Can Vayne Carry in Solo Queue?

I’m pretty sure a couple of you flinched just reading the title. That’s because Vayne is one of those grotesque champions that can take over a game if she gets the chance. You’re comfortable, winning 2/0 in the mid lane, when you suddenly see Vayne come up and immediately ult, melting your entire health bar in three swift autos. Surprised, you tab and see she is 15/0, and it’s only the 10th minute.

Most of us know that Vayne can absolutely carry a game in League of Legends, so let us talk more about how she’s able to do that and some recommendations if you do decide to try and carry with her yourself.

Is Vayne Good to Climb With?

Vayne currently boasts a 52% win rate in the bottom lane, tied at the top spot with Miss Fortune and Ziggs. This on its own is an excellent piece of evidence to show Vayne is a very strong pick in the current meta. This, however, is only emphasized by one really important fact: she is a flex pick for the top lane.

Now, ADCs typically struggle top lane, because yes, they might be annoying to deal with in the early levels, but the enemy top laner can just armor up, and well, that’s that, you can’t really do much to them anymore. Vayne doesn’t really care how much armor you stack, thanks to her W – Silver Bolts, which does true damage equal to a certain percentage of the target’s max health.

Is Vayne Difficult to Play?

It’s commonly known that Vayne has a fairly high skill ceiling, not because she is difficult to understand but rather because she is difficult to really master. Vayne doesn’t really have an overly complex kit. The only castable abilities are her Q and E since her W is a passive ability and her ult is essentially a temporary buff. That being said, the trick is not in her kit, per se, but rather in utilizing it effectively.

Vayne has one of the shortest overall ranges in ADCs because while she doesn’t have the shortest attack range, she lacks abilities to poke from afar. Champions that have shorter auto ranges than Vayne have other abilities with bigger ranges to poke. For example, Kai’Sa has her Q and W, Xayah has her passive and Q, Samira has Q, and this is the case for all ADCs with a shorter range than Vayne. This basically means Vayne needs to be very “in-your-face” to deal any real damage, so Vayne’s skill expression lies in her positioning and kiting. That is what makes a good Vayne stand out so much more than the average.

Why is Vayne so Good?

Vayne is scary because of her W. Vayne is pretty much the only champion in the game that can consistently dish out obscene amounts of true damage. Well known as a tank killer, it doesn’t matter how much the enemy has stacked health or armor; a good chunk of their health bar will vanish once you proc her W on them. This makes Vayne a big threat to the enemy as not even their front line will be able to soak up her damage for long.

This, however, is a double-edged sword, as the enemy team will quickly identify Vayne as the primary damage dealer and thus the first champion they need to take out. This means that a lot of key abilities and often ults will be saved specifically for Vayne to shut her out before she can melt the team down. Given that Vayne is really squishy, it is unlikely for her to survive a hard engage of this nature unless she has really good peeling on her side.

On the other hand, you do have plenty of tools of your own to try to weave through the enemy team and deal your damage. The move speed bonus on your ultimate is a nice addition to maneuver around champions, especially if you’re looking to reach the backline. The stealth that your ult adds to your Q is exceptional in repositioning and dropping aggro from the enemy team. Even if it is just a short while, losing sight of you will give the enemy team cold sweats, as they will anxiously wait for your return to turn their focus on you again. This can also give your team a short window to act since the enemy will be busy worrying about you.

As Vayne, you pretty much want to fight on the sides of teamfights. You’re not a real backliner; you lack the range to do that; you’re not Jinx who can spit out rockets from half the lane away; you need to get up close to be effective. As a tip, try to have only one champion in range at a time, as your damage is single target; you have to work through the enemy team one by one. Having more than one enemy nearby opens you to retaliation from more than one champion, which can be tricky to deal with.

Why is Vayne Hated?

Vayne is the bane of bot lane because of these advantages that were mentioned before. People know how easily she can wipe out an entire team and will desperately try to avoid that at all costs. It is not uncommon for a Vayne player to be on the receiving end of a Malphite flashing in and ulting specifically her, immediately followed by a Nocturne ult into her, or pretty much any sort of hard engage that would shut Vayne out before the fight even begins.

Also read: What is DPS in League of Legends?

Conclusion

Despite putting a big bullseye on your back by playing this champion, I do want to go back to the stats. That 52% win rate proves that it is possible to be persona non grata number one while still surviving and dishing out damage. If you’re trying to take Vayne as one of your picks for this season, do keep in mind the tips on this article, as they will help you “bring swift death” to your opponents in the Rift.