With the information released by Riot Games, we can believe that patch 11.17 is an extremely large update for League of Legends. In addition to buffing or nerfing various champions and items, four champions will undergo significant adjustments, including Akshan, Amumu, Gangplank, and Lucian. These changes promise to offer a fresher gameplay and item build for the aforementioned champions in the new version.
However, for a master Gangplank player like streamer Tobias Fate, he strongly disagrees with Riot’s changes. The nerf to the movement speed granted by the passive “Trial by Fire” from 30% down to 15-30% significantly weakens Gangplank’s trading potential. Furthermore, Tobias Fate explained on stream that the change to his Q ability – “Parley” now counting as a ranged attack will make the “Grasp of the Undying” rune much worse for Gangplank.
Tobias Fate: “If you’re a Gangplank player, you can see that the change to the passive is a heavy nerf. Essentially, you will lose half of your movement speed at level 1, and this stat will slowly increase to match the current version, which is extremely bad. Furthermore, the fact that Q – Parley is now counted as an auto-attack will make the Grasp of the Undying rune much worse than it was. However, you still have to use this rune because it provides health restoration and damage, although it’s worse than before.
For the E ability – Powder Keg, Gangplank will deal more damage that way. However, the issue with this champion at high ranks is that it’s very hard to get items that reduce damage, especially when it comes to shields. It’s really unfortunate that Riot has nerfed the Blade of the Ruined King in the upcoming patch. In summary, this adjustment has made Gangplank very weak in lane.”
If you use Gangplank enough, you will know that the strength in this champion’s lane comes mainly from the combination of Q – Parley with the Grasp of the Undying rune. This combo will help Gangplank deal damage at a safe distance while trading with melee champions and restoring health, which is extremely beneficial. However, when this skill is considered a ranged attack, the amount of damage dealt, and the health restoration that Gangplank can obtain from the Grasp of the Undying will significantly decrease.
One reason for Tobias Fate’s disappointment with patch 11.17 is that Riot nerfed the Blade of the Ruined King, causing Gangplank’s strength to diminish. Typically, Gangplank would build a core damage item (Kraken Slayer, Galeforce), then buy a defensive item (Sterak’s Gage) and then purchase the Blade of the Ruined King to sustain against melee champions. The nerf to Gangplank’s lane strength and the Blade of the Ruined King in patch 11.17 means there will be less significance in leveling up the E – Powder Keg ability.
With such negative reviews from a master Gangplank player like Tobias Fate, it’s likely this champion will continue to remain among the worst top lane champions in solo queue in the upcoming patch 11.17.
