Caitlyn definitely ranks as one of Chris "Pwyff" Tom's favorite champions, but does that mean she's viable for your competitive team? Find out!

I have a confession to make: while I originally believed that I would be getting in some prime League of Legends (LoL) games during the holidays, I actually got burned out with LoL quite early on in December, owing partially to the excellent games I picked up on the Steam Holiday Sales (Battlefield Bad Company 2, Mass Effect 1 & 2 and Super Meat Boy) and partially to the terrible teams I kept getting put into while I queued up for my ranked games. The truth is, sometimes League of Legends can get a bit tedious if you already have hundreds of games under your belt (all on the same map, mind you) and when you start to consistently run into teammates in ranked games who have to go AFK to clean their rooms, needing a break from League of Legends is pretty understandable.

Flash forward a few weeks to the present, however, and you will find that my enthusiasm for this game has been replenished. I owe it all to Riot's newest champion, Caitlyn, the Sheriff of Piltover. I realize that saying a new champion has renewed my interest in League of Legends is a rather cliché opening for this Buyer's Guide, but I suppose this should be taken as an indication of just how easy it is to rekindle my interest in something; add a female, gun-toting character to your game, and chances are high that I'll be there.

According to League of Legends lore, Caitlyn hails from the technologically advanced city of Piltover and this is easily reflected in her skillset. Outfitted with some unique trinkets, Caitlyn gets two utility spells, a long-range damage dealing spell and a very powerful (if rather clumsy) ultimate. Caitlyn's first utility spell, Yordle Snap Trap, allows her to place up to two traps on the ground, and any enemy champion who walks over the trap takes a small amount of damage while being snared for 1.5 seconds. Her second utility spell, 90 Caliber Net, blows Caitlyn backwards while also firing a projectile forward that deals damage to, and slows, the first enemy it hits. Caitlyn can use 90 Caliber Net to push herself out of harm's way, or to hop up ridges.

On the damage-dealing end of the spectrum, Caitlyn's passive, Headshot, allows her to deal 150% damage (250% on a minion) on her 8th attack. Shooting from the brush allows her to build Headshot twice as fast. Caitlyn's main 'attack' ability, Piltover Peacemaker, is a 'straight shot' spell that, after a brief charge-up time, fires forward in a straight line, dealing damage to all targets in the way. Piltover Peacemaker can damage multiple targets but, much like Sivir's Boomerang Blade, the damage is reduced by 6% per target hit after the first (to a minimum of 70%). Caitlyn's ultimate ability, Ace in the Hole, allows her to pick a target at long range, where she will then charge up to fire a slow moving bullet towards that target. Her ultimate deals a ton of damage at any stage in the game (it scales at +2.0 per bonus attack), but enemy champions can intercept the bullet (and take the damage) by walking in front of their teammate before the bullet hits.