Why NO ONE Plays: Neeko (REMADE) | League of Legends

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Why NO ONE Plays: Neeko is back! I decided to remake this episode since a lot of people were asking me about what happened to the old one. For those of you who watched the old one, my points still more or less remain the same but with slightly better explanation.
Also this is Jake's first edited video! He usually does my thumbnails and graphics but he wanted to try video editing. So hope you enjoy :D
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#Neeko #LoL #WhyNoOnePlays

[@VarsVerum]

Check out Gif Your Game! www.gifyourgame.com/r/vars

[@renmazu0]

Go for Senna hihi

[@JoseGonzalez-wj8nz]

So... in summary No one plays neeko for the same reason no one plays MAGES. She's a mage so we won't see her soon until the meta changes. And I don't agree with the fact Ahri beating Neeko, it is a skill match up, neeko's base combo can kill Ahri while Ahri full combo can't. So of course there is a big difference in power, so ahri has to play safe and neeko has to play poke heavy, also neeko´s W can block ahri's E or just be used to dodge it with the MS buff.

[@jormungandr1537]

why no one pays xerath maybe?

[@JoseGonzalez-wj8nz]

@@jormungandr1537 because he is bad

[@jormungandr1537]

@@JoseGonzalez-wj8nz well yeah, but that's basically what this series is about no? underplayed and or bad champs? also I'm a xerath main and i just wanna see some love for mah boi :(

[@cohoslash5893]

Every game has a Neeko we just can't tell who's Neeko

[@apollyon1311]

And every Neeko is le Blanc, I mean... Everyone is le Blanc

[@thelastsepheramain6867]

@@apollyon1311 "I AM EVERYWHERE, I AM EVERYONE!"

[@DesertoftheReal-sl-1134]

Haha you fell for it

[@onlymage9572]

"You got the Wrong Neeko"

[@Chickeen0shaw]

@@onlymage9572 Tricky tricky

[@FantaSea777]

I had a game where an enemy neeko transformed into their jgler and stood in vision on purpose. We didn't realize the actual jgler was on dragon until it was too late.

[@citizencj3389]

200000000 IQ play. Will use it next time.

[@Wrennvy]

This is one of my favorite things to do on Neeko, is fake jungle positions. Because she's played so little, no one remembers she's in the game and can, in fact, fuck with your head. I've actually had people flash onto me when I was pretending to be someone at low hp.

[@Zender-]

once i was playing zed mid and almost 1 shot the neeko. she went into fog of war and a viego came out. i wasn't sure so i just was playing behind cause me low. i do my w e q combo and she just dies xD

[@kryyto6587]

@@Wrennvy Yeah, it happens quite a lot. When people goes full unga bunga on you, and you just burst them to death in return is really satisfaying.

[@kelseyoconnor3951]

@@Wrennvy this is why it's best to blend in with the crowd and stun them when they don't expect it! I love that I got her in HeyWise "Which League of Legends Champions Are You?" Quiz

[@SammyCheckers]

"I have yet to see anyone use a flash because of Fiddlesticks effigy" Haha... Yeah... Me too... Never seen it...

[@DesertoftheReal-sl-1134]

Hahaha 😅

[@MaverickMyth]

I tried learning Fiddlesticks and it seemed as if no one was really scared of him, which I feel defeats his purpose as an omnipresent boogieman.

[@DarkPhoniex86]

The problem here is that no one in chat is gonna say I was scared by that fiddle ult or I flashed a effigy. It be cool but not many people would ever type that. Maybe a ping or telling there own teammates.

[@miki_mochi]

I have definitely been scared shitless for like...half a second when I run into an effigy. I think that's the point though - he's supposed to be a jumpscare type of champion and the effigy does that. It doesn't usually deceive you enough to flash away (but it MIGHT if you're low health or Fiddle is fed af, especially if the effigy starts the ult animation), but it still gives you a little scare which is what his champion fantasy is all about. Plus, sometimes you can pretend to be an effigy and kill someone. Say they place a blue ward and see you in the bush. You just sit there. Waiting. Someone comes up to clear the effigy but SURPRISE, it's really you!

[@psahmbuell]

@@miki_mochi Once I placed an effigy at dragon, I was 0/6 and the fed Hecarim saw the ward, thought it was me so when the ward flashed away he thought I flashed over the wall and he flashed and he ran around in the jungle for like 30 seconds looking for me.

[@borisjohnson473]

Maining Neeko is all about her voice lines duh

[@romansakurov9815]

"Evelynn is so… extreme --- *Neeko curious* "

[@lucykitsune4619]

@@romansakurov9815 Beautiful! Like moonlight on fresh snow!

[@Gelert_]

NEEKO ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A MOUNTAIN!

[@xaussiemarksmanx8381]

Also the times when you can copy asol and shaco. XD

[@ac4941]

Neeko is BEST decision

[@Chickeen0shaw]

One thing we can agree on with neeko. "What does Neeko do with power?" "Make people behave."

[@MrLuzakman]

Conquer Freljord ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@ShesCuteButReallyDumb]

Lmao omg the thirst

[@manuelsciumbata1264]

@@MrLuzakman yeah, because that ended well for her...

[@Awesomeness785]

One thing we can agree on with Neeko Her r34 is 👍

[@UthertheNIGHTbringer]

@@manuelsciumbata1264 a 'what if' doesn't count

[@DJ2WYCE]

"Why does no one play Neeko?" Because she's actually a fairly balanced champion. Decent catch potential, pretty good damage, clear weaknesses, and she's not completely overtuned and broken like a lot of these new Champs so people think she's boring and/or useless.

[@pedrovitor1116]

Agreed.

[@imansamuel7782]

100%

[@theanalyzer1512]

For sure

[@JordG0tBored]

the most accurate comment i've ever seen

[@teminternetemmordor7178]

Agreed, i mean, i masterized her playing sup and i love It! The negative point is: i take many out range.

