Why NO ONE Plays: Poppy | League of Legends

[@YoungTactician]

I’ve always struggled to explain this to new people looking to learning the champ but u did it perfectly

[@VarsVerum]

Hey man! A lot of poppy mains talked about you haha~ happy thanksgiving :D

[@lunary_4710]

He's the best poppy ever it's normal that all poppy mains talks about him

[@aaronscott7467]

@@lunary_4710 Have you talked to mod mark? I won't say that he is either better or worse than tactician, but the two play poppy very successfully with extremely different playstyles. He currently runs her building kraken slayer first item, since they changed the items he was running to make them not effective enough for his playstyle, and is still being fairly successful. His ign is chibi miku

[@poggy2904]

@@aaronscott7467 does he have a youtube or twitch?

[@alexandersalazar4736]

Dude thanks for the tips and how to play better. My win rate got better because of you although it's good but it sure got high.

[@veronicaaragon8610]

I main poppy. I remember someone banned her and I was so confused.

[@ArchyPoppy]

hahaha ye im like that too, or if someone picks her before me i just beat them because i know everything they can do and then teach them how to play her properly lmao

[@chiromedic1127]

The one time my main got banned so I said yolo I’m gonna play poppy....great choice

[@Jack-op8bb]

How do u win against poppy as Irelia or Riven etc. This champ is just stupidly strong when going against some champs.

[@brynnhatcher8279]

Lolol, same exact thing happened to me

[@keeperofthehammer6795]

@@Jack-op8bb You don't. It's like Garen vs Vayne. Hard counterpick.

[@RyuuseiBoy]

The only reason i play Poppy is to spite on Lee Sin mains

[@freddiet.rowlet525]

Or to counterpick the top Rengar who wants to just auto-jump from bushes the entire laning phase

[@marcelinodarren10]

or u mean to spite any riven players.

[@viket8316]

NOOO YOU CANT STOP MY DASH DASH MEANS PRO SKILL YOU ONLY PRESS A BUTTON I CANT DEAL DAMAGE WHITOUT DASH! haha no jumping

[@xysm5224]

I fucking love to dab on Yasuo, Fiora, Gnar, Vayne, Rengar, Akali, Samira and Tristana.

[@ThatSupportTho]

I have poppy in my back pocket whenever I play against Yasuo mid lane

[@jadenlustre4612]

As a new Poppy main, her W is very satisfying in that you can just watch the frustration boil up in a Lee Sin, Khazix, or Jax whenever they don’t get to jump on me

[@carnivorze1052]

I was versus a Irelia Pyke Diana Kha'zix Twitch. They surrender and say Poppy fair champ'

[@jadenlustre4612]

@@carnivorze1052 LOLL!! Imagine, a single ability, prevents them from playing the game? They really can’t be talking tho, they play really annoying champs so this is only fair punishment

[@angryshrike3304]

Especially against Rell

[@brebutthecoolone]

Love playing poppy support against Leona so she never goes in

[@_friedtofu]

@@jadenlustre4612 ikr god i love this champ

[@gortalla5474]

STOP, I want to be the only one who plays her so i get her everytime

[@braddorcas9363]

You'll be fine. Her kit isn't easy to be good with so not many people will play her regardless. She's really only strong with very experienced players with her, or top level players.

[@vibingwithkingnephi5117]

@@braddorcas9363 this so much fucking facts you have to play with experience players when playing poppy..... people who knows how to set up ganks and shit

[@fernandoametller6535]

@@braddorcas9363 poppy is easy to play, just get the right runes and buy the right items and u will always win the top lane, well maybe u struggle with somes tops like a good darius player or gnar, moderkaiser or yorick but i always win vs garen, temo, gankplant, irelia, fiora, nasus, urgot and even vayne.

[@domaa8559]

@@fernandoametller6535 i don't know i want to start playing with her but it's like there are better tops to master

[@fernandoametller6535]

@@domaa8559 well she is a strong 1v1 and 1vs2 early mid and late but there are better tops that can kill the other team easily like a good garen or nasus even urgot but still poppy can win vs them and its fun to play. xd

[@logansinclair6333]

As a pretty dedicated Poppy one trick, I think your thoughts are laid out well and I mostly agree. However, I think that despite her inconsistencies, she rewards a player being good at her to an extreme degree. I think she has the potential to 1v1 the vast majority of top laners, even those she doesn't traditionally counter (those with a dash.) Even without a wall, gap closing with E and dropping a Q on someone is fairly reliable damage, and in addition to wise use of your passive makes you a solid duelist. I definitely agree that her team fight is lacking, though, and find early laning phase to be more her strength. Despite being insane at soaking up damage, it can be very difficult to lock down the target that you need to if you can't get into a good position for a stun. In theory her biggest playmaker in fights is her ult, as knocking away the right target(s) at the right time can single handedly determine the outcome of a fight. As you said, though, even this is very conditional, not necessarily because of being inconsistent inherently, but because you are extremely reliant on your team to follow up on the precious few seconds that the target(s) are knocked away, which is a gamble in solo q. Also, it is just as easy to completely fuck up the fight by using your ult improperly, a mistake that is very easy to make even for those with a lot of experience. On the other hand, I think that one thing that is EXTREMELY consistent about her is her survivability. In addition to being one of the tankiest tanks, she is also one of the most slippery tanks, if not the most slippery. W move speed/dash blocking, kiting with Q, E to a minion, and especially ult make it so damn difficult to actually kill her, even more so in 1v1 or 1v2 situations. I'm able to take fights super confidently, because even if I lose and am about to die, I can just press the eject button and get out for free. I find it comical that she honestly has stronger peel for herself than her team in many scenarios. As for changes, I saw another commenter here suggest making her E have a brief knock up if it doesn't stun against a wall, and I think that is an excellent idea. Furthermore, I do think giving her W some more universal utility would help her a lot. Perhaps make it so enemies who enter the aura suffer penalties to their resistances for a few seconds, or on the other hand make it so allies who enter have their resistances buffed. Just an idea, as in all honesty I'm not super certain of what would solidly and reasonably make her better, and a large reason for this is that I find so much enjoyment in her current state. I'd love to see it happen, though. Her being buffed in a meaningful way would be nothing but music to my ears. Anyway, great video. I enjoyed watching, and I'm glad to be invited to share my thoughts on my favorite champion.

