Why should I play Rek'Sai anymore

DorkunedAuras··18 votes·2,254 views

Rek'Sai has not had an easy life. She was released horrifically overtuned somewhat strong, and did get some nerfs to her damage. Then some more. then some more.

Now her Ratios are downright abysmal. She has one good AD ratio in her kit, and it's got enough caveats that it barely counts. Yes, 240% total AD true damage sounds AMAZING, but remember: It has no base damage, so you need to build some AD to do damage with it, and it's only 120% Total AD Physical if you have no fury, and you will have no fury because you entered the fight underground.

She's not a tank. She does not have the raw tank stats to be one, as any true tank has some steroid in their kit to make them hard to kill. She does not have any.

In addition, she has very limited CC. It's Point Blank AoE (PBAoE), which while it has its uses, is foiled somewhat by the per target cooldown. This means that Rek'Sai, who is played as a damageless tank, has ONE CC, that lasts for up to a second, and by the time it can be used again, the teamfight/gank is over.

So the only real reason to pick her at this point was for her vision control, which riot have now also nerfed.

So back to the title question. Why am I picking her? If I want a tank for CC, there's a whole host of them, like Gragas for example. If I want a tank that can also do a bit of damage, there's a lot of those too, like any that have % hp damage in their kit, such as almost all of them except Rek'Sai.

Please Riot, yes I'm biased because I'm a Rek'Sai main, but she is the first champion you released that I truly fell in love with. I'd love to One Trick Pony her through ranked, but at this point, she's so weak outside of pro play, that she doesn't do much.

Please, if you're 100% steadfast on killing tremor sense like this, let her do something else. Make her tankier, give her more damage back, SOMETHING.

You've slowly killed the most beautiful champion in the game, and I want something to be done before she's forgotten.

44 Comments

Ralanr13 votes

I tried building her tank in 6.13. My god I hated it. It didn't have the kick that warrior gave.

I'm a tank main and Rek'sai doesn't feel like a tank to me. She feels like a bruiser, but she can't survive in fights long unless she builds tanky. That's fine, but full tank sai just doesn't feel fun. Being a knock up bot with vision control doesn't feel great.

She's a land shark, not a land whale!

DorkunedAuras4 votes

This, exactly this.

Arakadia2 votes

Almost like Aatrox to a lesser extent, does no damage and isnt fun as a tank but dies instantly if they build damage.

Ralanr1 votes

Yeah, but Aatrox is a drain tank.

Honestly damage might just be too high right now for Rek'sai to survive as a damage dealer.

Sire Hippington1 votes

and this is exactly the reason why the tremor-sens nerfs are great. Yes, it sucks for now, but it eventually creates room to buff her combatpower and thus allow her to live up to her land-shark fantasie without breaking her for competetive play.

SwiftKitten887 votes

i agree, she really cant do much outside of being a knockup bot, like the OP she doesn't have tank stats and when she build tank she cant do any damage unless she builds damage

but when she build damage she just dies instantly. outside of her w passive she is pretty bad

D3m37r11 votes

They even nerfed her knock up a while back

DREADN0UGHT2 votes

Rek'sai is one of the highest winrate champs in elite elo.

62.5% in 272 games in Challenger this past month. 56.49% in 856 games in Master

Velasan3 votes

{quoted}

Rek'sai is one of the highest winrate champs in elite elo.

62.5% in 272 games in Challenger this past month. 56.49% in 856 games in Master

Just want to point out that while this is fair a player who is really really good with a champion they've practiced a lot (especially when you're skilled to the point of challenger) can do well with almost any character. The game shouldn't be balanced around the top 1-3% of the most skilled players in the game.

Should they be taken into consideration? Yes. That doesn't mean that Rek'sai doesn't feel like a disconnect in the way she plays or couldn't use some cleaning up. Sometimes the answer isn't nerfing something or making it OP, but just moving power around to make a champion feel better to play.

DREADN0UGHT2 votes

Well, her winrate in Diamond her winrate drops to around 51% which is pretty balanced, and 48% in Plat.

Her overall Monthly winrate in all leagues combined is 47.70%, ranked 103rd in League of Legends.

And now they nerf he most unique and useful ability.

I don't think they are doing the right thing.

Marshbouy6 votes

I agree with this. She is only good for map pressure now and getting around the map quickly. otherwise she's just bad.

Madra4 votes

{quoted}

I agree with this. She is only good for map pressure now and getting around the map quickly. otherwise she's just bad.

