Faker learned this weird Mel interaction the hard way

Mel is the latest League of Legends champion to join the roster and one of her abilities has already sent one of the best players of the title back to the spawn. 

Following Arcane’s huge popularity, League got Mel Medarda as a champion with a defining ability in Rebuttal, where she forms a barrier around herself that reflects enemy projectiles at the attacker. Of course, it can be used against a variety of abilities to nail down the enemy, but it can backfire on her as well. Faker, arguably the greatest esports player of all time, also fell into this trap in his latest match against HLE in the LCK Cup 2024. The five-time World champion chose the solitary mage in his third match against HLE, and it was the first-ever Mel appearance in a professional esports league. 

Although Faker started well by fending off a gank by the enemy mid laner and securing the first blood of the match, his Rebuttal also gave him his first death. Zeka’s Sylas was under the tower and he used the Abduct ability on Faker. Usually, Sylas’ E ability allows him to dash once and throw down his chains on an enemy to close down the distance to land his combo.

However, Faker pressed Rebuttal on Sylas’ Abduct ability, which caused him to get pulled under the enemy tower instead of Sylas. HLE was quick to utilize the player’s mishap and quickly killed him with their jungler and support’s gank. Many Mel players tend to use the Rebuttal against all incoming enemy projectiles because of its relatively small cooldown, but it has its downside as well, and the legendary mid laner felt it in a live match. 

Contrary to popular belief, Mel’s Rebuttal isn’t always useful, and it can make you fall prey to some easy abilities like Sylas’ E. In theory, the ability pulls enemies to herself such as Blitzcrank hook, Pyke hook, and many more, but Sylas is different because he doesn’t pull the enemy toward him; instead, he does the complete opposite. 

Mel is not doing too well in solo queue at the moment, yet Riot is making some targeted nerfs to the character to adjust her for ranked matches. 

The community’s expert bug hunter, Vandril tested the champion’s Rebuttal against 188 abilities and it also consisted of the Sylas E interaction. Apart from her reflection-based ability, the champion also has her fair share of exploits, one of which can even force an enemy team to disconnect and lag out the server. 

Next time you play Mel in your quest to climb the ranked ladder, always be mindful of the Sylas pick in your matches. The Unshackled just doesn’t steal your team’s ultimates—he can use your abilities against you as well.