Nerf a champion because is too good in Competitive = It gets bad in Ranked Buff a champion because is bad-regular in Ranked = gets too strong in Competitive Now another problem Nerf a champion because is too good in High Elo = it gets bad in Low Elo Buff a champion because is bad-regular in Low Elo = gets too strong in High Elo [sg-zephyr]
Rebel Fox2 votesNot exactly as binary as that.
Buffs and Nerfs are intended to affect a champion in a specific way. Every decision has intended effects that in theory should assist in balancing a champion as best as possible.
Let's take say Ezreal as an example. At higher ranks, you would expect them to hit more skillshots than in lower ranks. Obviously not always the case, but I would say at least a reasonable assumption.
So if you nerf Ezreal's Q, while every Ezreal is inherently weaker, those who hit MORE Q's will suffer more than those who hit fewer. So players at higher ranks would feel the effects more than someone at lower ranks.
Now let's approach the idea of Professional Play vs Solo que (which is what I assume you mean when you say Pro vs Ranked).
In this case, there are champions with objectively more value in professional play than in solo que (and vice versa). What makes this difference is due to a variety of things, but arguably the most important are predictability and coordination. There is a reason that someone like Camille gets played, but Vi does not when one could argue their benefits are at minimum comparable.
So in this case, lets look at two junglers, say Sejuani and Shaco.
Sejuani is a bad champion in Solo Que, and perhaps arguably a weak champion in General. She is also usually contested in professional play. On the contrary, Shaco is a high winrate champion in Solo que, but rarely played professionally. So how would changes to these champions differ?
Sejuani has room to grow in terms of solo que performance, so the question is, how is she used competitively. If she is seen as a champion who is strong competitively (Professionally), than touching her kit down would require affecting the parts of her kit that are more pertinent in a team environment. For example, stacking her E stun and Ultimate is typical in professional play, but not always in solo que. So if you could lower the interaction between the two without affecting them independently, the effect should be weaker in professional play, and not much of one in solo que.
On the flip side, Shaco not being picked in Competitive play means that he has more room to have his kit and stats checked in a more directed way. If he is strong, what makes him strong? If his box is too meaningful, nerf the fear, or nerf the duration. Is he doing too much damage? Nerf his E or his Passive. Is he clearing too fast? Nerf his AS or AD.
What you are describing is the resonance of these changes. Nerfing an already weak champion (like Sejuani), will still make her weaker at lower levels of play, but much of their winrate at lower ranks has to do with how well they can play their champion against others. Being good at Sejuani at lower ranks doesn't mean you can use her kit to its most optimal, but sometimes the effects of competitive nerfs can still have an effect on said champion.
Same goes for buffs, just in the other direction.
Sharpest glasses1 votesThey should balance around highest plays level.
Warlord Rhinark1 votesStill seems like it makes the most sense to just have two versions of the game at this point.