Map pressure and getting around the map quickly is a big deal. With the teleport nerf, nerfs to Rek'sai had to happen. Having an early warning system on a tanky jungler that also can just tunnel away was placing too much of an advantage in one aspect of the game that no other champion can match. Being given a constant blueprint of everyone's movements around you should have been on a support-ish champion that didn't come with built in escapes- let alone one that dash away, hit the recall button, and R right back into the fight.

SwiftKitten883 votes

{quoted}

Map pressure and getting around the map quickly is a big deal. With the teleport nerf, nerfs to Rek'sai had to happen. Having an early warning system on a tanky jungler that also can just tunnel away was placing too much of an advantage in one aspect of the game that no other champion can match. Being given a constant blueprint of everyone's movements around you should have been on a support-ish champion that didn't come with built in escapes- let alone one that dash away, hit the recall button, and R right back into the fight.

no they didn't... shen's ulti is WAY better than reksai as all he requires is a teammate not a tunnel and he SHEILD the teammate... shen also does a whole hell of a lot of damage when only building tank items where as reksai wont do any damage. the ONLY reason she is picked in LCS is becuase of her passive. every other jungler outclasses her in EVERYTHING ELSE

Arakadia2 votes

She has sweet counter jungling, not alot of junglers ouclass her in that.

Bisaknosp3 votes

better buff lee sin

Xeruon3 votes

Rek'Sai has been what I like to call Lulu'd

Nerfed only for the sake of LC$, without regard for the other 99.9% of the playerbase.

Kensue4 votes

[deleted]

Xeruon1 votes

They did increase the amount of bans from 2 to 3 around Fizz's release.

Since then, many more champions have been released, and 2 more bans are very overdue. It would also solve the problem of 1st and 2nd pick constantly getting counterpicked.

DREADN0UGHT2 votes

You makes some very valid points. As a big Rek'sai enthusiast I can only jump in to give my opinion on the matter.

First off, I am pretty salty that they would nerf her sensor in such a way, as it is a very unique and useful tool which complements her kit. I see Rek'sai as a highly disruptive tank/fighter with decent ganking ability, balanced damage output given the correct build and an amazing if not the best map presence in the mid to late game.

When released, her presence was absurd since there were no limits on how many tunnels she could have on the map. You could literally have a line of tunnels from the fountain to all 3 lanes, objective and buff, and tunnels inbetween them. It was absurd. Now, she is limited to 8 Tunnels, which is somewhat decent. Her knock up was initially 400 units, making it a very effective knock-up, it was then nerfed to 200. They also nerfed her Prey-seeker (Buried Q) damage and AP scaling by quite a bit.

Lets look at the current pros and cons

Pros

  • Amazing map presence and pressure past level 6
  • Decent gank with tunnels and knock-ups
  • Great sustain with Rage
  • Good engages and disengage with tunnels
  • Tunnels can be used as warnings for enemy presence
  • Disruptive in teamfights

Cons

  • Beyond being annoying, full tank Rek'sai doesn't bring much to a teamfight
  • Lack of vision when burowed
  • Kit does not offer much damage unless built from items
  • Ulting warns the entire enemy team (or makes them shit their pants)
  • Base speed is fucking terrible
  • Very little CC from a 1v1 point of view

Those are the things I thought of right on the spot. I probably missed some. Point is: They are nerfing the wrong part of her. Her sensor is the Gucci that counteracts her poor vision when underground. Nerfing the sensor just makes it tougher for Rek'sai to remain Burrowed when roaming around. Isn't that a little counter-intuitive?

Why not nerf her Ult cooldown which is at 40 seconds with 40% cdr? Why not make her sustain less broken? Have you ever seen a good Rek'sai player go in and out of fights with a item 3065 ? Why not increase the number of Tunnels she can have but make them last much less?

I know these suggestions don't aim at what Riot is trying to fix, but nerfing Rek'sai's signature ability is kinda like attacking her identity. I think people should be playing around the fact that she can provide vision and pressure, since its what she was designed for. So why nerf that?

TurquoiseYoshi2 votes

The problems that Rek'Sai has are actually a lot like the problems that Kalista has. They both have so much kit utility that they're pick/ban in professional play. However, when other things get balanced for that, the champion ends up feeling lackluster and boring. The vision changes are actually in the right direction, as lowing her utility allows for buffs to her damage and other fun stuff, which appears to be where that's headed.

