Why NO ONE Plays: Illaoi (League of Legends)

This episode of Why No One Plays features Illaoi! I better not see any dirty tentacle jokes in the comments!
Why NO ONE Plays Playlist: bit.ly/30DIeJF
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#Illaoi #LeagueofLegends #WhyNoOnePlays #RiotGames

[@Yvädastra]

Missing an E as Illaoi is the most depressing feeling in the middle of a teamfight.

[@nicojokelin5547]

Its hitbox can hit a champ through a minion and its invisible if its thrown from a bush with no vision

[@thegolem1673]

@@nicojokelin5547 WAIT WAT?

[@Jack-op8bb]

@@nicojokelin5547 No it's not invisible, also "it can hit a champ through a minion" means it's hard to hit because the projectile is too thin, like Nid's Q.

[@nicojokelin5547]

@@Jack-op8bb invisible tentacle go brrrr

[@dwaynesmallsjr.4660]

Watching a Heimerdinger hold a turret to block your E the whole laning phase is actual torture.

[@3Katapa]

And not to mention, Illaoi is the only Buff Female I've seen in a while who's thing isn't "omg buff woman". Shes still a priestess just a fucking brutal on at that.

[@davidpayne4709]

I know, Samira's whole personality is HAHA IM A WOMAN!

[@Colorless_Reaper]

@@davidpayne4709 nah man Samira is more of "I got my eye on you." I'm sorry I really enjoy Samira's design but I can't resist making crude humor

[@hinamiravenroot7162]

@@davidpayne4709 na Samiras whole thing is "LOOK HOW AWESOME I AM I AM SO COOL OMG DID YOU SEE THAT MOVE? YEAH I WASNT EVEN TRYING BTW CONTROLER ISNT EVEN PLUGGED IN IT WAS MY LITTLE BROTHER PLAYING" Her being a woman is just the cherry on top "and all that from someone thats 25% weaker than males 😌"

[@EsteemedBeansTV]

@@hinamiravenroot7162 this is funny because I’ve never played her but seen her so much I didn’t know she was like that I think Lyons is pretty fair though I always took her as a tough cookie I can’t really think of her lines at the moment but yeah.. I wouldnt discount Vi either

[@EsteemedBeansTV]

Leona*

[@iammegan6626]

I main Illaoi for the same reason I do Yorick: If left to themselves, they can win games on their own. They feel powerful, amd when they get rolling, its hard to stop

[@jber9619]

*(veigar has entered the chat)*

[@iammegan6626]

@@jber9619 Nasus to lmap

[@BestoFriendoCassidy]

Exactly this. I'm an Illaoi main named Top Lane Hentai.

[@dscheysn7834]

Thats the reason im maining both of them as well. It lets the games feel less like a coin flip as a toplaner

[@dewaunwarren1]

Yeah but they have pretty glaring weaknesses that can be exploited.

[@EsteemedBeansTV]

8:15 “ it’s not like the tentacles can follow you through the jungle or anything” Some guy at riot.. 🤔

[@karsonkammerzell6955]

Illaoi Doombot confirmed.

[@YanYanicantbelievethistakenffs]

New neeko allows that. Its fun running around as heimer turrets or tentacles

[@noahzhellos8344]

@@YanYanicantbelievethistakenffs Everybody gangsta til you get ganked by a roaming tentacle.

[@bugfighter5949]

Tentacle placement isn't random, I mained her for a bit and watched videos from a high elo player and he had a map for the placement of tentacles in lane. You have to be in the right spot when the passive is up.

[@oscandlu]

its still random to an extent just because they constantly spawn off CD so u can be caught with your passive off since it spawned on your way to lane, and her E being a pull would be so much more useful as well

[@dwaynesmallsjr.4660]

Problem is Illoai takes too long to get her damage out if she didn’t have the spirit. Her whole combo has almost 2 seconds of cast time .

[@eugenewang4650]

@@oscandlu you stay in range of an existing tentacle to 'hold onto' your passive. Then once you are ready to advance in lane you stay on the side of the wall you want your tentacle to spawn

[@G_Kchrst]

@@oscandlu It would be broken if a juggernaut has a big pull, except if its a clucky one like Morde which would be extremely awful since illaoi has no way to keep you close. Also without the spirit she has a very big delay to put out damage and her healing and damage is decreased by a lot. Finally, Test of Spirit is her signature move, it wouldn't be the same champion if they completely removed it.

[@keeganhand1915]

@@oscandlu skill issue plus they would just walk away from the tentacles after the pull

[@GuyHeadset]

I remember when I first started this game I use to blame losing to Illaoi that her E was like a second ultimate. I still kind of do that.

[@onlinealias622]

Her E is fuxking broken

[@josefarias5216]

Her E used to last up to 1 min it was true HELL in toplane, thank God they gutted her because it was ultra toxic

[@Mars30999]

@@onlinealias622 i mean its kinda like any hook. If u get hit ur screwed. Just stand behind minions and dont get hit.

[@makarovgamingstudios1184]

i feel like illaoi is weak, everytime i gank her on hecarim she just cant do anything because its hard to hit

[@parafuegosarchive]

@@Mars30999 like minions are always perfectly placed, never move and they cant lose health, btw if you can't get hit by her e you get hit by her q or w so yeah

[@Mrowkaqq]

Imagine being THE tentacle priestess and getting near no r34 league fanart compared to Akali...

[@huckleberryjam4975]

I just want to see her boning with Braum. And she wants it bad.

[@karsonkammerzell6955]

@@residentfacehead3465 Soft? One of her quotes is about men breaking too easily, lol.

[@karsonkammerzell6955]

@AXOLOTL IN A BUCKET Ship it. Ship it now.

