One of the most exciting factors of the 2024 season is the series of champions set to be released at the end of 2023 – Preseason 2024 will officially be upon us. To satisfy the audience, the first name that has sparked significant debate about its design upon release – Smolder has made its debut in every professional League of Legends setting worldwide. Of course, results may vary, but overall, Smolder has garnered initial reviews as a less mobile ADC with immense late-game power – elements that define ADCs from the past in LMHT.
As of now in season 14, across all major and minor professional tournaments worldwide, Smolder has been picked 125 times and banned 113 times. This means that, on average, there will be at least one ban of this champion in each match. Additionally, Smolder’s current win rate stands at an impressive 55.6% – quite remarkable for a new champion. This little dragon’s win rate is the highest for the ADC role (based on the number of matches), while the lowest is in the Top Lane (around 33.3%). Furthermore, Smolder is also favored in the Mid Lane and proves to be very useful, with a 57.1% win rate.
In the recent match between KT Rolster and T1, Gumayusi utilized Smolder to maximum effect. Even though Smolder is not a mobile champion, Gumayusi was not killed even once. Moreover, statistics show that in just 23 minutes, Smolder in Gumayusi’s hands amassed a total of 229 stacks. In other words, within just 23 minutes, Smolder had enough stacked damage to rival that of a fully upgraded damage item.
Indeed, it has been proven that in the hands of the top ADCs in the LCK, Smolder is extremely powerful. This champion is inherently a late-game character, which means the longer the game lasts, the more advantageous Smolder becomes. This is especially true for teams that feature some of the world’s top ADCs today, such as T1 and Gen.G, making Smolder even more useful.
However, when considering other regions, this may not be entirely reasonable, or rather, many areas have playstyles that are not suited for Smolder. For instance, in the VCS where team fighting is favored, Smolder can be seen as a pure ADC that requires high stacks and sufficient items – similar to Aphelios. Therefore, many opinions suggest that if Smolder is “nurtured” properly, a team can completely “shut down” the power progression of this dragon champion.
Perhaps, Smolder will be an incredibly strong champion, even able to outlast fighters like K’Sante in late game. However, Smolder also shows that it requires many factors to reach its full power potential. Thus, whether this champion will be balanced or is another example of Riot’s “200 years of experience” remains to be seen based on the playstyle employed by the players and whether opponents can find a way to counter it.