A few days ago, the lead designer of League of Legends – Riot Phroxzon announced the latest information about the upcoming patch 14.5. In this version, Riot has shown significant interest in the Jungle role as a series of champions like Jarvan IV, Kayn, Evelynn, Nidalee… were adjusted. Additionally, items considered too strong like Iceborn Gauntlet and Galeforce were nerfed.
What’s noteworthy here is that the Marksman role received very few upgrades in this patch. Only two champions, Kog’Maw and Sivir, received buffs. In fact, Sivir’s update was deemed rather “meaningless” as the increase in base armor by 4 points did little to help her survive better in mid-game. As a result, while reading the patch 14.5 update live, the streamer known as “Sion the God” – TheBausffs exclaimed that Marksman is currently the worst role in League of Legends.
“I don’t know what they (Riot) are thinking when they haven’t made any notable upgrades for Marksman. This role is currently the worst in League of Legends as you can be easily “blown away” by other roles at any time. And then, by the end of the game, when Marksmen should shine, they continue to be taken down far too quickly. This role (Marksman) is indeed extremely bad right now and personally, I never want to play it for fun,” TheBausffs shared.
As soon as TheBausffs’ comment was shared, it garnered considerable agreement from the League of Legends community. Specifically, a post on the Reddit forum quickly received around 2,000 upvotes and attracted significant attention. Furthermore, League of Legends players revealed that Marksman currently has so few players that it has become the role most frequently “auto-filled”.
The perception of the Marksman role being undervalued has been a long-standing issue in League of Legends. Even in the 2023 season, T1 star – Gumayusi likened his position in ranked mode to being “an egg in a bowl of noodles,” something that is not essential. If even the top Marksman player in the world feels so pessimistic, it’s clear how poorly this role is balanced.
Fairly speaking, Marksman is still an indispensable role in League of Legends. Hopefully, in the future, Riot Games will make the right moves to help Marksmen have better power and influence instead of becoming “an egg in a bowl of noodles” as Gumayusi once shared.