[@juanstekelenburg3175]

Shes built like a amazonian brick shit house. In any r34 she appears in she is either always top or breaking men's pelvis

[@theblueslime7705]

As someone who's a hard illaoi main, to the point where I struggle to want to play other characters because of how fun she is, its weird to hear all these reasons for why she's no fun when they are the reasons i love her. I mean yeah she bassically becomes useless the moment she starts getting fed upon, and is hard to leave her lane but illaoi is fun because she her moves make you feel powerful when you use them, and her attitude just makes you feel like you can take on anything. it takes time to find the sweat spot-on when to attack, retreat, and go full force. Her style isn't built on dealing the most damage, or shrugging off hits, its about getting knocked down but getting back up to finish the fight. You may not feel like an powerful warrior going in to kill everything, but you do feel like and unstoppable monster slowly making its way down the lane as the enemy team struggles to push you back. Long story short shes slow and not great at moving to help other lanes but once you get the ball rolling theres no better experience in my opinion than walking down a lane and smashing anyone who challenges you.

[@VarsVerum]

JC_EliteGamer it’s important to remember that I’m assessing these champions based on the general public’s opinion, hence why I put the disclaimer in the beginning. :)

[@juggliuk_3195]

you even main that abomination? disgusting

[@alvanschmitz947]

Hah! I also main Illaoi, as support. Harrasing the enemy with her E is a lot of fun. Denying them most cs.

[@admiralbyrd7047]

Wonderful.

[@irrelevantirrelevant7332]

I get that feeling. She feels really powerful and you can crush anyone. Sadly, it is extremely easy to counter her. Dont fight near her tentacles. Illaoi is useless if no tentacles are nearby.

[@LutraKing]

Dude illaoi literally says " its either they run or they die" and i think she has great mid-late phase and can rather easily catch up when a bit behind. In addition i think that there are quite a few champs around with their own 'minigame' so yeah the tentacls are conditional but when you master it its easy to abuse

[@yasseradel4234]

Well said man

[@keeganhand1915]

The entire character is situational so you have to manufacture the battle so everyone is playing your game. If you can do that then you'll win every encounter

[@Bl4ckDr4co]

The problem is more that all her trades revolve around her E. If she misses her E, she gives the enemy a huge window to all-in her.

[@skkadoot9533]

"you can do so many things with tentacles" -Vars

[@limquan9753]

I love it that no jg dare to gank you

[@motivationenjoyer9830]

But when he ganks you miss your E

[@RicardoAlmeidatm]

I feel Illaoi needs the same mechanic Yorick's Q has. If you press Q while it's on cooldown, and you have a tentacle available, it spawns a tentacle.

[@night2501]

yea I think this should be the solution for most of the issues with illaoi, let her Q trigger her passive, would allow her to reposition more easily and open options for her

[@keeganhand1915]

I feel like tying tentacle production to mana is a bad idea

[@jamilvillones5020]

@@keeganhand1915 i think they also want to avoid tentacles being really close to each other cause that would be really op.

[@quirkycat]

hell no

[@fg009letyrds8]

Hell yes

[@XinGraves13]

"Swinging around a hammer made of octopus" got this video my like!! Lmao.

[@Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol]

I used to think Illaoi is like meg broken and you can't possibly beat her. That was somewhat influenced by me always getting smashed to the ground by her and no knowledge of the matchup since, as you say, nobody plays her. Then I got one of my friends who is (or was, I don't really know) Illaoi main to 1v1 me a couple of times so that I get the grasp of what I'm trying to achieve, her strenghts and weaknesses, while also getting used to certain mechanics on her. Right now I think of her as one of the best designed champions both playstyle and balance wise. I mean, you say this is the problem, but I like the idea of this unbeatable raidboss with overwhelming damage AND MOST IMPORTANTLY CLEAR COUNTERPLAY (srsly u can just walk away from her; how often can you just walk away from Darius or Cammile)

[@boredatschool23]

You get it! I main illaoi and I always find it funny when people get tilted at me in game. She’s super fun and can do some crazy stuff, but she’s got some serious drawbacks to take advantage of. I usually counter this by taking demolish, that way I can switch to hardcore objective clearing if my lane didn’t go too well

[@boredatschool23]

Also she’s super match up dependent. I don’t even bother taking her first pick or against a full range comp.

[@onlinealias622]

The problem with running away from illaoi is it fucks your xp. If she lands a few Es on you, you end up 2 levels below her after a few minutes, and then you're pretty screwed.

[@Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol]

@@onlinealias622 the whole "counterplay" part I'm talking about involves dodging relatively slow skillshots and her e doesn't go through minions The "walk away" part is for when she ults Tho I guess playing dodgeball whole laning phase might be a bit annoying

[@onlinealias622]

@@Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol One complicating factor for me is that I have terrible internet and generally have to play on my mobile hotspot. It gives me a consistent 120 ping, which is better than the wifi but isn't ideal. I can still dodge her E a lot of the time, but I'd imagine it's a bit easier to dodge the abilities if I had better ping.

[@supercoolpanda]

Lol. Illaoi main here. Whenever one of my friends get frustrated when they lose to an Illaoi I tell them that in landing she command the illusion of damage. So when she lands her E u back off right? Wrong. If she Es you and there are no tentacles around, go in and clap the cheeks. She rlly isn’t a very dominating lamer and her E rlly isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. If ur going against an Illaoi build boots first and you’ll be fine. Dodge and punish. That’s pretty much it. Also tell ur jgl to not gank u. If they gank and Illaoi with ult and she gets her E off on them. Don’t help. They’re dead.

[@trietnguyen6249]

Who illaoi even E without her tentacles around?

[@TrueEmperio]

@@trietnguyen6249 the ones that have ultimate

[@trietnguyen6249]

@@TrueEmperio lol I main illaoi and mostly ult with my E

[@ThatGuateKid]

As an Illaoi main, I just love her 1v5 capability. Oh, you wanna gank me? Yes PLEASE. What I like to do in team fights is just be a fucking sponge while I cause havoc with my tentacles and let my team fights benefit from me being the distraction. It is so fucking fun

[@ThatGuateKid]

@Stuart Little the 42nd you just get Qss and only ult when its up. Morde isnt too bad honestly and your E does good damage to him as long as you have 2 tentacles set up and/or hit him and the spirit

[@ThatGuateKid]

@Stuart Little the 42nd I've noticed a lot of people get their bread and butter build and don't adapt to the game. Against morde I build Qss first item then don't finish it till last

[@124085]

"She feels less like a Kraken Priestess and more like a person swinging a hammer made of octopus" Thank you for explaining exactly why I love this champion.

