While they are few and far between, there are abilities in League of Legends that have some really chaotic effects. Some might heal the enemies and prevent them from dying (Kindred’s Lamb’s Respite), stop turrets from working (Volibear’s Stormbringer and Bard’s Tempered Fate, casted over an enemy turret). Most abilities affect your enemies, but what if some of them could possibly get your allies killed with one mistimed cast?

Panic Button Abilities: Keep Them Alive!

Some abilities in this game are insanely powerful tools for keeping someone alive. They might be able to bring someone back from the brink of death or give someone a chance to fight for their life. These abilities on their own usually aren’t able to throw the game but using it on the wrong person could be rather costly. Some examples of Panic Buttons are:

Taric: Cosmic Radiance

This spell grants an area of effect that will grant 2.5 seconds of invulnerability after a brief channel to all allies standing within one (or two, if linked to an ally through Bastion) area of effect(s). Used well, your team can completely resist massive abilities used by the opposing team.

The risk here is down to the timing. Used poorly, your team might be wiped out before your channel has finished. If you panic and hit it too early, the invulnerability might wear off. Even with proper casting, your team could end up running away instead of running in. With such a long cooldown, wasting this ultimate can be a disaster.

Zilean: Chrono Shift

Zilean can bring back any allied Champion from death within his ultimate’s active period. If your Marksman is rushing in head-first, casting this on them might be just what they need to take down the mid laner that has been ripping through your backline.

This ultimate is incredibly powerful, but it's prone to mistiming. If the enemy team is watching for your cast, they may avoid putting your ally’s health down to zero. Unlike Taric, you’ll need to make sure you actively aim for the person you want to cast it on, and sending Chrono Shift to your tank over your damage dealer could be tragic.

Renata Glasc: Bailout

Bailout takes your lane partner and puts them on steroids. Extra movement speed toward enemies, bonus attack damage, and the ability to live even after death if they get an takedown.

This ability is very powerful and is a much shorter cooldown than Taric or Zilean ults, given that this is only her W ability. Despite that, using it on the wrong person will burn through a lot of mana and leave you a little less powerful in lane until that cooldown clicks over.

Terrain Building Abilities: They Shall Not Pass!

In most game modes created by Riot, the maps are static; the landscape cannot be changed. People are always able to move across the same terrain, following the same paths. With terrain-building abilities, you can choose to alter people’s pathing on your own terms. They also interrupt channels like recalls, which can waste the enemy’s time. Unlike most other abilities in the game, these can actually knock up or knock back your allies as well as your enemies.

Ornn: Volcanic Rupture

Ornn’s terrain building move is pretty small, and barely noticeable compared to most of the others in this list, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less useless. After a slight delay as the pattern travels along the ground, Ornn will make a pillar of stone that erupts out of the ground. It combos well with his Searing Charge, like every other wall, but is narrower than Trundle’s and a bit less likely to cause pathing issues on its own.

Trundle: Pillar of Ice

This ability is notorious for people using it inappropriately. While it is great for interrupting people’s paths and stopping them from recalling, it’s important to remember that these effects will also apply to any allies that are hit. With its comparably low cooldown, people need to be on high alert when Trundle is nearby.

Anivia: Crystallize

Rather than a tiny pillar, Anivia can create an entire wall almost anywhere she likes on a similarly low cooldown. At maximum level, her wall can span almost an entire lane, cutting off the enemy, or possibly all of your allies, from the next teamfight. Be sure to use it carefully to avoid an accidental 1v5.

Taliyah: Weaver’s Wall

Taliyah has an interesting moveset revolving around terrain, but only one of her abilities can affect both enemy and ally. By far the largest terrain building ability, Taliyah is able to surf over a straight line of rocks for up to 6500 units away. That is almost 10 times Caitlyn’s attack range! While Taliyah can collapse the wall by recasting, it won’t happen instantly. Be careful before rushing in if your allies are following behind you!

The Coinflip Abilities: I’m Feeling Lucky!

Coinflip abilities might sound like they’re truly random, but the secret is: they are far from it. This category is full of moves that are very specialized and serve a unique purpose that can ruin an absolutely massive lead if used wrong. New players on these characters might be scared to use them, but these abilities are pretty much the peak of power. In skilled hands, these Champions can take a hard-lost game and turn it into a quick victory if their team goes along with a well-planned ultimate.

Ryze: Realm Warp

Ryze’s ultimate is one of the pinnacles of skill expression and teamwork. Not only do you have to time the ultimate correctly, but your allies also need to step into the teleporter area with you to be instantly sent to a completely different area of the map. You might be able to use this effectively and land behind enemy lines, catching their squishy mages and marksmen off guard, but if no one listens, you might be on your own.

There are plenty of smart, reasonable use cases for this ability, but people have also “accidentally” sent their entire team into the enemy’s base. Especially in the late game, going to the wrong spot can be an easy ace for the enemy at best, or game ending at absolute worst. Stay on your team’s good side and communicate for a successful flank!

Bard: Tempered Fate

This ultimate is one of the most loved and most hated abilities of all time. It puts literally everything that it hits into stasis (like Zhonya’s Hourglass). This includes everything targetable! This means all enemies, turrets, minions (allied and enemy), epic monsters, and all allies within the ultimate’s area of effect will be rendered useless for its duration. This can totally pivot a teamfight into your favor by creating a perfect flanking opportunity if timed and aimed correctly.

Using this ability wrong can unfortunately set your entire team up for getting flanked, without time for reaction. If you are looking to make an opportunity to engage the enemy, try to ensure you hit as few of your allies as possible. You can use Tempered Fate defensively as well, but it’s a lot riskier when your allies aren’t expecting it. As with the other ultimate abilities mentioned here, you can go a long way with some extra pings and a couple messages in team chat.

Kindred: Lamb’s Respite

When people think of ults that ruined games, Kindred is probably the likeliest culprit. Their ultimate puts a large area on the ground where no one is able to die. After the area of effect disappears, everyone inside it, ally or enemy, and minions in the area will be healed significantly. This might put the fight on pause, but in most cases, the fighting continues as it had. If your team is able to zone the enemy out of the area, this can be a huge help for allies running low on health.

If the enemy runs in and is able to get on top of your allies, you may have just set your team up to be aced. Since everyone’s health can only go to 10% at its lowest, squishier Champions will be at a significant disadvantage when surrounded by bruisers. If your team is not ahead, casting this within melee range of any enemies might be a death sentence.

Finishing Up

Allies being affected by abilities isn’t usually that weird, since enchanters use their spells for allies almost as often as they poke or use them on enemies. Despite that, some of the abilities listed above go beyond adding a bit of beef to your backline. Most times, one ability cannot even come close to losing you a game, but these abilities put that statement to the test. Coordinating with your team is and probably always will be the most difficult aspect of solo queue, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid these awesome abilities out of fear. With time, anyone can master these spells!