Mel is a new addition to the League of Legends champion line-up. However, one of her abilities has surprisingly caused a top player to restart the game.
After the success of Arcane, Mel Medarda was added to League with a unique ability, Rebuttal, which creates a reflective barrier around her. This can be utilized against a variety of abilities to trap the opponent, but can also be self-destructive. Even the acclaimed esports star, Faker, was caught off guard in his recent match at the LCK Cup 2024 against HLE. This marks the first-time Mel has been picked in a professional esports league match.
Faker started the game strong by evading an enemy gank and scoring first blood. However, using Rebuttal led to his first death in the match. Zeka’s Sylas used the Abduct ability on Faker while under the tower. Often, Sylas’ E ability lets him dash forward and cast chains on enemies to close the gap for his combo.
But Faker triggered Rebuttal as Sylas was using Abduct ability, pulling him under the enemy tower, instead of Sylas. HLE seized this opportunity and quickly finished him with their jungle and support characters. Many Mel players usually use Rebuttal against all incoming projectiles due to its small cooldown, but it can have negative ramifications, as Faker experienced in a live match.
Contrarily, using Mel’s Rebuttal isn’t always beneficial, sometimes it can make the champion vulnerable to basic abilities like Sylas’ E. Theoretically, the ability can pull enemies towards her like the hooks of Blitzcrank, Pyke, etc. But Sylas is an exception because he does not pull his enemy towards him, but does the opposite.
As of now, Mel’s performance in solo queue is not impressive, yet Riot is planning some specific nerfs to balance her for ranked play.
Renowned bug analyst, Vandril has studied the champion’s Rebuttal against 188 abilities, including the interaction with Sylas E. Apart from her reflective ability, Mel is prone to certain exploits, one of which can even forcibly disconnect and stall the enemy team’s server.
Next time when you play as Mel and aim to rank up, remember to watch out for Sylas picks. The Unshackled can not only rob your ultimates but can also turn your abilities against you.