[@alireyes4219]

Vars: I don't hate her nor I have personal beef against her. Also Vars: I have a very big problem with her E. :( *proceeds to rant 5 minutes straight about 1 ability*

[@IDoNotFeelCreative]

Hitting her e and watching the enemy run around under their tower is the most fun part, bar ult flash

[@impishDullahan]

I honestly just play her to show her some love: she has to be my favourite character in the game. (Character, mind, not champion.) That being said, I've always gravitated towards the champs that are brick walls in lane, want laning phase to be the whole game, and want to be ganked to get kills. These include old yorick, the old tankerdonger build, and of course our beloved tentacle priestess. There's just something so satisfying in vibing in lane only to destroy anyone who tries to kill your vibe and Illaoi fits that in both kit and character.

[@saitouhajime3]

Your complaint about her e is answered by her lore actually. Her God tests others to see if they are worthy to pursue their dreams. This is something she did to Gangplank. On more than one occasion. But yes, her e outside of lore doesn't really fit the juggernaut that she is.

[@RustingPeace]

she is actually more of a specialist

[@sabers31skip35]

2 things i hate when playing illaoi about her e is 1. the fact that if you dont land it the first time almost your entire worth in a teamfight goes down the drain and 2. it gets caught on so. many. god. damn. minions.

[@keeganhand1915]

Then don't do team fights. Push another tower, split the arena and put extra pressure on the enemy

[@Ervo]

As a Illaoi main (mostly) you're right, recently I read a Riot article about Gwen and how she moves her "terror zone" (the area a fighter creates that makes him strong or gives some kind of advantage) because she can't keep people inside it and the best way to fight against a terror zone is leaving it. And this immediatly brings to my mind those times a Sett or a Lee Sin mades me leave my perfectly delimited zone of tentacles or someone flashed or dashed out there and I thought "why Illaoi can't have a sort of crowd control to keep people inside of that zone? It's so depressive when people simply leaves your tentacle party. Also, they're tentacles! Can't they grab people in place or something!?" Also she needs a way to put tentacles on demand because her main gameplay depends on the RNG of a timer, maybe she could spawn a tentacle if she kills a minion with her W, idk

[@claraclenky9843]

If she could cc a opponent she’d be op

[@claraclenky9843]

If they leave her “terror zone they are leaving with damage on them

[@Ervo]

@@claraclenky9843 it's so easy to dodge the damage

[@claraclenky9843]

@@Ervo no? And also if they dodge that’s the fault of the illaoi 60% of the time

[@RustingPeace]

@@claraclenky9843 she can have a cc lock. just look at the runes and items we have. and all of illaois dmg sources are extreamly easily dodgable skillshots

[@FIKOZX]

Dirty Mobs XD

[@titanichydra8094]

Kraken Slayer

[@FIKOZX]

@@titanichydra8094 Titanic Hydra -_- ım the best item u bitch xd

[@SketchBookShortFilms]

Fun fact: this is the character that turned me into a Jungle Main. I hate laning against her so much, to the point where I said "screw it" and decided to give the Jungle a shot instead. Never looked back.

[@G_Kchrst]

Now you have to gang her as a jungler, xD. Right for the tentacle party.

[@quirkycat]

@Dichang Feng if done right illaoi can cancel his ultimate with hers

[@galaxytheinter6332]

@Dichang Feng nearly every toplaner can be a counterpick to her, if you have fancy feet. Just use your mobility spell to dodge her E and the rest is easily sidestapable, since the animations are so long, but some really good champions are Riven, and especially K'Sante, there is no way she has any chance if you know how to play him. Best Thing is her Pressing R, and then you press R and she tries to run back to her tentacles, but you just Q3 her and slow due to Iceborn xD

[@pigeonf.6298]

Enemies: group around me when I have ult Also enemies: "omg busted champ that needs a nerf!1!"

[@IchigoKurosaki3119]

I like the feeling that Illaoi brings where you're basically testing the other player. And its so fun when they fail

[@galaxytheinter6332]

That's basically the thing I love about playing against her, because if you have fancy feet she loses about 80% of her damage and about 50% of her sustain. Which means, she has usally no real chances.

[@victorhansen1028]

Illaoi is like that weird uncle in your family. No one wanna spend time with him alone and learn about, but everyone fears him at the family meeting🤣

[@rafaelcastor2089]

An ability where you throw a tentacle and pull them in, you say? Well... take a look at her E again.

[@MissPeachhh]

He literally did

[@ivory3776]

no not just the soul. He is describing a hook like the one blitzkrank has

[@rafaelcastor2089]

@@ivory3776 Dumb idea. We already have Blitz, Thresh, Pyke, Swain, Mordekaiser, Darius and Aatrox all pulling people in from a distance. Just how many champions do we need to do just that?

[@ivory3776]

@@rafaelcastor2089 it was not my idea i only clarified but i agree that you could have done more with the idea of tentecales

[@rafaelcastor2089]

@@ivory3776 Yeah, you could've been boring. Her E as is, is a great take on a spiritual character using the tentacles to pull someone in just like he asked for, way better than to just have yet another character physically pulling it's enemies from a distance.

[@kool-aidman6955]

Illaoi: GET OVER HERE!!! Anyone with a brain: No! Illaoi: Ok :(

[@Creepman_Horror]

I actually like her slow attacking movements very much, it gives a sense of extreme power with every tentacle slap

[@keeganhand1915]

It feels like I'm hitting someone with the strength a weight of a train. I earn those slaps

[@creepinwhileyousleepin]

You really do get used to the way she plays once you do it enough. things like flash - ulting into teamfights, using stridebreaker and just generally positioning yourself at choke points all help. Maybe not by design but just her ult being off cooldown is sometimes a huge deterrent itself.

