Maokai nerf

DarthFantasia·Mar 21, 2017·2 votes·1,973 views

Maokai was a good team fight top laner before, and his win rate was barely above 50% and was around 17th out of all top laners. Then Riot nerfs him because "He's seen a lot in pro play", and they made Maokai trash. He is one, if not the, worst top laner right now and his win rate is around 45%. The point of balancing is to nerf champions that are doing well and are too strong and to buff champions that are underwhelming and doing poorly. Instead, Riot nerfs a champion that is in the middle of the pack solely because less than 5% of the gaming community uses him a lot. That is just plain stupid. Kayle has over a 55% win rate, Ivern has over a 57% win rate, and Pantheon has just under a 55% win rate. Why bother nerfing them?

8 Comments

LongHair FoxMar 21, 20173 votes

Maokai was played a lot in pro play and was crowding out a lot of other choices. While they did nerf him for pirmarely that reason, riot does not like to have champions stay weak for normal play due to that, so considering he is getting one of the major updates in the upcomming tank rework, one of the goals is likely to make him balancable for both pro and soloq.

DarthFantasiaApr 8, 20171 votes

He was played a lot in pro play. I'm not saying he didn't need a nerf, just that the one he got was a little to harsh.

Lil Lewd WitchMar 21, 20172 votes

You must be new here. Pro Play dictates a LOT of the balance changes that occur in the game.

DarthFantasiaApr 8, 20171 votes

Yes, but that doesn't mean it makes sense. Pros make up less than 1% of all players. And he was played in almost every game in pro play before, but now he is never seen. That is too heavy of a nerf.

Möral SupportMar 21, 20172 votes

Maokai is not the worst toplaner currently. He's really strong in the right hands.

PS Any winrate from 45%-53% is a balanced champion. (50% is the ideal champion)

DarthFantasiaApr 8, 20171 votes

I like how you lowered the bottom percentage to suit your needs. A 45% win rate is not balanced, between 47% and 53% is. Maokai's current win percentage is below that. Also, if he was good in the right hands his pick rate in competitive(where the top players play) wouldn't have plummeted to where he is almost never picked.

SohleksMar 21, 20172 votes

I mean Maokai needed it but that nerf was comically heavy handed.

Straight up REMOVED the impact damage of saps AND increased mana cost of his main ability.

When was the last time you seen them remove 120 (+40% ap) damage and raised the mana cost of a primary ability 45 -> 65 max rank in one go. They straight up wanted to delete him until his rework.

Of course that is pointing out max rank effects only which aren't immediately impactful. And he's still effective utility wise.