Is he no fun?
Why Doesn't Anyone Play Ivern?
Ivern is one of the most unique champions in all of League of Legends. He is also one of the most difficult to play, due to this exact uniqueness. He plays unlike any other jungler and while his kit itself is easy to understand, it's like re-learning how to jungle when playing with Ivern.
That's probably why he has such a small player base. Ivern, along with Skarner and Rell is probably one of the least played champions and also one of the most irrelevant ones... though our video editor does like to think that Vex is the most irrelevant champion in the game.
- Ever wondered about League? Check out our Five Interesting LoL Facts
Reasons Why No One Plays Ivern
Ivern Plays Unlike Any Other Jungler
We've already touched upon Ivern being quite unique in his own way. He plays like a support and while yes, we do sometimes see support champions like Morgana in the jungle, these champs don't last long in the meta. Now, Ivern was designed as a supportive jungler, which means that unless you main this guy, you're probably not used to this passive, supportive play style.
Most popular junglers are self-sufficient and able to carry games. Take a look at Lee Sin. He's flashy, he's fun to play and he's able to take his team on his back and make plays happen. Ivern on the other hand is there to support his team, give them shields, zoning thanks to his ultimate or even CC with his root. This makes his playstyle completely different from any other jungler and therefore hard to master for regular jungle mains.
Ivern Has A Weak EarlyGame
Ivern is a support in the jungle. His entire kit is built around enabling his team, but that also means he's got the same issues a support has in the early game. If you're not Leona, but Lulu, then you know that in the early game you're extremely susceptible to ganks and opposing players. The same can be said for Ivern.
Sure, Ivern isn't going to counter jungle and invade, not at all, but any early mistake will be punished by the opposition, which means Ivern can quickly fall behind in the early stages of the game, which you definitely don't want from your jungler.
He is completely vulnerable if he does get invaded on and will need someone from his team by his side. This means he's very susceptible to invades in the early few levels. Only once he's got a few levels is he able to truly contend and be a great pick.
Project L: All Confirmed Champions
Strong Counter Picks Against Ivern
Due to the aforementioned bad early phase, Ivern has some pretty harsh counters as well. If you lock in Ivern then the opposing jungler will pick strong early game champions like Olaf, Lee Sin or Rek'Sai who are going to be able to take all the wind out of your Ivern play due to their strong skirmishing abilities early.
This also means that they're going to be way ahead and snowball the game out of control within the first couple of minutes of the game. Ivern won't stand a chance even if he's going from lane to lane to constantly gank since well... he isn't doing much else, right?
Reliability on Lane Carries
One final real why it is likely that no one seems to enjoy playing Ivern is the fact that while his kit is decent and he can be extremely strong in the mid game once he's got a few items, his reliance on his laners feels unrewarding, especially in a solo queue environment where anything and everything can go wrong in the span of a few seconds.
Toxic teammates and a volatile solo queue environment will dissuade anyone from playing a unique and peace-loving champion like Ivern any day. Therefore, he sees little to no play in solo queue and also feels like he has no presence in the pro-scene either.
Are there any other champions you like to play but see no time on the rift? My favorite champion Rell has more or less been forgotten as a support... but by shining a light on a champion we might get to see them in the future... right? Maybe even at LoL Worlds?