Why is Gangplank considered so powerful?

AstroFerrari ·Feb 6, 2016·1 votes·357 views

Hi guys, I recently picked up Gangplank. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not very good at this game, yet I do find Gangplank fun to play. When I play him I struggle in lots of matchups, especially against tanky champions like Volibear who shrug off everything I throw at them and lay waste to me without having to try. I have trouble laying my barrels down correctly and feel that people would only get caught by them if they're stupid LOL. Maybe I'm playing him wrong but any helpful tips you guys have are greatly appreciated.

5 Comments

l Helios lFeb 6, 20162 votes

Maintain bush control for chaining barrels.

Take grasp of the undying. Use your Q to apply it with bandit for 10 gold. Don't hurt your mana pool by trying to get SS stacks before you finish triforce + a bf. By that I i mean don't spam Q on minions too badly. Semi-frequently is ok though. Just be patient until you can at least kill the casters with a sheen proc Q.

Always get Fire at Will first. It offers the highest damage increase plus the most reliable one at that. You can decide on the other two at your leisure, but think of it as D. Daughter is better damage and the other one is high utility.

Typically you wanna do triforce, boots, reaver/i.e. (whichever order you want), bt, then a situational item. Reaver is good if you wanna farm a lot, so you'd typically want that first. Bt is usually for if you desperately need the sustain for long drawn out lanes or just staying out to farm longer. Once you have tri plus a bf you should be able to one shot casters with barrel + Q. Once you have tri + reaver + i.e. you should be able to one shot melee minions plus the casters with the barrel + Q.

Max Q -> E -> R -> W. Always. I can't think of an exception atm.

Avoid people like Fiora and maybe Darius who can harass you easily in early fights. Also avoid ranged laners, or at least try to keep your barrels safe from them. Tanks aren't too rough as long as you can land barrels. That's where chaining from brush works well.

If you ever get ganked, run to your barrels, chain one onto them (it slows them) then run like hell (you get movespeed from detonating barrels). If you want to fight a gank, put an E on yourself and ult on top of yourself. That would probably be your best chance.

Refresh your passive with barrels whenever you can for fights.

Remember barrels cost no mana. Use them as much as you want. They do give 5 gold if destroyed by the enemy laner.

Go 0/12/18 with grasp and bandit. Biscuits are good plus the mana regen for lane. The scaling armor isn't worth on you so take the tenacity mastery plus the healing ones in backet 1 and 3 (I think it's second wind and rejuvenation).

You can do 0/18/12 with thunder lord's if you are super confident, but GOTU is just too good on your Q.

Biggest thing is your gold generation. Just out farm and outscale.

Gl man.

1st MovementFeb 6, 20161 votes

He can deal dmg like adc and his e is strong

EndlessSorcererFeb 6, 20161 votes

Don't bother getting Ionian Boots if you are getting Trinity Force and Essense Reaver; those two items will give you 40% CDR after you get 10% more critical strike chance (i.e. Cloak of Agility -> Infinity Edge).

You should be taking the Grasp of the Undying keystone mastery. When laning, stack it by hitting minions and Q your lane opponent to proc it. Also, take Bandit for additional gold generation (since Q applies it as a melee).

Keep a barrel in a bush near you during laning phase. When you can, place another barrel within its range near an enemy champion and shoot the barrel in the bush to detonate both instantly.

If you could post a link to your matches so we can see your runes and masteries, that would help.

I'd recommend watching some good Gangplank players (i.e. HuzzyGames, Sickmotion) for tips and advice.

Be sure to take advantage of his ultimate's global pressure. Keep an eye on your other lanes (using the mini-map or health bars if necessary) for fights in which you can intervene for assists.

1st MovementFeb 6, 20161 votes

Use your e to kite as it gives u ms put one near and if they engage throw down a barrel near enemy and shot the barrel nearest to you

It is easy to put a barrel in a bush without enemy suspecting and you can put a barrel to enemy and pop the barrel

UnpaladinFeb 6, 20161 votes

Even after his nerfs, he has fantastic scaling while simultaneously being safe/decent in early laning phase especially against certain matchups. He is a great pick against a lot of things, and simply choosing him has great benefits to your team if you use your Ultimate correctly.

I used to think that the enemy needed to be braindead to be hit by barrels, but when you get the hang of him enough you can figure out the exact range that if you do your combo correctly, it will hit. The thing is, you can use your Ultimate to ensure that you put them into a situation where it will hit. This makes for an instant scenario where your enemy are going to take massive damage and they won't be able to avoid it if hey have no dash or flash.

GP often builds a great amount of movement speed on his core items, which in addition to the Youmuus active, give fanastic movement speed. Being faster means you can get into that barrel deployment sweetspot which can catch your enemies out easily.