[@Catspirit123]

Neeko is one of my mains. Tricking people with clones is hilarious and she's just adorable all around

[@Icharissas]

Exacltly

[@claireredfield4842]

She's a great power pick for going mid/sup because it's highly unlikely to get banned or picked away from you. I've recently picked her up and have been having a blast.

[@zeening]

yeah but how often does that ACTUALLY happen in a MEANINGFUL way? and be honest here cause if you say anything other than very infrequently and you are anything higher than iron i don't believe it lol

[@claireredfield4842]

@@zeening If you've already made up your mind why pose the question you clown.

[@Yuri98]

@@zeening all the time when running from someone. Someone jumped on you? Throw your clone to safety and run into the jungle, works even better if you run in the "safe" direction for a bit before sending the clone. 90% of the time they will simply follow the clone, sometimes even waste flash trying to reach it. XD

[@Purcyless]

The mismatched feeling is because her and Sylas' ults are supposed to be swapped.

[@saph-oceaneroh8414]

Neeko would be so much fun to play! Sylas would be completely broken tho

[@pedroupaiva]

now that is something I would love to see

[@deathferretofdeath7346]

you are literally a genius. i need this

[@minhducnguyen9276]

@@saph-oceaneroh8414 Yep. Unlike Neeko, Sylas can actually dive in, caught a whole team off guard and blow them up with the Neeko ult. So it's just Sylas but streamlined. You sacrifice some options for a more simple to use ult.

[@TheReZisTLust]

Sylas has Neekos Ult 💀

[@NotFrogBox]

What if you started doing a “Why Everyone Bans/Banned: etc.” tier list where you analyze the champs with the highest ban rates and analyze why they’re banned and if that high ban rate is justified.

[@armotomko207]

1+

[@Lebron01234]

like darius

[@danieldan7713]

+2

[@AngelDustt444]

YES

[@sopadefideos5636]

Most of them would be: too good

[@BlaxeFrost-X]

Pre-watch: This is gotta talk about that suicidal ultimate of hers

[@floofzykitty5072]

Neeko's ultimate is amazing??? It literally has a 115% (Yes, THAT BIG) AP scaling. That is literally one the highest AP scalings on a shield in the game if just ONE champion is nearby her. What holds Neeko back is that she has a near-useless passive and an ability that is inconsistent and can do nothing a lot of the time, seemingly to make up for her massive AP scalings and penetrating root.

[@sylphion9089]

@@floofzykitty5072 it's amazing for damage. It's horrible for a squishy that needs to get into the middle of the enemy team with no proper way to protect themself.

[@Typhoonflame]

@@sylphion9089 Not even, just buy Zhonya's and you're fine. Also, she gets a shield.

[@sigurdfossland6484]

@@Typhoonflame and when you use zhonya's, the enemy decides to stand in it?? no, they'll walk away

[@chiidybang370]

@@sylphion9089 she doesnt need to. She gets better the more melee champs the enemie has. Shes not good against teams with a lot of range. I think overall shes completely fine. Not to strong and not to weak. Its just that most ppls love to play overtuned champs with 1 million dashes more. My fav champs are mages since 7 years.

[@MrSzaman12]

12:57 There is a way to solve the "Neeko's W is easy to distinguish from actual Neeko". If a clone can't behave like you, then start behaving like a clone and just run in a straight line, while sending a clone away. There were numbers of times when i were consistently fooling enemies like that and catching them off guard with ult that they were too late to react to, because they started to pay attention to my clone running sideways.

[@averya7443]

Me too. I always switch it up which direction I’m going when I’m in laning phase too. People get so tripped up when you’re actually the one that’s running straight towards them with a quarter health. It’s so risky but it gets me a kill a lot of times.

[@tylereline5148]

learning neeko right now and this helped me so much

[@a9void]

The main thing i feel on why her playrate is so low is because she feels like she would have great outplay potential with her W and passive but in-game she has like a hand full of things she can do with those skills and thats about it, her character flavour of being a chameleon is straight thrown out the window in favor of simpler character design, were she able to control her w clones like shaco can his r, and her passive copied her teammates abilities, then she would probably be straight up one of the most fun and wacky characters to play in-game, as someone who's played her a lot in the past, it feels like riot went just way too safe with her, she should feel more like a shaco than a lux but sadly it isn't the case.

[@hansjurgen4567]

it would probably be enough if she does not transform back the moment you damage her with anything

[@Nixahma]

you’re asking riot to give neeko shaco’s ult on an ability with a 10 sec cooldown? and asking riot for this to be a free viego passive?

[@a9void]

@@Nixahma well, i more of meant that her design wasn't flashed out enough, as for skill changes maybe she could have her ult be her current passive with her w passive being her actual passive, and her w could be on a 30 sec cooldown or something, idk im not a balance expert i just think its a shame her character design doesn't translate that well into her gameplay.

[@a-drewg1716]

​@@Nixahma If Neeko's passive allowed her to "use" an ability of one of the team mates she transformed into it would entirely be a fake ability which would do no damage. So say you transform into Ahri and are able to throw out a charm if it actually hit an opponent it wouldn't charm or do any damage. The entire point would be to use that charm to scare an opponent into using something like Morgana's E or some other life saving ability (or dash). Of-course the main problem is Riot would have to go through every champion and pick which one Neeko can use as again it basically has to be something that has a clear visual and doesn't actually do anything (so no dashing ability or a ability that isn't either a skill shot or a self target)

[@ObliqueXuba]

@@a-drewg1716 that would make me main her tho no cap, sounds fun af

[@ChrisArborLife]

She does really well in ARAM in that the snowball really helps her get around that lack of gap closer problem and the cc from her q fits the mode well too

[@georgehaffen4105]

oh yah man definitely, go full ap, mark and jump into the enemy team and that aoe nuke is insane

[@hoaang9455]

She soo anoying in aram

[@TheArne959]

There are a lot more champions beside of neeko where the snowball makes the champ somuch more powerfull. And a lot of them already has high mobility and stealth and if not duskblade will do..

