Why NO ONE Plays: Kayle | League of Legends

[@nicholasmarquez1977]

Someone doesn't like teemo. Jeez

[@dzigayu4944]

(Everyone who plays this game): **Looks away**

[@turtlesmeller2943]

thats most people

[@virlym7345]

Teemo always wins the psychological matchup, less so the lane matchup

[@tobisans8989]

Yes I know him he’s me

[@private8384]

If you like teemo you're a spawn of satan

[@polskacesarza5107]

as a kayle main this hits about every point besides your team flaming you for not having high champ damage on a 20 min game

[@RandomBeardGuy]

The jungler blames you for feeding when he doesn't gank you for the whole 20 minutes even if you TH like a damn turtle and the enemy is overextending. Like wtf, you had one job jng did you mute my fucking pings!?!

[@mxri2019]

@@RandomBeardGuy if I remember right jungler should never Gank weak lanes obviously if it’s a free kill then sure but there’s a lot of times when I’m jungling i find the top laner getting pissed off I’m not ganking when I am farming and already pinged I’m ganking mid. I don’t think it’s the jungler fault to be fair

[@RandomBeardGuy]

@@mxri2019 oh i understand but here's the thing, i th when im up against a champ that can kill me easily such darius, urgot, fiora, and kled and all i do is farm my lane safely. Most if not all junglers ive been paired with dont help me at all. And then when they are near for a gank they just keep farming even if the enemy is overextending. Its not my fault if the enemy jungler releases herald on top lane at 15-20 minutes into the game I'm a fucking Kayle and i need to scale but i cant cause im being pressured at top lane, i don't and i stress this DON'T FEED. The enemy just has more cc than me and a jungler that might help them anytime i try to push my lane (which i will never do cause I'm bloody squishy)

[@suckit4669]

@@RandomBeardGuy Damn, you just counted every champ besides kled that can't kill you if you're not a braindmg imbecile, stop thinking you're low elo because your jgl is bad.

[@sympunny8636]

@@RandomBeardGuy Many of those champions you just mentioned, (particularly kled and darius) can 2vs1 really easily vs weak laners. And kayle is one of the weakest of them all, and not an easy lane to gank. She doesn't have much damage early, and only has one weak slow for cc. It is often very easy for the darius/kled to turn on the jungler and kill them, or just simply walk out while you weakly attack them. It's a really awkward situation, but kayle honestly isn't very easy to gank, even compared to other scaling champs such as veigar/senna, who both have hard cc, plus more damage early on. And then, even worse if the enemy jungler appears as well, to make it a 2vs2, you will lose that in almost all matchups. It's a very high risk play and as jungler particularly early on, you want to go for the easier/lower risk ganks, for example, ganking a malzahar who has ulti, or ganking a tris/naut botlane, easy hard cc, good damage, and excellent follow up. Kayle has none of those things.

[@SoulDevoured]

Kayle... The only champion nerfed so hard so early they put it in her lore. "It felt like something was sapping my strength." Lol

[@aaronelm146]

where is this lore

[@SoulDevoured]

@@aaronelm146 it was in the journal of justice. Right after a patch to buff Kayle. Volume 1 issue 23.

[@leirea_]

Im a new player in lol and after i buy kayle and play it i can see that she is weak at early and more down in late game other than champs

[@theemperoryt9527]

asol has entered the chat

[@SoulDevoured]

@@theemperoryt9527 asol was released weak. It does coincide with his lore but afaik they never tried to nerf him and then give lore reasons for the nerf.

[@yurias6175]

imo her main gimmick is the "never surrender until outscale the enemy and turn the game" but that happens kinda rarely too the point where often either you loose too fast to scale or your team wins early without you having any contribution to it, and that can get very frustrating at times, so that might be a big part of it

[@davguev]

Kayle main here. Indeed, never surrender gang o/

[@Vlada97my]

The problom i have with kayle is that SHE DOESNT FEEL LIKE A CAHMPION UNTILL SHE GETS RANGE TO ATTACK. That feeling was worse when she used to gwt it on lv 11.

[@purplereimu9701]

I like her just for that actually, the feeling of YOUR POWER RAISING AND RAISING UNTIL ALL YOUR ENEMIES ARE CRUSHED BY YOUR MIGHT AHAHAHAHAAHAH. Oh uh, sorry i got carried away

[@sympunny8636]

@@purplereimu9701 true, but there are other champions like that with more exciting gameplay like veigar and senna. Both stack but far more actively, either by killing minions/hitting champs such as veigar or by collecting souls from dead minions/monsters/champs like senna. Kayle just needs to be in range for xp...and that's it. Plus both veigar and senna can still do a decent amount early/mid game, they just have some glaring weaknesses. Whereas kayle really struggles to do anything early/mid game, and can normally only get kills/turret plating if the laner majorly messes up. Her kit is also not the most exciting, veigar has skillshots plus a aoe cage stun, while senna has a global ulti and can become ghostlike with her allies. Kayle can auto attack. Her ulti has some interesting gameplay and that's about it, even when you're lvl 16 and op, the gameplay itself is not the most exciting compared to the vast majority of champs. Plus she's a scaling champion sitting in arguably the least impactful role. Often by the time you get your major powerspike the game is decided one way or another, and then the next game begins. Don't get me wrong, people should play who they enjoy, but kayle does feel underwhelming to me anyways.

[@goldy741]

@@purplereimu9701 I like her wings.

[@azureflame125]

To this day I can't fathom why they needed to make her a melee champion during her early game. Her skills aren't even that good so you are basically dead weight till you hit level 6. And even then, you still have to wait till 11 to actually become a real threat. Quite honestly, I loved old Kayle so to me she is one of the worst reworked champions (followed by Volibear).

[@nonameworm69]

I like her meelee...

[@Promozi]

I picked up Kayle in preseason since she seemed relatively strong, i realized she is just the champ i love and i plan to keep playing her even if she bad after preseason :)

[@FrostyPeppercorn]

Thats a very good mentality Stick to what you love over whats op Kayle squad

[@sublimcher2025]

I totally agree and follow that 👍🏼

[@Promozi]

i play shaco now :)

[@FrostyPeppercorn]

@@Promozi oh wow backstabbed

[@Promozi]

@@FrostyPeppercorn haha

[@JaeshaunDT]

i remember the first time i seen a kayle pop off back in season 2. we were pushing mid and got to their 3rd turret. my jaw dropped when she just started raining down death like it was no one's business.

