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[TheoryCrafting] AD Blitzcrank Top

MrBuffington··2 votes·1,525 views

Maybe this is just a troll build, but I honestly think AD Blitzcrank has potential to be very powerful. I'm going to try to make a case for this, let me know what you think :D

Some things I've noticed so far:

#PROS

  • He has 2.0 AD scaling on his E, which, at max rank, is on a 5 second cooldown (3 seconds at 40% CDR) Trinity Force sheen proc gives another 2.0 base AD, which, Blitz has the 5th highest base AD at lvl 18 of all champions
  • His AS/MS buff on his W is actually pretty good, 32% MS and 62% AS at max rank for 8 seconds. Gives him great DPS and sticking potential.
  • He's pretty tanky with his passive, and can be super disruptive due to all the CC he has in his kit
  • Just like Support Blitz, awesome pick potential if you can land hooks, and is just generally very disruptive.
  • Isn't as mana hungry or dependent on hooks as AP Blitzcrank (you don't use your hook as much)
  • Your team can have Thresh support. Hooks for days.
  • Just fun to play :D

#CONS

  • There are better options. Not going to deny this; he's sort of a lesser Alistar in top lane imo, of course Alistar is pretty godly top, so Blitz doesn't seem too shabby. In jungle, you can always just play Amumu, unless you really want to be stealing buffs over walls.
  • His AA animation is awkward/slow; I found it a little tough to get used to last hitting at first, though you should be fine with a little practice.
  • Not as bursty as AP Blitz. Though I don't build him with many damage items, so this doesn't make too big a difference imo.
  • Vulnerable early/can be counterpicked. Hooks aren't as threatening since you don't have an ADC to follow up, and you have no ranged ability besides this, which is easily minion blocked.
  • No waveclear pre-lvl 6. Post lvl 6 your waveclear is pretty dang good, though.

I would take 21-9-0 or 9-21-0 masteries, for runes hybrid pen, AD, Armor, and MR. I would run TP/Flash, gives you a little extra safety in lane since you can teleport back to lane, or also pull off ganks in other lanes (the aforementioned Thresh/Blitzcrank combo). For skills, the first three points are situational as always, but I would max W first, Q second (higher base damage and lower cooldown) and E last (since it doesn't offer anything besides lower cooldown, which you're going to be building CDR anyways). As far as builds, I'd probably start flask or one of the Doran's items (you could have a good reason to take any of them, honestly), I might get an early Tear of the Goddess if ahead, if not build straight into Trinity Force, then go for Lucidity Boots and Frozen Heart for max CDR (assuming you take 5% CDR with masteries). From there, just go tank (Banshee's/Locket and Randuins/Sunfire), and finish off Tear of the Goddess as a last item depending if I want more burst (Archangel's) or DPS (Manamune). If I didn't get a Tear, last item is just situational.

Thanks for reading!

13 Comments

redniwediS2 votes

I've seen this work. AD Blitz (A.K.A. Punchcrank) is fairly viable in a mid game composition. He falls off late game due to either being too squishy or too low on damage while filling a damage position (unlike AP blitz which can build a fair amount of defense and damage at once). He does have a lot of utility, so if things do go well into the late game you can still find something to do, just keep in mind you won't be carrying at that stage of the game.

His true weakness is the lane phase though. Many top laners can trade far, far better than he can, but with a well timed gank or two to set his opponent back AD Blitz can snowball into a legitimate threat (top lane is less about building your own advantage and more about keeping your opponent so low that you gain a huge advantage by default).

MrBuffington1 votes

Yea, I feel like any situation I would pick AD Blitzcrank top, I would be better off playing AD Alistar instead. Both are fun though, lol

redniwediS2 votes

There's a few situations where Blitz is better, like if your team is full poke/disengage with little to no engagement potential. Blitz does like to give those out of position enemies a free gap closer, after all.

MrBuffington2 votes

That's true, Blitz is much better in pick comps. Alistar would need to either flank or flash Q + W an enemy back into his team to achieve similar results. You'd need to pick him into a weak lane opponent though, especially so you can roam around and bug the living crap out of the enemy jungler XD.

GuyWithSword1 votes

Personally, I'd go jungle-crank (still punch crank) over top-crank. His ganking potential is too good to ignore and to waste in a solo lane I feel.

MrBuffington1 votes

True, his early game will be a bit easier too, though his clear speed isn't great.

Azlagor1 votes

It's like thresh or leona top, it can work well, especially with a carry-style jungler, but the lack of waveclear and sustain makes laneing rather hard vs most popular toplaners, and the lategame-scaling isn'T rewarding enough for the weak laneing in a serious game. but if ur 5man oremade and want to have fun, he definitly can work.

MrBuffington1 votes

Thresh and Leona have pretty bad ratios though. Leona might work if you just want a hard engage super tank

Azlagor1 votes

Thresh scales very well with attackspeed and the souls he gathers. every soul gives him 1magic damage on-hit, and he is even more disruptive in fights than blitz. Leona Becomes a nearly imortal stunbot that can dive towers without real drawback

BastionKross1 votes

Solo lane hooks can be VERY threatening on AD Blitz, but you have to constantly trade with your E. Since Blitz has no sustain, you'll have to be the aggressive one. This usually means just waltzing up and uppercutting your lane opponent, then running away before they hit the ground. Once the opponent is low enough, do it again but use W and just start beating them down. This will probably have the opponent burning flash or another escape mechanism to get away, and that's when you decide to drag them back in for a hug.

Don't use your hook to start fights in lane, use it to extend trades to an all in. Unless you're against a ranged top, then by all means drag them to you constantly.

MrBuffington1 votes

Pretty much agree

TheRainInSpain1 votes

For reasons other have said, Blitzcrank has no natural sustain, meaning he cannot make trades effectively with other top lane champions (Cho'Gath, Warwick, Xin Zhao, Heimerdinger and on and on). He can hit very hard, but that's nothing to brag about since there are other mADC champions that can do the same thing (Fiora, Master Yi, Gangplank).

In my opinion, I wouldn't send him top lane at all; I'd stick him in the jungle. As a Feral Flare ADC jungler, Blitzcrank can carry just like other ADC junglers, without the pressure of not having natural sustain against a lane opponent. You'll just play him like Fiora, Master Yi, Nocturne, Yasuo jungle. That is, use Feral Flare to outfarm for mid and late game, or use it as a stepping stone into a non-Feral Flare build.

I'd say a jungle AD Blitzcrank would behave a bit like Fiora or Master Yi, not carrying as much oomph, but having a lot more utility for your teammates to jump off of.

MrBuffington1 votes

Blitz' clear isn't too great, I guess if you have a lot of mana you can spam your ult to clear camps, but pre 6 it's a pretty slow clear. I think Blitz either goes full AP or tanky utility jungler with a little bit of damage, unless you're really good at hitting hooks.

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