Welcome, summoners, to the ultimate breakdown of League of Legends’ most infamous, frustrating, and downright broken abilities! If you’ve ever raged at a champion’s unfair mechanics or wondered why Riot greenlit certain designs, this guide is for you. We’re diving deep into six abilities that miss the mark, whether by being toxic, underwhelming, or just plain dysfunctional.
From Sion’s passive enabling inting strategies to Garen’s point-and-click true damage nuke, these abilities warp the game in ways that leave players scratching their heads in this best LoL Boost Guide. Buckle up—this is badly Designed Abilities Part 6!
Sion’s Glory in Death: The Ultimate Double-Edged Sword
Sion’s passive, Glory in Death, is a perfect example of a cool concept gone wrong. On paper, it’s brilliant: a tanky juggernaut who refuses to stay dead, trading abilities for insane lifesteal and attack speed. The idea? Punish teams for focusing him first.
But in practice, Sion players abuse this passive to int. By dying repeatedly, they proxy farm, ignore lane phases, and scale uncontrollably. Riot had to nerf Sion’s gold generation, tower damage, and death timers just to curb this degenerate playstyle.
The real issue? Glory in Death rewards bad play, creating a troubling dynamic within the game. It turns Sion into a stat-check nightmare, exacerbating his ability to dominate the battlefield. Players face an unenviable choice: either ignore him, which often leads to defeat, or confront him directly, risking an even more significant loss. This situation not only undermines the strategy but also fosters frustration among players who find themselves outmaneuvered by a mechanic that favors less skilled gameplay. Ultimately, the imbalance caused by this mechanic detracts from the overall enjoyment and competitiveness of the game, pushing players to feel trapped in a cycle of unavoidable loss.
Naafiri’s Darkin Daggers: An Assassin’s Identity Crisis
Naafiri was marketed as a pack-hunting assassin, but her Q, Darkin Daggers, feels more like a poke tool for laners. It’s a penetrating projectile that deals damage over time and heals her—great for harassing, but terrible for assassination.
Compare this to Zed’s Shurikens or Talon’s Rake, which are lethal in all-ins. Naafiri’s Q encourages passive play, clashing with her diver-like kit. She lacks the burst or mobility of traditional assassins, leaving her stuck in no-man’s-land between diver and assassin.
If Riot wants Naafiri to be a true assassin, Darkin Daggers needs a rework—less poke, more kill pressure.
Aatrox’s Infernal Chains: The Most Broken Ability in League?
Aatrox’s W, Infernal Chains, is literally broken. This ability is supposed to tether enemies and pull them back after 1.5 seconds, setting up his Q combos. But in reality?
- Mobility creep lets champions dash out effortlessly.
- The hitbox is inconsistent—sometimes it pulls, sometimes it doesn’t.
Even if it lands, the slow is too weak to guarantee the pull.
Aatrox mains would gladly trade this ability for his old Blades of Torment. At least that had a strong slow. Right now, Infernal Chains is a glorified minigame that fails more often than it succeeds.
Briar’s Blood Frenzy: The Ultimate Feast-or-Famine Mechanic
Briar’s W, Blood Frenzy, is fantastically designed but horribly executed. It gives her massive attack speed, movement speed, and AoE damage—but at a catastrophic cost: losing control of her champion. This intriguing feature of Blood Frenzy creates a thrilling experience for players who enjoy high-risk, high-reward mechanics. However, the effectiveness of this ability can be severely hampered in chaotic team fights, where the inability to control Briar often leads to unintended consequences. Players might find themselves overwhelmed by the sheer speed and damage output, yet struggling to steer her in crucial moments.
The design intention seems clear: to add an exciting layer of strategy to gameplay. Yet, the execution leaves many players frustrated, as they navigate the balance between unleashing strong attacks and maintaining control over their champion’s movements, which ultimately detracts from the overall gameplay experience.
Once activated, Briar automatically attacks the nearest enemy, forcing her (and her team) into all-or-nothing engagements. There’s no way to disengage unless she uses E (Chilling Scream), which has a longer cooldown than W itself.
This leads to two outcomes:
- She stat-checks enemies into oblivion.
- She intentionally runs it down with no escape.
Briar has one of the highest death rates in League, and for good reason. Blood Frenzy is fun in chaotic fights but terrible for ranked climbing.
Garen’s Demacian Justice: The Uncounterable Execute
Garen’s ultimate, Demacian Justice, is the most hated point-and-click nuke in League. Unlike Darius or Cho’Gath, who need stacks or scaling, Garen just presses R to delete you at 25% HP.
Here’s why it’s badly designed:
- True damage ignores all resistances.
- % missing HP scaling means it’s always lethal.
- Zero counterplay—no dodging, no reducing damage (except shields).
Garen is balanced around this ability. Without it, he’d be useless in high elo. But with it, he’s a low-skill stat-checker who forces squishies to play at 75% HP permanently.
Cho’Gath’s Carnivore: A Passive That Disappears
Cho’Gath’s passive, Carnivore, restores health and mana on unit kills. Sounds great early game, right?
The problem? It becomes irrelevant after level 6. Once Cho’Gath stacks his ultimate, his max health skyrockets, making the healing negligible. The mana restore is also outclassed by his E clearing waves in one spell.
Compared to Trundle’s passive (which scales with enemy deaths), Carnivore is a wasted ability past laning phase. If Cho’Gath ever gets a rework, this passive needs a complete overhaul.
Final Verdict: What Makes an Ability “Badly Designed”?
These six abilities fail for different reasons in this amazing LoL Boost Guide:
- Sion’s passive rewards inting.
- Naafiri’s Q doesn’t fit her assassin fantasy.
- Aatrox’s W is buggy and unreliable.
- Briar’s W removes player agency.
- Garen’s R has no counterplay.
- Cho’Gath’s passive doesn’t scale.
The best abilities in League feel fair, impactful, and fun to use, creating a satisfying gameplay experience that encourages strategic thinking and creative play styles. In contrast, the abilities that fall short often lead to frustration, as they may be easily exploited by opponents or simply fail to provide the exciting impact players seek. Players want abilities that not only enhance their gameplay but also contribute positively to the overall game dynamic. When abilities are weak or poorly designed, it disrupts the flow of the game and can diminish a player’s enjoyment, making it crucial for developers to strike a balance between power and fairness when designing new abilities.