[@theleafsbloodyflash]

Man, seeing posts like this make me really miss old Kayle

[@davguev]

@@theleafsbloodyflash Sounds like something that could happen with this iteration of Kayle too.

[@tuongpham7609]

Kayle's ulti doesnt last long when you use it, it lasts forever when an enemy use it.

[@BreadOnHead]

must be secret rito update

[@mrgopnik5964]

“Magic damage ad carry” yeah, it’s those word combinations that made Riot change their name into marksman

[@Aiveq]

nah its cuz carry implied whole team needs to carry that snowflake into late game to make it usefull. get a second mid/top champ instead for bot and end at 20 essentially playing 5v4 since opposing "marksman" is so useless at that time

[@draketurtle4169]

Actually they don’t even consider her a marksman in the shop- she is just a “support”. Yeah the shop is dumb.

[@davguev]

So... Corki?

[@rouge_grenade4824]

I had picked Kayle when I first started out on league because I thought she was a healer like mercy oh how wrong i was..

[@sliccthedestroyer1881]

Teemo farmed me when I was a noob and learning a hard champ.

[@diegorodriguez-fl5kp]

I thought she was a guy

[@MechaG]

Before or after the vgu?

[@flintstonesoreal5199]

@@sliccthedestroyer1881 i don't know why but i went garen (it was my first time) in rankeds and got a teemo as my enemy, lets say i was so afraid of him i litterally stayed under my own tower (im main support with intent to turn main top) just to avoid feeding him. In the end we won but not because of me XD. (he killed me 2 times only)

[@hello-gx6oi]

Umm yeah she has a heal ability But not a support

[@kennethgrutas2277]

i just liked the holy angel aesthetic.

[@messageinthebottle1673]

Same currently playing wild rift version (phone 📱 version) hoping 🙏 she comes into it.

[@walidelmahi9828]

Same just started playing her today for this exact reason, but god her early sucks really hard

[@messageinthebottle1673]

@@walidelmahi9828 According to this video that's the point of her character angelic design, she becomes stronger and aesthetically more pleasing as she levels up. The point of her is to build her up she start very weak and then she becomes very strong late game.

[@walidelmahi9828]

@@messageinthebottle1673 oh it makes more sense said like that, but still I think her early can still be buffed a bit because it feels really impossible to play

[@corlex4486]

Yeah, as you said, her main focus in lane is keeping herself alive.. that's the problem. Even if you succeed, while that's great for you, it's never fun. If you lose lane, it's actual purgatory and if you win, it's still "not fun" because you're just surviving and scaling. The only way the first 20 minutes of the game even *can* get fun is if you get so far ahead that you can actually kill people and do things early on - in which case it is unfun for the enemy team as they will feel like the game is already lost since Kayle will simply scale and win.

[@greendaybowser]

She can get big early if her jg helps her out or (in the case of mid Kayle) she roams to help allies.

[@RandomBeardGuy]

@@greendaybowser "IF HER JUNGLE HELPS HER OUT" like wtf jng, the enemy is overextending and your topside and I'm pinging like hell and what do you do? Killing the damn scuttle!!!

[@corlex4486]

@@greendaybowser Roaming is always risky because you're so weak early on. If you can ever farm properly, your enemy laner is doing something wrong. Lastly, only being able to gain an advantage through help from a jungler is pathetic and shouldn't be necessary.

[@unknownherrscher]

i do kayle top but i somewhat love doing kayle support though, she's actually a very strong support and is very fun even in early game

[@greendaybowser]

@@unknownherrscher its fun casually but I wouldn't bring it to ranked or anything.

[@Prebound_]

It's bizarre listening to you describe her weaknesses while watching someone play her masterfully.

[@silentbyte196]

I personally feel he over exaggerated her weakness, From my experience she has as much carry potential as Yone.

[@harrowingsmite2884]

As a Kayle main, I can attest to these problems. I personally play Kayle because she gives an Udyr or Jax vibe; she can do whatever she wants in terms of damage type, and with all these new items its not hard to do literally whatever you want anymore. Safe to say that my style is hybrid champs, therefore Kayle is at the top of my roster no matter what

[@alexandersalazar4736]

Nahhh... I miss the old Kayle. There's this times where I feel invincible. Now, you're just a late gamer dude when almost every game ends at 20 to 30 minutes.

[@note3neo411]

Old kayle was much more better at least for me

[@alexandersalazar4736]

@@note3neo411 yeah, she's just gonna run you down then you're health is missing and you're dead. I miss her.

[@frogradar]

she also didn't feel like she needed to late game win. New Kayle is wholly reliant on being level 16 and just... winning. Old Kayle had enough in her kit to farm, burst and attack the enemy enough so that she wasn't fucked early or late. the fact that her old E is just her level 16 auto now is ridiculous.

[@davguev]

@@frogradar You can start kicking some butts at level 6, no need to wait until level 16. Not only that, there are many melee champions that lose to at level 1 if you if you brought Ignite (good strategy against Irelia, for example), her passive is one of the strongest at that moment.

[@KindOldRaven]

04:29 ''kicking names and taking ass'' -Vars, 2021

[@davidkim9898]

kaylemains checking in used to be riven main. but i'm 32yo now. my fingers and brain doesn't move as fast as they used to.

[@VarsVerum]

Arthritis sets in THAT EARLY?!

[@TiaguinhoMu]

i think that what killed kayle was the cannon minion changes that came up a while ago. now they come double as fast at the 15 min mark, and then at the 20 min or 25 min mark they start coming on every wave. this changes accelerated games to finish a lot faster than they used to because when those marks are reached people start to be able to push to towers and destroy them more easily So games wont last long for her power spike to shine @@VarsVerum

[@dylanflynn1895]

@@VarsVerum I've had chronic arthritis since I was twelve, it varies person to person

[@zzerxes]

Nope, but you can develop carpel tunnel syndrome at any age. Make sure you stretch and rotate your wrists often, because PC games REQUIRE pronated hands/arms/wrists due to Keyboard/Mouse form.

