively and thoroughly like sharpening a blade, and when they did the result will be devastating both to their allies and opponent. Yep the "our yi/yas is always trash, enemy yi/yas is always OP". Very devastating indeed. However later on Ionia is kind of like a dumpster to group up any new champ that represents nature and seclution like Lilia and Ivern prob because Soraka was already Ionian from the start. As for Syndra, Kayn and Varus, idk... But again this is just a guess.

[@TSSPDarkStar]

This video definitely gave me a better appreciation for 1. The struggle riot has when making Ionian champions and 2. The manifestation of each Champs lore into their in-game design

[@patrickstar3293]

About sett. He’s still going through his childhood, Necrit recently made a video about every characters age, whereas Setts turned out to be 14…

[@vivace9051]

I absolutely love the way your videos are edited man. Incredibling enjoyable. Keep it up!

[@Roze_aye]

Nah, we're gonna have to mention how smooth that was at 7:40 absolutely satisfying to watch

[@ascvb3]

I love how Kennen is a mage that switches the core mage fundamental of spatial management on its head. Rather the mage worrying about their positioning in relation to opponents, Kennen forces the enemy to focus on THEIR positioning around him. While getting in melee range is the weak point of every other mage, Kennen is most terrifying when he's up in YOUR face.

[@oak-q9y]

I definitely think its important to note the individuality of each character often manifests as outplay potential or options a champion has. If you look at champs like zed akali yasuo irelia and yone they have so many options (leading to them coming across as overloaded) but the importance is how one uses these options to forge their own path or gameplay style which makes them so interesting/popular

[@kculzsinet]

Meanwhile Ionia in LoR: Step 1- stun/recall Step 2- ??? Step 3- profit

[@dassd8393]

I get flashbacks everytime I hear someone say Ionia, so just imagine how it is for me when I just can't stop playing them. They are way too much fun for what they do.

[@marcoestevez6944]

hot take: Iona is just the land where Riot throws the campions they didn't know in that region were gonna fit

[@walkelftexasranger]

More like land where you throw the most unbalanced creatures ever made and then blame it on ''magic''.

[@vinnythewebsurfer]

That feels more like Ixtital.

[@viniciuspasquali1801]

More like the champions that riot actually had fun making

[@humayranasita7953]

naur thats targon

[@poom323]

@@vinnythewebsurfer Ixtal, the second Ionia.

[@noahhightower8222]

IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING!!!! I've been so excited for this video for more than two months!

[@pedromazzetto4722]

7:39 damn that was a smooth transition

[@walkelftexasranger]

Honestly ,thing I hate the most about Ionian champions is that they have NO restrictions put on them. Their biggest restriction is the player playing them. Imagine if Noxian champions wouldn't have any restrictions (Like Darius having 3 mobility spells)...

[@DemonerLycan]

Samira kinda has that, but she's half Noxian and half Shuriman, does that counts?

[@deynandicaprio]

@@DemonerLycan Ehh, the shuriman are always the weirdos

[@viniciuspasquali1801]

@@deynandicaprio they are like the quirky teenagers that think they are quirky but they are not

[@deadass849]

katarina

[@tudorghidu480]

Imagine if darius doesn t straight up execute entire teams with one button then i would be fine with giving him mobility

[@qualitymcbro8452]

Woop woop. Favourite series is back, with more assassins than ever before.

[@sigurdjensen195]

I would have used the word "fractured" to describe Ionia, but that fits well with both Freljord and Piltover/Zaun. I think self-realization makes a lot of sense. So does setup/preparation, I feel, although

[@dragoon8614]

Ok I just wanna take the time to talk about that bit when you talked about Lee Sin´s ult, because that transition was smooth af

[@picahmad4035]

In may you should do zaun i am feeling like every zaunite champs have some kind of Blitscrank : His Q and E Dr mundo : His Passive Ekko : His R jinx : Her passive and R Renata glasc : Her R and W Singed : His entire gameplay Twitch : His Q and R Urgot : He is the only ranged juggernaut Warwick : His W and passive Zac : His passive Ziggs : His artillery mage gamelay Zeri : Her R