[@Happy-to3tf]

Playing illaoi is effectively playing a wargame and waiting to checkmate your enemies with a massive R

[@rzih8563]

In silver-plat Illaoi is played quite a decent bit, definitely not never played.

[@HighLanderPonyYT]

That's not high/pro Elo.

[@swiftwithoutnumbers]

did u even watch the video obviously people play every champ.

[@dripapproved1582]

“YOU CAN DO SO MANY THINGS WITH TENTACLES” silently snickers and clips

[@acehealer4212]

I really like Illaoi’s visual design. Her personality is cool too.

Illaoi is my first champion! She is in my heart! I play Darius, Renekton and Jax too, but Illaoi have special place in my heart. I have 900 000+ Mastery points with Illaoi and I play other champions only if Illaoi is banned! But I totally agree with you! It depends on the position of the passive tentacles and most of all on whether it has hit its E! If you miss E run away! But if you hit E hehehehe that’s where the fun begins! It can be pure terror for the enemy! Even more in low rank like silver and gold I wouldn't change it just because it's the only champion that's very special in my heart! Btw my English is not that good, its not my native but I think everybody can understand hahah

[@noemiehaller4818]

The same dude

[@BenColwell951]

The Hentai goddess himself has blessed you with viewers kappa

[@Gokechu012]

Nice profile pic tho

[@Vaporvision]

For about 2 years now, I've been trying to quit Illaoi, for champions that are better late game, or not so reliant on a single ability (e) or to switch to another lane... But I am starting to embrace that other champions just feel... wrong. I've been trying to play AD, and something is just off. I guess I'm just an Illaoi main. Thanks for this video!

[@panpsalt6757]

I main illaoi, ever since being raped by illaoi in top when I returned to lol. This video is very accurate. The largest problem that illaoi has is that people can walk away. Thankfully, in draft, this is rare

[@binglebop5877]

at level 6 push the enemy into the tower and catch an e while under their tower. even high elo players fall for this trick, they'll engage on you and just use your ult and pick up a kill

[@L-S]

I main illaoi couse I was wondering what new top laner I should play, my support a friend of mine told to me. Ah play illaoi... And that's how I became a illaoi main.

[@samueltate3549]

@@L-S Darius- very similar as he is a juggernaut but much more mobile and In my opinion easier to carry as

[@L-S]

@@samueltate3549 Yes, but illaoi's ultimate is so satisfying. I love to see 5 enemies attack me when I have activated the E and have the ulti ready. It is pure poetry.

[@samueltate3549]

@@L-S u have obviously never dunked an entire enemy team to death then- it can be just as satisfying if not more so as it requires more than just pressing r

[@TheDahaka1]

13:16 : "I don't get the vibe that she's a priestess who conjures a Kraken god, she seems more like a person swinging around a hammer made of octopus". Yet your solution is to remove the ability to separate the spirit of an enemy to test their strenght and endurance in front of that god, while substituting it with... a Blitzcrank hook? Or a spawn more tentacles to slam hammer more? This sentence clashes hard with the rest of the video.

[@maddriven07]

Illaoi is hard countered pretty much and its just you run away

[@FlameOfZaun]

I dont think you ever laned illaoi...

[@maddriven07]

@@FlameOfZaun i main illaoi and i know her weakness. It's frustrating when my opponent just runs when I engage and use my skills.

[@FlameOfZaun]

@@maddriven07 then how tf do u run away when ur e is the most broken abbility in the game. I main urgot and i can beat her but the insane sht that is illaoi e makes me mad. Its almost imposible to lose as illaoi if u use abbilities, and even if u fall behind u skale like a monster. Noone plays her so thats why shes op. She preety much has no weakness, cuz why u need speed when noone can escape u and noone can kill u.

[@admiralbyrd7047]

@@maddriven07 This is the test. You are not a braindead killing machine like Darius or Garen. You are here to test souls. Illaoi is a macro champ. Don't go for the penta, pressure the hell out of them and go for the base.

[@RustingPeace]

@@FlameOfZaun see it posivitly. if illaoi had a real hook, she would have the doubled amount of hp and ad

[@TTHJJD100]

A really interesting way to fix the E on illaoi could be when she lands it the enemy is initially pulled and then at specific damage against the soul it pulls them again maybe as it's leveled the amounts you can pull them closer is increased, sort of like a thresh Q in a way.

[@thimbletoe]

When he said he was a top main I knew that meant he hated Illaoi, like all self respecting top laners

[@speedy_magee]

I think she feels good in lane. She can farm pretty safely and sustain with heals from slam. I mostly play controller and catcher supports, so its kinda the juggernaut equivalent. Your E has the same kind of threat that a morgana Q or thresh hook has and enemies have to respect it. But to be real, I started playing her cuz I got tilted by her 1v5 capability and I wanted it for my own :)

[@d4s0n282]

agreed but I Feel too much power is in her e, I play top and not trying to be salty since I play really only melee but I think too much power is in the e compared to rest of abiitys, you auto win in any matchup at all if you literally just dodge her e

[@lolYoriichi]

I love your voice btw great video, I just personally like the idea of her e pulling out someone's spirit and having a teammate attack it leaving the enemy the option to fight us or to run away.

