Why EVERYONE Plays: Riven | League of Legends 

at 0:30 you said: "This episode of why no one plays"

i think that when you start playing league, and guet you ass whooped by a riven you either start playing the champ, or you just hold a grudge against her for the rest of your life, i chose the second option.

I'm still amazed that she basically functions so well mainly through a bug that lets you cancel everything to pretty much instaburst people.

3:34 not the thresh bming after dodging the naut hook only to immediately miss his hook in return

3:06 ah yes, my favorite riven onetrick. Alouise

4 dashes, 1 shots the ADC, she's both a bruiser and an assassin, you wonder why people like her

A friend of mine recently started playing her because he got her Broken Covenant skin and really wanted to see her Griddy dance emote. He’s really good with her too so it’s a win for him

Bringing Pantheon as an example of an AD caster who falls off late-game... that's what us Pantheon players want you to believe as we point and click empW-Q-E one shot your kaisa in a fraction of a second and then have a spell that gives us complete invulnerability from the rest of the team. Or manage to sidelane duel pretty much any champion in the game. The 30% passive armor pen is nothing to scoff at.

Why everyone plays riven: Because we all thought at one point we could do what box box did We were wrong But We could dream

Boxbox’s old videos singlehandedly got me into league.

when are we getting "why everyone bans zed?"

0:50 that Jax took negative damage from a full MF ult 😞 Edit: I love the explanations being made as if the same thing wouldn't have happened if this were a Teemo whose only armor was a Zhonya's and didn't use the active. Guys. I've played a lot of adc and top alike. This is just the way the game is played as long as the top laner isn't dumb enough to be out of exp range of 50 cs

you seem to not give enough emphasis on the fact that she cannot deal with tanks. If you're up against riven you should look to rush Tabis and you auto-win your lane without doing basically anything special. And don't get me started on the fact that she doesn't have any sort of healing sustain (which ALL toplaners have), therefore a small mistake can be punishing and can ruin your whole game

I've been in love with this champion for so many seasons, she's so fun and rewarding to play, even as low elo player you get your moments of spotlight, her builds vary a lot through the seasons as well as her role in a team

I waited a long time for this episode on Riven, one of my favorite champs. Thank you Vars !!!

Riven main here. Thank you for this video! I started playing League not so long ago and got her as a reward. Recently got Silver 3 and still in love with her. She feels great and fun. Yeah, she can fall behind easily but if done right she is the force to reckon with. This game is quite fun, love to everyone

mention : counterplay vs her is real with enough room (unlike fiora ult ) and her dmg isnt bullshit % max hp true dmg

can confirm riven DOES have sauce, good vid mr. vars

I don't think I've seen a riven in my game in literally years

im new to the game and i just went against a riven so i really wish this was a “why no one plays” 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 was trying out top recently like last night with friends and this womans tower dive is insane and it didnt help i was playing kayle 😭😭😭😭😭 really good video tho keep up the good work vars 🥰

I would love to see an Everything Wrong With Bel'Veth. Also, Riven is one of those characters who I started playing because the crafting tab gave me a skin for her. No regrets. But also, her kit being centered around "freedom" is thematically fitting since she's trying to get free from Noxus (please excuse me if I'm rusty on lore, I haven't read it for awhile).

I like the music in the background. Old Pick/Ban phase music from proplay

To all the people saying: no one plays riven Remember that frozen heart ninja tabis are 3400 gold combined,3400 to shutdown riven(who has no maxhealth or true damage),the moment tanks fall off you would all start going back to baning her

Gonna be honest, i can count on one hand the number of Riven players I've seen over the last year+. And I'm one of them. She might be the lowest playrate of the 4 horsewomen champions.

Shes more of why no one plays from her pick rate history but ok .

"Or the abundance of 200 years champs" is a fantastic dig. Well played sir.

i was about to sleep but yaaay ty for posting

She's very free in terms of mobility, until poppy exists. Then you will realize true pain.

I’m gonna be honest…I haven’t seen a SINGLE riven player in over a year

The 4 Horse Girls of Apocalypse. Playing Malphite in similar game skill is the only consistent counter on them.

There’s two types of rivens, trash Riven players and high elo one trick with a 60% WR Riven. Which one will you go against? Let the RNG decide.

1:30 that's really cool. And says something about the team bihind her that she can consistently hold such a dedicated playerbase

I was waiting for a view about her!

I can't remember the last time I played against a riven

As a season 5 hay-day riven main, I can say seasons 7-9 were the most fun with how fighting game/combo based she was with the extended fights. Nowadays the leads we get are extinguished by catchup exp, gold and non existent death timers. I do still play her and will continue to do so, just don't look for me top lane

You could check Dudu Duelista, a Brazillian riven one trick, one of the best riven one tricks too!

