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I feel like the Urgot rework might have just hit that sweet spot between Marksman and Juggernaut.

SääsMann·7/7/2017, 8:55:13 PM·2 votes·592 views

We all knew that the Urgot rework was going to happen at some point but I was worried from day one that they might screw it up. Not because I believed that Riot isn't good at coming up with new kits at this point, all the VGUs are really nice and fun to play. Instead, I was worried because they've had a history of kind of screwing up old identities of the champions they reworked from time to time.

Let's take Gragas for example - while his rework is one of the more skill-oriented and fun tanks out there, he just isn't the AP Mage/Assassin or even bruiser he used to be. Same thing with Sion, he neither resembles the melee AD carry Juggernaut nor the AP Assassin playstyle of old Sion. Again, I'm not saying these champions are bad - because they're not - they're just not a lot of people wanted them to be at first.

With Urgot I was more worried about this than usual because his current identity is much more confusing and contradicting than on other champions. On the one hand he wants to poke people from afar with his E+Q spam but on the other hand he just wants to get right in with all the tankiness boosts and that ultimate of his. He was essentially a long ranged artillery mage juggernaut marksman all at the same time and there's no way all of that would fit on one champion, so I was worried that by removing some of his old identity to make Urgot work to begin with, they would cut out too much and he would just end up either like an AD version of Xerath, a much less handsome clone of Graves or a straight out melee Juggernaut, so nothing like his old self.

I wanted them to somehow make him a ranged Juggernaut, as contradicting as this sounds as first . . . and while I can't say anything for sure, I think they actually got that right, which is extremely relieving: http://euw.leagueoflegends.com/featured/champion-urgot-the-dreadnought

As you can see from the kit teaser, even though he is a ranged champion that cares a lot about positioning and staying away from enemies, he still wants to be close enough to deal consistent damage and be tanky like a Juggernaut would do.

For example, sure you could stay away and just poke your enemies with your Q and auto attacks and maybe several W procs, but if you really want to make full potential of your kit, you actually have to jump in and run circles around your enemy. He also seems to have that quality that every Juggernaut has - relatively easy to keep at bay, but IF you fuck up or ignore them for too long, he will be devastating. But he still also has that marksman poke quality to him, since he isn't just "I have to be as close as possible and in your face" like other Juggernauts, he also really has to pay attention to his positioning and to be in ability and attack range like a marksmen would and it also seems like he would do a lot of kiting. I think getting into the right spot with him might be even more relevant than it is on actual marksmen and Darius on which it is a really big deal aswell.

I'm just having my fingers crossed that this will work long-term and only have short-term balancing problems if any at all, with such a unique and kind of schizophrenic concept like his that might be a good possibility. But if it works, I think it will be one of the most successful reworks out there, especially if you compare it to what he is right now. He is definitely going to be the next champion I buy on this account, to say goodbye to one of my favourite hipster picks and to celebrate his new form.

1 Comments

Wind Whistler7/7/2017, 9:09:35 PM1 votes

I agree with everything you said. With every "Rework" Riot did, I became more and more devastated. First Sion, and then Poppy, and things got really bad when they "reworked" Yorick. I started to become obsessed with Galio after that, and when they removed him, I fell into a nasty depression. I started damaging the house, I'd scream at random, and I even wrote "GALIO" and "Yorick" on my front door with my own blood. I became (even more) obsessed with Urgot after that, playing him almost exclusively, almost every day dreading the day when they would remove him, too. I'm just... So glad they finally gave him a REAL rework. It's a change, and I actually hate change, but this will still be Urgot at the end of the day. This is a REAL update. I really hope they continue to give this treatment to other champions.

I know Riot is proud of this rework, and that gives me hope. Hope that Riot will never make the same mistakes again. Hope that no champion will completely lose their identity. Hope that maybe even, somewhere down the line, I can get my poor Yorick and Galio back.