[@hamzasami8362]

@@georgehaffen4105 would not recommend full ap on neeko aram The last 3 times I played her in aram, I was able to secure an S+ with protobelt, zhonyas, that magic resist spell shield item, and then anything else of your choice depending on the situation whether its anti heal or more cdr. Get Rabadons last and you should have just about 500-650ap + potion

[@BobTheTesaurus]

@@hamzasami8362 sooo... you are recomending an Ap item, and Ap item, another Ap item, and some more Ap Items. sounds like full Ap to me regardless off the differing strength or utlity

[@patriciaabad5387]

I'm a Neeko main, and when you master her, she has literally everything. Your W is the key for landing your ult, tricking your enemies and escaping ganks. Also really versatile, she works as Top, Mid, ADC and Support, so very flexible. So much cc and area damage, roaming with her is great, since her lane phase might be safe if played correctly, but still in disadvantage. No one plays her bc of this meta :(

[@user-pf5tz6jh3l]

It seems we are in the same boat :)

[@skelet8337]

Cho gath main here with you this meta sucks true damage and % max hp damage everywhere 😢

[@GoldenBerry33]

Exactly, she is very fun and has a lot to bring to the table. The only problem is that people don't want to put in the time because she is not that flashy without shurikens, kunais, swords and 100 dashes 😅

[@julianarias8960]

True, the main problem is the current meta with a lot of champs who can left her behind

[@iapplin3637]

Very true she can flex into any role

[@screechingtoad2683]

When i play neeko, sometimes i actually run straight towards the enemy while sending the clone away. This makes it easier to land her root

[@hamzasami8362]

always works when you send a lot of clones at them for no reason, then you suddenly send yourself in. Works great!

[@thegamingillustrator]

i would always send my clones into a curved part of the map while running straight to make the clone look more real. works great for escapes.

[@ggslushy]

When will the "Why everyone plays: League of Legends" video? it could be pretty funny

[@deathrayman8074]

Probably April Fools, I'd assume.

[@FastJackFinchy24]

“Why Everyone Forces themselves to Play: League of Legends”

[@champnotchicken4318]

Then have a why no one plays lol also

[@Raoul9753]

Mostly addiction at this point...

[@emilgebl8644]

Its simple, because heroes like yasuo etc, yone are just op and easy.

[@blubrry2200]

I disgaree with the idea that fiddle effigy is useless. Being a control ward actually compliments him by removing the enemy team's vision, thus allowing his fear passive to proc

[@phyrexian_dude4645]

And sometimes you can actually fool the other team. I once was hidding in a bush and an enemy walked in it, like a dumbass i miss clicked and flashed into a near by bush and the other guy just ignored me believing that i was an effigy, then i just ulted from that same bush.

[@freetime4841]

Most of the time that ain't true, and wouldn't sweeping lens just be better because you don't have to guess where the wards is. The only case where I would think effigy is really good is if he's support and essientially gets 4+2+2 wards. Being able to put out 6 wards (control ward included) is pretty nice.

[@bevvvy1374]

@@freetime4841 No because you usually don't have to guess where wards are in general. Lens do not provide long term vision while scarecrows do. Sweeper is usually very underwhelming if you're not in high elo since most people don't put wards down in the first place anyway.

[@jojoboyrockz]

I was referring to its potential for deception not it’s merits as a control ward

[@floofzykitty5072]

@@freetime4841 Fiddles wards are a straight upgrade. Ask any Fiddles main that knows how to actually get vision control.

[@tomclarke3198]

personally i think neeko is the most fun champion in the game, there's so much potential with her passive

[@katgut]

Fiddles bew passive is amazing The ward mimic attacking is a gimmick, it's the fact that you get a lower cooldown ward that after 6 doubles as a free Oracle lens

[@floofzykitty5072]

people never notice when a good fiddles is getting vision control. Your team will not notice an absence of enemy vision. All they will see is you channelling in a bush and surprising an enemy and they will think "haha cool bush play" without ever really thinking that your effigies are what cleared the vision that allowed that play to happen. At most the support will sweep around an objective and maybe notice when they find no wards to clear.

[@joshc.8489]

Why no one plays Neeko: Cause she is actually BALANCED !!!

[@zara.f5368]

I'm a Neeko main and honestly I really love her, she has her issues of course but the fact that shes not picked very often is great because many people I play against don't even know some of her abilities! The most important thing about Neeko is that you need to play her smartly using her transfiguration while you're high in health but playing as an ally whose low e.t.c..

[@sugero9322]

I love when someone flashes in to nuke me when I have 80 hp as amumu, just to realize I'm a full hp neeko and they're rooted in ult range

[@gbrookes7827]

As a Neeko main, there are ways to solve many of the problems addressed in this vid. For example, landing your empowered E and immediately channeling your ultimate, only to hextech rocketbelt towards people will almost always land even through flash and if you also drop Q you can one shot any non-tank in the game.

[@eligabeivan]

Also when w-ing you can simply mimic your own clone to trick the enemy into chasing the wrong one only to q-e-r-flash

[@agustinmelar5496]

@@eligabeivan i know a little trick whit the W if you throw it against a circular wall or a tiny one (for example the ones in mid) the clone will walk like a player instead of the normal straight line

[@sakutaro3musik486]

only problem is there is no way for her to reach other non-tank champs beside some melees, zhonyas counters her ult easily and at this point every character can dash away from her e anyway and if you miss the E, the enemys can just kill you

[@Typhoonflame]

As a Neeko main/otp pretty much, I can say she's amazing when you master her, especially in teamfights. There are definitely better champs out there, but she fits my playstyle perfectly!

[@davidurban528]

I saw a Neeko with Nocturne ultimate in the new Ultimate Spellbook gamemode, that worked scarily good

[@askekrause3909]

Neeko + Kayn

[@rafaelaraujo5988]

Neeko should be able to swap place with her W clone

[@leoarj7181]

Ye

[@danielkim4320]

that would be extremely broken, but i like the idea. Or make her clone targetable right after u cast her, not 0.5 secs, so that u can block like thresh hooks or blitz.