7:37 well i feel like Camille is more of an Anti-Carry than Riven because her R is exclusively single Target and her E won't really hit multiple enemies. That could also explain the presence of Camille support because Camille R is probably one of the best lockdown abilities in the game cause it basically traps one opponent and makes them vulnerable for a few seconds. Riven on the other hand has more potential to carry a teamfight herself.

At least she only deals Physical damage unlike the other three horsewomen

I like that you mentioned fightinggames in the context of riven, ive always drawn that parallel too haha As an intermediate to advanced Tekken player, i cant get good at riven though. Granted i didnt try nearly enough to be good yet, but damn shes not easy at all.

What always surprises me is the more cinematic footage for gameplay. How do you get to capture those?

I think Gwen is considered a pseudo-horsewoman

Wowow there, 8:25 theres a big difference of a 500 shield equipped on a champ with superb mobility, that accompanies %max hp *hybrid* damage and is not tied to the champions other defensive options (mobility) whatsoever and a 400 shield thats attached to the champions most important (and only) defensive utility and offensive too as most of her animation cancels are bound to E, and also is her best dash.

IV BEEN WAITING

NGL I really thought your next video was gonna be on the skarner rework, are you waiting for the release onto live servers?

0:23 i really heard synapse, i was expecting ending there

I play Riven becaue her OG voice actress is Christina Vee...

0:30 I wish it was a "why no one plays"

Never seen one riven in solo queue for the past 2 years

Riven used to be way better. You could play her into most matchups, with current items / game mechanics I wouldnt blindpick Riven ever (Master+) She's still fun and my favorite champion but without a doubt she's less rewarding than ever before. Note: Sundered Sky should be removed ASAP, not healthy for Riven or the game

One of my favorite examples to talk about this champion is how back in Season 3 a young pro midlaner by the name of Faker shocked the world by bringing her into the midlane and absolutely destroying the competition. This was 17 year old Faker too, back when he could hands diff literally everyone in the world. Lifetime he's a perfect 6-0 when picking her (which is more often than several typical Mid champs like Kata, Vex, and Yone).

Now I want an Irelia video, not just the rework retrospective

I always consider there is two roles in top. one is the play maker, and another is counter maker. like Garen vs Irelia, Irelia would be the one making play while Garen punish bad play. this role depend on who have more kit not counter champ. like Urgot is counter champ for Riven but Riven still is a play maker while Urgot is a counter maker. if Urgot commit E to make play it's hard to land and need Riven to miss play in the first place. while using E when Riven Q for the third time would land 100% and cancel her Q.

"Yone has to hit an enemy, Yasuo has to move around a lot." I like how you included those as though they weren't just... things you do on those champions. Felt very tongue-in-cheek. xD

Riven was most played champion at top lane at one point because how strong she is She is still strong but there have been new champions and how other champions does Riven's job easier and much less time spent practicing

Vars, can you make why everyone plays Nautilus, he is presents both in SoloQ and proplay, easy to pick up, always appears regardless of meta and strong champion, high tempo with q the wall and very strong engage with 2 point and click CC, 1 hook cc with big hitbox ?

Riven was the og overloaded champion along with lee sin and nidalee

Well there's one thing that Riven is pretty different compared to other bruisers I think. Lack of built in sustain, Riven can only use either of this 2 sustain items rav hydra and sundered sky. Bork is off limits bcuz its more of an on hit attack speed base champs.

idk tbh i see her like once every 30 games, not a lot of people play her

Whenever i think about going back to play league i think "do i wanna go back to dealing with riven players?" and i dont even open the game. league free for 11 months now, praise the gods.

What are you talking about no one played Riven for years

I have the utmost respect for skilled Riven players. The freedom and strength she holds only comes out when piloted by an at least moderately proficient/knowledge player, so I know when I get beaten by one, I'm the worse player 9 times out of 10. It still won't stop me from complaining about her though, since the salt has been ingrained too deeply into me.

good stuff as always vars! can't wait for the final irelia video to conclude the horsewomen of towplane

We got it!!! ❤❤❤

@vars any chance the shen rework video coming along?

"Yasuo has to move around..." lmao.

One thing that should be mentioned is that she can get shutdown pretty easily in the earlygame Steelcaps (ninja tabi) is an easy way to shut her down since her damage is mostly AD and from her empowered autoattacks. Meanwhile she can't really do the same to you because she needs AD to work. This is the main reason her pickrate has gone down compared to Fiora or Camille. Those 2 don't care since they deal true damage.

funny how riven never gets a notable nerf but kayn gets nerfed per patch so that hess "balanceed"

Good video man, thanks for it

1:19 "Don't remind me..." *PTSD intensifies*

I mean, I feel like it's much simpler why people play riven. Sure she gets results and does massive AoE damage late game, but the fun part is pressing all of the buttons that quickly and doing true combos that nobody can interact with. The joy of 100%-0%'ing someone after using all of your abilities perfectly is pure bliss. ...and she makes for sick montages.

