I still stand by my request: Have Blitzcrank retract his arm after missing a Q!

woobee·Jan 8, 2016·164 votes·5,554 views

YOU NERFED THE WRONG ABILITY. Change his Q to retract after a failed grab!

Not only is it aesthetically logical, it would also add counterplay to his Q, which most would agree is at a frustrating position as an ability.

Elaboration on the aesthetics of his Q: currently if Blitzcrank were to miss his Q (say it is dodged), the skillshot (arm-tube, fist) disappears immediately after reaching max range, an illogical movement for a skillshot that is physically attached to the champion.

Counterplay: Ending "Lag" for his Q would provide an opportunity to attack Blitzcrank, as punishment for missing a key skillshot for engagement, and usually a guaranteed kill.

Please notice my proposal, and consider this change.

79 Comments

XIII VanitasJan 8, 201610 votes

You forget about something: Blitzcrank is already handicapped for missing his Q by his high mana cost and high cooldown at early levels. I don't think it's fair to have a double punishment just because you missed a skillshot.

SnugglePuggle94Jan 8, 20164 votes

Exactly ^ Plus with the slow on his E, he would have an even harder time to get away. Like Ahri, if she misses her charm, she can ult away, or use her Q for movement speed. He doesn't really have the tools to get away amongst his flash if he misses his Q.

SulghunterJan 8, 20162 votes

But you must consider just what he gets for landing this skill shot. Landing the skill shot on an immobile ADC, and that's an automatic kill if the adc doesn't use flash or has it on cd. Same for immobile/squishy supports. The mere threat of this skillshot is immense, let alone how devastating it can be.

XIII VanitasJan 9, 20161 votes

Yeah, but it's a skillshot and can be blocked by minions. And if you miss it, the only thing you can do is run in melee range and E the enemy.

AlakalzamJan 8, 20169 votes

Honestly, I have no clue what your proposal is. Your request as stated seems more like a visual upgrade whereby his fist rockets back onto his arm. But practically speaking, who cares? :p

Moreover, the counterplay you're suggesting is exactly what people already do. Attack him and his carry when his fist is on cooldown.

Wow...no change needed. :p

FrickendaChickenJan 8, 201632 votes

He said that it makes SENSE aesthetically. Not that it is required to be aesthetic. He also stated that Blitz is stuck (ending lag) during the retraction. Likely, the Q would move the same speed forwards and backwards, allowing the players to attack and move while Blitz is STUCK in one spot.

And it does effect his other moves. Press W, then Q, The W duration will likely end by the time it comes back, not letting him run up to someone and Knocking them up or ult as quickly. It just makes Blitz have to be able to position himself better before he hooks, because if he misses, he can be punished for it hard. About 2 seconds of a self root.

Chaotic ReksJan 8, 20165 votes

ikely, the Q would move the same speed forwards and backwards, allowing the players to attack and move while Blitz is STUCK in one spot.

so pretty much like pudge hook from dota?

The EllimiistJan 8, 20162 votes

Yeah except still like 10x faster than pudge hook and 1/4th the distance >.<

Chaos FoxJan 8, 20165 votes

it'd be funny if his fist flew off after a missed grab and you had to go grab it to use the ability again.

ZhireJan 8, 20161 votes

i find that to be a good idea

ZakennayoJan 8, 20164 votes

That's stupid.

He already has a punishment on his W. He doesn't need anymore.

Mecha MaIphiteJan 8, 201632 votes

His punishment on his W can be removed. It felt awful to use, and didn't achieve its purpose as well as it should have.

chipndip1Jan 8, 20169 votes

{quoted}

That's stupid.

He already has a punishment on his W. He doesn't need anymore.

The punishment of?

Oh no...I'm slow for a second. THE AGONY!!!!

The pull is fast to start up. It goes through walls. It also has the longest reach. It ALSO doesn't compromise his positioning. The LEAST it could have is any sort of negative towards it. Right now, Blitz's hand is literally THE BEST hook in the game.

Remlap1223Jan 8, 20167 votes

Are you kidding me? Blitz already has the slowest move speed in the game for a melee champion. A slow isn't significant?

If movespeed didn't matter, people wouldn't be whining about Lee Sin's movement speed every day here. They'd be able to devote more time to his abilities or other stats.