[@rookie4582]

Bruh, train me pls

[@logansinclair6333]

@@rookie4582 lol I am far from an expert, but I'm happy to answer any questions you may have drawing from the experience I do have playing the champion.

[@rookie4582]

@@logansinclair6333 Is poppy worth picking in solo queue? I find myself struggling with Poppy in later 1v1s as most of the time I cannot win without teammates. Do you play in NA?

[@logansinclair6333]

​@@rookie4582 I do play in NA. So, in my opinion, Poppy is more than viable to climb with in solo queue, especially with tanks being so strong right now, but I do feel she isn't someone you can turn your brain off to carry games with, and you need to be very aware of how to play each stage of the game. Along those lines, it is important to keep in mind that Poppy is at her absolute strongest at the early to mid game, and she falls off late. Should you get fed, you can be strong enough to 1v2 or even 1v3 during these early stages, and this is what I think is the most reliable way to "carry." Push to get a lead as hard as you possibly can early, and squeeze it for everything it's worth before you fall off. Split push while you're strong enough to kill two people who try to stop you. Solo rift herald. Make aggressive TP plays every time it's up. Never be idle. Poppy is definitely one of those champions who wants to end the game as early as possible. One way that I think you can capitalize on your lead is to get creative with your build path. One thing I absolutely adore about the champion is that she isn't completely boxed into building the same thing every single game. You have options. Sure, going Sunfire Aegis into Thornmail is never bad, but I feel like it's not always making the best use of a big early lead. For instance, in a recent game where I was off to a strong start, my final build ended up being Goredrinker > Ravenous Hydra > Spirit Visage, and I finished 17/0/8 being my team's hard carry. See, this is much worse in a scenario where I am not ahead, or where it is super late game, but with my early advantage, it made my carry potential so much higher than just rushing tank. However, you don't auto lose if the game does go late. In this situation, Poppy does settle more clearly into her role as a peel tank, and you are then SUPPOSED to rely on your team in the late game to get kills while you protect them. You can still kill people, especially if you stun a squishy, but this no longer becomes your main objective when everyone has items. At this point you want to focus on flash stunning that pesky 14/2 Vayne or knocking away that Cho'Gath that is gonna perma CC your whole team. Your damage is great (again, especially early,) but your ability to impact team fights comes from your CC, the utility from your ult, and the fact that you are nigh impossible to kill. Playing with your team should be your objective 24/7 if you have fallen off, or if you are very behind. Furthermore, similarly to how you aren't held down too much by what items you can build, I think this also applies to what role you play. Of course, top lane is Poppy's most popular role, and I think she is solid here (this is where I've played her for well over 90% of my games,) but you can branch out, because I think she is also extremely potent as both a jungler and a support. Each one has their pros and cons, which I will go into. I'll start with support. I think as a support, Poppy is even more potent as a counter pick than in top lane. Against someone like Leona, Nautilus, Alistar, Rakan, etc, you make it so they literally have zero presence during laning phase if you react well with your W, and you have very strong peel for your ADC. However, she's pretty useless into a support like a competent Lux, Brand, Soraka, or anyone who won't play forward enough to get stunned. If you play support, I wouldn't solo Poppy here, but absolutely use her as a counter pick when applicable. Of course, support is probably the worst role for her to climb with, though, because you just won't get as fed. Jungle is another story, though. Low key, I think jungle might be the best role for Poppy to climb in right now. Obviously, I think it is easier to carry from here than in top lane simply because you effect the whole map more with ganking and objective control. Also, I think Poppy's tools are very strong in the jungle. She has a super healthy clear, powerful ganks, and can easily solo objectives early (you can take first drag with just bami's cinder.) Like in top lane, she wants to be extremely aggressive early by ganking as much as possible and relentlessly invading the enemy jungler. Another big thing is that I feel she has fewer bad match ups in the jungle, with Olaf being your worst one that you perma ban. There are a couple others who are kind of rough, but they escape me at the moment. Anyway, I would consider trying her out here. I've been loving it and am strongly considering switching to it as my main role for her in the upcoming season. Last thing I want to recommend is that you check out the youtube channel of Young Tactician: kzbin.info/door/PtcVNHW1obDLY1jH-NUTKw . If I recall correctly, he is a grandmaster Poppy who is her highest ranked main on NA. He makes very informative, insightful content and will show you how to play the champion well. Also, for reference, I've been playing for one season and have accrued over 300k mastery on Poppy during that time. I managed to rank up from Iron IV to Silver I by the end playing Poppy more than anyone else, and I think it is more than possible to go even further in this next one. Sorry this was long. Let me know if you want to know anything else.

[@ember_falls]

@@logansinclair6333 I am really interested in this jungle poppy, could you tell me more about builds and runes for that?

[@bruhgamer7479]

It’s sad how all of these old champs like Poppy don’t get played because they get outshined by these really flashy characters like Irelia or Yasuo, sometimes the more obscure characters like Rammus or Skarner are a lot more fun than some of the more Anime esc characters that Riot puts out

[@lytra_]

Yeah but then the best part is when u W a yasuo or irelia main and they tilt lol

[@noodlesandeggs1512]

I started playing poppy because of her bewitching skin (orange chroma). She’s so fun literally bullying the hell out of champs that rely on dashes. Only real annoyance I have is just missing the wall when I E and the target escapes

[@TheBigSad8247]

I normally play champions based on asthetics. If I like how they look, I could care less about how inconsistent they are (except in fighting games). So yeah, I'll be the sucker to admit I only started playing Poppy because of her redesign. She is so cute.!That alone gives me enough strength to bare with her shortcomings (no pun intended).

[@artifex9541]

Simular xd

[@musa9371]

hard same X)

[@Aceleo209]

Atleast people like u guys love what you play unlike most meta-hoggers :D

[@artifex9541]

True xd

[@Monno15]

Same! I only play yordles, animals like alistar, anivia etc.. & then Camille, for some strange reason. The mobility is addictive I suppose

[@colingoetz3936]

I’ve been one tricking poppy for a few months now, and I really think her well roundedness is really underrated. She does almost everything just well enough that she’s almost never weak in the right hands. As long as she gets her shield, she’s a solid tank, a solid duelist, a monster in jungle, she has great disengage with her w and r, solid engage with e q and even r. I love this champ because she’s been consistently good for me, contributing much to the team even when behind. I appreciate the spotlight for my girl.