[@dylanflynn1895]

@@zzerxes what do you mean "nope"

[@cryofwill1416]

I play her as a support since season 4. She has some utility and I you can expand it with the correct items and runes, that's why I lover her so much

[@unknownherrscher]

SAME! i find her super complex specially when i got comfortable playing her

[@sympunny8636]

sadly since the rework, she's not great as support simply because being a duo lane messes her up. Her powerspikes are now completely focused on xp, and support is the most xp starved role there is.

[@akane.sakurada]

I agree with this video to the fullest and I mained Kayle for some time. Before all the item changes and level 6-level 11 change, you would find way more proof here. The Kayle Mains Discord was a chaos and everyone played something different with her. Even I played her as a support and maxed W. There was a time we maxed E first and built Muramana, then it went and we were left with not much options so some went back to the old build, some built full AD crit, some built AP burst and some like me just went with support because she worked there and didn't have that many disadvantages in the early game. Then they swapped level 11 power spike with level 6 spike. Things changed, she was very weak for a while to the point that she was undesirable, then finally found her place back. The best thing about Kayle is the feeling of revenge. You suffer for the first minutes, sure. Some top laners like Darius players even get offended and push as far as trying to tower dive and assaulting you on all chat. But in the end they get to suffer and you get to rise. In all the roles she's played, this is the meta and satisfaction we're all going for.

[@bananasplit4391]

me, a kayle main: hehe fire swords

[@pretendmynameisclever3229]

I stopped playing league for like 5 years but I've since gotten back into it, this whole time I didn't even know I had Kayle but I tried her out after watching this and I think I'm going to main her

[@tripleD2301]

Very bold choice

[@samunstoray4668]

@@leticiastojanova4283 she isn't hard to play . Knowing runes and item paths for matchups is enough .

[@kculzsinet]

Personally, I love my tanks, I love the feeling of waltzing into the enemy while knowing that to a point I can't be brought down but I think I might pickup Kayle for more diversity in my roster

[@radiobrain169]

Oh boy I love literally afking until 6 and then perma farming until 11 because a cannon minion can out dps me. What a great design riot

[@jasperhilliard6289]

its actually kinda fun tho i like it

[@cassu6]

lol what? sure until lvl 6 you are useless but after that you can already start fucking shit up

[@QueenFiggy]

Yo, got m7 by taking cull and just freezing the wave just out my turret. Kayle with 100 cs against a darius with 50 cs is scary pre-11

[@silentbyte196]

This is a gross exaggeration.

[@UncleDaniel]

You still die vs yi lategame

[@despair1091]

kayle is a high risk and high reward type champion

[@samuellinn]

@Dimitri kayle is a high and high reward type champion

[@nightcorechords5705]

More like high risk and average reward since she is no mora than adc in late game

[@leonardojaxon]

@@nightcorechords5705 i dont think you ever met a REAL kayle. Late game she 1v5

[@marvinzimmerman1878]

@@nightcorechords5705 an adc that has the same range as a caitlyn late game, who goes invincible for 3 seconds who can buy a zhonyas hourglass and that has true damage? Yeah sure just an adc

[@nightcorechords5705]

@@marvinzimmerman1878 Caitlyn's range is 650, Kayle has 575 at level 16. Zhonya doesn't help that much and there are much better options. And yes, she used to go 1v5 when she had true damage waves but that was removed.

[@teunkanters6350]

great video! Kayle player here. It'd honestly help a lot if the game just gets a bit slower / if they nerfed the healing on w but instead lower the mana costs

[@VarsVerum]

I do sort of miss the old school 30-40 minute average games because you wouldn't insta lose a game if you made a mistake. But those games aren't fun to watch on LCS and stuff.

[@Niki2620]

I picked her up rather late, but once I did I fell in love with her kit. Now she is one of my mains if not my main champion (I`m formally a Nasus main btw, so you did a pretty good job comparing them :d )

[@debghoshila]

Omg same! Im very new to league, i just shifted from dota. But Kayle just does so much i feel. She is what we call in dota a 'greedy' carry, but goddamn the kind of shit she can do late game, thats not even allowed in dota. I just love everything about the hero. And since im low elo, my opponents usually dont end up presssuring me in lane and i easily survive till level 11 and then its basically gg after nashor's tooh and one more item. I think as i get better, lanes will get harder, but im gonna enjoy the hero rn :p

[@WillValforent]

Kayle was absolutely broken on her rework, riot got scared and nerfed her to the ground, that's why "no one plays" her, I still love her though, the is a cool champ and the capacity of protecting your allies is great

[@joaopedrocruz6432]

She wasn't broken, she was always pretty mediocre specially the higher elo you are. She only became ranged level 11( lots of champions could win the game before it happened) and was picked in pro play one time with moderate impact. She was good in the late game but good luck getting into that state.

[@WillValforent]

@@joaopedrocruz6432 So, when the 3% played was mediocre? that's still broken, if you need to win before a champ gets a level then it's strong, no need to be good or even decent

[@joaopedrocruz6432]

@@WillValforent If that is the case you think that all late game champions are good, and that is just dumb in my opinion.

[@WillValforent]

@@joaopedrocruz6432 i don't know how you get that from what I answered, could you elaborate?

[@howepellin]

Yeah i can still remember the lvl 16 true damage.