Champion SkinJan 8, 20165 votes

Not to mention movement speed is especially important when you have no dashes/blinks and rely on movement speed... which makes slows hurt all the more

Gear5LuffyJan 8, 20161 votes

you know thresh has longer reach and second active where can leave it if caught wrong champ ? how is blitz the best in hooks where thresh uses a hook Thresh

chipndip1Jan 8, 20167 votes

{quoted}

you know thresh has longer reach and second active where can leave it if caught wrong champ ? how is blitz the best in hooks where thresh uses a hook

Cause Thresh takes half a second to tell everyone around him "HEY GUYS! I'M GONNA USE MY HOOK! :D". Blitz just goes for it.

8Hz98hmIDGJan 8, 20163 votes

Plus it doesn't pull the hooked champion to him, only about half the way IF you walk backwards the entire time you have them hooked.

InHaruhiWeTrustJan 10, 20161 votes

i have to agree i think the W change was a better change that the Q change even though i think the Q change make sense. But, i think it would be too much of a nerf and i would personally much rather have the W nerf over the Q nerf anytime. the W change fixed what i thought was his most annoying aspect of him being able to chase you down to the ends of the earth just spamming W until he eventually catches you and he WILL catch you. now he uses a boost of speed to get into position for a hook and then "overheats" which makes a ton of sense. if he lands the hook then the slow means nothing cause he will be standing still robo fisting the person he grabbed for the full duration of the slow anyway(unless hes fed). if he misses then he is slowed and left relatively vulnerable depending on how out of position he went to try and land the hook.i say this as someone who doesn't really play blitz at all but hated playing against him before the change, now he is tolerable lol

MisterLayzeeJan 8, 20164 votes

Disclaimer: I have played Blitzcrank more than any other champion.

Aesthetically, the only reason why Blitz stays put when he DOES land a hook is because he is anchoring himself to pull in the heavy object he just grabbed. In fact, what SHOULD happen is when misses his Q is that his protracted hand should be dragging around like toilet paper stuck on someone's shoe while retracting. (i.e. his cooldown timer) That would be one amusing, and two able to let everyone know that hey Blitz's Q is down we can do things. Granted Riot would never do that because that would be a pain in the ass to animate.

aGentleGrabnFistJan 8, 20163 votes

He needs a cooldown reset after kill assist, then he's balanced

KivolanJan 8, 20163 votes

How about we just make it like Nautilus' Q... Can't go through walls. I can deal with a Blitz in lane. I cannot deal with a Blitz who pulls me over a wall because every last inch of the map isn't warded.

HoseeJan 8, 20163 votes

Lol wtf. Now people are wanting to nerf Blitzcrank's hook? Yeah ok nerf the one thing he brings to a team which is avoidable.

ParoeJan 8, 20162 votes

{quoted}

Lol wtf. Now people are wanting to nerf Blitzcrank's hook? Yeah ok nerf the one thing he brings to a team which is avoidable.

Well, its got 0 counterplay to it and its one of the fastest grabs in the game. Adding a small "retraction" delay only lets a failed hook be punishable - something its not. it might cost 100 mana, but you get off scott free for failing it.

HoseeJan 8, 20162 votes

It's unpunishable? His grab is his entire kit. You miss grab, you're useless.

ParoeJan 8, 20162 votes

{quoted}

It's unpunishable? His grab is his entire kit. You miss grab, you're useless.

You miss a grab you walk away without being punished. Just because his rotation depends on it doesnt mean that its punishable.

HoseeJan 8, 20162 votes

Not being able to do anything is being punished.

TurquoiseYoshiJan 8, 20162 votes

And while we're at it, halve his E knock up and remove his ult silence.

Because proper positioning is too hard for us, but we can argue that he runs really fast and somehow warps his team to him.

FancyKiddoJan 8, 20162 votes

Same with Thresh?

GlockHammerJan 8, 20164 votes

{quoted}

Same with Thresh?

Thresh hook is slow, and won't pull you all the way to his team, he won't follow up with a 200%bAD knockup or nuke silence, as such it already has alot more counterplay.

Despite this, I wouldn't mind also giving thresh, naut and any other hooker champ a slight retraction time if they miss their grabs. Though I do believe some of the more dominant champs would need to have a look at for the state of balance to not turn even more bonkers than it already is.

OrangesilkJan 8, 20167 votes

If Naut misses a grab by hitting a minion he's propelled forward anyways leaving him in a terrible position and without his main engage tool, this is punishment. If Naut misses his grab by hitting wall, he's basically dead meat, this is VERY punishing.

