The New Kassadin
Riot·3/29/2014, 12:04:58 AM·0 votes·5,468 views
For much of the 2014 season, we didn’t see much Kassadin play. But that’s not because he wasn’t seen as a strong pick by pro players, it was because he was seen as far too strong. His ban percentage spent time in the high 90%, as most teams had no interest in facing off against him.
But now, he’s received a big rework. He’s still the highly mobile, huge damage anti-magic assassin, but his dives into the enemy team are significantly more risky. As a result, he’s lost his permaban status, and is now a somewhat situational pick. We talked to pros to find out exactly when they’d take him onto the Rift.
Not wanting to face the behemoth, he was banned a total of 124 times out of a possible 128 times, giving him a 96.8% ban percentage across both regions. Needless to say, that’s a bit extreme. However, when he did get through the bans in champion select, his power was shown - or at least feared. In the first seven weeks of play, he racked up a 2-1 record in the four times he managed to survive the banning phase.
So how do you make sure he comes out of the laning phase ahead, thus allowing him to destroy in the late game? Kerp says that putting him up against the right lane opponents is key. “He can be used as a situational pick (into Gragas to just free farm early and then win the game by roaming), he still has some aspects that make him strong.”
The most important of those aspects is his mobility. He can Riftwalk speedily across the map, helping out his teammates in the other lanes. Who needs to kill minions when you can grab assist gold for yourself and kills for your buddies?
He does see Kassadin as versatile enough for someone to find a new way to play him. With the rise in popularity of AP top laners, there’s a possibility for Kassadin to see play in a completely different role. Hai suggests that a tankier build may work as a potentially viable way to take advantage of Kassadin’s newfound need to be right up in opponents’ faces.
As a member of Millenium, a team that loves to focus on banning out specific players on opposing teams, Kerp is more than happy to have that extra ban. “It is helpful to have one more ban to target ban some players or certain play styles,” he says.
For now, one thing is certain. The newly reworked Kassadin isn't nearly as damaging as he used to be. That is, until the pros figure out exactly what to do with him. For now, we'll just have to wait and see what they come up with.
Before the Changes
Before the beginning of this season, Kassadin hadn’t seen too many changes to his kit. But with the overall nerfs to mobile assassins at the beginning of the year, he suddenly found himself at the top of the heap. He was the perfect counter to the long-range casters that players were pulling out at the beginning of the spring split.
Not wanting to face the behemoth, he was banned a total of 124 times out of a possible 128 times, giving him a 96.8% ban percentage across both regions. Needless to say, that’s a bit extreme. However, when he did get through the bans in champion select, his power was shown - or at least feared. In the first seven weeks of play, he racked up a 2-1 record in the four times he managed to survive the banning phase.
Evolutions
Now that patch 4.4 is live in the LCS, Millenium mid laner Kerp is happy with the way that Kassadin was changed. Rather than being an unstoppable late game force “he is now much more of an anti-mage that can roam, rather than an assassin that can roam.” However, “he has a harder time killing things by himself due to his decreased burst.” Whereas previously he was a ticking time bomb, a champion that became unstoppable simply by existing, he now requires a bit more help. Now, his late game is still strong, but he needs to make sure that he doesn’t get shut down early.
So how do you make sure he comes out of the laning phase ahead, thus allowing him to destroy in the late game? Kerp says that putting him up against the right lane opponents is key. “He can be used as a situational pick (into Gragas to just free farm early and then win the game by roaming), he still has some aspects that make him strong.”
The most important of those aspects is his mobility. He can Riftwalk speedily across the map, helping out his teammates in the other lanes. Who needs to kill minions when you can grab assist gold for yourself and kills for your buddies?
To the Future
Cloud 9’s Hai is slightly less optimistic about playing Kassadin, but he hasn’t written him off entirely. “[We] will have to see more,” about what mid laners (or others) will be able to do with the rework, he says.
He does see Kassadin as versatile enough for someone to find a new way to play him. With the rise in popularity of AP top laners, there’s a possibility for Kassadin to see play in a completely different role. Hai suggests that a tankier build may work as a potentially viable way to take advantage of Kassadin’s newfound need to be right up in opponents’ faces.
The Bigger Picture
Now that Kassadin isn’t on a permanent ban list, both Kerp and Hai are happy to have the full use of bans back. Whereas teams starting on the red side previously saved their third ban to keep the purple guy off the map, they no longer have to do so.
As a member of Millenium, a team that loves to focus on banning out specific players on opposing teams, Kerp is more than happy to have that extra ban. “It is helpful to have one more ban to target ban some players or certain play styles,” he says.
For now, one thing is certain. The newly reworked Kassadin isn't nearly as damaging as he used to be. That is, until the pros figure out exactly what to do with him. For now, we'll just have to wait and see what they come up with.
is the second lowest winrate in soloQ... Now just wait for a Kassadin rework in 1 or 2 years, as they did for 
and other champions they destroyed
+ 
=
nerf plz
got 20 sec cd how much will it be depending on the passive?
back in URF
!