[@dr.dylansgame5583]

true i just wish they didn't remove hunters potion i loved using it on poppy jungle as corrupting just doesn't give the same sustain when clearing multiple camps without backing. I remember i used to play skarner and used it never would have to back unless i also got into a fight as well. Was badass feeling practically immortal to the camps past level 2 or 3.

[@ratherazure103]

I play Poppy a considerable amount and I gotta say. You're right! All 4 of her abilities (and passive) are conditional in nature. I didn't even realise. However, I see it as a strength of hers. She has the capability of dealing massive amounts of damage if these conditions are met and so therefore, the enemy laner must respect these conditions. It becomes easier to make mistakes that Poppy can then punish. In that regard, Poppy is a responder and not an engager, due to her dash range and the effect of knocking back her target. Forcing enemies to think twice about engaging (Poppy's W) and then what to do after their initial burst (Poppy's E AND Poppy's W) Hence, her Warden classification. She does not need any abilities to support her allies as her mere presence already does so. All that aside, why do I play Poppy Top? - Ranged grasp auto attack hurts. Alot. - For a tank, she travels real far very fast. Her dash activation is 475 but her effective range is twice that. - Her AA CAN have a range of 1700 by weaving in her dash and flash. Nobody expects it. I find it funny. - If Poppy wins lane early, you have to respect her E, which would mean not even farming under tower anymore. - Junglers know that upon ganking, probably either them or the top laner is going to be ulted, forcing a 1v1 duel. Or her escape. - By using Shield Bash, Revitalise and Poppy W Passive, she gains a massive unexpected shield and is back in the fight for 3 seconds, until the shield expires. - A personalised fuck you message to a certain set of champions. - Illaoi can't W in Poppy's W which means she effectively gets no Ultimate. - Lillia can't W in Poppy's W which means she loses her biggest damage source. - Ornn can't R in Poppy's W which means he loses his Ultimate. - The list goes on... Why do I play Poppy Jungle? - Many champions do not have a response other than flashing if Poppy shows up behind them. - She probably the only tank that is closest to an assassin. - Massive objective control capabilities (Poppy's R) Poppy's Downsides - Against certain champions, she basically does not exist. Darius, Kayle, Gangplank, Taric, Morgana to name a few. At her core, she is a counterpick champion. - If she makes any mistakes on her engage, she is just instantly dead. End of story.

[@alitamer2105]

as a person who is new to league and picked up poppy as my main I feel very seen by this video

[@joaocanato1924]

Same

[@poundsofslothcigars]

Poppy was my first most played character. Love me some poppy still to this day!

[@Randomblackmail]

Brilliant video, you really hit the nail on the head. Poppy was my absolute main but I switched out for safer champs. I couldn't figure out why she was so inconsistent and frustrating but you explained it perfectly: her kit's conditions don't have synergy between them! It also doesn't help than 2 of her skills are a gamble that can easily help out the enemy team when used wrong. Her most vital skill E either deletes enemy champs or pushes them to safety while dumping you deeper behind enemy lines and I don't need to say anything about her R. I've recently started to find huge success with her after running Predator/Nimbus/Celerity (easier to set up her conditions), and then Season 11 OP tanks happened so I'm glad to say Poppy is super viable now. But I do seriously wish Riot would do a small rework so she can meet her conditions easier. That or at least have a marker that shows the enemy is actually in range of a wall.

[@aaronscott7467]

Having the marker really wouldn't help unfortunately. By the time you actually push them, they've usually moved out of position.

[@glockdookie5231]

If you think her kit doesnt have synergy youre not playing her correctly

[@rafasiqalv]

What an amazing video! I saw in the subreddit and I've come to like and comment haha. First, I'm a Poppy main, so maybe this will influence me a bit, but I agree with the points you made for her being a weird tank. I guess I fell happy playing a champion that forces the enemy to play different, i.e. avoiding walls, disputing the shield and playing around her W cooldown when you have a dash. Also, her lore. All her abilities are conditional! That's a really good point that amazes me, but she has a little synergy with E and Q. E into wall grants enough time to apply both parts of Q and also R, that's a powerful combo. She lives and dies to hit E. Her ranges are strange, because while Q is short is also long enough to outspace every melee AA range (maybe she was designed to be played denying trades until she finds a window that favours her?), her R has the almost the same range of W when uncharged but the knock up is not so good to serve as a good CC in a 5vs5, the charged version is the most powerful displacement in the game, but travels slowly and is not so hard to dodge. So she is different from other wardens, because she can peel for carries by denying that the enemy gets closer. She can do very little to stop a Zed that's suddenly on top of an ADC, unlike the other Wardens like Zac or Shen. Her initiation is awful, I think every other tank has better ways to start a team fight (maybe Rammus suffers more?). So she stands in this spot where you either make find someone out of position or deny someone from the fight charging R and using W for the gap closers. What I would do to make her less situation dependant?... I think it has to be some change with how W works. W active could give your bonus resistances again (so 10% from passive, doubled to 20% when active for the 2 seconds and 20% when low, doubled to 40% when active) so she could make some use of it against enemies that do not have dashes and using it as a survival tool in team fights. Other option is changing the "grounded effect" from enemies knocked by Steadfast Presence to enemies knocked by or inside W, so she could have value using W to "trap" enemies within the area.

[@VarsVerum]

I did mention the ONLY synergy her abilities have is that she can hit her second Q :)

[@pandapie6078]

The only fix I can probably offer is to scale E's range with Poppy's Movement Speed. So if Poppy has more movement speed, the further her E's range is gonna be and vice versa. Similar to how Warwick's ult range also scales with his movement speed.

[@sayaamami9512]

The timing of her W and when to usr E are parts of her skill expression

[@tatanano359]

Poppy is really good for tilting Yasou mains lol

[@Shadednecros]

For the most part, you got it pretty well. Poppy is all about your awareness of surroundings vs opponent's awareness. She can be pretty nasty when ahead and can fall back to the "protect the carry" concept when behind.

