Gangplank needs a buff after several 'hidden' nerfs (Risk =/= reward)
TL;DR because there are dislikes already:
A lot of stuff involving the meta has hurt Gangplank on top of his direct nerfs.
Give him 5 per level AD and MS on his E, allowing people to max Q or E first.
Hey there, Onwodori here.
So Gangplank is my favorite champ. Has been since season 3. His rework was fantastic too, so no complaints there! The E speed up and passive damage was really nice though. More on that later though, perhaps.
Now, we all know that Gangplank has been nerfed since his rework. A LOT. Perhaps more than Azir, though that bird is pretty cooked too. I believe everything in his kit besides his W, Remove Scurvy, has been nerfed. Let's run down the list real quick:
Base HP down. Passive damage down. Passive damage true damage spread across a longer time. Q no longer refunds on minion kills. Q gives half as much bonus gold upon minion kills. E does less bonus damage. E cannot be snap cast. E has a smaller number of maximum chargers. E ignores less armor. R has a longer cooldown at all ranks.
There are more I am forgetting, I am sure, but those are the biggest offenders. Some of these are warranted and some of these just seem unkind -- Gangplank is effectively an ADC that has to survive on his own in toplane or midlane, land of BS 100 to 0 killers. Not only that, but his build path is normally ludicrously expensive. Sure, the reward is pretty nice, but it's so difficult and inconsistent it's rarely now worth it.
Mostly, there have been some HIDDEN nerfs that Riot did not account for that have put our pirate's face into the dirt. Let's review (And there's no way I'll get all of these.) I will star them on a scale of one to three for severity of damage.
Trinity force changes *** Nerf to Iceborn Gauntlet ** Removal of Avarice Blade ** Teleport Nerfs ** Removal of Rune Glaive * (It's a nerf to me </3) Nerf to Maw of Mal ** Nerf to Undying Grasp * (No longer as bad, but it used to be stronger)
And perhaps the biggest of all: Introduction of a multi ADC meta ***
All of these combine to have really, really hurt Gangplank. He can't really go full damage any more because it's too easy to flop with that. You can go bruiser, but you fall off late game in a big way. Trinity force, which has been his core since the beginning to time, is no longer really all that great (I know I'll be debated on that one.) But that last one is huge. There are so many more people that can destroy your barrels, which you've got less of, mind you, that setting off a successful chain is very, very difficult. You're an ADC that doesn't get to consistently attack because your main source of damage is contested by 3 people on the enemy team! That's not really worth it any more.
As to how we buff him -- I think giving free, scaling AD and Movement Speed on his E might be nice, like it was in the olden days. It would have to be much, maybe 5 per level for both. This would give him the damage he needs to more easily clear and the speed to run away from danger. It would allow for tankplank, carry plank and support plank even to thrive under a skilled hand.
Let me know what you all think.
-Onwodori