[@jeshurunanthony4662]

THATD BE SO COOOL

[@xaussiemarksmanx8381]

We dont need more lublank or zed clone/shadow plays.

[@rafaelaraujo5988]

After aksham everything is possible

[@uriel9777]

I think one of the problems with Neeko using other abilities even if it's a fake ability while Shapeshifting is that she can't actually do that in the lore. Shapeshifting is her passive because it's a part of her character, but she can never actually use the powers of who or what she transforms into AFAIK. I think Riot really lost themselves with the "new champions need gimmicks" type of thinking and didn't realize that Neeko's passive would become this dead weight in her kit after everyone learned how it works, and by that I mean everyone learned it does absolutely nothing. It was fun and potentially scary for the first 2 months, now it's just something people don't even bother touching most of the time, and when they do it's probably to use some cool skin someone has or they just remembered it was an option. Neeko really needs a rework. Not before anyone else on their list but, eventually, she could use one to streamline her kit and make the passive useful or get rid of it.

[@floraflowergarden]

I think she could use a mini rework but not a full one.

[@uriel9777]

@@floraflowergarden yeah i agree

[@justatuna5640]

Let neeko disguise as minions and jungle camps lmao

[@uriel9777]

@@justatuna5640 that would still be pointless 90% of the time

[@hayleylloyd7792]

@@floraflowergarden no dont touch her shes perfect as is

[@KraneJams]

probably going to be like how swain isn't picked as often either because of their ultimates relying on them to be directly in the middle of a teamfight despite not having a way to get into the middle of one without hextech protobelt/flash.

[@hieunguyenba7224]

At least swain have his root and passive to pull the enemy into range And also I think another reason why he’s not picked is that his wave clear sucks. His aa is slow and do no damage and his entire kit is not good for wave clearing

[@floofzykitty5072]

Morgana is a really highly picked champion, but that's because her Q and E are very infamously strong, and her ult has movespeed + a slow that makes her ultimate immediately useful as soon as it is used. Even if every enemy champion gets out of Morgana's ult, they have to fan out where they can easily be picked off as their team is no longer in formation.

[@Dingdong2730]

Swain also has a pretty toxic kit overall. It forces you to either completely int or kick the teeth in of your enemy, you can't play passive/neutral, especially in the botlane. Its a strange and unsuccesful gameplay mixture between a battle mage, burst mage and AP bruiser.

[@pixelbunny9825]

But swain sucks the life out of you healing himself while using ult. Neeko if she can't finish the ult animation is pretty much dead bc her shield comes late too

[@anevilstripper6095]

There's a swain every second game at least, he's the most popular champion right now in the games I've played and spectated

[@guardianforce3460]

The doppleganger w works really great to face check in the jg and making an ally appear all over the map, but faking in a lane or fake attack has to go just perfect. I wish Neeko was a little more durable. I mean, fake being a low health ally to draw out an enemy only works if my secretly 100% health Neeko didn't get two shot. I also wish when she used her ult, the ring of cast range also was a minor slow or a 'charm for .01 sec' even. I get outrun all the time, even if it isn't an Alistair or Camille sliding away. And the range is so small.

[@nitran8843]

I found Neekos ultimate being good when you are fighting Yasuo. He tried multiple times to attack me, so I ulted. He tried to kill us in those two seconds, but he retreated too late and got killed. It also protects my teammates. She is also good against leona, since she will try to jump on you for her adc, but ulting makes it hard for her to do that.

[@DesertoftheReal-sl-1134]

Neeko is best decision!

[@thelastsepheramain6867]

They cannot handle Neeko.

[@DesertoftheReal-sl-1134]

@@thelastsepheramain6867 bro all those people with no tails. They should eat some cheesebread. Maybe then they could :p

[@coronelkittycannon]

but when Veigar?

[@a.arrondel6379]

@@thelastsepheramain6867 Neeko isn't for them sad tomatoes, it's for *strong* tomatoes

[@cake1079]

When Neeko becomes Neeko, what does she look like?

[@connorjamison4396]

The issue is that Neeko is almost never threatening so her surprising you is super lukewarm. Like woah is that the ADC NOPE it’s the 0/1/1 catcher! She’s really gonna punish you with a 2 second root and no follow up!

[@jeffsyndrome4812]

Loving the editing on this video and agree with the points raised. Great as always Vars.

[@VarsVerum]

Glad to hear it!

[@lukehuh9808]

i think to match the range of her q and e, maybe riot could consider giving her ult a dash. for example, you could press r to start her ult and then recast r to dash in a direction. it would rly help with lane trades and make her ult in team fights very much like malphite, fiddle, amumu, etc.

[@baptistecochennec5956]

She already have proto belt especially for that

[@to3d]

AHHHHHHHHHHH

[@lukehuh9808]

@@baptistecochennec5956 yes but fiddle has protobelt as well and the dash on his r so idk why neeko cant have the same

[@skelet8337]

Maybe an ms boost dash hell nah

[@baptistecochennec5956]

@@lukehuh9808 fiddle have a canalisation no stun and don't have the same burst /neeko have passive and w

[@Sauronyx]

please make sure people dont realize how fun she is shes my secret weapon

[@dr.stonksakahelth5857]

The old video got taken down. You came back with this masterpiece

[@cake1079]

I used to be a Neeko otp. I assume it's gonna talk about her gimicky passive and ult, as well as people not being able to utilise her w passive and active properly. Looking forward to watching still tho.

[@Ultimahaxorpanda2131]

When it was mentioned in the vid that on-hit Neeko was the only good thing about her... it makes sense actually. Now I didn't play it cause I wasn't around, but she had a solid early and mid game with her base abilities and then she scales pretty hard into late game. She looks like a safe pick if this were still a good build. Thinking about it, Riot made her W really well, both the passive and the active... except they gutted build diversity for... whatever reason. I suppose this also plays a role in what you mention here. Unrelated, I love your PFP, who is that character?