[@Valiguss]

Main problem I’ve been having playing her is that her w does almost nothing without enemies having a dash One nice thing about her I’ve found is that she can basically flex to 3 different roles; she is a dangerous jungler, too laner and support, but she needs a buff to her w, like low aoe damage or slow in the area or maybe sharing her passive armor with allies in the area

[@sociallyawkwardweeabootras1450]

I always wanted to know why I always felt like I had a better time playing from behind as Sion than Poppy. I main both but love Poppy more and don't hope she changes anytime soon but your points on her inconsistency definitely made me realise things I didn't notice before. Very eye opening.

[@Mizar007]

Poppy main here. I think you're pretty spot on, both why she is often considered 'too weak' for professional play, but at the same time picked in specific matchups. It's also the reason I think a lot of mains find her so much fun to play - it's that inconsistency. But also there is a deep sense of reward involved in landing every e or perfectly inturrupting with a w. She's a champion of intense dichotomy and while it is inconsistent she feels uniquely rewarding to play. It's what keeps me coming back time and time again.

[@abderianagelast7868]

These videos have made me decide that I'm going to become a Yordle main.

[@manolismarinakis8444]

As a Poppy main there is one other thing I want to add. Many details in her kit make her punishing to play in a way that feels bad and not-as-it-should-be. Everything I am going to say also makes her more inconsistent too but the main problem for me is the feel. 1) when your passive comes up it is really easy for your melee auto to get cancelled 2) unlike with what happens with Irelia Q or Pyke R, if the target of your passive auto dies when the attack is in the air you do NOT get your shield as if you had killed it 3) your shield is almost impossible to see in a teamfight 4) if you try to charge your R and you get hit by random cc, as it is common for front line tanks, it goes on a 30s cooldown as opposed to something like 5s which is common with other such skills 5) your E knock back is really short and the collision direction is horrible, meaning there are many times you can't use it and even more where the person is clearly in the wall but not stunned. The knock back range is 300...compare that with Vayne's E that is 475! 6) there are some skills that 100% look like dashes but are actually blinks, just to troll Poppy and Veigar, also it seems like you should at least be able to cancel blinks if they are cast inside your W

[@MichaelJones-rg3hv]

1, 2, and 4 are the main reasons I didn't choose to be a Poppy main. Those awkward shield cancels aren't usually a big deal but when it costs you the fight, it's very frustrating. The knockback distance doesn't bother me much but I'd certainly welcome a buff.

[@mrbaconbeast8902]

Ad poppy feels great to play, the amount of animations cancels is godlike and one's hitting a squishy target in 1.5 seconds Is godlike. However to do this you need to always crash into terrain sadly

[@AvatarRoku22]

i play poppy... i guess ill continue being a no one :[

[@VarsVerum]

Hahaha

[@dori5484]

same :(

[@l24_bones98]

Me too buddy... Me too.. THERE ARE DOZENS OF US!

[@masterfeeder0739]

Same its just a sad Life as a Poppy main

[@dori5484]

@@YourVideosDogchitHeresWhy says the one who writes this at the internet

[@mementorespice8025]

As a Poppy main, I think a way to improve her is to up her E range. I feel it would make it easier to land a wall stun and make her more consistent.

[@micha8701]

I remember she got nerfed back then.They were changing something with her w/e.If not wrong,they cut bonus mr/armor by half or threshold by half.Or movement of w and range of e.Also like 1y+ they nerfed passive duraction.She was popular meta pick those times.

[@evanhuizenga8626]

Man I miss playing old full AD Poppy. 7 seconds of being an immortal god after ulting the enemy Janna.

[@MangaGamified]

Yeah, her not being picked due to her performance and consistency issues, deserved it. I took like 8~9 seasons break only to realize they destroyed some heroes and the meta changed to a fast one to cater to esports not being a farm fest. I only play URF nowadays, if there's no URF I just do other hobbies

[@antoinepfen9904]

Awesome video ! My 2 cents as an avid Poppy player : there is a strong argument to Poppy being a hidden op (as in, not op in every circumstance, but extremely strong in some matchups) jungler. When ganking, you will usually come at the enemy laner at a 90 degree angle, which makes it much easier to make use of her E to push the target back towards your own laner or into a wall. You might also be able to stop an enemy from dashing with your E, without even having to pop out your W (which is also great for ganks since you can cut the enemy's escape route quite consistently with it). Also, she can counterjungle pretty efficiently, because the jungle is full of narrow, winding corridors that give her a lot of windows to slam someone into a wall, and also because once she hits lvl 6 she can just use her ult (& W) to disengage if she gets caught out, basically allowing her to invade without lane priority. You might also use your R to send the enemy jungler back to base if your team decides to coinflip an objective so that you just win it by default.

[@花束-p5p]

Subscribed. I like how your contents are informative and is not just a rant that is very biased like some popular channels :-)

[@ryplecuk767]

Not gonna lie, when i started playing League of Legends, i didn't knew who should i play, i used to play Garen, Caitlyn, etc, but none of them really seemed to catch my atention. Then i saw Poppy's Rework. She's soo freakin' cute. Stuff like this happens a lot with me. I use Ness and Hero in Smash, not because of the meta, nor the moveset, but because i really like the characters design. Poppy is another example of this. She's really fun to play tho.

[@miicyah5]

young tactician poppy one trick grand master i believe even has his stream

[@thetruestar6348]

I LOVED playing assassin Poppy when lethality was introduced, I joined LoL when she got reworked and mained her for awhile that's also where my love for yordles started

[@playmaker3116]

She reminds me a bit of Kel Thuzad in HOTS. Needing a terrain to CC someone like a wall or something. However, even if Kel'Thuzad isn't the best hero, he actually has a bonus he unlocks during game that makes him able to pop shards of ice that acts like walls on the map. I think Poppy needs a way to create objects on the map if she wants to be consistent. Like a small pillar Ornn-like that could come from an item she could buy (For example, her hammer as something like Rengar's necklace or Viktor's hearts).

[@michapiasta3072]

Or make her ult spawn a pillar if you dont charge it, so you can choose classic yeet or pillar

[@TheIshShow1]

The old poppy was amazing. Zekent was so good with her

[@alexandersalazar4736]

Well, all you gotta do is kill the enemy carry run and destroy a tower.

[@averagefan4376]

Poppy jungle is one of the best if not the best counter to kayn jg

[@chickenbox400]

I agree

[@knight-of-rain]

Maybe her ult could cause some terrain to rise up from the impact of the hammer for a couple seconds, that could give her some more agency on landing her stun rather than hoping an enemy hugs a wall.

