Thus, the champion League of Legends named Udyr has been reworked after a long time without much attention. The player community has high hopes for this update, but it seems they are also a bit disappointed. Essentially, since the rework, Udyr has been built as a tanky damage-over-time champion instead of the traditional physical damage fighter playstyle.
As a result, players around the world have experimented with maxing out the Q ability but found it too weak, leading to a win rate for Udyr around 41-42%. Even if Riot buffs this Q ability, Udyr remains weak, so the community has explored maxing out the Turtle Stance and Phoenix Stance. In fact, this playstyle is much stronger than the Physical Fighter style, with Udyr boasting a win rate of up to 53%.
Udyr’s tank item build revolves around getting the Sunfire Aegis and Rylai’s Crystal Scepter, providing good durability while dealing decent damage over time to opponents. Consequently, Udyr’s strength is stable from early to late game, putting significant pressure with fast engagement, crowd control effects, and absolute power. If the opponents are low on health without ally support, they have no way to fight back.
However, the consequence of this item build is that it is too safe, leading to a somewhat boring playstyle, causing frustration for opponents. Therefore, the publisher Riot Games has decided to change Udyr’s item build direction in the upcoming patch 12.18. Certainly, if Riot has decided to change the item build direction, the skill stats will also undergo significant adjustments.
There are two ways to change Udyr’s item build: Udyr will use the Trinity Force or Divine Sunderer as the main item, then build other Fighter items like Death’s Dance, Thornmail, Guardian Angel, Sterak’s Gage,… playing in a full fighter style, or aim for Blade of the Ruined King combined with Iceborn Gauntlet like many other champions currently. To change Udyr’s item build direction, the stats of the Q and R abilities will be significantly adjusted. They will increase the damage or versatility of the Tiger Stance while reducing the power of the Phoenix Stance.
In summary, Udyr at the moment has been fully explored by the player community, from ability exchanges, effective jungle paths, to engagement strategies,… As Udyr proves to be too strong and safe with the tanky playstyle, Riot Games decides to adjust this champion in a different direction to make the gameplay less safe. Indeed, “Riot Entertainment” always has creative ideas that no one can foresee. Therefore, Udyr’s future in patch 12.18 certainly does not look bright as Udyr currently holds a 53% win rate.