Kha'Zix is a liability

Arveanor·2/17/2015, 5:24:53 PM·58 votes·5,784 views

"At the current state of the game though I'm very scared if they do pick up Kha'Zix, he's fairly squishy, and if they don't get going early, he's more of a liability in the current state of the game." -Kobe during picks and bans of TiP vs WFX, Week 4 day 1

So, I know everyone probably still has nightmares about Kha'Zix being [s]marginally overtuned[/s] at various points in the history of this fine game, but does no one else agree that Kha'Zix is no longer that big problem, and is fairly weak these days? I mean, even if we just revert the cooldown nerf on his void spikes it would allow him to sustain through the jungle better and be able to get off half-decent ganks, that'd be great news for the bug.

So do you guys still hate kha'zix and think he should never be buffed, or do people agree he could use a bit of help?

188 Comments

InSingedWeTrust2/17/2015, 5:27:08 PM32 votes

He's one of the champion who will always be too weak or too strong, never actually balanced.

pleep2/18/2015, 1:01:37 AM5 votes

ALL HE NEEDS.

Is his isolation range nerf reverted

Jasiwel2/18/2015, 3:36:05 AM4 votes

Kha'Zix is in a really bad spot right now, despite what Riot thinks. He absolutely is a liability because his damage is so gimped compared to everyone else's at the moment. Isolation range is literally a 1v1 situation where teammates/minions are not present within a 50 mile radius. That's, at least, what it feels like.

I think their balance problems came in when they tried to make his R Evolve defensive, nerfed the cast time and then removed the damage reduction...without reverting the annoying 2 second cast time. He can't lane right now at all and jungling is basically down to the other jungler sniffing glue or being a poor jungler.

Heck, I'd say Talon jungle has more capacity right now than Kha'Zix jungle mainly because Talon doesn't have nerfed damage values like Kha'Zix does, despite the weak initial clears. He's better at late game and actuall killing people like an assassin should. Kha'Zix really can't do anything like that anymore unless the other team is seriously uncoordinated beyond YoloQ levels.

Veraska2/17/2015, 6:04:37 PM4 votes

so i play a lot of kha'zix and i know what you mean, but kha'zix has an issue where if he's ever buffedto have high numbers he completely takes control of the game because of how flexible and verseatile he is (its core to him, its the evolve mechanic adding extra utility to his abilities)

i love the bug to death but i don't want him buffed, then he'd just be too strong, from my time playing kha'zix in season 5 the thing i have the most trouble with is keeping up with the rest of the game safely, he has plenty of chase potential in ganks but no actual hard CC, so being really squishy means he either has to have great timing and go in for a cleanup or bait his allies into tanking enemy abilities so he can jump in, the jungle just beats his ass too much so he can't keep up with the laners considering how many pots you have to buy to stay in the jungle.

if he's ever buffed he'll be too strong, the cost he pays for all his extra utility (strong AOE slow, reset potential, etc.) is his damage potential being strongest when his opponent is isolated (meaning his Q has less to do with kha'zix skill and more to do with his opponents misplay) thats why they nerfed his W so much, because levels 1-7 maxing W would offer you similar (less) damage to Q but it'd also offer you a strong slow, sustain, and less risk then going into melee Q range.

kha'zix is a good champion right now honestly, just the jungle doesn't favor him, he's really missing the spirit stone.

Jesus is Savior2/18/2015, 9:37:57 AM3 votes

They could just revert the isolation range nerf.

You know, so he can actually isolate people again.

PartyManiac1172/17/2015, 8:28:57 PM3 votes

As sad as it may sound Kha will never be buffed. When Kha was released he was powerful and did a job that no one else could, coming in wiping the enemy out and leaving with either reset E or damage reduction R. Now dont get me wrong 50% damage reduction is insane but Alistar now has a 70% damage reduction and Yi who is also an assassin has 50% at level 1 and a 70% at level 5 so i dont see why people and riot were so pissed about kha having a DR that lasted 1 to 2 seconds, so in the end they removed the R evolution bonus making it a worthless evolution. The point in this is Kha players are the only ones who like Kha everyone else hates him and the assholes who play this game will always complain but people are dead set on Kha never being just strong enough. Heres 2 of 3 things that needs to happen. 1 Reduce the iso range its too damn long turrents can stay allies but the iso range is impossible to get now 2 Make R do something again cause its worthless as an evo which is sad cause whn it is evolved it makes kha look so good 3 Give Kha some way to force isolation onto someone 4 Make his passive scale with his ad which in turn would make him more burst and people would use his ult more But if these seem to broken for the bug then i dont know what to do about him anymore cause I really love playing as him.

For Carthage2/18/2015, 12:56:58 AM3 votes

Kha'Zix needs a team revolving around Kha'Zix - he can carry. Hard. But it's all about getting champions into isolation.

Try going Kha'Zix with any massive, AoE power-house champs - champs like Annie and Malphite do wonders. The reason for this is that you give the enemy team an ultimatum - either you group up and get nuked by all the AoE, or you spread out and get slaughtered by Kha'Zix. Mind, this isn't a foolproof method - you can still royally fuck up. But I found that Kha does wonders on teams like this as AoE comps generally lack straight single-target power, which Kha'Zix brings the epitome.

BlackMagicWilson2/18/2015, 2:38:40 AM3 votes

I tried to main Kha'Zix once but I ended up quitting on him after the third round of nerfs and buffs. His entire existence has been a roller-coaster of ups and downs I never wished to ride. Change might be good but Kha'Zix certainly does too much of it.

The Ecdysiast2/18/2015, 5:34:04 AM3 votes

He should be buffed. Where other assassins can delete enemies, he only has that luxury if they aren't surrounded by enemies. The Isolation thing is a good concept, but instead of making him viable during a teamfight and stronger alone, he's now in the state of being an assassin who can't actually kill unless:

He's been stealing kills when he ganks.
The enemy wandered into the jungle with 3/4 HP so he gets the isolated bonus.

MysteryinShadow2/17/2015, 5:54:15 PM1 votes

I still play him with the w route, go trailblazer first until i can upgrade to warriors enchant with stalkers, tear into last whisper/hydra/black cleaver/normally tabis or mercs. You could max w and evolve q for pick teams/objective control, or max and evolve w for farming/better ganks/more of a poke/siege team. I find him to be okay I guess, right now, it just took me a few games to find a good jungle path. Now I can clear one side of my jungle, scuttle, and my other buff, and gank or back.

TL;DR - Personal opinion and build wise, I find him to be okay, except for that one nerf on void cd, but he's still fine otherwise.

Robby Dawg2/17/2015, 8:45:38 PM1 votes

Anything with stealth can be powerful. That's mostly because low elo can't ward. However, higher elo the problem doesn't exist. Kha is assassin like bug, should be squishy.