[@SirQMorris]

Small tweaks that will make her viable. 1. If her passive hits a champion, you get the shield instantly. 2. E is an AoE effect that works like Gnar ult (but thinner) To balance the E make it a longer cooldown so you want to use it sparingly. This would make her a lot stronger and more consistent.

[@liamandrew2481]

I usually main champs that aren't meta because I'm very counter culture. It feels satisfying to know you won a game based on innate skill rather than broken kits. +you'll always be able to get them on champ select ++the added value of being one of the few who know how to dominate if they ever get buffed

[@thecheeserat2510]

I’m a poppy main and I play her as a jungler which nullifies some of the issues you brought up like difficulty landing her E I find it a lot easier to do while jungleing and ganking . It also gets rid of the bad matchups argument because you won’t be directly facing anyone when you jungle . However I agree all of her spells are very conditional.

[@pedrovilasgomes9144]

I really want to learn how to play with her just because she is so cute, and the idea of bashing someone's face with a 3 foot high little creature wielding a hammer twice her size is quite the power fantasy

[@braylenlevi3229]

Poppy main here. One my favorite aspects of her kit that you forgot to mention is her ability to turn 5v5s into massive man advantages with the right angle. I've managed to ukt away 3 enemies leaving the fed vayne and her Soraka alone in baron pit as their teammates got sent back to fountain.

[@ssaigonek]

after coming back to league after a while, i started playing poppy simply because i got the bewitching skin from loot so i decided to start playing poppy since i haven't played her since the rework and now as a new poppy main, i definitely agree with everything you said. you described EVERYTHING perfectly imo, but still, i think more people should start playing poppy cause in my experience she is such a fun and rewarding champion to play once you know how to play her 😅 i just love her so so so freaking much. cant recall the last time i enjoyed playing a champion as much as i enjoy poppy ❤

[@LEADER0FY0U]

As a poppy support as my second main, I think that should have been covered as well. It's basically like a leona without consistent engage and less stun. At the 'win' of higher damage.

[@Tri6Oraxus]

This is a really good breakdown. Though as a poppy jungle main I find ambushes to be her specialty. Sure a rengar or kahzix is scary to most, but if you bash them into a wall with e, throw your shield after your q and then upt knock up when the stun ends you can erase just about any problem squishy. Her w I mainly use for mobility with preaditor in order to appear in every lane almost at the same time. Applying pressure to all three lanes and taking rift and dragon well before most assassin jugglers. She is really hard to take down even if she builds for dps and her shield dash smash combo can usually half health anything that isn't a tank. However consistency a big issue for her as if you pick jungle first and they pick someone with invulnerability or a huge amount of sustain like blue kayn or rammus you will almost always lose. Big fan of poppy and proud of how you summed her up. Keep up the good work.

[@IanLEAU]

Been playing poppy for two weeks now in jg and one thing I can say for certain is no other melee tank champion has ever made me place more emphasis on positioning than her. I've had to really think hard about where and how I approach my ganks in a way that makes use of the terrain, and ganking bot lane is now more about how to separate supports from their adc's as opposed to just all ins.

[@aaronscott7467]

I am a poppy main, and I mostly agree with your assessment. However, there are a couple points I would like to add. Her w and specifically her r are what qualify her as a warden, but I rarely find myself playing her like one. Poppy can e, snapcast r, then q, and that will basically guarantee that her second half of q lands. There is one trick that most poppy players know, and that is that if you throw your shield, and then land an e into a wall while shield is still in the air, it lands directly on top of her. This guarantees the safety of her engage, and after e lands, you can q, r, auto, w. Usually, that will be enough to keep an squishy out of the fight completely, and either kill them in a pick, or force the enemy to turn and fight with a 90% dead carry. One other trick when facing a champion with dashes is that you can do is delay your w when someone dashes until the dash puts them near a wall, at which point they are in prime position to land an e. Pre-rework, I have heard that one trick you could do was to ult the support or tank, because it didn't prevent you from hitting the rest of the enemy team. You would then proceed to run over the rest of the team for the duration of your ult, because it effectively worked like a tryndamere ult that didn't require you to be at 0 hp. The biggest thing that riot could change to make poppy stronger would be to lower, maybe even as far as half, her ultimate cooldown. It is an integral part of her combo, and part of her identity as a warden, but in many situations can end up either only mildy disruptive, forcing enemies to scatter to avoid it, or just a part of her burst combo, and both of those situations normally have a much lower cooldown than 120s. As it is, she doesn't even get to use it every fight, which not only makes her much less reliable, but also compromises her identity as a warden, leaving her much closer to a vanguard or diver, diver especially during laning phase. She is extremely good at fighting under either her own or her enemies' turrets because it's one more wall they have to watch out for. Under the enemy turret, you have your shield to negate a couple tower shots, allowing you to effectively burst combo your opponent under tower at barely any cost to yourself, and under your own tower, it forces them to reconsider a dive because if you stun them, they will die. Middle of lane is basically the worst place for poppy to be, as you said, but in lane you can usually force the enemy to fight you inside the alcove, or just give you up and focus on tower, which has it's own disadvantages, namely poppy pushing them into it and forcing a fight under her tower. The other thing that riot could change to make poppy stronger would be to make it so she follows her target with her e. There are a lot of times where people will with blink or dash far enough away to make her e not actually push them and stun them, even if she had already collided with them in the case of blinking. edit: One of the most consistent requests I have seen in the comments is that her w be changed from an aura that knocks up on dash and grounds, to just being a grounding aura. I think that making it into a grounding aura that also knocksup and stops dashes on activation would be a really nice qol change for her that would make her strong into a lot more champions.

[@vicentejurua5091]

In brazil there is a mono poppy that terrorises everyone in our challenger.

[@Spooky_Spookerson]

To make her better they need to introduce that synergy between skills that orb has. Her Q create a wall of rocks for her to E enemies before exploding. Her W could reset her passive when interrupting a dash etc.

