Welcome to my first installment of my Top Fives. This topic will go over what I believe to be the greatest five passives in the game.
It should be noted that I am judging very carefully. That is, when choosing the winners, I had to incorporate the champion as a whole as most champions' passives work with that champion's other abilities. However, I am not judging the champion itself.
I have categorized all passives into main groups and each of these I chose one champion for each.
1. Sustenance: How do you stay in your lane to keep up with levels and gold? If you play a champion that can regenerate HP and MP, you should be all set. These champions include Veigar with his insane mana regeneration and Ahri with her spellvamp. More importantly, these passives should assist throughout the game and should be useful from start to finish. That's why we need to mention Malphite and his shield or Garen and Mundo's quick HP regeneration. Some of the best champions in this category include Gragas, Mordekaiser, Warwick, Cho' Gath, and, second-most notably, Akali. There can only be one crowned though. I present, queen of sustenance...
Morgana
Right off the bat, Morgana will return 1 hp for every 10 damage she deals. Enemy casters struggle to keep up in lane and often require jungle ganks, which usually end up unsuccessful anyway. Most of the time, Morgana will be far ahead of her opponents because her passive keeps her trucking. The proof is in how many nerfs she's received over the years. Even recently, her passive was lowered yet again. Maybe they realized her quote "Feel my pain" didn't make much sense.
2. Stat-for-Stat: Get this. You just bought an item that gives every champion 1000 HP. But your champion, unlike other champions, get an additional 25 ability power. If that isn't reason enough to farm the hell out of minions, I don't know what is. Stat-for-stat passives, such as Galio and Rammus, have always given these champs a slight advantage from beginning to end of any game. I listed three defense-oriented passives. The real money is in the offensive passives such as Kayle's former passive that scaled on AP and AD. It was so good, Riot decided to remove it entirely from her, for good reason. Think about it. Whereas one champion would perhaps have to spend 100 gold for 25 AP, Kayle would get 25 AP and 10 AD. Since the Kayle remake, she will not join her sister on my list. No, the champion here is...
Vladimir
As I've alluded to, Vlad is a ridiculous caster to begin with: Low cooldowns, great sustenance and farming, no mana costs. Slap on a huge amount of AP and HP and you've got a beast of a caster. Say you get 10 AP for 100 gold. That gold also buys you 14 HP. It's almost like having an extra item slot. His bonuses are too good, even Xerath can't compare. Kneel before Vlad!
3. Global Buffs A little ridiculous. A lot ridiculous. Every champion on your team gets a free buff? Off the bat and throughout the game, your team has an instant and persistent advantage. Whether you choose Twisted Fate and his gold bonus passive or Zilean's experience buff, you will be sure to get ahead faster than the enemy. But only one champion's buff reigns above others.
Janna
Although this passive is frequently overlooked, time and time again it has proved to be one of the best in the game. Inexperienced players don't realize just how much Janna's passive can change the game, making her one of the best supports, if not the best. She really does blow the enemy... away.
4. Conditional Buffs Classical conditioning at its best: Do this and get that. This is a frequent theme among passives. There are some passives that encourage jumping right into battle like Wukong's, Renekton's, and Sion's. Some passives change gameplay like Shaco's Backstab and Leona's Sunlight. There are a few charged passives too like Yi's and Nunu's. These passives are all about decisions and can change games without even thinking about it. But one champion's tops the many others...
Annie
The classic demon girl will never cease to dominate games. A simple four-cast charge is all that's needed to tack on a stun to any of her three spells. Did I mention two of them are AOE? The nuke damage Annie delivers clearly wasn't enough so a stun passive was due. How this makes sense is beyond me. I should try to keep up.
5. All Others: Taking into account 100 different champions with 100 different skills is not that easy. You can start at Nautilus and Sejuani, then find yourself admiring Talon and Irelia. There are just so many good passives. The decision was tough but the winner is...
Nidalee
Nidalee's passive is hands-down the best passive. Imagine this passive on any other champion. Too good, right? Nidalee's map control and escape utility are already great. Her passive almost makes her... double the champion.