[@cake1079]

@@Ultimahaxorpanda2131 character is Rose Lalonde from homestuck. I made a screenshot from friendsim game and edited it a lil

[@TheReZisTLust]

Love that nobody really uses her passive ult camo

[@zeening]

ding ding ding winner you literally guessed every single thing lol

[@loopydo]

then there is me playing neeko jungle for the past days lmao😭

[@gordontrinh731]

Very great video! Noticed the editing for this video is a lot cleaner than the past. (Also thought the ability descriptions in the past videos were unnecessary)

[@rambo171993]

Fiddle effigy passive does 3 other things: 1) reveals ward and provides vision 2) blocks skillshots 3) procs your Q passive if you're staying in "effigy mode"

[@edt49er]

I love her kit, just wish it were easier to utilize her ult. Im still low elo so i do get alot of people using abilities on the clone even when its obviously the clone

[@darrenzou2483]

I play neeko and she have soo many problems: The major one is her e being slow and a linear projectile with really long cd. You miss e? Useless for the next 6 seconds. Her q is awkward to use and also slow. In a meta where everyone is fast and have 18 dashes, her kit is too clunky and slow to be effective. Why play neeko and flash ult and still might miss when someone like annie does the same thing but better. She is the master of none champ that have subpar abilites and a really high skill ceiling for the same reward as other burst mages. Not a bad champ, but doesnt feel good to play either

[@StandingTALL4now]

oh no 6 seconds : /

[@greenpinapple820]

Shes way better as support than veig or annie or even lux imo but, using her as a carry? I agree with you

[@tonguepop9453]

I hard disagree lol her e is one of the best stuns besides morg and is really fast? It just has to hit minions first to speed up. Her q is a pretty big aoe and her w let's her go invisible and make a clone. Her problems are here short range, her suicidal ult and her passive being nearly useless. She is an excellent catcher if played right.

[@floraflowergarden]

YES! I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FOR SO LONG

[@gamegaloo]

I believe the "invisible indefinitely while near terrain" part of Ashkan kit fits Neeko quite nicely. Or even teemo's passive. Hell, what a combo it would be for an invisible Neeko to stand where enemies don't expect and boom! Ult the whole enemy from nowhere.

[@enaikei]

watching an episode being made one my main champ is very interesting even thought i knew what her issues were. i still do believe that if she is played correctly she can be one of the better burst mages. i currently have a 61%wr on her as a support which is her secondary role. i belive the issues u talked about are valid and thats why i play her in a role thats not as important as mid. i will always keep playing her as i love everything about her from her playstyle to her voicelines and design and i believe more people should give her a try. (she realy isnt that bad if u know how to use rocketbelt correctly)

[@hello-gm2dy]

Fiddle's new passive isn't useless, the vision it gives is unique to the champion. Only supports can put down that many wards, or buy the control ward item which costs alot of gold and an item space

[@sorakagirl42]

i think neeko’s weird mixed up playstyle is why i like her so much. i dont like playing melee champs but being able to go all in with her ult like one of them and still having all that range is super fun

[@miljan775]

I love this new stile. Pls keep it

[@zidaryn]

These issues are solved when you play ARAM. Nice poke for the early game. Then post 6 use snowball, then ult from far away, activate snowball to dash to enemy. And blamo! Nice 5 man ult. I've seen some insane Neekos I'm ARAM.

[@bulletcola7890]

Because she sort of doesn't have a clear identity regarding her kit. Okay, maybe not exactly lacking identity, but her abilities have promising stuff around them, but they don't synergize as well as other mages other than her E to Q from like having a speed boost that also sends out a clone (But to a poke mage), or having the ability to trick others on who is there (But as a poke mage). It's just that she seems a bit unusual like Neeko herself to the point of detriment. Sure it probably works, but to some players, what's the point of having these weird stuff around a Root caster if they can just use Lux for that instead, who has more clearer things to get out of.

[@jadepelt3774]

I love how you used tree of life roots for this, one of the best pmd tracks out there

[@timepassesbye]

Her clone is also great at popping shako boxes, teemo shrooms, jhin traps, cait traps. Basically anything trap oriented she gets a free counter to. Yes, it does require you knowing where said traps are, but it’s a great scouting tool to clear said traps in priority areas like jungle paths and shrubbery

[@kacpergrzywaczewski3771]

Neeko neeko niiiii

[@Boon.Oreo6042]

Curiously enough the only time i've seen Fidd's efiges do something it was by using Neeko's passive, I transformed into Fidd and stood still in the way to baron while my team was doing it, when the enemy team got into the bush I was in I ulted and started walking away from them. They thought I was an efigy and... well, they all got nuked

[@floofzykitty5072]

Sadly most teams will not notice that Fiddles is clearing enemy vision and they will not play aggressively. If you are not paying attention to what Fiddles is doing (which is understandable without comms, humans can only do one thinking task at a time), you will not be able to notice that the enemy's jungle has no vision and you can also ambush the enemy or steal their camps while they are blind. You also likely won't notice when an enemy finds a Fiddles effigy, know's it's an effigy, but still stops the gank anyway because they anticipate they were seen by someone and their gank will be unsuccessful.

[@wallthemart]

I love essay content creators. Subbed

[@VarsVerum]

Welcome! :D

[@namlit]

I played quite a lot of the Spellbook Gamemode last month and I was surprised and happy how many people played Neeko in it And most of them did real good too Edit: Your idea with the LB-Clone-like scaring factor would be such a great addition for Neeko, totally agree!

