MDCs That Made OP.GG Bros Smash Their Keyboards on Release

Sup OP.GG bros. There are a lot of champs these days you'd call busted, right? Still, climbing is easier than it used to be, so I'm guessing most of you have settled comfortably somewhere between Gold and Emerald. And yeah, you should be proud—you earned that rank with time and effort. But back in the day, the Rift was packed with so-called pick-to-win MDCs (Must Draft Carries), and I pulled out a few that still stick in my memory. I picked them based on more recent standards, so I left out the boomer seasons—stuff like silence-spamming Talon or point-and-click everything Ryze. This is all my personal opinion, so take it as a trip down memory lane.

1. Camille If you asked what was broken on release back then, the answer was just Camille, full stop. She could dodge ganks with her hookshot mobility and follow up on engages, plus she had a shield that made trades impossible. Whether you were a tank or a squishy, getting your head split in half by true damage was routine. Her W heal worked on minions too, so even if you completely lost a trade, one quick swipe and her HP would just zip back up. And her ult? Even if she died, the zone stayed up, so in a teamfight you'd be trapped in there for a solid four seconds. Beating this champ was just not a thing.

2. Sett After the nightmare that was Aphelios (more on that later), enter our boy Sett, a manly champ with a mean right hook and no dashes. Aphelios had dropped as the most mechanically demanding champ ever, so when Riot announced a romantic, manly brawler, top laners' hearts were racing. But with his simple kit, people were like "is he just a Garen who lost his sword?" when he hit the Rift. Turns out, nah. He showed up with absolutely absurd base stats and proceeded to tear the Rift apart all over again. His W damage was insane, its cooldown was short enough to spam mindlessly for poke, and his passive HP regen was on a whole other level compared to what it is now. How strong? A low-health Sett could step on Teemo's poison auto and shrooms and the regen would outpace the damage—he just wouldn't die. Ranged champs could beat the hell out of him, but he'd pop off for ten situps in the back and come back with half health or more. Spam W for poke and Vayne, Teemo, and Kennen had to base first. It was routine for mids and ADCs to just vanish from a single W chunk. He ended up flexing across every lane, bossing everyone around, then got nerfed into the ground and became the Sett we know today.

3. Akali And here she is. Post-rework Akali had great stats, but her stealth was way more f**king obnoxious than the champs above. Now you pop shroud and it's like "meh," but back then, picture this: she could stealth inside a turret. Imagine her running into tower range, popping shroud, then appearing and disappearing while wailing on you. I still remember an Akali who came in full HP for a dive and walked out full HP. When Her Royal Highness was laning, even trying to farm under tower was apparently rude enough to warrant a full-HP dive. Her first R cast could be used in open air, unlike now. With that she just messed up gank avoidance, gank follow-up, engage, disengage—played ping-pong with everything, ran rampant until nerfs and adjustments brought her to her current state. And honestly, even now she's kind of a forgotten child.

4. Aphelios This guy, too, I've got a lot to say. Riot said they designed him as the hardest champ on release, and anyone who saw his Infernum ult just delete everything in a cone knows what's up. Google Aphelios pre-nerf and you'll find the most absurd pentakills you can imagine. I'll spare you the rest.

5. Aatrox His rep has carried on to this day, earning him the title of the OG MDC father: Aatrox. He's still strong now, but his release state was genuinely horrifying. Land a Q as a sliver of HP and he'd be back to full. And I don't mean a little—like literally 80% HP healed. Then pop his ult World Ender and he'd revive if he died, with no counterplay. I remember a friend who was new to League back then watched this guy 1v4 in a teamfight and asked me, "Is that a boss mob?"

Just writing this for nostalgia. I left out the boomer-only posts like TF when his ult was a basic ability or pre-rework LeBlanc. I wanted to write about Zoe and Samira too, but the monsters I listed above ran the Rift for so long they took up most of my memory. If you disagree, you're absolutely right. Have a happy day today, OP.GG bros.