[@franklinwhitsell2987]

I play Poppy in Jungle. Her early ganks are terrifying to stop if you take ghost over flash. I realize everyone loves flash, but in solo queue the key is getting fed early so ghost is the way to go. She is great against lots of meta picks as most of the meta have some form of dash mechanic. The reason Poppy feels bad is actually dealing with mages. True if you get on top of them first you win, but any ranged CC is difficult to deal without burning your W... then you don't have your anti-dash or gap closing ability to engage. Her R ability is basically a team fight cheat code. If you can launch away the right target (or even multiple targets) the 5v5 becomes 5v4 or 5v3 with you usually wall slamming and setting up a quick kill at objectives for your team. Her ult is also great when it comes to sieging objectives as you can just knock away the enemy wave clear and take turrets with ease. Anything that can kite backwards or has ranged CC is a big weakness for Poppy. Dealing with a good lux/morgana can make things seem unplayable. Honestly I play max CDR runes with ultimate hunter, transcendence rune, ability haste instead of adaptive force. If you can kill people and spam abilities you become the Hammer of doom. But if you are facing gangplank/morg/lux.... just pick another champion that particular game. Poppy is ruthless when up close, but her ability to engage is not all that good compared to her team fight and disengage opportunities against ranged CC or people who can kite backwards.

[@westwrd82]

I find her more useful in the jungle than in top, more walls and when you run in for a gank, people tend to run towards walls or towers which you can stun them into. Also her ad ratios are insane and Duskblade poppy is super troll, but super fun.

[@conecarina2566]

Finally! A kindred soul! She's my main Jungler too haha

[@I0lcatz]

I LOVE poppys lore, personality, and just general vibe. I wish i could enjoy playing her but i cant.

[@joshyeager3112]

I’m a otp poppy and I think the current divine sundered actually does a lot to alleviate these problems (from a damage standpoint). I’ve been building sunderer - titanic hydra - dd - frozen heart. If anything else such as bramble is needed, I pick that up as well. When you have sunderer and hydra, you can one shot basically any squishy in the game while remaining very tanky. Also, trades in lane are much cleaner, you can e,q,aa and deal insane damage with the sunderer proc. It’s a guaranteed 20% max hp proc with q plus sunderer proc along with e damage, standard q damage, ad from your auto and bonus damage from buckler. Without proc’ing the second half of any ability, you can be guaranteed to do around 50% of any top laners health in a simple trade.

[@abcde9867]

I started poppy before rework, when she used to have a kickass Q which was so satisfying .. i miss dat poppy

[@lucykitsune4619]

My favourite thing to do as Leona is to wait until the enemy thinks they're safe only to flash-E them to secure the kill. Nobody sees it coming and it works every time and it's hillarious every time it does. Seriously the reaction of a friend in VC was "Damn we could get a kill there if they didn't use flash... Wait what are you doi- Holy shit, you're insane!" and my reaction to all that was to flash mastery, hit my Q and start backing

[@QuinTooEpic]

Tbh poppy jungle is so fun and counters so many jungles with her w and R combo,she also does so much damage with electrocute. Top lane poppy is good but jungle poppy scales so well and is one of my guilty pleasures for a jungle champ, also jungle gives her so many opportunities to proc E,Q auto combo which procs the electrocute. Her top lane is good but tbh poppy jungle feels like a role made for her.

[@jareddepew1467]

Man, I miss old poppy some iMessage. When I first started playing the game I used her. The enemy team never saw her much especially in lower elk, so they assumed I was trolling. But once I got force, bye bye add lmao

[@mathematiciantim3439]

As someone who mains poppy, I can say this is quite accurate. Due to how her kit works out, she usually only builds the damage tank items, sunfire, thornmail, titanic hydra and sterak’s. Her AD scalings are fucking insane, which is why the meme of lethality poppy is still alive. Her base stats are honestly some of the best in the game. She can bully most champs out of lane but after that, it all comes down to execution. A good flash E in a priority target will easily win you the game because most likely you’re not gonna die not to mention all your AoE damage from items and your Q. She’s honestly one of my favorite champs.

[@redgitstrider8044]

fascinating. I do have to comment on the bit about her W though, as I was actually thinking about this the other night. Sure, its conditional in the fact that it doesn't really do anything if the enemy doesn't have a dash, but what this fails to consider is how good Poppy is against champions without a dash. It's much simpler for her to close the gap, and particularly land an E stun. So it's a win win in my book.

[@angiegamez8600]

Poppy was my first main and M7, but I haven’t played her regularly since s9

[@KaiSoDaM]

4:09 A little note on the true power of old Poppy, his ult functions more like a Kyle ult, but you can take only damage of the person you chose to "duel". But the true Terror of Old Poppy, was that she would "duel" a support or someone who had 0 damage.. and then started facerolling the teamfights. She would have 100% AP or Ad scaling (can´t remember) and people never build her as tank, but instead as some kind of assassin, That could 1v5 lol her only balance was having almost no mana early game, being a easy target and get tower diven easly

[@AvatarRoku22]

I play poppy jungle somewhat regularly but i wouldnt consider myself a main so maybe im just dumb and dont know what im talking about. Even so I think poppy needs another minor rework and would personally like to see her move more towards a bruiser than a warden/tank. It would be nice to see them lean more into the grounded trait as well. The W does serve an important role with all the mobility champs have now but its still super underwhelming and probably the biggest issue with her kit. I think it should last longer but if they are going to keep it at the same duration it should be far more punishing to enemies stopped by it **(maybe stunned or dazed a la graves smokescreen effect with a strong slow. Something that better represents unexpectedly hitting an wall mid charge than just bouncing off and walking away)** and/or have some kind of debuff or dmg on champs within the circle. As it is now, 80% of the time W is just used for the MS to reposition for a wall pin. occasionally you might use it to counter an ornn charge or keep leesin off someone near you but pinning to the wall is usually a better option. Id like to see a change to her ult too. I think the knock back towards fountain is certainly... unique.. but its a very niche use of the ult. A cooler more practical ult would be something like a hammer slam that shatters the ground an has a wide effect. Just spit balling ideas here but it could be a somewhat long aoe cone that pulls all enemies in the cone some distance towards her (about as far as pikes Q maybe) and if its charged long enough it also makes that cone "rough terrain" for a few seconds giving it the grounded effect. That would synergize with the W since youd be forcing their interaction with the no-mobility zone around you if they are close enough and it could synergize with E by possibly repositioning the enemy near a wall to pin them to.

[@josephcho1288]

I was ready to get mad at you since I love poppy but you really did a good job of nailing down her weaknesses. Her passive shield, while good in lane, is so hard to get in teamfights as positioning is crucial and it can be hard to see the buckler in chaos + moving to pick it up can make you out of position from your teammates. Something that would make her more viable imo would be maybe an optional form switch as the game progresses (like kayn) to make your buckler shield proc just from autoing something, but make the shield value smaller.

