Is this fast-moving, quick-shooting champion worth YOUR hard-earned RP / IP? Let's find out!

For the past week now, the League of Legends (LoL) forums have been ablaze with discussions centered on two very hot topics: LoL's problematic server stability and massive discussions as to whether or not the newest champion, Miss Fortune, should really be worth 6350 IP / 975 RP (in other words, she is the highest "tier" of cost in relation to other champions), given the perceived "lack of originality" with her skills. Now, for the former matter, while it can sometimes be frustrating when servers go down for hours on end, server problems tend to be unavoidable, especially given LoL's monumental global growth. What I'm interested in, however, is that second question, especially given the fact that this is a Buyer's Guide to League of Legends! So the question for today is… is Miss Fortune really worth her hefty price tag?

One of the biggest problems some players have with Riot Games and Miss Fortune stems from the perceived argument that Miss Fortune doesn’t really introduce too many new game mechanics and, therefore, she shouldn’t be priced as such. Unfortunately, Riot has never really stated that new game mechanics equate to top-tier price tags; they’ve simply maintained that the more “fun” and “complex” a champion is, the higher that cost goes. If we look at her skills, unoriginal as they might be, they still add up to a fairly complex champion that requires an intense amount of map awareness in order to be played properly.

Take, for example, Miss Fortune’s ‘Q’ skill, Double Up, where she fires a bullet at a target, with the bullet ricocheting to hit the target behind the first target, dealing even more damage. Technically speaking, this is a fairly straightforward skill, but a lot of the fun really comes from getting those perfect ricochet shots to hit enemies who like to hide behind their teammates. Miss Fortune’s other abilities, “Impure Shots,” a passive that, when toggled, increases Miss Fortune’s attack speed and makes each of her attacks reduce healing done and “Make it Rain,” an area-of-effect slow that deals decent damage, allow her to become an even stronger lane presence. Finally, Miss Fortune’s ultimate, Bullet Time, allows her to contribute some significant damage during team fights from a fairly safe distance.

In the end, what I feel really justifies Miss Fortune as an expensive champion is really all of the above skills and how they work with her passive, Strut, an ability that grants Miss Fortune an extra 25 movement speed every second if she is not hit for 7 seconds. For some, this might be an odd rip-off of Teemo’s quick movement, which gives him an incredible movement boost, but if he is hit by an enemy champion, he instantly loses his buff. At higher levels of play, however, Teemo’s real role is often reduced to playing guerilla tactics; laying down mushrooms everywhere, covering his team’s escape and generally playing the role of the perfect scout. Should Teemo enter the battle on the front lines, he is, unfortunately, an extremely squishy target, and his damage (unless he gets a significant lead early on) doesn’t really justify playing him in this style.