When it comes to League of Legends champions, Metas often dictate which champions are considered viable for specific roles. However, every so often, a player like Olleh from Team SoloMid (TSM) decides to shake things up and goes against the grain by picking an off-meta champion in a critical role: Dr. Mundo as a support. In this article, we’ll delve into the reasoning behind these unconventional choices, exploring their strengths, weaknesses, and how Olleh manages to make them effective.
Why Dr. Mundo?
At first glance, the rationale for picking Dr. Mundo as a support might seem puzzling. Traditional supports like Janna, Leona, or Thresh offer crowd control, utility, and engage abilities that enable their teams to gain an advantage in team fights. In contrast, Dr. Mundo, with his heavy focus on sustainability and damage output, doesn’t immediately appear as the most ideal choice for a support role.
However, Olleh sees things differently. His unique playstyle revolves around using Dr. Mundo’s kit to create pressure in the lanes and provide early game impact while offering additional tankiness and crowd control in team fights.
The Power of Cleansing and Crowd Control
One of Dr. Mundo’s most underrated abilities is his Cleanse (Q), which can remove debuffs from allies within its range, making him an excellent choice for cleansing crowd control effects like CC from enemy champions or terrain-based CC such as Zyra’s plants. Additionally, he has access to powerful crowd control tools through his kit, with both his Infected Cleaver (W) and Masquerade of the Posion (R) abilities offering area-of-effect crowd control.
Sustainability and Scaling
Dr. Mundo’s sustainability is another essential aspect that sets him apart as an effective off-meta support choice. With his passive, Infected Wounds, he deals damage over time to enemies who attack his allies, while also regenerating health for every champion hit. This passive provides a consistent source of damage and healing throughout the game, making it a potent addition to any team composition.
Moreover, Dr. Mundo scales surprisingly well into the late game as he becomes an increasingly hard-hitting tank, able to dish out substantial amounts of damage and absorb significant amounts of damage from the enemy team. With items like Sunfire Cape, Randuin’s Omen, and Thornmail, Olleh can build Dr. Mundo into a formidable frontline force that is more than capable of holding his ground in team fights.
Examples of Success
Olleh has had multiple successful outings with this off-meta pick against TSM’s opponents in the LCS, such as:
- Game 2 vs Cloud9: Olleh and Dr. Mundo were able to secure an early kill on Jinx during the laning phase due to their pressure and crowd control, allowing his team to gain a significant gold lead. This snowballed into a convincing victory for TSM.
- Game 3 vs FlyQuest: Despite facing a strong early game opponent in Gragas, Olleh was able to keep his lane partner alive through the use of Dr. Mundo’s sustain and crowd control abilities, allowing them to outscale and secure objectives throughout the game, ultimately leading to a win for TSM.
Conclusion: Embracing the Unconventional
In summary, Olleh’s off-meta pick of Dr. Mundo as a support brings unique advantages to the table that defy the traditional expectations of what makes an effective support champion. By focusing on his kit’s cleansing and crowd control capabilities, sustainability, and surprising late-game scaling, Olleh is able to create pressure in lanes and provide valuable utility while offering a formidable frontline presence in team fights.
While Dr. Mundo might not be the first champion that comes to mind when thinking about support picks, Olleh’s success with this unconventional choice demonstrates the importance of embracing different playstyles and adapting to changing metas in League of Legends.