Blitzcrank "Mini-Rework" Is actually a major nerf.

Raknier·Apr 8, 2015·2 votes·1,253 views

The fact that you're being punished for using a skill is makes absolutely no sense. It doesn't allow you to catch up to champions due to the "burst" not giving you enough speed to close the gap on a champion that is usually going to well, stay away from you. The fact that it does not give you enough of a gap closer / able to get into position for a good hook in combination with the fact that you're SLOWED after using a basic skill essentially means that if you walk towards someone with you W you're probably going to end up dead from self CC. Blitzcrank was in a good spot and while this change doesn't appear to have the intentions of being a nerf blitz, has in my opinion, been severely crippled.

13 Comments

G1RadiobotApr 8, 20151 votes

I wouldn't call it major, but it certainly was a nerf.

Major SparklesApr 8, 20151 votes

That was the point. It gives Blitz some more counterplay.

IcyPepperApr 8, 20151 votes

He's got a few tools to escape trouble (passive, punch, ult), though. Putting in a little risk in his high reward kit beyond "don't grab the tank" isn't too unreasonable.

RaknierApr 8, 20151 votes

Then why not just have the same duration just add the slow after it runs out? The amount of speed for how little amount of time it's active in addition with the fact that it decays to next to nothing rapidly, adds near nothing to his kit imo

IcyPepperApr 8, 20151 votes

shrugs

I have no idea. I know he was the top win rate support just a couple days ago, and third most picked. If any support got nerfed, there'd be a high chance it'd be him.

Going off pick and win rate... Janna and Leona would be next, but swimming at a 52% win rate might not warrant it. Maybe Leona, since Janna did receive nerfs recently.

Though if it were up to me, I'd just up the cooldown on his ult rather than rework his W. Or maybe tweak his ratios, hell if I know.

RaknierApr 8, 20151 votes

I understand the need for a bit of a nerf on him as getting hooked as a squishy is pretty much instant death. However, I feel his W is a dead skill now due to the punishment for using it.

IcyPepperApr 9, 20151 votes

shrugs

Maybe it's a repositioning tool. Maybe they just wanted to give him a weakness, but went about it the wrong way.

Voluug13Apr 9, 20151 votes

Janna is counterpick tho, she is supposed to do well when she is picked, generaly against Thresh, Leona and Braum.

Leona on the other hand is more generalistic that Janna.

PassionlipApr 8, 20151 votes

Actually, they just changed the skill like it was some years ago - i like that blitz as some drawback to have THAT much mspd pretty much forever, maybe the numbers should be tweaked a bit though.

AbyssphereApr 8, 20151 votes

It's supposed to be a nerf. It's aimed at making his laning phase less stupidly obnoxious and introducing some actual risk into his kit. Blitzcrank was not in a good spot at all, he was absolutely the most oppressive champion in bot lane. The change was needed.

GaleWinUnleashedApr 9, 20151 votes

It's a major nerf to his ability to continuously sprint around, yes. But it is mainly a shift of power in most other cases, adding risk/reward elements and making its uptime and downtime much more impactful.

It's still a nerf, but that's why it's being changed; Blitzcrank was able to use W without thought in order to make up for his intended inconsistency with Q. Now he must consider his actions, and he can be more easily punished if he misses the hook. This change is not supposed to keep his power level the same as before; many players (and apparently Riot as well) felt that Blitzcrank was too oppressive, and this nerf is an effort to bring him in line while also adding a bit more depth to his kit.

EDIT: Just to clarify, I'm not offering an opinion on whether or not this change goes too far. I'm not experienced enough with Blitzcrank to know how hard this will hit him.

StaconaApr 9, 20151 votes

Blitzcrank this patch was intended to be a nerf; but it does seem like they might have over shot the nerf a little bit, there is a good chance you will see a small buff to the change in 5.8 or 5.9 as a tiny revert ; but the change was intended to be a nerf, blitzcrank is actually a dominant pick... too bad they still don't do anything about leblanc, zed, annie, katarina, irelia, or riven

WarlockLawApr 9, 20151 votes

My problem with the change is that due to diminishing returns on bonus movement speed by the time you buy tier 2 boots the numerical increase in speed is less than the numerical decrease. Coupled with the fact that the speed decreases over time makes me not even want to cast my w for any reason ever because I feel I am punished more than I am rewarded