It’s not big secret that in the current league of legends Meta, health is the most pivotal stat in the game. Along with it, armor and magic penetration has become popular as well. This makes sense, as you’re trying to get your opponent to have as little armor or magic resistance as possible, so you essentially do true damage to them. But what about the other effects that health stacking will have on the Meta? Personally, I think one of the most overlooked solutions to the health Meta is picking a champion that does percentage damage, namely Kog’Maw.

Recently, we’ve seen a bit of Kog’Maw in competitive play, namely out of Vulcun Zuna, and it’s exciting to see as it seemed for a while that he had fallen out of favor. With Kog’Maw’s W, Bio-arcane barrage, he deals 6% of max health per attack at level 5, which is insanely effective against the thousands of health your enemies may have. Now, Kog’Maw is really squishy and he doesn’t have an escape, so what if the enemies get through your team and kill you? Unfortunately, there isn’t much in the way of solutions at that point. You can try and avoid this by having a team with great disengage, but that doesn’t always work. Now there are other champions that deal % damage, for example Elise. But right now, Elise has a 70% ban rate, so let’s look at some different solutions to the health Meta.

As I mentioned before, since season 3 started penetration has been another good stat to get on pretty much everyone. When you’re looking in the shop, make sure you see what your opponents are building, and adjust accordingly! One thing I see way too often is people building items purely for the big numbers they can get out of it, without reading between the lines.

Remember when you were level 20, and that Caitlyn on your team had 5 Bloodthirsters? Yeah, that guy, don’t be that guy. Sure, it’s cool to have really big numbers on your stat sheet, but you know what’s even cooler? Actually hitting your opponent for those numbers! This is where penetration comes in, as if your opponent has a lot of armor, you won’t be doing much, and it will be like chipping away at a giant rock… literally though, if you’re against a Malphite. You’d be surprised how much a Last Whisper or Void Staff will do for you.

Also, there are a few items in the game right now that let you do % health after buying them. Currently, Blade of the Ruined King and Liandry’s Torment give your attacks/abilities an extra % of your opponent’s health. Always consider these against people like that Shen on the enemy team with over 5000 health. On that note, right now on the PBE (Public Beta Environment) Blade of the Ruined king is getting buffs that are adding attack speed to it, so you get more attacks off per second, essentially doing more % damage.

Individually, these solutions don’t do all that much, but together they are a dangerous combo. Having both an Elise and Kog’Maw, or having a Kog’Maw with Blade of the Ruined King. Just as you need more than 1 item to be “stacking health” you may need more than one solution to, well destroy that health.

Final Thoughts

The meta changes, tactics come and go, as does champion strength. Right now we’re still barely into season 3; we are still really adjusting to the Meta. There are so many ways where you can make yourself a better player, as you learn the game and adjust your play style to those around you. I can’t honestly say that health stacking will always be this way, as every past Meta before this one, obviously has gone by the wayside. You may not like it, but League of Legends isn’t going anywhere, and as long as it’s here, it’s going to be constantly changing.