[@soulyeons]

she's such a cool champ, i love how she's polynesian because i am too. but it is infuriating to go up against her in top lane

[@Umimugo]

Illaoi is best to constantly and slowly push down a lane, separate from the team, and try to force the enemy team to split up or concentrate their forces on you, allowing your team to rip apart another lane or objective. Landing E's helps spread your tentacles in a lane since most laners will actively run away from illaoi as they're cursed. Otherwise you can only help in teamfights by landing E's for picks or relying on your team to get a solid engage, or for the enemy team to engage poorly. I think they should allow illaoi to be able to move while casting Q, and for unit kills with Q to lower passive's cooldown by 1 second per unit. Or after killing a certain amount of units, be able to spawn a tentacle at a specific location on command like Yorick's Q Illaoi's E should also be reverted but tweaked so that DoT's do not count as multiple ticks for reducing E's duration, but forcing separate instances of attacks or abilities to lower E's duration, promoting the cursed target to fight back. With Season 10's item changes, everyone has way more damage, Illaoi's survivalbility needs to be brought back up in her kit, i would suggest have some kind of stacking buff from landing consecutive tentacles on a target in a short-timespan, think of it like a lesser version of a trundle ult, either increasing illaoi's resistances, or providing a shield, or a stacking debuff on the target, (slowly draining stats except resistances with each hit or, causing some form of CC after a certain amount of total tentacle strikes hit like Kennen's passive, or we could add a stun effect if a spirit of a target is succesfully killed instead of just expiring or having the tether broke. The whole theme to illaoi's kit is testing people's spirit with the power's of her god. She wants people to fight back and endure, but she will crush those who fail the test. Running away from the test should be punishing, but not as bad as failing the test and unfortunately, thematically, only her E and Ult reflect that. I think from a gameplay perspective it's vital to keep her ult relatively the same because she fits the niche of a champion that gets stronger when outnumbered, the only champions that reflected that before is Brand and pre-rework Irelia (she used to have scaling tenacity according to however many nearby enemy champions there were) Ultimately, because of her low mobility and lack of hard crowd control, she's purely reliant on damage and the threat of her presence, which causes her to be a very much feast or famine kind of champion. The only caveat is that her ult is the only thing that can give her an opportunity to come back if the enemy team does not properly and thoroughly crush an Illaoi in lane, much like you would do to a Nasus. I've literally had games where i've gone 0/5 in the first 10 minutes and clawed my way back to slightly above net positive score through my own efforts of diligent farming, lane pressure and overwhelmingly outskill my opponents by facerolling my keyboard with ult active

[@larsclerbout1913]

I myself main ollaoi and do agree that the damage you can dp with here e should be nerfed in order to make it more about getting more tentacles with her ult and stopping people from running away

[@Vaporvision]

Hearing you talk about my favourite champion with this absolutely awesome music (whats this track, by the way??) in the background is such a fantasy to me. This is great. I understand all of the things that people may dislike about Illaoi; setting up tentacles is the same reason I don't play something like Teemo or AP Shaco... that kind of setup doesn't sound interesting to me. But as for Illaoi, I suppose it just kind of clicks. I couldn't tell you why. The call of Nagakabouros, I suppose. As for slow and heavy, I really live for that moment that I go "HWAH!" And flash ult the enemies, hearing all those tentacles slam, seeing all the effects... I like feeling powerful!

[@VarsVerum]

Part of the champion is the immersion! It feels like she’s really slamming you down when attacking

[@TheDjpwn3]

The music is from Fire Emblem: Three Houses

[@makkilatte6288]

I really hate playing against an Illaoi

[@3Katapa]

Shes a Zone control bruiser and no one knows how to deal with it. Just side step her E and walk away from her ulti and shes useless hahah

[@victoralejandrotrimmerestr3672]

thats the problem or sad thing, if her whole kit revolves around a normal ability it is a failed kit, you can dodge darius/morde/nasus/urgot E but they still do stuff and pose a threat, illaoi on the other hand is land it and win or dont and lose, its unfair and hard to balance

[@yournemesis192]

yes but players below high diamond are unable to dodge consistently so most are unable to win lane against this champion

[@somerandomdudeOG]

The champs that spam overbuffed ghost meta hurts illaoi pretty bad, is not that bad champ, but of course a darius can run over the entire team just need to stack the passive because they overbuffed ghost

[@Kligor2]

I think her E used to be really good thematically but with its reworked state yeah its nothing like her.

[@HighLanderPonyYT]

What was it before and how was it reworked? I only remember one version of it.

[@Martin-yh7vi]

@@HighLanderPonyYT It was mentioned in the video for a bit. Champions who got hit by Illaoi's E used to be able to reduce it's use time if they fought her. Compared to know where you have no choice but to run to break the tether.

[@HighLanderPonyYT]

@@Martin-yh7vi Ah, ty!

[@zrahabi]

I loved the old E, the longer debuff time was countered by the fact that it had actual counterplay, also like you said thematically it was so much more interesting and fitting

[@Jack-op8bb]

It just gets countered hard by dot damage, if you are in singed Q and the spirit disappears in 2 seconds.

[@MrEd-qc7vr]

I lover her as a character. I wish more people played her. I feel happy whenever she's on my team

[@juanpuigdomenech8880]

3 years later, and this fking thing of a champion still exists in this state. Great vid man!

[@flameofmage1099]

I just unlocked and started maining Illaoi today, and I've got to say this all makes sense to me. But if you time a gank right then you'll spawn a tentacle at the start and you go to town with your Q and W. Though you'll rely on your (Oh no!) team more. Edit: After maining her for a bit now I have to say it would be nice if they added a root on champions to her Q or something. Edit 2: Her kit actually makes perfect sense with her lore. She doesn't really command her god, but more summons her and let her do her thing. And her E is literally her whole lore.

[@RetirededKat]

"...kills enjoyment for both players." Heimer turrets, Teemo shrooms, Karthus R, Malz E Trust me, one of the two players is enjoying the Illaoi interaction if she got picked in the first place :P

[@Pentagram666mar]

Just give her tentacle on demand placing anywhere not only close to walls. It will go well with rest as you still have +1 tentacle on ult without hitting E and what will be most value you will have easter time to setting fight when your passive didn t give you tentacles and last- you will be able to place tentacle at the middle of lane and it will be more interesting playstyle to play around it- enemy trying to kill it, you trying to save it. Last thing probably movement speed bonus on W.

[@TheSneakyVikingJarl]

I’ve been an Illaoi main since I started league. My only problem with her is that the tentacles don’t stick around if you leave. They already can be killed by enemies. The change to TP also sucks because being able to TP to one of your tentacles was really helpful. Btw Illaoi is best played in the mid lane.

