It’s not hard to notice that the god of the forge, Ornn, is currently the strongest top and mid lane champion in League of Legends. He possesses all the attributes of a powerful tank champion, including safe laning (if not strong), an incredibly sturdy character, and excellent crowd control both for single targets and in area effects. Notably, Ornn is not just filling the professional tournaments; he is also dominating solo queue, a place that usually does not favor tanks.
However, the most insane power of Ornn does not lie in those flashy attributes but in something all too familiar to League of Legends players: Gold. Ornn’s ability to upgrade items via his passive is the most terrifying thing this champion brings to the game; perhaps even champions like Ezreal and Gangplank, who traditionally utilize the old Trickster runes, could not dream of ‘hacking’ such a large amount of gold.
Recently, a player took it upon himself to tally up the upgraded items from Ornn, and the results will shock you.
Why is Ornn so strong: A Gold Value Chart
After seeing both TF Blade and LIDER complain about Ornn on Twitter today, I decided to create a simple chart to show everyone how valuable Ornn’s passive truly is and to realize its real power.
The result is that Ornn can grant the entire team nearly 7000 gold just from the added stats when upgrading 6 items.
This ranking focuses purely on the base stats of the items, not their effects, so the real value is relatively higher.
First, let’s look at the three frequently used items: Frostfire Cloak, Abyss Mask, and Iceborn Gauntlet. In terms of the value difference compared to regular items, Abyss Mask is the most gold-efficient item, exceeding Abyssal Mask by 1878 gold. Frostfire Cloak and Iceborn Gauntlet follow with value differences of 1667.8 gold and 1480 gold, respectively.
Typically, Ornn upgrades 2 out of these 3 items, and no matter what combo you use, as long as he reaches level 12, this goat god will instantly convert over 3000 gold directly into items—a staggering figure. Remember that unlike forging items for teammates, Ornn gets upgraded simply by reaching level 12, meaning you don’t have to exert any effort yet gain a significant item (in theory).
Ornn’s other items that upgrade for teammates may not have as much value, but they still provide a substantial power boost. Without considering the effects of the items, simply having an additional 1000 gold converted directly into items is incredibly strong. This makes the power of a team with Ornn always superior to opponents, even if you are behind in gold or towers.
This dominance has led players, from professional gamers to solo queue stars, to complain about this champion. They accept facing a strong champion late in the game, but no one wants to confront a champion who is already strong late-game and can ‘hack gold’ for himself and his entire team.
Perhaps there’s no need to elaborate further on Ornn’s dominance; this goat god is incredibly well-rounded and nearly lacks any counterplay. Fortunately, in the latest updates, Riot Games announced that they will nerf Ornn’s overwhelming power. Instead of upgrading items at level 12, Ornn will now need to reach level 13 to forge items for himself, and his ability to upgrade items for allies will increase from level 13 to 14. Hopefully, this will help tone down his power in patch 10.5.