[@slothape]

I think Iona is a reservoir for Champ ideas who don't fit into the archetype of another region. They are the 'outsiders'

[@valkyria7769]

Keep up the amazing content, you deserve a lot more subscribers than you already have! 🌸💕

[@gmoburrito6090]

Should titled : “Ionia -the land of “balance” “ for irony

[@AmputatedShamrock]

I loved this video, and quite honestly am super excited for the Noxus one! Particularly the differentiation between Demacia and Ionia, where they struggle with holding on to their ideology, and Noxus, where the defining ideology forces change. Great stuff!

[@wesker8814]

honestly i love ionia lore wise

[@QBG]

Sander Cohen from BioShock + Asian cultures associating the number four with death = Jhin

[@aeugh8998]

Ionia is just the embodiment of the phrase "There will always be some random Asian better than you"

[@Fiddle0131]

These videos are always so fun to watch. Makes me wanna go stuff game design myself. Keep up the good work, Vars. Can't wait to see the video discussing unalligned chamls like Fiddlesticks, or the shadow isles.

[@the_last_ballad]

I think doing champion archetypes like the demons(Fiddle, Nocturn, Evelynn, Tahm, Nilah, as she uses a joy demon. I would place Janna here too as she's a shape-shifting spirit that gains power through people calling for aid. But maybe the demon, spirit, god division is based on how they interact with people.) would work for things like the Daarkin, aspects, ascended, ect.

[@josh7825]

Ionia is balanced since Riot never nerfs any of it’s champs

[@DeroTK]

Ionia has the Champions I like to play the most and also the ones i hate the most playing against

[@catelyntully9494]

I think it doesn't work how Ionia is trying to be mysterious and kinda isolated from everyone else yet they have been releasing champions for this region a lot, is the most populated region after all and now I am more intrigued by Noxus or Shurima, not to mention Ionia champions tends to have lots of bullshit in their kits.

[@reecerobin8413]

You completely missed the actual reason. Ionia is based on Asia and is very popular in Asia. Most of the Asian playerbase is on average much more hardcore than western servers. Thus to cater to them, they design very high clompexity champs for them.

[@Level1Rookie]

^^^^ I was looking for this comment, finally found it.

[@MatthewDe-Rhune]

ionia is actually based on turkey. a riot dev confirmed it a few years back in some old AMA. cba to find it now but its out there

[@JK-nj3bt]

​@@MatthewDe-Rhunelmfao

[@miguelarrieiro]

2:18 apologies more than accepted tbf i was waiting this reference

[@reysantyjr.9262]

That Fire Emblem Awakening music in the beginning though, lovely

[@muggyate]

I'm a player of Legends of Runeterra. I can confirm: Ionia's region identity is stupid bullshit that makes everyone hate them.

[@user-bc7fe4ep8k]

How ironic that Yone has been one of the most consistently balanced champions ever, with minimum fine tuning changes once in a while and a steady 49% wr more or less since release.

[@Theoarr]

Can't wait for the Bilgewater video, my favorite region.

[@kadalix]

I once saw a comment on how yone and his azakana demon aspect wasn't built on ENOUGH they lazily just added a shield, some magic dmg to imply that it's spiritual, and a free escape bc "ooooooo demon spooky" i feel if they focused more on the pressure of an azakana looming over you, dealing more with curses and marks (like in his E but like all of his kit), would be so much more intriguing it would actually depict the power of an azakana flowing through yone, instead of yone just acting normally with cool extra azakana powers because that's what he feels like: yasuo with added bonuses

[@chibex2103]

In the end, ionia is the land of balance, because it has well and unwell designed champs

[@Za_Phantom]

After watching the vid I love Ionia MORE than I already did. Such a cool region.