[@Ranoth]

I feel like Kayle had an identity at some point, being a scaling top lane champion with the ability to push very fast since level one to pressure the opponent under his toxwer, most top laners being melee during that time. it was kind of an all or nothing playstyle as failing to predict the jungler's position could lead to loosing really hard. This pressure came from her E that had little downtime because we used CDR quints & runes + AS runes instead of any defensive runes. Then they removed the runes, so the champion lost all its pressuring ability, the E now having too much downtime. Plus it locked kayle into a single combination of 3 core items, namely Nashor's tooth > Guinsoo's > lich bane in that order because of the E cd being too long to have permanant uptime otherwise. That why they made the E's CD lowering with spell level, it meant however that Kayle had an even longer CD early on than before but you were able not to always build these 3 items. By now Kayle had little to no pressure in lane. Then the rework came, and tbh, I still liked playing Kayle even after she lost the ability to get ahead in lane, because I knew a few levels into the game I could still waveclear really fast & split push to win macro & accelerate massively into my mid game, now with the rework she doesn't even have waveclear until level 11. As a Kayle lover I feel the character has lost what it made it cool to play for me, being to take as much ressource as possible on the map the earlier I can & dominating the lane using wave management instead of searching for kills & making plays. I think Kayle used to be a laner that could win the lane taking advantage of it's range without being a lane bully & then use lane pressure to secure more resources at other places of the map, the champion being a good duelist while also having the potential to carry teamfight (when you could still auto attack for the ult's full duration). This capacity to suck resources very fast allowed her to have an insane mid game, damage skyrocketing with the second item. I late game her lack of range made it hard to play teamfights versus a lot of team compositions, also everyone having dashes & hard CCs now isn't making things easier (thought she has more range than before)

[@LiveTwinReaction]

After Runes Reforged they adjusted her E cooldown (lower later) so you could get it at the same time as before. 100% uptime with old runes was around lv9 or 10 for your scaling cdr quints to ramp up, and 100% uptime after runes reforged was at level 10 with stinger, codex and transcendence rune. They changed the cdr needed from 37.5% to 30% so that's why it still worked out.

[@ChronoVix]

“why no one plays kayle:” tft players in set 4.5: ummm in what universe

[@mrwhit8859]

PLEASE STOP GIVING HER RAGE BLADE, RUNAANS AND RAPID FIRE CANNON MY SQUISHY CARRY CANNOT HANDLE

[@privatedoorknob7408]

Kayle in tft is the whole reason i gave league a shot. Man was i disappointed. But im still playing sadly

[@shanstar1051]

TFT Players in every set kayle exists tbh

[@lapislovesgaming8739]

I cant play tft mobile cause i have a phone and not a tablet

[@mrwhit8859]

@@lapislovesgaming8739 same, it rlly sucks I just want to play tft all the time

[@oracle7552]

I love Kaykle and the architype of not having an arch. when im playing kayle or people like gangplank and azir, I feel like I'm playing a higher being than the normal champions. people also dont play them as much/ or against them and i like that.

[@ordinalchaos]

-Reworked kayle into a late game only champ -Removed the late game

[@Rengarsus]

Laughs is kayle midlane main

[@infinitedark6158]

Kayle is still ineffective in mid lane due to all the assasins and mages, this weakness gets patched slightly once she gets to lv 6 but she is still subject to having a lower damage, her poke is also ineffective and her w’s are not sufficient to get away from damage after the last stages of early game

[@trashymorrigan799]

Oh no why do you hate yourself

[@f0xof907]

I play kayle mid lane too, I stuck with her for a bit now and if you play aggressive without actually committing the enemy plays scared and you get a free laning phase and win like crazy

[@polskacesarza5107]

yeah i play mid lane too

[@polskacesarza5107]

@@f0xof907 yeah bully them early and they wont come near you, oh how many times i was attacked by their jg

[@HunterlynnCook]

Kayle is my top pick, I really like how she is a little bit of everything. I also like how she looks, her design is really good. I know that she isn't picked a lot but she holds her own.

[@aarondepaolo5292]

I think Kayle is similar to Nasus in that she falls into a category of champs that force the enemy team to play more aggressively and devote resources to stopping you. If you can survive in lane as Kayle against your laner you are almost guarantee jg and mid lane ganks/roams constantly. If you have a strong early game jg and bot lane, then you can very easily secure most dragons and early towers on the other side of the map. She also forces her lane opponent to overextend to try and deny her cs because going even into Kayle is losing the lane and dooming your team later. She is a strong counter to tanks and juggernauts because of her survivability and kiting, but does terribly into skirmishers. I've only ever built Kayle as burst mage with a nashor's tooth, so I may have missed the 'lack of identity' crisis you mentioned in the video, lol. I think she is a strong counter to a slower team comp, and almost always a last pick as a counter to a tank or juggernaut.

[@viggydraws95]

When I played league, I was a flex player. Kayle was my top lane main. And while every game felt like torture pre 20mins, the feeling of being possibly the most powerful champions on the field late game, is a very awesome feeling. Love the champ!

[@UncleDaniel]

You cant beat yi 1v1

[@Crimsonyte21]

@@UncleDaniel Your point is?

[@davguev]

@@UncleDaniel Almost no ranged champ can, so...

[@romeufranciscozouxu3664]

I feel like her early game is so bad that her late game, which is not as strong as used to me IMO, is not worth putting ur entire team to play 4 vs 5

[@nightcorechords5705]

True, you can just pick Kaisa

[@leonardojaxon]

You are VERY WRONG here. Kayle may be very weak early game, but late game she can 1v5

[@ilikechaandiwantsya.7832]

@CocoaXtv_ This, its sad that there are people who never experienced old kayle late game, 1v9 ing games effortlessly and actually being a late game threat

[@ninjedi6710]

@@leonardojaxon so can jinx, vayne, caitlyn, tristana. your point is moot.

[@-_--td2hq]

@@ninjedi6710 these are all adcs and what’s your point anyway?

[@suzy2462]

Honestly started playing league a week ago, and picked up Kayle for 450 blue essence. She was my first champion, and now I main her and honestly like her more passive top lane play style I have it down to a T. I’m still learning more about her but having already gotten lvl 5 mastery on her feels nice after seeing this video

[@VarsVerum]

Oof another soon-to-be victim of league of legends XD Welcome!

[@AhmedAbbas-p5t]

wonder if u still play her probably not xd

[@VccTn]

You still main her?

