Tahm Kench looks like he'll be pretty good in plenty of roles, but not necessarily broken in any

Visigoth·Jun 23, 2015·35 votes·5,208 views

Jungle he gets Cinderhulk for his Ult passive damage, then he has mobility from ult and would be a pretty good counter ganker. He has a ton of peel for a support, but still not too much CC (other than of course eating the enemy carry). He seems like a pretty decent solo laner (especially top) since he can just eat his lane opponent to ignore them or just eat minions and spit 'em out to bully.

Either way I'm glad we're getting more uniqueness in abilities (although it looks like he is gonna over shadow 's protecting and 's snatching, but he does both only half as well in return for the versatility) and he doesn't just have 17 dashes, 3 knock ups, 2 blinks, and 8 passives that give extra damage.

59 Comments

Jarrito232Jun 24, 20158 votes

Oh trust me people will complain about him. They will.

The Griefer KingJun 23, 20156 votes

im so going eat people then flash under turret and spit em out. also the ulti lmao. eat your adc bring hiim to lanes and get him fed. lololol

LoLKiruJun 23, 20154 votes

[{quoted}](name=The Griefer King,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=JXg281fO,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2015-06-23T21:19:09.537+0000)

im so going eat people then flash under turret and spit em out. also the ulti lmao. eat your adc bring hiim to lanes and get him fed. lololol

Teleport is disabled when he eats someone, wouldn't be surprised if flash is too; TP might be disabled just because its a channel though.

He also can't take Thresh's lantern with someone in his belly either, nor can he be Kalista ult'd.

ElJanitorFrankJun 23, 20154 votes

Flash is confirmed to not work.

LittleBlastJun 24, 20153 votes

He can be Kalista ulted

LoLKiruJun 24, 20151 votes

{quoted}

He can be Kalista ulted

I could've sworn Zenon said that if he tries to W while Kalista ults him (or the other way around) whichever one was used first will disable the other. Might've misunderstood though

Jeddy017Jun 24, 20151 votes

I think Littleblast is talking about Kali ulting TK AFTER he swallowed his target.

SvddenlyJun 24, 20151 votes

Zenon actually said that if an enemy Kalista ults her ally he can eat them and then get kalista ulted himself. Enemy Kalista ults enemy Tahm that has eaten another ally, then allied Tahm eats enemy Kalista then get ulted by ally Kalista. 5 people in the same spot.

ZavernJun 24, 20151 votes

I've devoured an ally and teleported just yesterday. Unless there was a hotfix.

ArkenStormJun 24, 20151 votes

ally i think works, enemies for sure does not.

LoLKiruJun 24, 20151 votes

{quoted}

I've devoured an ally and teleported just yesterday. Unless there was a hotfix.

Fairly certain it works with allies, teleporting (and all summoner usage as far as im aware) is disabled with enemies though; so you can't eat an enemy and then flash under your turret for instance.

Shroom JunkieJun 24, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=The Griefer King,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=JXg281fO,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2015-06-23T21:19:09.537+0000)

im so going eat people then flash under turret and spit em out. also the ulti lmao. eat your adc bring hiim to lanes and get him fed. lololol

Don't you mean get Tahm fed? .. get it cuz he eats them... ahahahaha .. aha...ha...hee... ok

SquidblimpJun 24, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=The Griefer King,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=JXg281fO,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2015-06-23T21:19:09.537+0000)

im so going eat people then flash under turret and spit em out. also the ulti lmao. eat your adc bring hiim to lanes and get him fed. lololol

You actually cannot flash, teleport or take thresh lanterns while holding an enemy champion in your stomach. Riot confirmed this. Not sure if this applies to allies.

Knight SoIaire Jun 24, 20151 votes

eat a katarina and get her fed

or even better EAT A GALIO (first thought when i saw his ult and w) and just get him close to enemies

he is a good synergy pick for those who are realy strong ut lack mobility to unleash their damage

also eat an ulting fiddle or ulting kennen and chase people with your speed boost

i love the champions riot makes nowadays

Lord GwynJun 24, 20155 votes

I kind of disagree, he looks useless for the most part to me... needs 3 stacks of passive to do anything (useful) with enemies (good luck applying that in a teamfight with basic attacks unless its applied by abilities), no mobility/escapes, ult can be just TOUCHED by an enemy champion and his ult will break channel (breaks on incoming champion damage, not even cc), can't flash/tele/ult/thresh lantern with a devoured enemy (unsure with allies, probably the same), can't spit an enemy champ back to his team, little to no mobility outside of his ult, ult is pure taxi skill. On the upside, he is good for damagesoak/tank/somewhat damage potential, anti-cc in lane, good surprise long range engages. In a meta where Mobility and CC is pretty heavily in use, he is kind of a sitting fish in the river.

Just my thoughts though, positive and negative.