[@thejoker1323]

Yeah, this video changed my mind about Ionia for sure; I realized most of Ionia's champ are for people who suffer from the protagonist syndrome in League and are unable to accept that other people exist. This fanatic individualism may not be a problem for them irl but it is a great source of toxicity in a team game like LoL. I find it astonishing, that all champions (except Vayne) that I hate with a passion, happen to fall into a single lore-based category. At least Riot is consistent with that.

[@Miirzh]

Ye man im an irelia one trick and i recently realised while teaming with friends how egoistic i was in game like fr i steal the entire jungle just because im used to it's also the consequence of soloqueue i guess but im just blocked in this 1v9 'game is on me' mentality but im not toxic i just mute all if needed. Maybe someday i hope botlanes will be able to carry games and not feed at least for 30% of the time lol

[@loveawayfromreality6453]

@@Miirzh lol relatable as an irelia main

[@Asphyx12]

@@Miirzh good for you brother you found your self realization

[@pernajuel9771]

damn, you condemn people being toxic and wrote the single most toxic comment on this entire video

[@nischalthapa2460]

It's actually ironic now that I think about it. The most unbalanced/ hard to balance champions talking about balance

[@kataki7p21]

as a lore nerd, i love these alot. thank you vars!

[@leighleemahony4519]

the fire emblem music intro is so good

[@dragonslair951167]

On the one hand, I think a lot of Ionia's champions are really cool, really fun to play. Like, Yone's abilities are awesome, I love using them. But Riot seems to have broken one of their own rules with them. That when you're designing a mechanic in a multiplayer game, you can't only be thinking about the fun of the player who gets to use it, you also need to be thinking about the person playing against it.

[@den1m0ut55]

When have they ever followed that rule

[@huthaifazeidan6184]

i have waited for ever foe this vid this is my fav vid of yours i loveeeeee it

[@zjxjzjxks9774]

I've been waiting for this!!!

[@benjaminprieto399]

Just like they said about Blue cards in Magic, Ionia is supposed to be about bending the rules and having every single tool to stop your own plans.The most broken meta in the card game LoR was Irelia's fault, and the previous Ionian expansion (Kennen and Ahri) was so non-interactive that even if you win, you don't want to face them anymore. It's excruciating

[@crablord7934]

It's so weird that my favorite Ionian characters in lore are also the ones I curse to eternal hellfire when I see them on the enemy team. Zed, Irelia, Yasuo, Akali, Lee Sin, and Lillia. Last one cause Mach 5 bonk is a different category of nightmare. Only exception I can think of is Jhin.

[@unoriginaljohn]

fun fact sett might be only 14 years old since the noxian invasion happened 14 years ago in the canon runeterra timeline

[@tainadeoliveira]

I wish you had talked about vastaya, I think they do have a theme running among them that is different from human ionians

[@Izigurand]

You’d expect Ionians to be well-rounded but most of them are very specialized.

[@tomasmota6396]

god fucking damn vars, you did it again you bastard, this may be tour best video yet!

[@grimlockgreg3063]

I swear the only champions who dosn't make me want to bomb the whole region is shen,sett, xhara, Rakan, and jhin

[@gougou737]

SETT?

[@TerminaBroTheFirst]

@@gougou737 My man probably mains Renekton

[@gougou737]

@@TerminaBroTheFirst me or Grimlock Greg because I've never played renekton in my life

[@TerminaBroTheFirst]

@@gougou737 Greg

[@grimlockgreg3063]

@@TerminaBroTheFirst I’m a kled/ornn main…. I just hate setts w

[@adnansherifedin50]

Love vars for making me feel bad about maining yone xD

[@reportme2740]

Can't wait 2 see shadow isles video, keep up the good work king

[@shubhod9569]

ionia isn't really ambiguous in design... they are just asian/anime inspired with eastern mysticism themes. Pretty straight-forward. Just as bilgewater has pirates and mercenaries, ionia is just as predictable.