[@zoroark522]

I used to play Kayle a lot before she was reworked, and then played her a lot after. The mains issues I had were: 1.) Abilities changed for too much AOE Her Q, W, and R all had AOE added to them and it put her into a weird spot of "should I now be in a duo lane or something?". They had their scalings/cooldowns/damage affected to incorporate this change that not a single previous Kayle main wanted. The entire point of playing her was as a hermit in the top lane that bullied the enemy and farmed as much as she could for items to carry. 2.) Ult change Her ult change was such a weird one and a lot of people from the Kayle mains subreddit complained a lot. It changed the ult from a defensive ability that allowed her to carry fights without getting 1 shot to an offensive ability that you would be better off just throwing on an engager. This ties back to the first point, but it pushed more of her focus onto allies instead of the 1v9 machine people should be rewarded with for spending all game farming. 3.) Burst Kayle was almost never a burst champion. If she got to very late game she could burst someone, but that was never the point of Kayle and in my opinion was something I wanted changed with her rework. But no, Riot went full in on burst meta and added yet another rework that just added burst to their kit and chalked it up as a win for them. This has been a pattern with so many champions in the past few years where they just add burst or a dash to try and 'modernize' these champions, but it just waters down the game. Her E/R changes and even her q with the buffer make her such a weird mix of on-hit and just straight up burst that it completely ruined her for me. I don't want to spend 35 minutes farming to one shot a poor adc who did nothing wrong. I want to perfectly "spaceglide" my way across the fight with a ton of attacks and outplay my enemy. 4.) The laning phase This was a bigger issue before with her ranged at 11, but even so it just goes to show how incompetent and clueless Riot actually are. They had no idea what Kayle players liked her for and I highly doubt any Rioter that worked on this played Kayle a single time in their life. Her entire kit was based on bullying the enemy early, very similar to a Teemo, where she would prock E and either AOE enemies when they walk near the wave, or just auto them down. Her playstyle was to force shove waves and bully her enemy into low HP so that even if a gank came, she could kill the enemy or run away. She was one of the best pushers in the game and she had a lot of vulnerability that enemies could abuse, so she was pretty well balanced. I had a bigger list before but I don't remember it anymore because I just gave up on League. They ruined so much and now I have this immense knowledge of useless information with a passion for something that constantly fucks me over.

[@dango2917]

Same bro, I miss old Kayle the most.

[@jessicablack2346]

Kayle main here. I picked her up a while back and she's the only champion I play. Yea, there are probably better champions but I like her, and she seems like she could be amazing as I improve. (Saying that I have an 88% win rate with her and 89% on top lane overall, so I think people underestimate what Kayle can do when played correctly in the early game)

[@glu9862]

I actually love to play Kayle. There would be no place to live for me in League without her. I Always wanted to play 1v1 lane, but i hated laning phase. I never wanted to roam, controlling minion waves is hard, so when I play kayle I dont have to worry about it. If i cant walk up to minions, I cant control the wave, and If i cant roam, I wont. Its chill and relaxing early game cuz Im just soaking exp sitting and chilling on lane. After laning phase Im a thanos and I can stomp plat noobs

[@HoneyBanev]

yes thats exactly my thoughts, sometimes you get dove and raped but usually you can go afk for two minutes and win the game easily

[@soulstalker4624]

Same, playing adcs in botlane gave me anxiety, but when I discovered Kayle, I found out all the times I played passively as an adc have made me play Kayle's laning phase with calm, letting the enemy push so I can just farm and let my jg get a free kill (Or even I can get the kill)

[@teddykal9838]

to simply answer the question. kayle requires every good thing in league. warding,map awareness, mechanics (kiting/when to use your spells),game knowledge,matchup knowledge,farming. most people don't have the time to learn those things

[@TalesKursped]

As a Kayle main, who bought Kayle for my first champion, and who leveled from 1 to 30 in Season 3 with only Kayle I really really loved Kayle until Remake... Personally, I loved old Kayle Skins so much, and now my most favorite skin, "Unmasked Kayle" is gone and they took my Kayle from me :( Although there are many postive sides too, but I miss old kayle so much too. Not only the skins, but also her style of battle - Crazyily Basic Attack-ing enemies While Ulting

[@OmenLamb]

I love the new one more but I agree with the auto-attacking enemies with Ultimate, it's way better than the current 160-second cooldown Ultimate that cripples me from using my champion.

[@goldenft3208]

this is the video I've been waiting for for so long. I first started playing kayle as support in s9 before I even really knew anything about the game and now seeing the rework how it is, it feels like they reworked her out of the role that suited her best. As much as I love the insane scale and carry possibilities, she just doesn't fit in top lane or bot lane, even though those are her only 2 late game roles

[@Colorless_Reaper]

When My champion pool has tons of champions from this series(Why no one plays series) Me:**Chuckles** I'm in danger :) .

[@NormalSpeedGamer]

All my mains are in this.. kayle, sona, aurelion 😂😂

[@huxleyable]

I recently started playing Kayle and yeah, her early game is brutal, specially against a Riven or anyone who can quickly close the gap. You have to sit under tower and pretty much just pee yourself until you scale a little more.

[@jeluenhayo2410]

Hello there, Vars! I'm a fan of your work since I also like to theorycraft and analyze reasons to why things are the way they are. Most of "Why no one plays" arguements I agree with you on, but in this video I would like to state that your 3-rd point ("Kayle takes too long to ramp up") is much more a primary reason why Kayle is not as popular. She DO have a very clear role, not some "mage-enchanter-aa" but simply an "AA-based hyper carry". Although it's not an official role, but the following characters: Master Yi, Kog Maw, Kayle, Vayne and Jinx; all are enabled more the longer the game goes and all of them focus on melting enemies with auto-attacks as a primary source of damage. Hyper-carries share the same trait of being able to kill the whole team very quickly if given chance to freely AA. So why Kayle and KogMaw are not popular, while Master Yi and Vayne are thriving (and Jinx is just somewhere in between)? Well, Yi is a very simple to learn champion, he has a very low skill ceiling - and, most importantly, if you're a novice player, playing in the novice environment, you WILL melt the whole team once in a while, if got accidently fed. Vayne is on the other side of the spectrum: she's a highly skill-dependent character, but with that comes the level of flashy and cool moves and outplays you can do. Just as Yasuo, Riven and others, Vayne carries an immense individual potential within the right hands. It's extremely rewarding to master her - or at least try to. But Kayle and Kog, while taking the whole game to become team-melting menaces, require actual skill and positioning to be useful even in late game, unlike Yi. And at the same time simply Auto-attacking your enemies to death is not as fun as rolling around and chasing people as Vayne. So it all boils down to your own criteria from other videos: this 2 hyper-carries both require skill and patience to play, and yet feel rather unrewarding even when executed well.