PæanJun 24, 20151 votes

Auto-Q-auto, you can now chomp someone and spit them somewhere :D

ArkenStormJun 24, 20151 votes

it does apply to abilities btw

Biff ManlyJun 24, 20152 votes

That passive on his ult makes me want to just... item 3083

SH AzykanJun 24, 20157 votes

item 3083 item 3717

JimmyNtheKudosJun 24, 20152 votes

Have you seen him in PBE? His damage and tankiness is insane! He'll most definitely be nerfed.

Zenthon PrimeJun 23, 20151 votes

Apparently he's got an insanely slow clear, so I don't think Jungle Tahm is gonna be a thing.

Top might be pretty sweet though.

IcyPepperJun 24, 20151 votes

wasn't cinderhulk made to help with early clears for that reason tho?

Zenthon PrimeJun 24, 20151 votes

It would. Assuming he made it that far.

IcyPepperJun 24, 20151 votes

I think his pre-bami clears would be slow, but that might be a good thing.

Not every jungle should clear too fast.

ArkenStormJun 24, 20151 votes

Shen

SpecterVonBarenJun 24, 20151 votes

Just looking at the video's, his base attack speed is so bad that it'll make his clears before he gets it too awful to justify it.

SvddenlyJun 24, 20151 votes

I think they could help the clear out by just making his Q able to stun monsters.

XonraJun 24, 20151 votes

He feels like he will be best as a support, or supportive mid.

His abilities aren't supportive in the traditional, shield, heal etc way, but his eating allies can save someone from death, his ult just screams support ganks, etc. Will need more time to play him, but I can see loving this guy on support (I play mostly support).

iainB85Jun 24, 20151 votes

edit: Nevermind, seen him on PBE now -- he's pretty much the god of jungle, top, and support. Riot cannot be so Vayne to release him in this state, I hope!

Jeddy017Jun 24, 20153 votes

Riot have even stated he can still function in a solo lane.

We initially designed Tahm Kench as a top lane tank and we believe he still functions well in this role, but his support play probably eclipses all other roles. Because ally devour is so particularly powerful when used on a strong but fragile ally, playing him in the role where he can do that from level 1 just makes the most sense. That said, a top Tahm who gets ahead can affect other lanes in a unique way: waddle down into river to "ward", pick up your jungler, teleport mid--and suddenly the enemy mid laner finds himself in a 1v3 tower dive. Fun times!

I think Riot is perfectly comfortable with making multiple roles supports.

Ariel the CruelJun 24, 20151 votes

As long as he's not a dedicated support, he's free to go where ever he wants. Dedicated supports are the ones they have a problem with. Lulu Just doesn't five a ++++ and takes a solo lane anyways.

CirrostratusJun 24, 20152 votes

But what if she does four a ++++? That'd be a problem.

iainB85Jun 24, 20151 votes

Well, I've seen some of him from people streaming PBE and this seems unfortunately the case right now. He's going to be perma banned on release if they don't tone him down majorly before release.

ArkenStormJun 24, 20151 votes

but they rework everyone who works as a multiple role support (karma, etc.)

Jeddy017Jun 24, 20151 votes

Hey,I said making.

SpecterVonBarenJun 24, 20151 votes

Bro, you have not seen his ratio's, they're insane.

tamashinoerufuJun 24, 20151 votes

my favorite part is he is the first champion in forever to not have a dash/flash/speedup

CirrostratusJun 24, 20152 votes

He gets a speed buff towards enemies if he has devoured an ally, sorry to burst your Thick Skin.

tamashinoerufuJun 24, 20151 votes

damn i must have been wanting it so bad i missed that ...

GrimmrockJun 24, 20151 votes

Just going to drop this out here:

As an anecdotal note: All clears were done without leash, from level 3 he clears fine, health being the operative bar to his staying longer, which can be adjusted by ganks.

Guy jungles fine, and his clears only get faster, from level three his clear is safe and modest, from level 6 his clears are phenominal, his ganks are efficient from lv 4, being moderate at lv 3 as the slow is only 20%. his level 6 solo ganks are strong, and I can only imagine them being stronger when you take a mid, top, or adc for the ride. (it is on a long cooldown).

As for complaints? :: I would like it if we were able to use the noms to damage the buffs, if not to eat them, otherwise for clearing said buffs, eat the smalls, and fire them out for waveclear.

impending nerfs? I see them making his W incremental damage, 36% upfront seems high, 36% over four seconds of being heavily CC'd by your own ability? far more fair. if not that, then likely a reduction in the amount of % health used.

Most efficient buildpath ive found with him in the jungle is Cinder, FM/Visage, Frozen Heart, Randuins, FM/Visage, Shoes.

Do note that his W does apply on hit effects when firing minions and monsters, thus you can ranged 35% slow from W should Q be on cooldown or you need more distance. though the minion stops on first enemy hit, it has a range roughly double that of Q.

