The latest champ from League of Legends, Tahm Kench, can not only drive opponents to frustration but also ruin the fun for his own team. What defines a troll or a troll pick in League of Legends?
In a MOBA like League of Legends, “troll pick” or troll behavior refers to the act of annoying opponents with particularly “strange tactics.” The goal is to drive them crazy, and if the term is allowed, to simply “mess with them.” This is intentional, okay, and falls under the surprise effect, camouflage and deception, as exemplified by the “troll pick” Urgot being the perfect choice in a professional match.
Even certain seemingly useless builds that, upon closer inspection, prove effective, are referred to as “troll builds” (just like actual completely nonsensical item combinations).
What does trolling actually mean?
Trolling has, as one can already see, various meanings in a MOBA, some of which also contradict each other:
- Trolling can mean, that one plays intentionally poorly
- It can mean, that one deliberately imposes “handicaps” (like totally strange item combinations), believing that they can still overcome them
- It can mean, doing one’s own thing, not paying attention to efficiency, but only going for one’s own fun, without regard for one’s teammates or the victory, which teammates again perceive as “playing intentionally poorly”
- Or trolling means to annoy the opposing team as much as possible
- and that’s not all…, because it can also mean to directly and massively harm one’s own team – but one cannot do this with every champion, only with troll specialists
Good Trolls
A champion like Teemo has massive troll potential attributed to him, of the “good kind”, the “drives opponents to frustration” kind.
Bad Trolls
A troll is also someone who does not want to annoy the opponents (which is good and desired), but also robs their own teammates of every nerve. Now this can normally be done with any champion, simply by playing intentionally poorly, feeding the opponent, meaning dying to them, making them stronger. Such behavior occurs with some players when they are so frustrated with their own team that they want to “get back at them”.
The latest champion in League of Legends, Tahm Kench, has an ability that can also be used on allies. He can “swallow” teammates, even against their will, and carry them a bit. In the champion spotlight, this looked fantastic and incredibly useful. However, if used “incorrectly”, teammates can be dragged into dangerous situations, or they can be taken out of optimal positions, preventing them from effectively engaging.
In this case, a Tahm Kench has particularly colorful behavior, behaving after a dispute in the chat with his own team as follows:
Even though some believe that in a community like League of Legends, such champion concepts as Tahm Kench also favor “trolls”, others say that Tahm Kench is just a champ that works best in a fixed team. They appreciate the possibilities he offers.