[@TTHJJD100]

Fun facts: dusk blade invisibility as well as eclipse shield procs on the souls she grabs with her E. Rapid fire cannon works with her empowered attack to increase her range greatly. Keep in mind it takes a moment for the range to update on the item, but this works as a massive gap closer allowing her to jump to enemies at a much higher range. Not saying assassin illaoi is a great idea, but there's some interesting interactions there.

[@evanbarrett409]

I love illaoi top for the immense power but i think they should make her passive similar to Ashe's vision, make it hold a couple charges then you can choose when they deploy. But, that would defeat the purpose of a passive which is supposed to happen by itself.

[@dreisang9011]

Vars: Talks about Illaoi Me: "Ooh nice dwelling of the ancient gods"

[@JSpyx]

Oh the good ol' times with my friends though, when it was about the 3rd time i played Illaoi in toplane... I was getting ganked by the jungler, midlaner. Plus toplane under my turret. I screamed it out: "OH NO GUYS IM GOING TO DIE HELP" *An enemy has been slain! ...Double kill! ....Triple kill!* Ah yes, good times.

[@the_soggster3464]

I love Illaoi's kit and wouldn't have it anyother way, for all the things people dislike I love. About her E though, I think her E is there by design to give her a chance against ranged champs, and to give her defensive kit a chance for aggressive play. Without it, she would have to kindly ask the ryze to walk a bit closer. Every champ in league has got a super annoying ability but that is what makes them strong and unique and adds a layer of strategy to play around. So, I think it should stay how it is. As for the reason why for her low pick rate... I think it's because most players in league dont uh... Exactly play defensively, willingly. Defence is where Illaoi is the strongest but, a lot of people like being aggressive to secure kills, force winnable duels and to consistently impact fights. On top, her purpose is unclear. So, I think alot of people write her off because of those 3 things. But, with enough practice you can be consistent and learn her role throughout the stages of the game to really enjoy her. That's what I think at least lmk what u guys think.

[@G_Kchrst]

The problem with your points is that Illaoi is made to be unique and unconsistent. She does the most dmg but is the least mobile. She has no CC but can take your soul and hit it. She does more dmg the more enemies she fights but she can still get cc'd. That's the beauty of the champion and finding ways to play around her clear witnesses and strengths (as her enemy and as the player) is what gives her a very unique learning curve. That's why she is a champion that is pretty easy to learn in a basic way but pretty hard to master in a high level. To leanr an dplay around he rpassive spawns is such fluidity, retreat-fight-retreat till you find the right spot and ult. If everyone was an all-rounded juggernaut like Darius and Sett then the game would be boring and also juggernauts that can do everything like Sett, Garen, Darius etc are the ones that feel the most broken in the end of the day.

[@VarsVerum]

Oh for sure. There's nothing wrong with being unique, that's the beauty of league of legends. It's not like Smash bros where everyone has the same neutral air or the same down tilt. All the same, there are certain unique champions whose gimmick is the reason players don't want to try playing them vs someone more straightforward and comfortable.

[@G_Kchrst]

@@VarsVerum And many champions people play a lot are still flawed in many ways possible, it means nothing honesty. You don't take one simple factor into consideration in your videos. People play a lot champions they find cool as well. Some champion themes and gameplay styles have wider appeal. I dont say that you don't make great points but they are half the story. its Impossible for nalla champs to appeal to a wide audience. As someone who mains Illaoi for years I can say that her E is a great and unique mechanic that gives a lot of room for counterplay. Killing or dodging 2 tetnacles is not that hard. Giving her a hook would be awful. There are so many champions in the game now that inevitably some of them will make your criteria. It does not mean that popular champions are healthier though.

[@VarsVerum]

@@G_Kchrst I get where you're coming from. But these videos are meant to be purely dialogue and discussion. There's no way every champion in league can have a 50% pick rate that just doesn't make sense. You accuse me of not taking one simple factor into consideration in my videos. I can say the same thing: you fail to understand the simple point that this video and the series was never meant to push an agenda. I just like talking about unpopular champions and breaking them down. Moreover, please understand that I'm representing the side of the players who DON'T play these champions. That's the whole point of Why No One Plays. My target audience are the people who don't pay attention to these champions. Why would my target audience be illaoi mains? You already play her lol. Anyway I don't want to argue because it never gets anywhere on the internet. I think you're misunderstanding the intent behind this series. I don't make these videos with the intent to talk trash about the champion (which the disclaimer in every why no one plays is supposed to clear up). I kindly ask that you look at the other comments in this video and see the perspective they're taking. Most of them are just sharing their experiences playing the champion or their perceptions of her. These videos are intended to encourage dialogue. They're not trying to convince one side or another. Illaoi is statistically a very unpopular champion. That much is fact.

[@G_Kchrst]

@@VarsVerum Actually I don't accuse you and I find your videos very welll made. Also the points you make about the champions I main (Illaoi, Poppy, Yorick) are very true most of them and are on point. I just want to point out that these limitations of some champions are what makes them unique and that eventhough you can definitely imporve most of them (Illaoi's passive was changed in 2020 to scale and spawn much faster late game for example), changing them into more basic kits with more obvious results is not necesarily a good thing. Azir is never gonna be Lux, Orianna or Fizz but it's nice that there is such a complicated and mechanically gifted champion like him in the game, even if his whole balancing ournd his difficulty always keeps him on the back foot. Also I agree that the removal of the mechanic that atatcking Illaoi when she tests your spirit decreases healthy interaction. The whole point of The Test of Spirit is too prove to The Great Kraken that you are worthy of living, now you can't do anything, xd.