[@TiaguinhoMu]

i think that what killed kayle was the cannon minion changes that came up a while ago. now they come double as fast at the 15 min mark, and then at the 20 min or 25 min mark they start coming on every wave. this changes accelerated games to finish a lot faster than they used to because when those marks are reached people start to be able to push to towers and destroy them more easily So games wont last long for her power spike to shine

[@shironeko5183]

The "Fuck you" when he showed a picture of Teemo. x)

[@hypernova7547]

I saw this video a couple years ago when i was relatevly new to kayle and i became determined to become a kayle onetrick. Fast forward 3 years i just reached diamond by only playing kayle, it has been a rough journey but a fun one and i am not planing on stopping any time soon.

[@Josh_Darking]

Kayle is probably my favourite champion because i am huge fan of patience. With Kayle i just wait and survive, if i die, i'll know that if they keep it going long enough i can get sweet revenge when i hit level 16. The ecstasy you get when you become the single strongest champion out of nowhere is amazing.

[@diablorisful]

In my opinion, Cleptomancy removal hit her the hardest. It was the only keystone that was able to help her get through harsh earlygame. RIP, Clepto. You are missed.

[@annanonya]

i'm a support main, however, i have a pretty decent champ pool in aram. it's what i mainly play now aside from the other game modes. I started playing Kayle a lot in aram because i fell in love with her thematic, and how much easier it is to be relevant in your game. I wish i could play her in summoner's rift but idk that i have the motivation to farm for 25 minutes if even given the chance and hope you can carry your team.

[@ahmetmutluay7681]

If the enemy top laner know how to play and how manage a wave it is really hard to cs and enemy laner is usually gets bored because you play safe and goes ganks other lines joins fights. It can destroy your team's mental saying what are you not doing as much damage as him or effective.

[@someasiankid6323]

I like how fast she attacks after lvl 11

[@aidankelly3101]

I think the reason I likw Kayle so much is because you can build litterally any rune and it can benifit you depending on the role you're playing. For example Glacial Augment while playing her mid or support can turn out very well.

[@unknownherrscher]

exactly!! same here i find her very complex and easy to customize and adapt in game, i find her playable in both mid, top and support

[@dell2295]

after level 6 kayle becomes a very useful back line peeler, with a good front line the damages she brings and her utility makes her extremely valuable to the team, but early kayle is not for those that area always looking to get into a fight just farm till 6 then poke farm and back line till 11, my games don't usually make it to lvl 16 by then we either win or lose,

[@rocketgaming6406]

She is definitely a pocket pick. It’s really painful to play a bad matchup and you just get bullied into oblivion

[@lawrencealcantara]

and here i am, support kayle. i think she fits the portector role very well. and if stuff goes south, you have the option to carry yourself!

[@FrostyPeppercorn]

Honestly she is more of a support than Seraphine and yet she isnt a support and seraphine is?

[@lawrencealcantara]

@@FrostyPeppercorn the only thing kayle lacks is hard cc but i can trade that away for immortality!

[@linklindlink]

Pre rework kayle used to feel so overpowered with the 2 item spike nashers/wits end or runaans and once you got to the old rageblade it felt like you could never lose a 5v5

[@zoefezius6615]

Before her rework she was quite a niche support, heal, speed up, making invincable. Now as level dependant and melee till Level 6... And as Toplaner she suffers from her remade ult. As late game hypercarry not being able to AA during your ult is devastating.

[@AndragonLea]

It absolutely doesn't matter how vitally great your ult was last team fight, if that jungler YOLOs into the enemy and dies because you didn't have it available you better BELIEVE there's gonna be question mark pings.

[@samunstoray4668]

Kayle : Lvl 1 - meelee minion Lvl 6 - caster minion Lvl 11 - siege minion Lvl 16 - super minion

[@patsy0241]

As a kayle main I must say, most of her weakneses can be dealt with with some practice and experience with her but you’re right, if your team doesn’t give you the oportunity to scale aswell as the matchup dependency you can’t win that easly

[@trufaguau2027]

I love the points u cover and also the Bayonetta music u putting XD

[@ignasvaranavicius4279]

really enjoy the series, nice work!! i'd love to see a video on rek'sai, if you ever get around making one

[@VarsVerum]

Thanks! But everyone plays reksai o-o

[@srnadaradmanovic6135]

Kayle one trick talking. Why I chose to one trick her is becouse I just feel in love with the champion. Just thinking about the entire theme she has, I really liked it. Her mega scaling play style really appeals to me. Plus... Let's be honest, Kayle is just a champion you either play, or you don't. She is a marksmen in the toplane, but she can actually be your main carry

[@ryankrenisky8252]

i think her and morgana should have some kind of rivalry based mini game

[@mrosef007]

OTP Kayle here aswell since mid s9 early s10. I love your vid, i was like agreeing with every point. Especially about the personnality aspect of her. I do love her because she needs a special mindset to succeed but i miss to see her like a god in my games, i mean she got wings she is sparkly and all she lack the divine judgement in my opinion. About your question on what to change on her that could give her personality. I was thinking about adding a boost of movespeed while ulting, the only thing she can do under ult is walking/running, maybe we could imagine a kayle that could ult herself and go in the middle like an archange that comes to fight then a bit of movespeed to help replace herself then kite. Nota: If it's hard to understand me welp, sorry in french ;) désolé :)

[@johnthesailor2933]

That nunu had some awful turret dives😆

[@Vehoman]

i keep telling my team that pre lvl 6 kayle is an overglorified superminion, and that's pretty accurate imo

[@WatchSchoolDays]

Glorified range* minion. Melee minion is better toplaner then Kayle pre 6 and Cannon pre 11.

[@caelan5301]

I think Kayle has a pretty clear identity as a carry with a few tricks

[@mikewebster1743]

I feel obligated to play her because I have her Judgement skin from season 1. Really enjoy what they've done with her.

