Frozen Mallet nerf (PBE) and Urgot
Thoughts post. I'm sure I'll take heat for what I'm saying and some High Elo Urgot main (if that's even a thing) will probably read me the house down for my opinion, but that's exactly what this is... My opinion. Good bad or Ugly.
Currently on the PBE the Frozen Mallet is getting it's ranged slow reduced from 30% down to ~15%. This is already down from the 40% on melee champs. While I find this nerf nice when dealing with already overly obnoxious sticky champs like Gnar, Bruiser Kayle (yes i've seen some pretty nasty BC+FM Kayles top lane),etc. I'm a little concerned for my fat boy Urgot.
His classification as a Juggernaut leads his kits and play style to build more like other Bruisers. Giving up raw damage for durability. However, he's in that weird spot of being between wanting to build more ADC style items to avoid the ranged champion penalties on most bruiser items, and dealing with the penalties associated with ranged champs when they build bruiser items for more durability due to his lower range.
Don't get me wrong, when I'm filled top Urgot is my go to cause I love playing him and I think he can do well into several more meta champs, but there are some feelsbadman moments on him as is. Disclaimer: Just cause they feel bad, doesn't mean they can't be worked around. Just things to remember when playing as Urgot and to take into account.
- Black cleaver's Kill/Assist movement speed boost is already halved on him by nature of being ranged.
- Sterak's Gage no longer works on him due to being ranged (I did do love the shield stacking durability boost you gained back when he could use it)
- His self slow on Purge makes sticking to a target fairly challenging, especially any with mobility (which in current meta is most top laners).
- Other bruiser durability/damage hybrid items like Titanic/Ravenous Hydra are not avilable due to being ranged.
One of the best ways to stay on a target with Urgot is the BC+FM combo. Even with the 10% reduced slow for being ranged, it made it possible to actually circle your opponent or at least follow/stick to them while Purge was active. Dropping the slow to 15% definitely makes me think twice about spending the 3100 gold on FM or trying to find another item in it's place. 700 HP and 30 AD is still nice to have, but I truly bought FM mostly for the slowing it provided. The stats were icing on the chocolate-strawberry mooncake. He's already pretty limited in his offensive item pool that work well on him as a Juggernaut, hitting (another) one of this key items so hard seems a little much.
What's Riot's thinking on this? Is the nerf on the Frozen Mallet more directed at Champs like Gnar who already have stick (and imho need tuned down some), and Urgot is just being overlooked and caught in the crossfire? Or are you guys thinking Urgot doesn't need as much stick as well?