[@VarsVerum]

@@G_Kchrst ahh i see. Sorry for the misunderstanding. The limitations making the champion unique are actually what I think makes people interested in the champion. I’ve had a lot of comments of players who, in spite of all the flaws I pointed out about the champ, still gave them a try and ended up enjoying it. So in a way I agree there’s a certain grace in each character’s imperfections

[@SmallCorn]

My ign is literally "Tentacle Idol" and I'll tell you that animation canceling on illaoi is your friend

[@commentlurker3874]

i just main this week and the thing i liker the most about her is that she is like a the hulk she git like a truck and becasue of the slam 4& heal from lost health with two to three tentacle you can heal up to 70 to 80 health just from hitting one champ

[@ratspew932]

I tried playing Illaoi like one time and couldn’t figure out how to use passive in laning phase since tentacles don’t spawn where I want them to & people obv never walk up to them. So I gave up lol even though she’s pretty strong

[@allisdust5717]

Her W is a gap closer 11:48, the E most of the time is to cause a fight, in the beginning of the game it is really hard for illaoi to actually kill it and if she does she used her skills that are now on cooldown to deal less damage.

[@cocotier-]

Illaoi tentacles spawns every 5s in late game and on the nearest wall so its not that random but you need to move to the fight before it happen so its a bit tricky. I think that she is the type of champ that you love or you hate but there is no in-between. (personally Im rly having fun playing her)

[@nordicnerdy4032]

Illaoi is my main and I feel that. Most people frown when I pull her out and she's very easily counter picked. It's upsetting because I love playing as her but never feel like I have a whole lot of impact outside of lane. Plus she really is inconsistent. Sometimes I purly have to rely on my enemy not being familiar with their champ. Also I think her E should def change to a pull so it's easier to get her ult off of it. Plus it would help with getting people into your tentacles range. I'd love to se her grow and even though I mostly play support now I still love to pick her up here and there. She was the first champ I really took to when I started the game and it would be great to see her blossom and become stronger. I do love her attitude and some of her play style though. She is a little odd to play and you have to work around her tentacles but that's part of her charm too. I remember seeing an Illaoi mid when she first came out. I was still new to League and after seeing my friend get crushed by the Illaoi mid I was like, "that's the champ I want to master" Also I feel so powerful playing as her. The times I am able to do well on Illaoi and get fed feels really rewarding, she's still very inconsistent but I lover her all the same. Seeing another Illaoi main is rare I feel but I always try and cheer on a fellow friend. :)

[@branboy8455]

literally just make it so that if I walk out of her E it doesn't spawn tentacles around me and slow me and then boom the champion has clear counterplay and it isn't as frustrating as before to play against.

[@cattfishie]

I think if you put a second ability after you cast q during it’s cool down to spawn a tentacle would be nice. It still helps you want to micro manage your passive tentacles because wanting to spawn one would require you sacrificing a q cool down and mana if you aren’t in range to hit but want setup. I don’t know what you would do to her e, but if you removed the whole thing, the autonomy of the tentacles is gone as a lot of her damage is in the rapid hits of the tentacles. I like the idea of a hook so let’s say instead of pulling the spirit out, she pull the enemy towards her and if she deals enough damage to her target within a short timeframe, the curse activates. I think that would help make her gameplay feel more dangerous in a scary way rather than a gimmicky way. I would say if they can run away out of the large aoe OR deal enough damage to illaoi herself so the curse lifts. I would even like the idea of putting a slow on illaoi if she fails to activate her curse but I might be going too far here...

[@nureha-samapower6672]

I love the boom boom lady she is my favorite top laner.

[@asostheflowerforged8403]

I think if they want to focus on the slam lady she is now they need,need to give her some zone control similiar to morde or Camille. If she ultimately she should create a wave of water or whirlpool that pulls everyone into the zone or blocks people from leaving. That way her zone is lethal and if used properly it slaps.

[@ricardomokveld839]

I can see where your points are coming from but on the other hand she is super fun to play to me. No other champ can so easily punish players for making mistakes. It's such an easy champ to dive players over and over again when you have your ult. Also have I mentioned her ability to cs effectively. I am still looking for another champion that gives me such high cs counts. Usually sit around 8 to 9 cs a minute with illoai which is not high to begin with but around 2 cs per minute higher then on other champions

[@deaconthomson749]

Can someone let me know what music he uses at the beginning please?

[@dfre102]

I got Illaoi from a random champion roll (back when you could reroll champ shards) and I'm really thankful I did. She has been my main ever since. I think the 3 things I enjoy most about Illaoi are 1) her sustain. I have always enjoyed characters in video games who are able to heal through damage with the right setup and planning. 2) her outplay potential which, although very situation and inconsistent, feels so fantastic on her when you pull it off. Enemy jungle coming in for a gank? Jokes on them, they just allowed another tentacle to spawn from my R and now I got a double kill. And 3) I enjoy the sense of "control" or mind games I can play on my opponents. Pulling an E changes the way my opponent reacts to my presence. If they are a vessel, they have to suddenly play differently for a time. However I agree with what you said. I wish they had left the 2 options of dealing with her E in the game. While someone like Singed seemed op because he could essentially nullify Illaoi E because of how fast his damage ticked, it otherwise made things much more interesting. Illaoi also has a menacing precense, so even just walking forward I can at times either bait people in for a fight or make them back off of minions and I can free farm.

[@matthewlast9989]

I think the craziest part of everything is how people who don’t like illaoi think even the illaoi doesn’t have fun. I can at least say for myself it’s crazy fun to watch people scramble around

[@throwawayemail6269]

I haven't played League recently- well, I never really played it much to begin with, I just have occasional spouts of interest in the game- but I remember enjoying this character quite a bit. She seemed a tad inconsistent, but she was great fun when I could get her to work. Just smashing shit once you get a good line of tentacles set is pretty fun, though I think her immobility might be a bit much. Not only is she slow overall, but she also actively gets punished for moving from an area with how her passive works unless you have ult. E also is somewhat problematic with how much reward it has, and I could see that getting a full on rework some time in the future.

[@karsonkammerzell6955]

I've got an E idea; 1) it causes her to dropkick/lunge forward similar to Stridebreaker now. 2) on contact it knocks the enemy out and away from their spirit; slowing them. 3) bring back the choice of needing to fight her or run. In light of the Tahm Kench rework I'd almost suggest flipping the R and E. Make the E the jump that spawns tentacles so you have more control over the placement and super charge Test of Spirit into ult levels.

[@thelostsoul9446]

I'd love to main Illaoi, for some reason i played her once and loved it ever since. But she's banned so often....