SwiftKitten881 votes

{quoted}

The problems that Rek'Sai has are actually a lot like the problems that Kalista has. They both have so much kit utility that they're pick/ban in professional play. However, when other things get balanced for that, the champion ends up feeling lackluster and boring. The vision changes are actually in the right direction, as lowing her utility allows for buffs to her damage and other fun stuff, which appears to be where that's headed.

umm except.. they HAVEN'T be buffed afterwards? why do u think kalista has a 46% win rate. the DIDN'T buff her after they removed what made her good. riot donest do that to anyone but thier fav champs likeLeeSin andZed

TurquoiseYoshi1 votes

Originally, they just had damage removed, cooldowns increased, and base stats lowered. The Rek'Sai vision changes are the first for either of them that is headed in the right direction of kind of a rework over time, with the possible exception of that tiny Kalista change that made her E mana resets less forgiving.

Frankey881 votes

idk why youre saying shes bad i carried on her since LCS started adn will still cptinue, i usually get first blood and 15 vkills a game and become a tank

Profirix1 votes

I'd rather play Maokai jungle now. 1.5 seconds is actually kind of absurd. This is not a small nerf. This may have broken the champion.

KVbqbFsC8e1 votes

Same reason as any other champion, because you enjoy playing it?

DorkunedAuras1 votes

If you want to rank up, then you have to play stuff that's strong, not just stuff you enjoy.

Also, that's the only reason at this point.

D3m37r11 votes

I have never seen a RekSai be useful outside of the LCS.

Leon Etoile1 votes

The OP has over a 55% winrate with a 3.0 kda and is complaining about nerfs on his champ...

I'm rocking a 55% winrate on my main with a 4.85 kda (almost whole enemy team dies to kill me once). I'm carrying my ass off and still losing games. If you are good with the champ, it won't matter.

DorkunedAuras1 votes

It's a nerf that simply makes her SO MUCH WORSE feeling to play.

Velasan1 votes

Welcome to the world of Azir mains.

Buggy as any champion ever released, slowly gets fixed up, then is immediately hit with the nerf bat repeatedly over and over... and over...

Yeah he is still playable, but what a crazy way to have to play a champion. Rek'sai is similar in that regard, lots of changes to the kit, lots of nerfs, and yet it's a champion that feels like you want to be building AD on them, but currently requires you to go tank.

She's not horrible right now, but she wont be good until she gets some buffs again if only because there is so much competition.

Abyssphere1 votes

What are you talking about saying Rek'Sai has no tank steroid? Her passive goes up to 450 HP5 for 5 seconds if she maxes out on fury. She has ridiculous sustain, she just needs to spend a few seconds burrowed to access it. And her natural stats aren't half-bad either.

MohawkBird1 votes

[deleted]

Abyssphere1 votes

Rek'Sai builds full tank most of the time and therefore has essentially no DPS when her Q or E are down. You are no less effective in burrowed form as you are in unburrowed form if you assume that at least one of your unburrowed cooldowns are not available.

That's worth the huge amount of HP she gets back.

Sire Hippington2 votes

yea, so she just needs to survive to fill up the furry and then do nothing for 5 sec to regain 450hp...sounds great.

The passive is a nice sustain between fights, but it's not very great duering a teamfight.

Only Play Darius1 votes

You don't. She's been gutted beyond recognition and is little more than a flash knock up bot. I wish they would just remove her knockup entirely.

aqours fanboy1 votes

I like Rek'sai's concept, and considered using her in jungle to take a break from Ekko but I'm seeing all these negatives about her and dropped it.

Maybe if we pray for a buff.

PraetorAmalthus1 votes

Everyone´s complaining about jungle Rek, and im just sitting here, sometimes enjoying toplane rek.

DorkunedAuras1 votes

I play a ton more Top'Sai than jungle Rek, because she's been nerfed out of enjoyment for me in the jungle.

Billy VoHagen1 votes

Isn't Rek'Sai one of the best and most contested junglers in high elo?

Jeanne fan club1 votes

She is a tank with great mobility on account of her tunnels. her clears are pretty decent apart from her first clear. Her early game pressure is not quite shaco teir, but she has a lot of cc to work with, along with the burrow through walls. She has a lot of different build paths as well. If you go tanky, you get extremely tanky, when you build damage however, you do some reasonable damage. I think that 1.5 second refresh rate might be a little too long, I think it should be 1 second, but we will see how the patch goes.

Guy Fox Teemo1 votes

Blame the LCS; LCS kills everything. COUGHKALISTACOUGH

TyrekGoldenspear1 votes

"Why should I play Rek'Sai anymore"

Is her beauty not enough?

Name one other outrageously attractive female champ you could take into the jungle.

She will never be forgotten as long as she lives in your heart...

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