What exactly is it that deems something worth nerfing?
What exactly is it that makes something worth nerfing? Is it a win rate? Is it how easy a champion is? Is it how easily a champion can snowball out of control? Perhaps it's how hard a champion is to take down? Maybe they're too tanky. Perhaps they deal too much damage?
I've been looking at how things have been nerfed lately and I'm just wondering. Riot has already worked plans on nerfing the dragon. Although I just used him, I can see him being pretty strong. But does that mean that just because a champion is strong, that they need to be nerfed?
If I made a lemonade stand that had 5 different flavors and everyone bought one particular flavor over the others, is it because that one flavor is just that much better than the others or is it because they just prefer that one flavor? Would it mean that I should try to lower the deliciousness of the Strawberry Lemonade so that while it's not nasty, it's just not so tasty that you could consider buying the blueberry or raspberry lemonades? Or, is the strawberry lemonade just legitimately too good that it just overpowers the other flavors?
I think it's pretty hard to go just by pure win rate. If Riot released a brand new champion and everyone just used that new champion, would that mean that it's win rate is so much higher because more people are using it? Well, then you have to look at the pick rate too. But at the same time, if their pick rate AND their win rate was really high, would that mean that they're actually overpowered? Or just over-popular? Then you have to look at the ban-rate too. If 10,000 players had to ban champions and 9,500 of them banned the same champion whilst the other 500 banned others....then you'd probably have something to go on. Maybe that champion really is OP and should be nerfed.
However, when something is nerfed, does it mean that they should be weaker? Or that their moves require more resources? If there's a champion that can effortlessly get a kill, or bully you out of lane in maybe two moves, does that mean that they're overpowered? Or that they're just outplaying you?
If there's a Katarina who got a pretty easy pentakill, some people may go, omg so OP, they need to nerf her. Well, the whole point of the champion is that they're supposed to get kills. They're an assassin. Does that mean that a nerf would mean that instead of getting a pentakill, they get a double kill? Or make it harder to get a pentakill? Even if you nerfed her and she still managed to get a pentakill, I don't think a nerf would help you.
Of course there are some things that just need to be changed due to exploits that are practically 100% impossible to stop. Like Twitch being able to stealth for 60 seconds, buying about 4-6 sunfire capes and just burning you to death without you being able to run, attack, or do anything to stop him from burning you to death.
https://youtu.be/Glyql8oiWMc?t=1m41s
This was an obvious situation of something that needed to be nerfed. Because it legitimately was unfair with hardly any counterplay. So, sunfires on their own were unable to be stacked and also Twitch's stealth got the nerf hammer as well!
There's other examples of exploits and other things that completely changed the meta to a very negative state in order to not get absolutely stomped.
Remember League of Black Cleaver?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqIOJNdGJDc
You would think that it was a joke, but no. Eventually it got to the point where you just built black cleaver it was just that freakishly strong.
So this is just my opinion on what does need a legitimate nerf. Anything that completely shifts the meta around itself, requiring its usage or it's ban to insure a nearly free victory. The best way to counter the black cleaver was to just try to get more black cleavers then the other player. Or whenever a champion is at a point where they are absolutely unstoppable, you NEED to ban them or risk it by trying to first pick them to insure your team will win.
Things that lack any sort of realistic counterplay, or lacking any counterplay whatsoever. Like how Talon/Kassadin/Leblanc silencing you would remove almost any type of counterplay to itself. While you were silenced in that brief matter of time, you were just going to ether die, or take a lot of damage that you couldn't escape from or just be super amazing enough to outplay them.
Anyone remember Cinderhulk Sejuani before Cinderhulk got the nerf? Or Smite/TP Shyvana with Cinderhulk? Or top-lane Warwick with red smite before red smite got nerfed? With Warwick, once you got the red smite, all you had to do was hit level 6, then you'd simply smite the player and ult....and watch them die to the absurd amount of true damage you dealt.
Or how sated Devourer used to work with Vayne? Procing silverbolts every two hits instead of three? I even tested sated Gnar with it...it was hilarious xD
Anyway, that's pretty much my thoughts on the matter. What about you guys? What do you think requires a nerf? What are your personal opinions on what deserves nerfing? Lemme know! :D
