Why Taric's Ultimate is Underrated

No one would claim Taric is a weak pick, but his ultimate is often over looked in favor of his more obvious strengths like his stun and passive armor. Most people consider his ultimate little more than a nice burst for laning phase with a negligible stat bonus. But I would argue that the stat bonus one of Taric's biggest strengths, especially as we get into late game. At level 16 Taric will be able to offer his allies 35 AP and 35 AD for 10 seconds at 1000 range. Lets do some math on what that is worth.

A BF sword costs 1550 gold for 45 AD

1550/45 = 34.4 gold/ad
Therefore 35 AD is worth about 1206 gold

A Needlessly large rod is worth 1600 gold for 80 AP

1600/80 = 20 gold/ap

Therefore 35 AP is worth 700 gold

Now lets assume Taric does no damage, and assume you have 2 champions on your team who utilize the AP and 2 who can utilize the AD.

700 gold x 2= 1400 gold

1206 gold x2= 2412 gold

For a total of a 3812 gold advantage.

In comparison 4 towers are worth 3800 gold.

Or in CS that is about 200 CS at 19 gold per CS.

This is worse case scenario, where Taric doesn't do any damage at all and all of your champions only have 1 type of scaling. The right picks could bring out even more advantage for your team. Champions who scale well of AD and AP such as Jax, Corki, Kayle, Teemo, Kog'Maw, and Alkali will get much more from Taric's ult. 

Taric's ultimate is like a watered down Baron buff, and the best part about it is that no one really understands just how strong it is. The enemy team isn't worried about if your ult is up before a fight (which it always is with its 60 second base cooldown). The enemy team will constantly be underestimating the damage you are capable of doing leading to favorable situations. Taric's Ult is Truly Outrageous. 

5 Tips to Improve Your Soloque Performance

1 Take a Break After a Long Game

A long game can be completely exhausting, especially if you end up investing 55 minutes of your life into a loss. You probably have some pent up stress that will likely lead to a bad start to your next match if you jump right back into que. You want to go into each game with a positive relaxed attitude to preform your best. So get up from your computer and go make yourself a snack, take a shower for a change, or call your mom. After 10 or 15 minutes you will be ready to go at it again. This may seem silly and you might want to brush it off as a tip, but you may be surprised by how much last game will effect this games decision making. Even if you won your last game you may be used to doing lots of damage and being tanky which could lead to a bad decision in your next game. Do yourself a favor and have a fresh start.

2 Reconsider Your DuoQue Partner

Reconsider what you look for in a duo que partner. Instead of constantly bugging someone way better than you on your friends list, consider what a lower ELO partner may have to offer. If they are significantly lower than you there are many perks. Controlling bans, getting first pick, and having a partner guaranteed last pick so they can counter pick is a huge plus. Being first really puts you in a position to craft what your team will look like, and ban important champs that may seem to constantly bring about your demise.

3 Learn to Support

Do not get stuck in the mentality that you cannot affect the outcome of a game from support. There are loads of high ELO players who got there by supporting. Especially in lower ELO games the support on the other team is likely unhappy to be in the position. They will be prone to mistakes and possibly be sub-par at the role. Loads of people don’t even have a support rune page. Take advantage of the potential skill gap between you and the enemy support. Keep timers for your team, watch the minimap for ganks in all lanes, actually peel for your ADC in teamfights, and keep a pink on you in case an opportunity to dragon or baron arises. These are just a few examples of where you can easily outshine your opponent and have a big effect on the game. 

4 Timers are Really Important

Speaking of Timers, they are important. Really important. And a big difference between a top tier and low tier player is knowing them. Knowing when the enemy blue spawns can lead to a nice gank on mid as it is donated. Keep a dragon timer and give your team a 1 minute warning so they can B to heal, buy, and pick up proper vision. Many a game has been turned around by a Baron. If you have the timer and see someone bot, Baron could lead to a game changing turn around. But remember that keeping timers is only half the battle. Call the plays for your team so you are all on the same page.
Just in case you didn't know them:
Red/Blue: First Spawn is 1:55. Respawns every 5 minutes

Dragon: First Spawns is 2:30. Respawns every 6 minutes.
Baron: First Spawn is 15:00. Respawns every 7 minutes.

5 Learn to Criticize Yourself

It’s easy to see the flaws in others, but difficult to see the ones in yourself. Change your mentality. When you die, assume it was your fault and examine what you could have done differently. When you lose, look back at the turning points in the game to figure out what went wrong. You can only improve the performance of one player on your team and that is you. Take all the wasted energy you normally use blaming and turn it inward with constructive criticism for yourself.

Pre-S3 Support Pick Guide