Renekton, despite not being nerfed, doesn't feel as oppressive as he was in the past

YumaS2Astral·Sep 19, 2015·2 votes·350 views

Is that because people finally learned how to counter him? Is that because he isn't as popular as before? Or is that just because of meta changes?

Renekton does seem much more balanced than what he was in the past, despite the fact that he was actually buffed. He used to be the "Lee Sin" of top lane; if a champion was countered by Renekton, then that champion wasn't a viable choice for top lane. But now it seems like he is just a common pick, he is still strong but is not the dominant force that he used to be.

6 Comments

Big LincolnSep 19, 20151 votes

current top laners (Mainly the Juggernauts) have a lot of tools to fight him

Darius, for example, can now match his bullying power with his own innate sustain, and he negates Renekton's hit-run pattern because he can trade blows and then pull Renekton back in, which will basically win the trade in Darius' favor. Renekton doesn't really have the tools to fight sustained battles, but Darius has everything he needs to force him into that situation.

BeatzBoyFTWSep 19, 20151 votes

Nope, it's just that people are now more in favoring Juggernaut champs instead of Renekton.

masterdragon481Sep 19, 20151 votes

A few things happened, all related. First, teleport got some very serious buffs. It became viable to take champions that could just survive in between teleport durations that have much better teamfight potential (Maokai, sion, gnar). Renekton remains an incredibly kitable and overall horrible teamfighter and if he isn't getting incredibly fed off top lane, he doesn't really do much.

Another reason could be the dragon (and more accurately, the baron) changes that further exploit renekton's weaknesses.

GodarenSep 19, 20151 votes

Power creep of top lane top laners are a lot stronger now like gnar darius and fiora then renekton ever was.

MatezoideSep 19, 20151 votes

Teleport buffed, certain Top Laners buffed.

Darius is overral weaker early game, but thanks to his sustain he can fight Renekton more effectively and out-scale him. Another popular top laner, Garen, also out-scales him eventually and has the means to survive until this happens. Before he was basically forced to fight Ren and win the lane because Ren used to be more useful mid-late game.

New Gangplank fights him better than old. Fiora as well.

Baby GhoulSep 19, 20151 votes

The lane bullies in every lane aren't dominating as much as they used to. I don't see this as a good or bad thing. It's something that just is.

The tone of these posts kind of put me on edge. I don't want to have to start banning Renekton because he got an unnecessary buff. Make no mistake, Renekton is still a top tier pick for top lane for climbing in the current meta. He's a powerful lane bully, with very high sustain, cc, and a reliable escape. Laning against Renekton is still a pain in the butt. Nobody is going to have a good time against him, and he just oppresses so many picks. The exceptions that are strong picks right now are Darius, Gangplank, and Garen (Banned in so many draft picks). They can go even with him, and preform better later in the game and in team fights.

There's not as much emphasis on the laning phase in top lane anymore. Everyone is so eager to start roaming and killing other enemies. This used to be pretty unique to a few top lane champions like Irelia. Why get pushed around by a Renekton and farm under tower when you can TP bot and mid and pick up a kill? A lot of picks in top lane are going to take their lumps from Renekton, get as much farm as they can, back to purchase an item, and immediately roam.

How can Renekton deal with this? He needs to put them down with ignite during the laning phase and zone them as much as possible, or he needs to also have a global map presence. He's not a champion that flourishes in team fights, but he does do well in skirmishes. As long as your team isn't forcing 5v5s, then you should be fine. Unfortunately in bronze, silver, and gold, all you do is group mid and fight now a days.