The State of Ivern

Hi all,

Today I want to talk about Ivern, a champ who has had his share of being at the top of the meta, most recently ending about mid season 7, where he was dominated by pro play and then Riot pretty much guttered him because lets face it, he was kind of cancer to play against with him being able to hide objectives and clear his jungle with ease. After his nerfs, he was left in a pretty bad spot, and even though some buffs have been given to him, he still feels like garbage to play because he doesnt really offer much anymore. He is unique, his role as a support jungler is pretty much unmatched, but I feel now ivern relies more on support items than he does anything in his kit. His Q is a great ability, but the only ganking ability he can offer pre 6 (even tho daisy is a pain to gank with post 6). His W i would argue is one of the most useless abilities in the game currently. Without it being able to hide objectives anymore, the only thing it does is expand Iverns AA range. Ivern is a support champion who doesnt build any damage items (his empowered autos tickle). His e is a basic shield, something that is mostly just used to proc ardent censor if you ever decide to buy it. Why does it pop and deal damage though? What was the thought process behind that?! It was a new an innovative design for a shield but it popping doesnt really offer anything, with ardent censor usually being built on ivern the shield is mostly used on the carries, who usually dont get close enough to anyone in order to get the damage off. Its fine though i dont have much of a problem with the shield considering he is a support champion, even though the new shielding nerfs that are coming in one of the upcoming patch is only going to make it feel worse. Now, his ultimate is really innovative, and people complain that Daisy is a pain to control and I feel like she could be tuned up a bit to help control her better. But looking at the big picture, Ivern has an okay clear, even though its a pain to try to take things like scuttles and contest the enemy jungle without using smite. But he cant solo dragons, making him useless until bot lane can come help him. Not that all junglers can solo dragons, but this leaves Ivern as someone who doesnt have much objective control, isnt the best ganking jungler, doesnt clear significantly well anymore, and relies heavily on support items to perform his job as a support to his team. I know that there a bigger concerns right now than fixing Ivern, but I just wanted to voice my complaints with the current state of someone who I feel completley lost his identity.

TL;DR- Ivern’s identity has been lost, his W is pretty much an useless ability now, and with nerfs to shields incoming I feel Ivern is only going to continue to struggle.