[@astro-dragons]

as a neeko otp, I really enjoy the insight to this video. There's a lot of points I agree with, that her playstyle is too mixed and she definitely has identity issues. I love her very much, but honestly the fact that she is so heavily reliant on rocketbelt is kind of..... bad? Remember at the beginning of the season where they talked about wanting to unbind seraph embrace from champs like viktor, anivia and all that? I feel like they need to do that with neeko. All her other builds are okay, its playable, but you only really get value from rocketbelt (and hp items imo, since she's so squishy, and u need to be in melee to hit ulti). It may seem silly, but maybe have her w be a dash instead of a movement speed buff? it would make it easier to land ults, and tie in her ult and neutral better. another buff they could do is just hp, or better hp/lvl, that way she doesn't fall off too hard late game, but still won't nuke you like other burst mages. I personally really think an hp buff would be viable, and maybe giving her a bit more mobility to land her ult so she doesnt have to be so heavily reliant on rocketbelt. Champs that build rocketbelt aren't reliant of it, so why should neeko be as well? for example, galio has a short dash in his kit, but also build rocketbelt, so maybe neeko's w could do that for her as well? still send out a clone, of course, but also just give her that small amount of mobility she needs to properly land her all in combo. oh i really love the idea of using one ability to properly mimic the champion you are! I've only ever really fooled people once or twice with her passive, out of the thousands of games i have on her. Honestly neeko passive really is just a means to make people wonder if your casting ult or not tbh. You'll know good neeko's from bad neeko's due to their passive usage (if they are playing ap neeko anyway. Ad neeko doesnt care much for passive outside of the aditional movespeed it can give you if the champ has higher base ms than you). all in all really great vid!! Neeko's wr has consistent dropped over the pre-season, that she's actually now starting to fall to a negative wr. Maybe that could mean buffs in the future? or even a small mini rework? I love her as she is, but there are def QoL changes they could make imo

[@flameofmage1099]

I used to play a bit of Neeko and not consistently being able to hit her ult was the turn off for me, and laning against an akali was torture for 30 minutes. And speaking on the Fiddle scarecrow I thought one was real once when I was chasing him down and he was in plain view. 😂

[@hamzasami8362]

Im not the greatest player myself but i will recommend you some things to do in laning phase. I always take Electrocute because it just works so well early for her. I never use Q to poke, only for minions. It uses too much mana and the only mana source i have is manaflow. always sit in minions and bully your enemies like akali with autos. If they come too close then send empowered E through minions then Q Auto or Auto then Q since she will activate shrowed and you will activate electrocute then. This strategy has been working for me for many matches. I also ALWAYS turn to my adc or Support in the beginning of the match then after killing the first 3 minions, send empowered E through minions when they walk up to my casters then auto twice for Electrocute. Almost always works as well. Make sure not to take any damage else your plan will fail level one. good luck!

[@flameofmage1099]

@@hamzasami8362 Thank you. I always use my Q to poke. I'll try this out.

[@hamzasami8362]

@@flameofmage1099 remember that this best works with short range midlanders or melees, not against other mages or adc's Use W and get back to tower after u trade because it will deny your enemy and retaliation damage and you will win the trade hard ♡

[@flameofmage1099]

@@hamzasami8362 Okay. Thanks.

[@tinkledeath9185]

I’ve found that shapeshifting into someone like illoai or garen and walking at ppl to be quite effective

[@unclebiggs1695]

12:56 As a diehard fiddle support main, using effigy stance at random choke points to get off lane winning ultimates is a difficult yet rewarding trick to pull off. Enemies will see an effigy and almost ignore it, they dont check if its actually fiddle waiting. Once your mind games set in every effigy placed and triggered has a chance to force an ability from a scared enemy.

[@tilkilit]

Prediction before the video; Its probably because her Q and E are 'artilary mage' abilities, while her P and W are 'slayer' abilities, and her R is a 'battle mage' ability. Her kit is "something of everything, but nothing when summed the total" although her damage output is great, her skillset limits her.

[@KiyeHid]

Tho overall she is a catcher or a burst mage

[@phantasma214]

E and Q are burst/catcher rather than artillery in my opinion, as Neeko in general is really close range for artillery.

[@fabianklein8521]

Her q and e dont really have that much range to be called artillery spells

[@alexmcfly31415]

how to make Neeko op (other than the 2 ways you talked about): give her a dash/blink on W while invisible

[@casperryborg4869]

Dude, freaking watch the video, at 13:48 he litearally says that she should NOT have a dash / blink since it would be broken.

[@alexmcfly31415]

@@casperryborg4869 yeah that's why I said op

[@MrG-ed9ke]

Really awesome why no one plays video. As someone who really enjoys Neeko you make some very good points. I think making Neekos clone controllable like Tibbers could be a great solution. As for allowing fake skill shots with inherent glamour I think while it sounds good in practice but what key will activate said skill shot? For me I often fire off tangle barbs while disguised so I wouldn't want to lose my E, taking away the Q will just cause others to complain who like to fire off blooming bursts first, the ability to send off a clone is just too convenient so I wouldn't want to loose the W and the R has to stay due to Neekos ult windup. So maybe making the clone last indefinitely or over 1 min and being able to attack and fake skill shots is the way to go... though I suppose the same way one controls Tibbers maybe an alt Q could use the fake skill shot. At the moment I find the best way to play Neeko is from an ambush perspective with a bit of misdirection. For example trying to ambush from brush or using your ult with flash to close the gap (she definitely does take some extra thought when playing). As for inherent glamour as it stands I find its a great way to hide your current health and mana bar (even if the enemy knows its you Neeko and not who you are pretending to be) and it can be really nifty when impersonating your jungler and "pretending" to make a mistake by being spotted out of brush or near a ward for a second when ganking while your real jungler does something elsewhere on the map... but yes I do agree such use is very limited and niche

[@zara.f5368]

I love the fact that Neeko isnt often played. It's amazing once you know how to properly use her passives and abilities!

[@uncledoggo]

If she could Disguise as an enemy player, people might play her more, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they are saving that for LeBlanc’s rework because that would make sense for a trickster.

[@MaverickMyth]

Having voice chat with your team would probably nullify that ability, right? "Hey, Player 1 is this you down here with me? No? Okay, so it's LeBlanc then." Cool idea though.

