State of the League

The problem with new champs is that they cost you something, specifically one of Riot's point types. While the early adopters will always be around, the savvy shopper will get as much feedback as he or she is capable before deciding on a purchase. We're here to help you with that.

Below we've compiled the reviews and impressions on Darius from the top names in the community, be they professional, journalist or somewhere in between. Read and watch to your heart's content, and let these pros and fans help you make your decision.

(Apologies for the super long delay on this; I was on vacation all last week and simply couldn't get this article up before I left.)

• Curse Gaming's Saintvicious: "First impressions are that this champion plays a lot like Riven. To be honest, WTH was Riot thinking releasing this. 900+ damage on ultimate with no CD on execute? Come on..."
• ggChronicle's Obscurica: "Apparently, he’s already been banned in tournaments using the live patch – his raw damage output is just that high. Due to his lack of defenses, playing him as a traditional tanky bruiser is probably suboptimal – but with Youmuu’s Ghostblade and Infinity Edge, perhaps it isn’t out of the bounds of probability to play him as a melee carry."
• ColbyCheeze: "You have to keep in mind that you'll do twice as much damage if you have your passive stacked. You need to be patient; if you see someone with low health, attack him one or two times and use your abilities to get those stacks up and then do maximum damage with your ultimate."
• Team SoloMid.EVO's Wingsofdeathx: "He's being advertised as a top laner, but I feel he's more attractive as a jungler. ...He can keep people with him, but he can't gap close that well. The passive armor penetration is nice, and lends him more toward that bruiser/tanky-DPS role rather than an actual tank."
• Team SoloMid's Chaox: "PENTAKILL!"
• Reign of Gaming's Stonewall: "Well this guy is truly a man. He can’t gank so well and he has pretty much no health, sustain or resistance to invasion but he clears like a champ and hurts like a train carrying trucks. His weak mobility won’t give him the best invasive powers like Shyvana and Dr. Mundo but he can severely hurt junglers he catches running around."