[@curser63]

Old poppy is actually a good teamfighter especially if the enemy team doesn't know what she does. You go to their backline, you ult the support, then everyone is suddenly wasting all their skills on you. Even tho you can't damage the other enemies you can still interact with them especially with your E so they can't ignore you, plus their support will be threatened to help because you will kill him/her (especially if your building damage)

[@storm739]

Poppy main here, I really enjoy her kit for her mobility although being a tank and use her as an Orn, Fiora, and Riven counter. To me, she almost plays like an assassin in some way, as she goes in, spams her rotation, and shreds the enemy hp bars. Her ultimate is especially fun in team fights as I can take the enemy damage dealer out (trowing them far away) while my team takes down the allies making it an almost guaranteed won fight if done correctly. Definitely, a champion that can't always be picked, but everyone should try her at least once, who knows maybe you'll fall in love with her too? :)

[@caelanmasters5998]

I got to High masters playing only poppy in all roles except adc with many builds, my mmr stacked me against challengers semi freqeuently. Her conditional requirements on all of her abilities become easier if you build for it. She's got some serious potential but the most important thing is to have the ability to keep moving and move quickly so you can position to land your e with a wall or just simply stick to someone kiting you out, move speed and tenacity are your best friends.

[@devin3944]

Poppy is technically a strong champ, and an overpowered one if all her conditions can be met. I agree with you on how a lot of other tanks are more "consistent" and more straight forward with positioning, but there are a lot of others champs which have much more specific strengths like malph, rammus. Honestly I just think it is because she is too hard for people, especially if you play her tank. She reminds me of aurelion sol, where the champ isn't actually bad, it's just not appealing to learn the champ. edit: I understand why she main seem conditional, that's why i think she is better jungle

[@mithenmedina540]

Poppy is My favorite champion, but I couldnt put into words why stopped playing her. It always felt extra hard playing her when she wasnt meta

[@Kasperskytron]

I mained both old and new poppy, she is very satisfying to play as you used too. Full assasin just now ad instrad of ap. If you go tank, Flash e on an ADC can usualy decide fights. Ult the tanks away ir disengadge in teamfights. Or just bully vayne!

[@eribus8057]

For a champion with a huge hammer she really is pretty underwhelming these days imo.

[@zerrvatheforgotten6041]

I was a Poppy one trick till Rell came out and I still play her constantly. I picked her up before her rework and loved her early game challenge and mid/late game diminution. Now I love her cause I get to play footsies and mind games in LoL. I get rewarded for my champ knowledge and my setups. It's like playing a fighting game. Alot of my streetfighter skills translate well into Poppy, Jhin, and Arelion Sol. It's odd to think the main reason I love Poppy is most likely the reason she is not as popular. XD

[@brynnhatcher8279]

I play poppy jungle, her clear is good and her ganks are excellent if you are behind the enemy since they have to go through you and you can just push them back or stop them from dashing, and her ult is one of the best peel tools in the game and gives her the cc to land all abilities easily

[@jordanbwalt]

If there's anything often overlooked about poppy by newer players, it's her high AD ratios for a tank and incredible sheen synergy. You can put out some incredible damage with a bruiser build, while still being incredibly tanky. Edit: I would definitely disagree about a lack of glacial augment synergy. It can make locking someone down much easier, instead of being infinitely kited

[@plxlnnt]

if no one plays her no one seems to be able to play against her so i prefer it this way, people are scared of the dash denial because they see the field and don’t know what it does so they just don’t approach you at all, poppy isn’t a physical bruiser, she’s a MENTAL bruiser also if we get a varus one (who i also don’t see often at all) both of my mains will be covered

[@LumeRada]

Gold ranked poppy main here, I agree with everything. I think her ultimate needs to give us a wall but i can se how that would be too powerful.

[@ChromaticCluck]

Another good thing about Poppy is her ability to be built however the hell u want to. I’m genuinely thinking of maybe trying omnistone on her.

[@artifex9541]

Try predator with Gale Force xd

[@carnivorze1052]

Except AP every item in the game can be good on her. And it's the SME with runes. Almost everything work and I think it's why I love her behind her gameplay. Try Phase Rush mid AD ennemis can't kite you.

[@spe02001]

The old poppy was powerful in that season.

[@alexandersalazar4736]

If we added old Poppy in the current season she's gonna be a better Tryndamere.

[@yammoto148]

I agree that a lot of her kit has awkward synergy, its also the fact that items when it comes to ad tanks are limited, for e.g Sion is sometimes better off going damage items instead of full tank. Most ad tanks have issues scaling for longer games. I think Shen is the only one that overcomes this. Poppy at the very least has strong enough early game to be viable but late game its like you hit everything for wet noodle damage.

[@TrixTV_Gaming]

Well as a poppy main for 5 jears now i must say i understand your point but some times you don't need the surcomstances depending on your build still a very informing video👍🏻

[@enriqueparra8902]

nice video I really like poppy and i think one way to help her is by buffing her q, something like if you get hit by her 2 qs the enemy gets rooted by 1 sec or resets her passive

[@ConscientiousReviews]

As a diamond Poppy Jg player, I think many people are turned off by her seemingly straightforward kit. Poppy can be played as a tank, bruiser, or assassin; however, compared to tanks like Ornn, bruisers like Wukong, or assassins like Zed she does not have as much overall impact or outplay potential. Although she lacks these things, she still has one of the most versatile ultimates and 2nd ability in the game. Similar to how a fighting game, Poppy can counter leaps or even cancel enemy auto's if the 3rd ability or ultimate is timed properly. Many people won't put in the time to play her to this level, but those who do will see that Poppy might not be as "straightforward" as her kit leads people to believe. Anyways, that was just my two cents as to why people don't play Poppy. Loved the vid Vars!