[@mr.paperbag771]

Also enemies have vision of their team. If they just see their "teammate" coming from the fog of war, its a dead giveaway

[@tonguepop9453]

So what I'm hearing is riot again put to much on one champ and when the community found a fun powerful way to play said champ they nerfed it to the ground. Why not let neeko be an on hit champ 🤷 if seraphine is aloud to be. Support and mid then neeko should be allowed to be burst mage and on hit. Edit: it wouldn't even be hard to do, all they have to do is lower her ap scalings a bit, highten the cdr, And reduce the time of her root while buffing her W passive. As for her ult I think they just need to rethink it all together it makes zero sense to have an ult like that on such a squishy champ. Depending on how they want to make her something like zyra's (vines growing in one spot slowing champs then exploding) ult or ziggs

[@tonguepop9453]

@@pieceless224 ?

[@inkromancer_studios]

This is really funny to see coming from an entire day of dealing with Neekos both on and off my team. xD

[@m0fn668]

Hey - I just wanted to say I had some success with Fiddlesticks mindgames - the thing is that you have to "train" the enemy into not beeing sure what is a ward and waht isnt. I pretend to be a ward at times and jsut ult right into their face without them even flinching, or place some wards in most random locations, since the cooldown is rather low you can spent a few of them to get the enemy team to question if this truely is a ward. Sometimes wards eat ultimates, sometimes i can jsut stand there like a teemo and the enemy wont even suspect anything - its fun!

[@tygr6701]

You should do one on ornn, he has a 3% pick rate and is also one of the newer Champions.

[@zeening]

how the actual fuck does he have a 3% pick rate? does that only include ranked? dude is in EVERY normal game

[@glazedgooch4546]

Neeko is the cutest hence the best character in league.

[@hydrosting]

I’m not gonna lie, the first few mins sounded like reasons TO play her lol. I still think she’s really good, but your points were clear and valid. Great video as always :]

[@superkaj1001]

the thing with fiddle. The effigy's fake skill cast, can actually be of use. I have had many situations where I trained the enemy team to a point where either enemy zed flashed away from the effigy, or walked near me(the actual fiddle) without doing an all in which allowed me to kill him. This playstyle works only when you do have enough dmg to kill the enemies and requires you to put the effigies in places where enemies can see them. If you always put them in brushes then you might as well play normally, but if enemies expect the random fiddle in the middle of the river to be an effigy then you're golden.

[@superkaj1001]

Note: I am gold elo so yea

[@oliverbehrer5252]

i got a lot of enemy flashes and ults out with neeko passive xd

[@adambryant4976]

wait, I thought everyone played Neeko, I see her more than I'd like to

[@GoldenBerry33]

I am on the eune server and when i am not the one who plays her, in 6 out of 10 games I see her. So here she is pretty popular 😅

[@leticiabastos6245]

@@GoldenBerry33 I'm on the EUNE server too and I've only seen her a couple times. Welp

[@paulink]

As someone who got into league late and mainly one tricks neeko, this video does a great job explaining her weaknesses and bad match ups. Every time i’ve faced xerath in lane I want to die, i’ve permabanned him in ranked lol. Her passive is a cool gimmick but it only usually works once in my case, if at all. after the gimmick wears off, especially against smarter players, its mostly used as a distraction in messy fights.

[@jaagupvahtras6232]

Love your content!

[@VarsVerum]

Thank you!

[@jaagupvahtras6232]

@@VarsVerum no problem!

[@HunterlynnCook]

As a Neeko mid main... She really is just out classed by most mids. I love her but I had to swap off her while I play solo bc personally I feel as tho I need team communication. Her Ult becomes useless if it’s not triggered right

[@hamzasami8362]

With teamcomps such as malphite top, seraphine or naut support, amumu jungle, etc those comps just work so beautifully with neeko if you're able to have friend teammates

[@patricklynch4074]

just finished binging this series!

[@VarsVerum]

How was it? :3

[@patricklynch4074]

@@VarsVerum informative! I'm actually brand new... like new New to league, so I've been trying to learn more about the game and things to keep in mind while playing from your vids!

[@anthonyhill8305]

Started playing league about 2 weeks ago, I only have about 40-50 games under my belt but I've played neeko in about 30 of them and I'm going to be a ride or die neeko main, I hope she gets some buffs but I love her kit all the same

[@abekaessel3282]

I used to main neeko sup until I found out pyke existed, you’re probably gonna mention how her ult displaces her weirdly bc she wants to be in the back line instead of the middle of the enemy team, but I played her a few days ago and I can’t believe I didn’t realize this before but it gives her a shield. Idk if I never noticed it bc it was so small or it was just kinda useless but I thought it was interesting.

[@a.arrondel6379]

The shield is quite big but it's really short, like if you hit your r it loses a lot of value because people are stunned anyway

[@ugabugabongo6920]

Have you ever played aram lul

[@DesertoftheReal-sl-1134]

That snowball ult combo is disgusting.

[@ugabugabongo6920]

@@DesertoftheReal-sl-1134 I feel you so bad

[@JMScibra]

I had an idea based on the LeBlanc clone being able to cast fake abilities. P: Attack commands given to Neeko's clone, and Neeko while she's disguised, will cast a random non-dash basic ability at the target in between basic attacks. Fake abilities will deal no damage and afflict no crowd control or spell effects. Her disguised health and mana pools match the champion chosen as the disguise, which are affected by the disguise's regen and ability costs/refunds when casting a fake ability. Fake abilities will only be cast if the disguise has the mana to do so, and if the target is in range. Also, the fake ability chosen is affected by the target type; e.g.while targeting a structure, only abilities (generally on-hit auto-attack resets) that damage structures. If the player is targeting an enemy champion, clear W: Neeko briefly turns invisible and refreshes her disguise, putting her passive on a 2-second cooldown, and summons a clone also briefly invisible with a matching disguise. Neeko may target herself to gain movement speed over the duration, causing the clone to appear at the original cast location (facing her). If cast in a direction (range = 50% of movespeed with increase), the clone will run in that direction while attempting to navigate around terrain, until it reaches maximum range from Neeko or is given a movement or attack command by recasting W. While outside the maximum distance, the clone will attempt to navigate towards Neeko. The clone benefits from her innate passive, including while undisguised. The clone does not change disguises when Neeko does.