[@royalmanatee6]

Seeing Taliyah in the nerfed to oblivion bin made me sad. Great video though :D

[@cringenormie3855]

They say Ionian masters have 200 collected years of experience in the art of warfare

[@deadrixhanon1776]

Noxus: tons of damage, like Jesus, that's a lotta damage.

[@zanethethiccboi1020]

I think that after Yone’s release we have misjudged Yasuo. Yasuo needs conditions to one-shot you, but Yone can jump over the wall, dash at you, knock you into the air, dash again, knock you into the air again, gain a shield, and crit you to death before you get to respond, all while healing to full. Very cringe, 200+ collective years, etc.

[@kukuruzka26]

Well, tbh mosf of Ionian champs are actually really strong, but also require skill to play. Irelia, Yasuo, akali, zed(mb yone, even tho he's not really hard to play). If you don't know how they work, if you just pressing abilities without thinking you are gonna be useless in game. But if u master them, they're gonna be beasts in your hands. So they're kinda balanced and not in the same time

[@pluto__5625]

i love these region series :D

[@TheInkaCrafter]

Also I'd note that Ionia has some of the most skill expressive characters in the game, and it's the kits with infinite potential that attract players who value that skill expression and the ability to push the envelope solely from practice and experience. Usually on the same coin those players aren't interested in fundamentals and teamplay, they just wanna see how far individual skill will take them. These players usually end hardstuck around plat because eventually fundamental players will simply out gold and objective their early kills. I know because I'm one of these player.

[@MrDraehl]

I think it has a lot to do with the aesthetic of the region and appealing to the players who appreciate it. The 1v9 fantasy, flashy kits, dashes, etc. There is a large appeal to younger players and the Asian market. I can appreciate the pressure to make these champions strong- but at how much cost to game balance and massive annoyance to the rest of the player base? Many of them are undoubtedly high skill cap, but it's often one-sided. The player on said Ionion champ has to play well, but often with minimal counter play and a feeling of helplessness to be on the receiving end of it, even if you're equally skilled to them.

[@t-1156]

After covering the 2 biggest oponents of Noxus, I think the next best thing would be to cover it. Imo Noxian champs are well suited for their region because they are all on a spectrum with three elements: Might, Guile and Vision. Some champs will trick you and disappear without you understanding what just happened, like Leblanc. Some are about tactically placing yourself and aiming well skillshots to blow up the enemy like Swain. Some just overwhelm you with might like Darius. It's not rigid: Katarina and Talon would be more on the Guile side, they're in the shadows of Noxus, striking you when you least expect it, but Kat has elements of Might with how she's all about crushing your team. Draven is more aligned with migh considering his damage output is mostly "Auto them until they die", but he needs the vision to know how to tactically place himself.

[@guillermostaudt6452]

Im here for every mention of shen in this channel

[@silco5343]

The only balanced Ionian champ is Shen ironically known as the guy in charge of balance

[@derekjensen9958]

Noxus had the right idea. I too would nuke the snot out of any region that harbored Irelia.

[@Hellothere-ss4jq]

Noxus made Irelia, if they didn't invade she wouldn't exist

[@stumpedtroper]

Outro Screen: Majestic Ionian Tree Camera: *doo bi doobi doof*

[@mybrothersboringchannel3825]

Watching that last akali clip was rage inducing.

[@markjustmark7599]

Is Xin Zhao considered Ionian or Demacian? His kit screams Demacian but he's origin is Ionia

[@oludipebolusere6085]

He's demacian actually

[@baptistecochennec5956]

Idk could be both but I think he's demacian like kayn is considered Ionian and sett noxian(maybe im the only one on that)

[@reistellae]

He’s born in Ionia, was in Noxian fighting pits, but was spared by Jarvan III and pledged himself to the king. So his allegiance is with Demacia. That’s why he wears Demacian armor and has a Demacian-esque kit

[@grrumakemeangry]

@@reistellae MISTER WORLDWIDE

[@hello-gx6oi]

@@grrumakemeangry he should meet Samira on the battlefield

[@onimazu4102]

" Everything change when the fire nation attack"