GlockHammerJan 8, 20163 votes

{quoted}

If Naut misses a grab by hitting a minion he's propelled forward anyways leaving him in a terrible position and without his main engage tool, this is punishment. If Naut misses his grab by hitting wall, he's basically dead meat, this is VERY punishing.

U do have a point there. So I agree.

kaltenashesJan 8, 20163 votes

good thing he's a tank, so..uh... his punishment is to lose 1/16 of his hp?

OrangesilkJan 8, 20164 votes

A tank out of position actually gets killed really quickly, without causing much disruption in the enemy team. Ever heard those low-elo going all "Why didn't you follow up on my initiation?" tank out of position.

Chuck CharlesJan 8, 20162 votes

while I do feel blitzcrank is frustrating, there are some things that can happen as a result of this I do not want. but they would have to happen.

right now blitzcrank is balanced around absolutely insane mana costs relative to how small his mana pool is. especially early. one or two hooks missed and he has no mana and you can do whatever you want in lane. so when he does actually land one, he SHOULD be rewarded for it. if he misses, he is being punished by the massive mana costs.

if you do this kind of a nerf, he would have to have he hook mana cost reduced I feel. and that is simply not something i want. sure I could auto blitz once or twice after a missed hook, but man, more hooks means more chances of having a robot fist up my ass. no thanks.

morris1Jan 8, 20162 votes

Will it be only visual? In the sense that it won't affect anything else and you can animation cancel it with other abilities? Or will it be a channel that would stop him from using abilities and slowing him / blocking movement all together? If it's the latter, then yes, this definitely needs to happen. It won't be a major nerf, it won't gut him, for players half competent it will hardly even be noticeable. I'm so sick of seeing Blitzcranks fire Q everytime it's off cooldown carelessly without any immediate drawbacks or regrets. It would be the perfect QoL nerf to make Blitzcrank players aware of the power of landed hooks and losses of missed hooks.

Rico NastyJan 8, 20162 votes

[deleted]

Z StatisticJan 8, 20167 votes

Why is using minions to bodyblock you not an acceptable form of counterplay?

TransgressorJan 8, 20162 votes

Because people simply suck donkey ass at the game.

Speak of the devil, he's Bronze 4.

MelledoneusJan 8, 20162 votes

Because people can't accept that minion block is a thing and don't like getting surprise-hooked in the jungle by a good Blitz.

La BarbotteJan 8, 20162 votes

missing his Q makes him basicly useless already, its a one trick pony champion and doing so would completely destroy a champion that already got alot of counterplay

WontBeBannedJan 9, 20162 votes

Why is blitzcrank grab being questioned when rengar "1 shot" is still a thing. His speed boost already got nerfed to hell anyway.

DeluxeSlayerZJan 10, 20162 votes

doing this would make the champion less fun to play..... dunno why people hate this champ that has been in the game for so many seasons.... banshee and good positioning already makes it hard to q .... on top of that if u q the wrong champ its gg...... making this change would be too much imo.... he is actually balanced right now.... anyway thats my opinion .... morgana has 3 sec root ... blitz has this awesome hook.... soraka has god heals ... every champs feels op and unique in their own way.... why change that?

Tomate CruJan 8, 20161 votes

[{quoted}](name=Solis Umbra,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=LJEOyMiy,comment-id=,timestamp=2016-01-08T00:49:33.977+0000)

"as punishment for missing a key skillshot..."

Yeah... Sounds fair... What about missing a non-skillshot ability? Instant death?

woobeeJan 8, 201620 votes

punishment for missing a key skillshot for engagement, and usually a guaranteed kill.

AhristocatsJan 8, 20169 votes

[{quoted}](name=Solis Umbra,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=LJEOyMiy,comment-id=00030000,timestamp=2016-01-08T03:23:23.959+0000)

the punishement is blitzcrank wasting a lot of mana, and not having his main ability for 20 sec, since he is slowed you can kill him

Timely VoidlingJan 8, 20166 votes

[deleted]

D357R0Y3RJan 8, 20164 votes

[{quoted}](name=PinkEye Punisher,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=LJEOyMiy,comment-id=0003000000000000,timestamp=2016-01-08T11:46:04.858+0000)

Ahem...

/

45% of 20 is 9 soooooo... not that long really