Ranting about the Rek'sai Rework

I have never used the league forums, but after seeing the changes to Rek'sai I just have to rant a little. As a Rek'sai main, I've played her since release and my view might be a bit biased but this is my opinion. For those of you who don't know, the Rek'sai rework was announced close to the rework, and at the time we were told that her knockup was changed from an AOE knockup to a single target knockup and knocks back nearby enemies. It shouldn't be surprising that win rate would drop to 48.5% and a 1.3% play rate when first they nerfed her tremor sense AND the cool down of her tunnel from 20/19.5/19/18.5/18 seconds ⇒ 26/24/22/20/18 seconds. Before this nerf, you would usually max W second to lower the knockup CD per unit so you can knock people up more often during fights. However, you are now forced to max E just from how long the cool down is. I understand that the numbers from WWG are still in the works and nothing is confirmed but I will make my argument assuming those are final numbers.

What pissed me off the most was when they announced Galio's new kit, since 's rework was anounced before Galio's. Before you judge me for being a salty Rek'sai main, let's consider 's new kit. AOE - All of Galio's abilities (including his passive) are AOE CC - W) Lane wide taunt E) Single target knockup ( Q) R) Semi global knockup that is around 1200 (over a lane in diameter) As well as his W passive which gives him a regenerating shield. SO can have this super stacked kit, with 2 hard CCs and AOE in all his abilities but Rek'sai needed a nerf on her knockup cause she doesn't fit her 'identity'? That was the info we got and I know it's not that simple but cmon, it just doesn't make sense.

Thoughts on the Individual Changes Stated on WWG Rek'sai has pretty much never gotten a buff. Since release she has only been nerfed over and over again from her scaling to her base stats and then recently her W passive and E cool down. Based on WWG's article on the stated changes (haven't found any PBE notes so I'm using this as my source), in my opinion these changes to her are more suitable for a top laner than a jungler.

1. The W knockup on an individual target is going to limit her teamfight potential greatly
2. The single target knockup is going to make jungle clearing slightly more difficult
3. The changes to her tunnel can be broken or really weak since the tunnels are really easy to destroy and changing the re-use cooldown to 2 seconds means that it is most efficient if you stay on one side of the map (good for sieging I guess)
4. Since was meant to have a lot of mobility options, changing her ult removes her unique interactions with her tunnels which was one of her defining features. Her current ult gives her global presence, as well as flexibility for ganks or ulting from base to farm. Making her ult a dash to a targeted champion basically makes her similar to etc

Issue with Melee Auto-Reliant Frontline Fighters This may also be a design flaw, but personally I don't believe auto-reliant frontline fighters without (relatively) sustained cc are viable in League of Legends. Champs like can do well because of his 'go ham' kit with his Q slows and ult for CC immunity, and champs like can frontline if they build tanky but they are designed as carries. In 's case having a single target knockup CC is okay, however the extremely long cooldown on her tunnel would basically leave her little gap closers. If the changes do go ahead, would probably be an essential item to chase people down (which is not a bad thing, however it limits the possible builds). If she fails a gank or engage with her E or ult, she will have no escape and/or get kited just like due to her lack of range. That being said, that is my theory on why champions like are very limited and unplayable. Another thing to note, is basically now comparable to a top laner when she is supposed to be a jungler with the exception to .

Issues with her Clear Sustain A rotation for the most dps for clearing camps would be Burrowed Q - Unburrow - Q+Autos - 3xAutos - Q+Autos - Burrow and kite - repeat. This is where it gets awkward. When you burrow, you gain HP based off of how much fury you gained from attacking camps over a duration of 5s. Since you usually burrow mid clear to get another cycle of burrowed Q and knockup for AOE dmg, you don't usually get the heal mid clear and usually from going from camp to camp. Is not the only jungler with sustain and her passive DOES need some change, however the changes stated from WWG would make her clears more awkward. (Tl;dr she gains fury quicker and regens health faster but heals less) Not only would this make her sustain weaker, if you wanted more HP mid clear you would have to burrow mid rotation and stop dps on the camp. Meanwhile losing more dps since the knockup per unit cooldown hasn't completed. The raise in her damage COULD help negate the health issue, however it still gives her less HP when going from camp to camp. In late game one of 's strengths is that she can get low from a teamfight, do a camp and get basically half health from her passive. If this does become an issue, a change in the Fury conversion is all that matters. By lowering the amount of HP each tick heals, shes not going to be weak late game with the removal of her ult (so she can't base then ult back to a tunnel) and with less healing. Maybe that is a direction that Riot is trying to go for, but I feel like it will weaken her late game.

Rek'sai as a Vanguard I believe that these changes would make VERY similar to , considering their relatively similar kits and roles with empowered autos, engage (knockup), and the aim to deal sustained melee dps in the front line. Given my previous argument, lack of range in her kit is going to limit her potential even more in team fights as she would be very vulnerable to CC with the more bruiser oriented playstyle. At least with he has is E to slow and poke while only has her burrowed Q (which basically does no damage and used for scouting). According to Patch notes in 6.18, was meant to be a fighter (tanky with sustain dps) however her playstyle is more similar to a vanguard's (tanky engage). Which really surprised me because her whole kit screams 'vanguard'. This begs the question whether or not the champion design team just utterly failed at designing as a fighter, since she has been an incredibly staple vanguard since release. As biased as I am as a main, I think it would be way more suitable to consider a vanguard instead of forcing her vanguard styled kit into a bruiser/fighter.

Tl;dr All in all, I feel like these changes would greatly hurt as a champion. The changes made to her are more suitable to top laner as opposed to a jungler with the change in her ult and Passive sustain. On top of that, changing her role to a melee, auto-reliant bruiser will put her in a spot similar to and (and you see their successes). Though this could be a flaw in the design of that specific class of champions, these changes merely put in that category. With a kit that has a gap closer, knockup, and tanky stats, I believe that is much more suited as a vanguard than a fighter and Riot should not force her to become a fighter with her kit. If she was meant to be a fighter than her design as a champion was a failure since her kit greatly resembles the role of a vanguard.

Disclaimer This is just my personal opinion and as mentioned I've never used the league forums and I don't know if this is the best way to address my concern for my fellow Void Burrower. However I just think these changes are ridiculous and contradict Rek'sai's kit and role.