Rivens animation cancelling bug abused being branded as a mechanic will forever be an insult.

He had to upload this alongwith alois' riven vod

PANTH SCALES REALLY WELL AS 1 W ONE SHOTS YOU

I wish I had time to learn Riven for good. I tried to learn her 2 times and second time I got decent enough to 1v9 games in low Diamond, but this happened 5-6 years ago. If I were to return to LoL, I'd return only for Riven. Does anyone has some tips for picking up this champion?

God, Riven looks so broken when I watch her and then I play her and go 0/18 lol That's probably why I don't really see or go Riven, I just die on her. I will admit, she do be John Wick with a sword tho

Hi elo players play her because she is versatile and scales well Lo elo players play her because shes fun

Pantheon doesn't fall off late

My take on riven after 2+ years of only playing her: ~She's fun. ~She lacks sustain in her Kit in comparison to every other toplaner (renek q Irelia q darius q garen passive trynda q fiora vitals camille w Aatrox e passive Gragas passive Ksante ult passive etc.) ~ She lacks mixed or true dmg (Irelia passive / yone / fio / darius renek armor shred etc.) ~ She is very team reliant in order to carry comparable to Irelia / Kata / Yi for teamfights (gets locked down if she has to be the one to engage first) ~ tenacity is your friend ~ You are probably better of Maining K'Sante or Aatrox because they do the same thing just with a better base kit. Suggestions for changes / -Passive 25% attackdmg bonus reduced to smth like 10 but as true dmg (so you dont start losing lane as 6/0 because your oponent bought tabis frozen heart) OR: -Give some sort of armor shred on her basekit after hitting multiple spells on one target e.g. q+ q + w = 5/15/20% (scaling on level) Armor shred for you. [This could also be combined with her ult, possibly giving better armor shred but would be a bit over the top]

Because not only does she have the hallmark of a broken kit: Mobility and hard-cc, but she has both on a single spell. And so like yone, her kit is busted.

as a wiseman said. riven play see something we can't , a line that if they follow perfectly will make them outplay everything.

What is your view on Camille she went from top laner being recognized as the 4 horse woman but now she reduce to a support will this stick and signify her end of being a top laner

"Riven is one of the few champions who moveset contains enough skill expression to where mechanics can make up for bad decisions." No, that hasn't been the case for a long long time. Literally every single high mobility champion is capable of this. Riven is not even close to being special, or rare in this regard.

Vars loved yone for a video we did it

reposting rumble e is quite good imo, you dont get the magic pen of it right?

Havent faced this champ in like a year and something

As a Shen otp... it hurts me how the Shen in te background miss the taunt under turret and how he engage an amumu next to a Riven...

riven is not fool-proof, but she's so unrestricted it makes her fool-proof

tbh i dont see her as much anymore

When your main is only relevant becouse of a bug that riot refuses to fix becouse riven mains will litteraly down in their own tears otherwise. But other champs that desperatly need buffs or reworks get bugged after a patch and then get insta hotfixed and nerfed becouse their winrate increased by 0.01% becouse of it. Or when champs like irelia cant just roll their face on their keyboard becouse of a Q bug that stops ur refresh if the minion dies before you reach him. Then riot is like "OH NOO QUICKLY BUFF HER AND GIVE HER A FIX"

which champ gets picked the most based on their physical appearance? That'd be kinda interesting to see

MMMMM, I think the better title is "Why EVERYONE USED to play Riven but not anymore" . Becuase as of right now there are VERY few people pick riven. Hell, Garen, urgot, and malphite have been picked more often due to how eaiser and more rewarding they are compare to Riven.

Please do Shen!

im secretly good asf t riven, shes so fun bec feels like im in an arcade fighting game

Maybe its time for what happened to camille when she has more supp games than top

I'd argue Gwen is also one of those 4 horsewoman of top lane. She is basically AP Fiora.

Can we get another teemo video or a video on who you think is the face of the game these days

She is fun, end of story haha. no mana, and a lot of button presses and attack cancels, dopamine goes brrrrr (don't get me wrong, i like her). Oh, plus her dawnbringer skin.

I mostly agree but for the love of god put the aa in the combo! passive is main damage not q thats why fast combo is one of the few you HAVE to learn. Yes ult has more burst but thats your ult not b&b.

I love you Vars

In theory she is a skill expressive champio, with a mastery curve. In practice she reaches, every 3-4 months, 52% wr. How, why