All in all, I see myself playing this champion in the jungle more than support, but he's certainly going to be viable in top, jungle, and support.

i like pie mmmJun 24, 20151 votes

wouldn't eating the large minion be more effective since it does %health damage? I don't have PBE so I am curious. Also with leash can he clear blue side + red without backing? I am used to playing nautilus and amumu. Nautilus never backs until hes oom as long as you time the shields right in the beginning and amumu's red can be scary. From how far approximately can he ult?

Also can he built more as a bruiser with a black cleaver instead of a FH?

Finally what are his ratios? how does his ult convert health into damage. IT would be great if we could get some numbers to run.

ArkenStormJun 24, 20151 votes

I recently stayed in the jungle until lvl 6 with only a machete with Shen . dat sustain

PartholonianJun 24, 20151 votes

You can't eat the buff mobs. A Rioter stated that baron, dragon, and buff mobs are inedible (they didn't mention Vilemaw, but that was probably just an oversight; although if the coders overlooked it too...)

You can eat Gromp and the big wolf/bird/krug, though.

BakedLotionJun 24, 20151 votes

W 20/24/28/32/36% (+0.04%*AP) of their maximum health as magic damage. Cooldown: 20/18/16/14/12

R Passive: Basic attacks and damaging spells deal an additional (10 + 6/7/8% of Tahm Kench's bonus health) magic damage.

Definitely not op. ROFL

Meep ManJun 24, 20151 votes

{quoted}

W 20/24/28/32/36% (+0.04%*AP) of their maximum health as magic damage. Cooldown: 20/18/16/14/12

R Passive: Basic attacks and damaging spells deal an additional (10 + 6/7/8% of Tahm Kench's bonus health) magic damage.

Definitely not op. ROFL

But then you realize he has to get right beside them to do that and he has no gap closer.

BakedLotionJun 24, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=Inept Maverick,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=JXg281fO,comment-id=000e0000,timestamp=2015-06-24T15:22:06.957+0000)

But then you realize he has to get right beside them to do that and he has no gap closer.

Then u realize he has a heavy slow, and team mates. Please. If he eats you with that thing, half yor hp is gone, but then again they'll be in ur team

GrimmrockJun 24, 20151 votes

For non buff camps you're right, but for red/blue you cant eat em, so go after the mini's

He doesnt scale particularly well with Ad, rather, health and AP.

Meep ManJun 24, 20151 votes

Actually, his jungling isnt all that good. He cant survive all that well in the jungle.

PrøpäinJun 24, 20151 votes

This was meant to be a reply to someones comment but it kind of just took off into it's own review midway...so here's what I think about this guy after the last day.

And he needs to get in three autos per devour to effectively do so which is more difficult than it seems considering he has no real hard CC besides his empowered Q which needs the 3 auto attacks to stun in which case you can't eat them for 36% HP, no real "sticking" power except his Q which is easily body blocked in a teamfight since it's single target, and low mobility compared to most other champions. He just walks up and hopes the target he wants to devour is braindead, and it's CD is pretty dang long as well even with CDR. 1v1 this guy may be a champ but in teamfights he isn't all too powerful imo since he can easily be kited if his target knows what he is doing, peeled off of if the enemy support knows what he's doing, and really my only qualms with the guy at the moment is his E and partly his Ult. His giant shield is what is going to make him a problem in my opinion since with his ult you build HP, build HP+shield and on average you'll have 8k+ worth of HP stats if you time your shield right which does make him a problem in team fights considering you have to focus this 8k hp tank and his team kills you or you ignore him and let him go rampant which THEN his devour becomes a problem. His ultimate to me seems too strong on the base damage, since I believe his ultimate active is already a good ultimate by itself but the damage is just a cherry on top. Scaling with HP is fine I suppose maybe could tone it down by a small % ratio and lower the base damage by a moderate margin. As a side note I do think his W needs a smaller AoE as well...when he spits people out it has a pretty big range for harassing.

Passive- Good, I like it. Brings a new light to the 3 hit mechanic and makes his abilities interesting and not overpowered imo. Q- Good, I like it. Single target, low CD, able to be body blocked. W- Mixed feelings. Single target long CD but does hefty damage but at costs explained in the wall of text above. I do like that he is able to eat an ally to protect them as well. Could use less AP ratio scaling as well as 0.4 seems pretty high for a % damage spell...most hp% skills need 100 AP per percent if I recall correctly. E- Don't like it. Makes the guy even more tank than he needs to be. I think this is the most broken part of his kit at the moment. R- Decent. It has a good active which I believe is okay considering it's channel time, mediumish range, and no vision given which if you opponent is aware can react fast to escape/outplay a double man cutoff. His passive part of this skill is the only thing that I think needs to be looked at especially the base damage it offers. Feels a little overloaded imo.

LastWildWonderJun 25, 20151 votes

Tahm Kench is suffering from "looks OP on paper" syndrome. Until he leaves PBE and spends some time on live, we won't know if he is OP, UP, or balanced.