Riot Games may be renowned for its excellence in various fields such as skin design, tournament organization, customer service, and cinematic videos, but game balancing has never been their strong suit. Even long-time League of Legends players must admit this when witnessing champion and item updates that have been extremely “game-breaking” in nature introduced into the game.
Therefore, the community has long held the habit of “trusting half” with any update plans, whether big or small, from Riot Games. In the latest updates from Riot’s Mark Yetter – Lead Gameplay Designer for League of Legends – regarding champions like Pyke, Karthus, Swain, Skarner, and Tahm Kench, the community maintains this attitude; while there is some excitement, there is still fear that Riot might add something ridiculous to these champions.
Riot’s Mark Yetter: “The gameplay design team has a few small projects related to some of the champions below. We hope to bring them to the official server in the next few patches. Everything you see on the PBE server is still in testing, but we always welcome feedback. The current goals are:
Pyke – Buff the support position but not make Pyke too strong in solo lane.
Karthus – Bring him back to mid lane as a good option, making it easier for us to balance both mid and jungle positions in the future.
Swain – We are looking for ways to empower this champion at higher ranks, possibly with unique effects for his abilities to make him a “Mage who is combat-oriented and strong at close range.”
Skarner – Bringing a series of visual upgrades and increased damage when facing Fighters or Tanks.
Tahm Kench – We are looking for ways to push his power from professional play to solo rank so that he becomes a more viable choice.
The changes for Tahm Kench are truly scary. Every time they rework something about Tahm Kench, he ends up too strong in all three lanes and has to be nerfed afterward. This will be the fourth time.
They need to tighten his versatility; having both defensive capabilities and the ability to counter assassins and strong roamers while carrying another person is too much. Removing one effect and focusing on buffing the other would be fine.
Wow, I can’t believe my eyes, finally my Skarner is getting a buff.
IG must be sweating bullets right now.
Xmithie is going to be a beast next season.
Does Pyke need a buff?
I haven’t seen Pyke Support in a long time; I see him more in mid lane.
According to data from U.gg, Pyke is among the top 10 most picked Supports, with a win rate just below 50%.
These updates from Riot Games seem quite reasonable as they address major issues with the champions they listed. However, the reality is that their updates are generating a lot of controversy. Recently, Karthus received a new effect, Bramble Thorn, which blocks dash abilities for his W – Wall of Pain, and many believe this is a significant buff for the jungle position rather than mid lane.
Hopefully, the community’s concerns will not come to pass; we have had to “live with toxic” for far too long already, and we cannot endure another situation of game-breaking champions.