[@kokoto4371]

My name is Nico. This is one of the trippiest videos I’ve seen.

[@goldy4282]

I am a Neeko main and i am very confused

[@cake1079]

Neeko otp here and I'm not. I never see Neeko when i pick other champs and it's not uncommon for people to rage at me when I do and they play against me

[@noface7679]

Clearly havent payed attention to the disclaimer ever.

[@onlymage9572]

@@noface7679 yeah probably

[@mttssst]

I love this neeko but i still think that she deserves a rework on her w and passive

[@mercifulfox1066]

Honestly, she could have an entirely new passive added to her passive without any compromise. Have you seen modern champion passives these days? Just keep her clone + disguise and add entirely new effects on top of them.

[@azurclerx951]

You know true pain when one of your favorite champion is in this serie.

[@123hattan]

Glad to you decided to cover Neeko again, dude.

[@coronelkittycannon]

"Neeko is cool but... Veigar" "pls" "pls" "pls"

[@lucaslagiewka1503]

The thing about skills that are designed to have more psychological impact than game impact is: most league players play with their brains shut off

[@phatluugia7169]

Still useful if u can predict how they would react, like thresh could predict where the enemies would sidestep to Q

[@purupumpkin]

I love Neeko I am still playing her she is one of my top three. Everything you said about her is right though it’s quite hard to get the pop blossom in sometimes. Playing her in ARAM is really fun for that reason because the snowball gives you a really nice gap closer to use it, you can throw your snowball cast R then fly and it explodes right as you land 😂

[@noperope8239]

When u said the thing abt fiddle passive I remembered this ashe ignites it flashed away and ulted the efigy

[@thelastsepheramain6867]

Because mages have been in a pretty bad spot this season?

[@bulletcola7890]

I feel like its more than that for Neeko's case, considering that she wasn't that popular during the previous seasons she was in, and was only averagely popular/popular during both release and around mid of Season 9.

[@minimoYT]

She's too fair for a trickster kind of champion, her clone and disguise don't really fool anyone, Kennen syndrome and assassin/skirmisher meta in the mid lane make her be too average, so only mains and OTPs play her, because other mages are more versatile, and skirmish champs and assassins are generally just better

[@Letnistonwandif]

Desilusional mage players LMAO. Saying mages are in a bad spot XD. How desilusional you can be to say that. Rumble, Brand, Ziggs, Xerath, Lissandra and many others XD. You are just a silver shitty player if you think that mages are not OP.

[@nicharonii]

typical seraphine enjoyer with the god awful take

[@thatoneneeko2131]

@@Letnistonwandif in what universe are you calling rumble a mage?

[@zoltox9987]

I’m happy why neeko isn’t played, to me it feels like she doesn’t nothing tbh, she isn’t really that good at anything except her R which can be pretty easily countered

[@chiidybang370]

Her r cant be countered if you hit more than 1 person with your root. 3sec aoe root. In midline your enemie is dead whenever you hit your enemie with a e after yout hit a minion before. She falls of later but her early and midgame are very good if played right. Pick her if enemie team has 3 or more melee champs. The more of them the better for neeko. I play her a lot in Platin elo against assassins. Pretty easy to shut them down.

[@Typhoonflame]

her root is as strong as Morg's pretty much and her ult is HUGE in teamfights if you know how to land it, which you clearly don't.

[@askekrause3909]

Shapesplitter is really good for mind games, and can turn pretty much any earlygame gank against you into a sure escape. Shapeshift is incredibly good for zoning, eg. pretending to be the fed jungler and running around in warded bushes while your team is doing baron. You can pretend to be an AD champ by lasthitting a minion with your third stack of W passive. You get a speedboost from your W third stack, which is incredibly useful in many catch and/or escape situations. Also, think about which champs you shapeshift into. Some champions are incompatible in the sense that you don't get their vital passive and because of that you are instantly seen through. Despite all of this, she is still incredibly balanced because of the difficulty to actually play her on a competent level.

[@freddiet.rowlet525]

I agree with the statement "Neeko is a fair champion", but it just reminds of the one time I went 25/6 on Dark Harvest Neeko and the enemy Galio was crying about having no counterplay

[@LoreGoshi]

How is that even possibile? The matchup is heavy Galio favoured. Galio has magic shield passive, more poke range on his Q and can E to get to her and, even if he gets rooted, the E animation still makes him dash. Also, Galio gets more pressure on the map than and he scales way better then her. He either got camped by the jungler on he is bronze 4.

[@freddiet.rowlet525]

@@LoreGoshi It was a Sylas I was laning against, the Galio was jungle but they were the one that complained

[@ohmygoddiosmio9138]

Cause she's fair since she actually requires to hit skillshots

[@stevenquartzcutiepiedemayo4430]

Neeko's fine the way she is she's my main smh stop complaining and learn to use her instead :( The reason she isn't as used is because she's straight up balanced. You need to learn how to make well use of her kits in all situation to maximize the damage and receive as little damage as possible since you're squishy. About some people saying her ultimate isn't good on her cause she's squishy, both her w and her passive can hide the R range? So in case you need a good way to approach the enemies to use your R, either use her W or her passive, or flash, or combine them, Or instead just use your E and root them before going next to them to ult em..?

[@IMVADER2]

If you just gave her W the rework that Wukong got with his clone (small dash while in stealth), I think we'd see her play skyrocket. Her numbers still feel really good right now, and it would give her the gap closing she wants on R. Also, if we could get her clone to charge ultimate animation when Neeko ults as well, but only have *actual* Neeko do the damages, that could add for more mindgames she's needing as a clone user. (also you're probably in the wrong elo if you haven't seen people flash Fiddle's passive. I've seen them as high as mid-plat)

[@HyMyNameIsMatt]

On Fiddlesticks, The effigy can almost never be used to trick someone into wasting something, but I have pretended to be the effigy a few times for ult/fear setups.

[@someonehere3599]

:(