[@brandoncoles2042]

They need to re-release the judgment skin.

[@VccTn]

@@brandoncoles2042 nah

[@Thunder93ita]

why no one plays kayle: her power spike is at level 11-16, by that time most games have already a determined outcome

[@SoulDevoured]

They gave her quite a bit more power by 6. She's still a late game hypercarry but quite a bit less useless early

[@eulefan]

she can teleport to dragon lvl 6 and be a healing bud

[@SaltyPepperss]

Kayle is actually really good rn she can easily 1v5 and has good endurance, she just gets messed up because ppl dunno how she plays

[@OmenLamb]

Completely agree, especially Kayle Toplane since it requires knowledge in wave management and manipulation. I've also seen Kayle use their Ultimate to survive instead of using it to mitigate burst, I had a Kayle on my team level 17 full build get destroyed 1v1 by a Master Yi then complained about Kayle being underpowered. The split-second Yi used his (Q) she should've used her (R) immediately instead of saving it for low health in which Yi got his (Q) back again and for some reason,.

[@christodang]

The current meta tends to skew games shorter which makes Kayle a less popular pick since she doesn't have time to hit her power spike before the game snowballs too far or ends. The way around this is if your team plays around your early game (jg or mid help gank or counter gank) and helps you scale faster, but then the reverse happens: the enemy team will forfeit if you start to scale too quickly compared to their team. Really the only way to have fun (and therefore get picked more often) with Kayle is if your lane is winning, and the others are losing so that the other team doesn't forfeit and they'll keep the game going into the late game where you can outscale them.

[@diegorodriguez-fl5kp]

A lot of kayle problems could be solved if she started ranged and then at lvl 6 she gets the attack speed, she could have a safer early Game and even play her un botlane where her supportive abilities would be very much apreciated like senna but AP

[@tdmc6428]

The problem is ranged top laners are autistic, even if you beat them it’s a pain in the ass so I feel her not getting range till level 6 is for your opponent, rather than for you

[@diegorodriguez-fl5kp]

Thats a good point tho, but what if in exange for the range in early we cripple her sustain so she only gets half the healing of she only heals herself or somethimg, just to avoid creating another teemo

[@GoldenCrow559]

@@diegorodriguez-fl5kp the heal scales with ap she doesnt have in the early game so its already crippled and its one of the most mana costly non ult abilities in the game -_-

[@ljdoff]

Kayle should be turned into an magical adc.

[@OmenLamb]

Sounds broken, already. Though it would be nice to see Kayle and Morgana side-by-side in botlane.

[@AloTTaHaZe1]

What I tell my friends is that I may loose lane in champ select but if I get to lvl 16 it’s over

[@kheriga7725]

Most satisfying thing with Kayle: you're basically an anime hero. You just get bullied and you aren't strong enough to 1v1 anyone in early game, then you place a significant ult, or you just kill the ennemy laner caus he's too greedy and then the game transform. Your adrenaline level is so high at this point. I swear I did a game where the dudes had to hit nexus 2/3 times to win, but I reached the point of no return, and they lost. It's much more satisfying than doing a typical snowball in any lane and win caus you're feed.

[@crazyblade9441]

My personal favorite part of Kayle is that she doesn’t have a pre determined play style. Most champions feel like you are put into a box the moment you lock them in. I really wish she had a slightly better early game however. To be able to trade better with other top lane champions would be great.

[@sgshane]

yes, but no. i mean, it's true that certain champions are pre designed to have an specific playstyle. but in s11, you can play any kind of playstyle with almost every champion. it also depends on what kind of game you're playing sometimes.

[@greendaybowser]

I've LOVED Kayle ever since her rework first came out. I do agree that she's a pocket counterpick though because I play her Mid and I find she works against someone like Zed for example cause she just holds her R until he uses his.

[@sympunny8636]

The issue with that, is pre 6 any competent zed can kill a kayle without much difficulty, and post 6 he can still kill you even if you deny his ult with yours, he has way more damage, better poke and more mobility. But if he struggles in this, he can just push lanes and roam, since you only get good clearing power at 11. Plus, kayle can never win 2vs2's early, so the jungler has to give up rift scuttles or take the opposite one where possible, and drakes are problematic again, since no pressure from mid. Another issue with kayle mid, is that it's the lane that allied people default want to push since it's the shortest time to get there. This means that about minute 15/20 many people from both teams are often coming to your lane to aram, which is exactly what you don't want as kayle, since you need solo xp to get your powerspike. Now you can then go to sidelanes, but your toplaner is a splitpush champ like trynd, yorick, nasus etc, they're normally doing exactly the same thing, delaying your powerspike further. Mid laners are normally there because they're assassins that want the option to roam and make global pressure like talon/zed/ahri etc. or mages with excellent wave clear and high cc to punish these roams and can impact teamfights heavily like viktor/anvia etc. Kayle fulfils neither of these roles and really just wants to be in the toplane peacefully farming until she can finally get her lvl powerspike.

[@greendaybowser]

@@sympunny8636 I appreciate the write up but I'm experienced in what Kayle mid wants because that's the main role I've played her in since the rework. Im a mid main so I'm experienced in how to play safe and force bad dives from enemy assassins and Im not new to Kayle by any means.

[@sympunny8636]

@@greendaybowser i mean, sure but none of that really explains why you want to play her mid over than top, it's not as if other people can't stop zed's ultimate (fizz, vlad, liss) are the common mid ones. And as for forcing bad dives, do they never just push you in and roam, getting double kills off botlane? Kayle's waveclear early is pretty bad, so pushing back must be difficult. Plus the lack of mid prio for the jungler in drakes/rift scuttles etc. I mean, technically you can play any champion anywhere and if you're good enough make it work, but i'm curious as to why kayle mid would be better than top, since giving up top prio for a scaling champ is not nearly as bad as giving up mid prio, plus the xp is often greater top, due to less aram.

[@starryknight7700]

The attachment tank mains have is to the brick wall that they so longingly wanted to be

[@spectra963]

Damn, 3 seconds measured in terms of Morgana Q is tripping me hard.

