Concern regarding the pbe Shyvana nerfs.
Long explanation after but:
TL:DR 2 early game nerfs to Shyvana is overkill when combined with the devourer nerf last patch. Riot is over nerfing a champion that doesn't need to be nerfed this badly and is completely taking her out of viability. Put the W nerf through but sit on the Q nerf; its too much.
Hi all, big time Shyvana (jungle) player here. I am very concerned about the pbe nerfs that are intended for Shyvana in the next patch. Before I get into why, just a few starting points.
Yes, I am a major Shyvana fan, I will attempt to not be biased with this analysis. With a 53% win rate, I am not saying that she shouldn't be nerfed; while win rate doesn't necessarily translate to a champion being too strong, I know first hand that Shyvana can be over bearing at the moment and I'm not against a Shyvana nerf (Blasphemy, I know /s).
I'd also like to quickly point out that I know that PBE stuff is subject to change, but once things like this make it to pbe, its a pretty good chance they are going live. PBE isn't a good environment for testing balance for a few reasons and thus Riot won't be able to respond to the fallout from these nerfs for at least a patch, but (lets be honest) it will probably be more than that. That is a cause for major concern for me.
My concern is how heavily she is being nerfed; I think it is incredibly heavy handed.
Firstly, we haven't even had time to analyse how the 6.5 change to devourer is going to affect her; by delaying her sated state, that only could give opponents the time they need to get the advantage. At the very least, this change isn't going to positively affect shyvana's power level or her win rate. However, my knowledge of Shyvana does lead to me to believe that this isn't really enough of a change, which brings us to the pbe changes.
The change I would be in support of is her W losing bonus damage to monsters. This was put in before the jungle items changed and has been lingering for a while as perhaps a piece of excess power. I don't mind this nerf; it makes sense and, most importantly it doesn't affect her interactions with champions.
The same cannot be said for her Q nerf, which is a 50% damage nerf at the first level of the ability. Unlike the W change, this drastically affects Shyvana's ability to fight other champions in the early game. This is a big deal because, unlike almost all the other devourer junglers (udyr, xin) Shyvana's ganks are always subpar; I would even argue that Warwick (post 6) makes up for his ganks in ways that Shyvana is never able to answer. Yi is kinda a different story; but I think Shyvana is much more comparable to udyr and Xin than to Yi. And okay, Udyr tends to build Luden's atm but still, point stands. Her dueling advantage was a trade off for that weakness, this nerf is significantly weakening that strength.
More than just that though, Riot (and the players if they pay attention) know that small changes in the early game have drastic effects later in the game. Knowing this, it concerns me that Riot is okay hitting Shyvana with 2 big early game nerfs at the same time after smoothing out her power curve via devourer changes. This is essentially 3 nerfs at almost the same time; for a champion with a 53% win rate. It feels like overkill.
I would be a LOT happier just seeing the W nerf and seeing how that played out balance wise first; W is her aoe clear and an auto attack enhancer which is getting boosted by 20% against monsters. Getting rid of that on its own is going to slow down Shyvana's clear and force her to take more damage. That alone could be enough. We don't need to hit her with a Q nerf at the same time. If, after the dust settles from the potential W nerf, she is still too strong, then I could see the Q nerf being applied. But together? Riot has been so good recently about making small, incremental changes (see Gangplank) that, frankly, seeing 3 this quickly is a little disheartening; especially on a champion with a fairly average win rate and no influence at the professional level.
I'd love to get a Rioter's perspective on the nerfs but that I know is something everyone wants about all their posts. I would be more than happy to discuss this with anyone that suffered through my book here and disagrees with something I have said. Thanks and gl on the rift!