[@TheAmazingphenomenon]

If tentacle is near. She will store the tentancle and you can "place" it on the wall where you wish.

[@warlocke1894]

I remembered playing Illaoi on release and I felt bad for the Riven that I was versing. The man just wanted to recall back to base. but he couldn't cuz of Illaoi's E until he died. It was funny and pitiful at the same time

[@JediFrog]

You know that ability she has that allows her pull people's souls out of their bodies? Make it able to pick up at most 2 tentacles and have them spawn extremely close to the next champion hit by that ability

[@gsc1132]

Finally someone who agrees with the fact that illoi's laneing phase is more a ranged matchup than it is a fighter Vs fighter. As a toplane main, everytime I go against an illoi I put on a ranged toplaner mindset, "just keep dodging the E, then trade when it's on cool down", because it's the most boring thing when u get hit by an E, having below 60% health and playing it safe and I have to continue dodging E's waiting for ganks that never come, or even get ganked myself and hopefully have some fun. Illoi's E just makes the entire laneing phase boring for both parties

[@UltraDraco777]

If the E also made a vessel for Illaoi that encouraged the enemy to stay around, that would also keep enemies within ult range. Instead of a one-sided annoyance that forces the enemy to walk away from xp range, it would actually be an "Im testing you: right here, right now moment". Maybe reward good setup for her e & make it easier for the enemy to navigate her E if she doesn't set her tentacles up as well. Also, making her tentacles somewhat manual would be cool, too. Make her w either summon or command one(?)

[@nightcorechords5705]

Unlike other juggernauts, Illaoi is actually countered by ranged champions and kiting

[@bruvthatsalright7226]

Just buffer flash╮(. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)╭

[@LiquidRuss]

Exactly

[@LiquidRuss]

Everytime someone says "i cant beat illa so i instabanh her". Dude just play teemo or vayne

[@Zelholt2]

She's a priestess who follows a God of Flow and motion, your perception is based on her controlling others where she's suppose to test other's strengths of will to achieve their own destinys. I enjoy mailing her as a tank because I feel her best as a constantly moving forward bastion (not overwatch, nerf that stupid machine) that holds the progression of moving forward to the enemies base.

[@juanstekelenburg3175]

The thing about illoai spawning tentacle is that tentacles dont randomly spawn, there are spots where they will spawn at and tentacle will never spawn next to eachother outside of ult. While she cant summon tentacles at will, her E also helps spawn tentacles, it is in fact faster that way as someone who fails the test will constantly spawn tentacles wherever possible. And the thing about "fighting for your spirit" what illoai players hope you dont do is engage, you can scare her away from the spirit if you have strong engage. especially in early game illaoi is super vulnerable. Not to mention that illaoi has a awful matchup against range of any kind. Also mordekaiser, rammus, tryndamere and any ranged top laner are solid counterpicks as they either can either kill tentacle from safe range, or their engage makes it impossible for illaoi to safely use test if spirits.

[@zzxxccvvkk5]

what if Q also spawned a tentacle? what if E had charges that could spawn tentacles an then reach out, an pulls toward base of spawn dmging them, if cast in range of already spawned tentacle it reacts faster.

[@dewaunwarren1]

I feel like the latter half of this video was just you venting about having to go against the E. It's different from a range stability in the sense that it doesn't do any damage on its own, Illaoi has to attack it. And her commanding the tentacles to hit you via her W and spawning them after her E plays into the fact that she is summoning them.

[@MonsieurJo]

Tentacle goes bonk

[@thedarkdragon1437]

ecept in Eune, illaoi is every third game and has been played ever since her release

[@danielsniff6405]

If illaoi had a pull... I would Uninstal the game

[@TheSilvantor]

The problem with Illaoi is her E in laning phase. Not only is it free damage if she lands it (and the cooldown isnt that long), it also zones you out of your farm and even XP range at the same time. Just by landing one skillshot. Every 10 seconds or so. Running away saves you from most of the damage, but you lose a ton of CS and xp and when she is ahead, she just pins you under your tower and spams you with E. If you don't run away, you have to stop her from killing the ghost, which can result in you taking straight up too much damage. It's very hard to trade with her. A good Illaoi will hit the E a couple times, you can't just dodge it every single time and making the entire laning phase about dodging her one skillshot that fucks you over is very unfun. Her E just does too much for a single ability you can cast on cooldown.

[@suga6212]

me as illaoi all ready to fk sum1 up, with rockys theme playing in the background *misses E* 'ight ima head out'

[@galaxytheinter6332]

I have one more thought about her, that wasn't already in the video. It feels like Illaoi is less about how good you are, but more about how good the enemy is. There are many champions, that gain so much by being good on them (mostly mechanically complex champions like Lee Sin or Riven). And then there are champions, that are much more about overall game knowledge than about specific champion knowledge. (Darius and Wukong came to my mind.) There will still be a huge difference between laning against a silver Wukong, or against a Master Wukong, the way he manages waves, tracks the jungle, and finds flanks in a teamfight, but these things aren't bound to Wukong in particualar. They rather show overall skill expression. Illaoi on the otherside is even lacking this in some way. If she hits her E on you, and you know a bit about the tentical spawns and how to hit you, you can use this to make her push the wave against her will. Which eliminates the whole wave management part from her gameplay (in some form or another). Also killing those tentaciles gives you 5 gold. Pick Jayce and you leave lane with 200 gold more than her, just because of this. And another thing is, that most of her Sustain and 1v1 Power comes from her Passive or Q hitting you. Sidestep it and she is only half as tanky as she should be. That's another thing, thats more on her enemy than on her. And with more and more toplaner getting mobility in some form or another not only is hitting e becoming more and more difficult, but also hitting Q and the passive will lose most of its power as well. One last thing: I feel like more and more new toplaner get some tool to just ignore her R. A good timed Camille R blocks it completely and Sett as well as K'Sante can just throw her out of her own R, so she loses all of her nearby tentacles. Which is again not a thing she has controll over but rather the enemy.