[@floofzykitty5072]

Is that bayonetta music playing during a kayle video? A man of culture

[@alexmcfly31415]

Beginner Kayle player here. What the frick do I build? Nashor's tooth and AP? Kraken slayer and AD? Or a mix of both? I legit don't know what to build on this champ

[@samunstoray4668]

Whatever you need and want lol .

[@alexmcfly31415]

@@samunstoray4668actually, yep, after playing her a bit more i realized that just about anything that isn't a tank/supp item works, as long as you build nashor's tooth before any other AP item

[@justagirlonyoutube3789]

I picked up Kayle and I have to say I enjoy her a lot but instead of playing her top I play her mid. Personally for me it works so much better that way. Kayle is an odd champion and this video did highlight her main issues.

[@TheAzorg]

she is and always was magic adc. She always did the most dmg with her magic-infused autoattacks. I never built her differently x)

[@I_LOVE_Sleeptoken]

I think a big problem is yoo that she can rly start like in lvl 12-16 (depends) and as soon as u start to be good and u can carry the enemie surrenders or your team finishes thats ehy i dont main her anymore the time where you can enjoy her is when you almost loose or when you almost win and that takes away the fun

[@OneFloofyBooper]

(TL;DR at the end) The main issue I have with late game ANYTHING in MOBAs is that you have to slog through the early game to get there. Why make life hard early for a later payoff (that may or may not come) when you can play an early game champion and do well, then blame your team when you fall off late game. Its harder to blame anyone but yourself early if you start falling behind, but if you do well early, you gain excuses to put the blame on your teammates. And even if you make it to late game and start getting your power spikes, you might be so screwed over anyways that you can't even stop the enemy team. TL;DR, top 3 reasons I think people dont like to play late game champions 1: you have to GET to late game first 2: you have a harder time blaming your teammates for not excelling early game rather than late game 3: If you do get to late game, it may already be too late to recover

[@Azazreal]

Kicking names and taking ass, i caught that, well played haha

[@antongrigoryev6381]

Not sure that Kayle lacks an identity. "Crazy DPS auto-attacker that scales into the lategame" is a pretty solid one, no? And she has all the things to support that playstyle. Q for a bit of control and to weaken enemies and make them take even more damage, W for a bit of survivability. Both are just at the level to do their job, but not too effective to overshadow Kayle's main playstyle. E and passive are direct boosts to auto-attacks. The only thing that doesn't really fit is her ult; it blocks her from auto-attacking and its huge AoE doesn't really fit what she is doing. The old one was better.

[@OmenLamb]

I completely agree, her Ultimate is just a visual spectacle, Top 5 coolest looking Ultimates but not worth the pay-off. A 160-second Ultimate cooldown in Season 12 on a champion who doesn't build Ability-haste is horrendous. Ulting an ally and watching them make better use of my ultimate while I'm stuck in an animation hurts to watch. The Holy-Fire 'Sword Rain' animation needs to be completely removed in exchange for being able to use autos & abilities. The worst thing about the current Ultimate is how predictable it is, players will always save their flash/dash/speed-buff till the very end to avoid it forcing you to use your own Flash otherwise you just wasted a 160-second ability because for some stupid reason we aren't able to combo (R) with (W) for during the Ultimate for the necessary movement speed. Imagine how terrible Diana would be if she stayed in that prayer stance during her Ultimate as well.

[@carazy123_]

I played Kayle for the first time a couple days ago and low key gonna be my top main. So fun imo

[@nanashialfarr]

the truth about kayle is that she fits perfectly on botlane as an adc. if you duo her with a taric you gonna see hell, because they can basically combo ultimates, because her ult gives taric ult time to activate.

[@charbly8905]

@4:29 "kicking names and taking ass"

[@ashwatha532]

yo what's the background music at 2:30?

[@kuttythefool6636]

I would really like it if her heal could remove CC, but was only 1 target (adjusting the heal, movement speed and cd obviously). It would really make it easier to survive lane and it would be a nice contrast with Morgana's Q, being able to remove it, while being similar with Morgana's E, able to negate/remove CC. Even if it only removed slows, and not stuns, it would be a good change.

[@dawidmisztela6683]

That actually makes sense

[@samunstoray4668]

Yeah that would be nice but prob remove a major weakness of her in late game .

[@KarolineTheGoodPagan]

Kayle came out on wild rift and I want to play her. Watching this video helped me understand. Here’s the thing I’m a truth seeker and consider the facts. One thing I can’t neglect especially for everyone is curiosity, and skepticism. To simplify, this video help answers the question than focusing too much on the question. I am good at problem solving not the math kind. I agree with the champion’s class type. Because when creating a champion they need to belong to one or at least two class types. Kayle should be a fighter and supporter. Because of her character design I’m an artist that does mix media art it’s crucial for making an OC, or champion for playing the game. Battle tactics are important too. Kayle is already a fighter I’m not sure about supporter. Because she has one ability that helps with healing ally champions.

[@somasaasaa4850]

Kayle has a very strong identity the idea of being the strongest and most powerful person in the game. It may not be a popular identity due to the cost to get there but is an identity none the less

[@SirLANsalot]

Ok, to clarify for you. Kayle and Teemo both fit in a class that riot has all but forgotten about. AP Carry, basically they are an Auto attacking champion, like an ADC, but deal primary magic damage instead of physical. They are not a stright up "mage" that is a caster, Lux and Veigar for example are true "mages", more specifically nuke mages, weakness when their abilities are on cooldown. Kayle and Teemo use their abilities to enhance their damage output, much like an ADC uses their abilities to either poke or directly assist them with their auto attacks. Kayle specifically is kinda special in that she can/was/is also a support, although that identity is all but lost, again, like Teemo who was originally designed to be a support. Overall Kayle/Teemo are good counter picks to melee toplanes and mids, they also subsequently are a good matchup against one another as well. Both are also good counter picks to the flying garbage can that is Quinn. Note: she is a standard late game feast or fammine champ, either she gets fed and carries hard, or gets behind and feeds. Akli is the same, wait till level 6 before being able to go HAM.

[@fernandopires135]

i only played league on season 2 and this heavy focus on giving a clear role to a champion helped me quit the game. Seeing that one of my favorite champions is still making you wonder what to build made me want to go back