[@VarsVerum]

Glad you enjoyed the video! :D take a look at my other ones if you'd like~

[@nateperkins9860]

I think a big thing is a lot of people consider her a top lane champion and ignore her as a JG and a support, where a lot of there shortcomings are less of an issue

[@saekimakai7546]

Well i do love play Poppy, i play her since season 2 and it was my first champion, i think she is not for everyone, but she is very strong in the good hands and can carry games

[@gazzmania150]

I mean poppy's combo makes it so she can land her other abilities he says it like her skills don't play off each other but if you E someone you're literally on top of them after, guaranteeing a Q/R or even Q?R>second proc of Q... They have a chance to flash/blink out, but can't dash out because W (which to some degree seems like fine counter play to me. Practically having to flash to get away or suffering the full combo holding your dash, not to mention getting punished if you dash against the W) The slow on Q, the move speed from W and the knock up from ult all give you time to angle yourself better for E slams... it's not freelo but they're utility that work for the mechanics

[@Ghostleeee]

Well this video needs an update ….. poppy is been played right now at world Championship! She also getting banned, so the champion is pretty good

[@xxOnigiri99]

The way I play Poppy in order to counter most of her problems is I build her like a bruiser. Before the new items, at least, I'd build her with a gauntlet, hydra, good tank items and another damage item. I still do somewhat the same, it's just that the items I pick are different (I still use gauntlet and hydra), because, for instance, I cant build Sunfire anymore. I need to go back and test her again, since I haven't been playing a lot and when I do, I've been playing other top laners

[@Tizloo]

They should change her w from mouvement speed to a dash and the dash would create a small wall under her tracks. It would be harder to close gaps when chasing, but she would be more explosive and could block areas like anivia enabling her to give more to her team as a tank.

[@ultimatesonic47]

simple if you hold e or double tap it she will smash the opponent in the ground stuunning them once she reachs them for the half of damage and time compared to smashing them into a wall, her w could reduce the cd if she didnt stop anyone so you can use it to chase champions that only runs fast or to position for your e

[@darkagobio7786]

As a OTP jg Poppy that started playing 1 year ago, I think that the biggest issue with Poppy is that ~60% of the time u can't solo kill someone that's playing with his brain on, but if u get teammates that are aware of ur pings, for a gank or objective fight, she's a pretty reliable champ.

[@rahahtheking6160]

Awww man you did that perfectly!

[@VarsVerum]

Thank you!

[@hiro2457]

Maybe, if after activate W, if you stun someone your W resets, it would be really great, because if they are far away, you need your W to get closer, but also to disengage, thats why now, the people play her with phase rush

[@Kilesfactor]

I simply play Poppy because her dialogue is very fun and cute. It really helps make up the fact that I'm going 0/4 versus an Ireila, the thing I _supposedly_ counter.

[@KhoaTran-md5ou]

poppy good win rate is mostly because she is a meele champ that has ranged auto atk (100% bonus from many runes that reduced for ranged champ) and a Q that hit like a truck. a good poppy is as dangerous not near the wall as she is near it because her trade is very good early game. throw shield Q make most people run into walls (counting the tower). Also trying to deny her shield means that you are closer to the wall than you think. You also forgot to add her W passive that makes her have 1.5 more HP than she appears to be. Playing her is like playing chess, which is why I love her so much.

[@MSDarkspyro]

Her old splash art gave me chills. Glad they reworked her tbh. Actually all the old splash art look like they were sitting in some sort of void

[@fetusdeletus1179]

Poppy doesnt have great engage, but what she does have is awesome follow up and decent peel. She makes for an amazing off tank (some champs like that in my opinion include Taric, Braum, tank Voli and tank Urgot) because of her ability to negate dashes and follow up on an immobilized champ. Plus her damage is enough to make up for having 2 tanks on the team. Her heroic charge gets the most value from landing the stun, but it can also be used to slam away a diving threat and comboing to let your team finish them off, examples being a Lee or Camille going after a backline carry. Smack them with charge, Q and W while your team beats them up. Not the most effective peel but better than Ornn or Malphite trying to peel. I like to run her when there's a tank support, sometimes when I end up playing supp I'll pick poppy if we have solid engage to add good follow up

[@bradleyr8459]

You keep making vids on my favourite champs lmao

[@guest_zzroman2076]

As a Poppy main I think the only changes I would make to her would be to extend the distance you drag people with your E, because it's been hundreds of times where I know I definitely stunned someone but just miss the wall by a pixel, and also change the movespeed from her W into an AoE slow so you don't feel like you have a dead ability if no one on the enemy team has mobility or uses blinks, I guess they could also give her E slightly more range to compensate the movespeed removal. Aside from that I find her way more useful as a warden support cause you actually get to use all your peeling tools that go unused as a top laner since there's no point keeping people away from you if you can't damage them from range, which in bot is your adc's job, you basically invalidate every vanguard matchup aside from Blitz (who you ban anyway) and with Glacial and Approach Velocity your passive becomes an on demand targeted Braum Q since you don't have to waste it on farming.

[@SmithYorkinster]

I'm a Poppy main also and personnaly I think her ultimate is extremely unremarkable and needs a tweak. Uncharged, it's a Allistar pulverize with less damage and 5 times more cooldown. While charged it can be interrupted, can be missed (it's a skillshot), or can be blocked if the unwanted enemy gets in front. I think it's far too unrewarding.

[@guest_zzroman2076]

@@SmithYorkinster Yeah maybe reducing the cooldown to half or less when uncharged could be good, considering it's how you use it 70% of the time.

[@KhoaTran-md5ou]

well you can dash into creep to combo q :), that thing hit like a truck. and as you said she counter all the dash, which is the meta for all champ now

[@CarlosHernandez-ll3mf]

As a poppy main I agree with u on all of these points. If i had a choice to change her in some way i think it would be her ult. It's a powerful effect at times, but I always feel it's the hardest ability to actually use in her kit with the rest of the kit cohesively. Getting level 6 never feels like a powerspike of any sort which isn't how an ultimate should feel for a solo laner. It's real use comes when u get ganked and can ult the jungle away for bad positioning but that's not really a thing an ult should be. The knockup does LESS damage than the full cast which is kinda backwards if u ask me. If u knock them away, even if u do double damage u send them towards fountain so they can safely get away. If u knock them up u may get 1 extra q proc to land and do a slight margin more damage but with so many high sustain champs in top it doesn't amount to much in most cases if u can't burst them down. I actually find the best success with her as a support or jungler since she can peel very well and her gank potential is really strong since ppl run away and typically ignore the walls as they do.

[@edamnaf9265]

I suggest putting the banners up on one side or the other, so people can still see the game.