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You know what I like about Gangplank?

Ralanr··33 votes·2,272 views

I picked him up a few days ago so I can't say I'm great at him. In fact I'm really not that good with him at times and I know exactly why.

The Barrels.

Most of the time my mistakes are do to poor timing and use of his barrels. Not that the other opponent was overpowered, not lag, not because of my team being bad or the enemy team being really good. Only my lack of skill in getting the barrels placed at the right time and setting them off at the best moment.

I love this. This is a mechanic that reminds me that I still need to learn how to play him properly. That I still need to learn him. It's my fault, not the fault of the champion (I don't think he's underpowered or overpowered) and not the fault of the current meta (cause I think we've all blamed the meta once or twice in our time here).

Riot, it's late to say this but thank you. Thank you for making such a mechanic thats effectiveness is based on the skill of the player. I hope future reworks showcase similar learning curves. Abilities that are more like chess, "Easy to learn, difficult to master."

This is more a personal view, but I just wanted to share my thoughts on it.

36 Comments

HayRoss7 votes

Level 5 Gangplank main. Played nearly 100 games as him, before and after the rework, and I still can't barrel for shit, which is also what I like about him. Still so much to learn, and so much untapped potential

Only Play Darius4 votes

So you're telling me, the barrels are so hard to learn that even with 100 games of experience you still can't use them effectively.

Whelp, I haven't played him since the rework. I think i'll just keep it that way, don't feel like losing the next 100 games. Even Yasuo took only about 30 games before I got good with him.

HayRoss1 votes

I don't lose every game, but it just takes a lot of skill to do it consistently

Plank Me Daddy1 votes

What he meant is not that he can't hit the barrels properly but an improper timed Parrrley on it can fizzle the whole setup. It requires practice and a certain skillcap level to hit the barrel in the small window of time, especially during a teamfight or the enemy's champion is trying to destroy it.

Corrupto1231 votes

{quoted}

Level 5 Gangplank main. Played nearly 100 games as him, before and after the rework, and I still can't barrel for shit, which is also what I like about him. Still so much to learn, and so much untapped potential

true that. only champ I feel like playing now is GP cause I haven't mastered him yet. btw, good tactic i can tell. place a barrel in the brush. then instantly place one on the enemy, AA them, q the first barrel and AA the enemy again. bunch of damagez.

qetzel6 votes

I disagree. I don't think it should be just on the skill of the player. The skill of the opponent is important too.

I like GP's barrels in some situations. I don't like them in others. I think the barrel cast range is a tad high.

Ralanr5 votes

That's a good point. Reminds me of the problem people point out with Yasuo how you don't play around him, he makes plays around you.

Orangesilk3 votes

You know a champion is a problem when, as an opponent, the match is not yours to win but his to lose, meaning the outcome of the fight is entirely reliant on the other person making mistakes, instead of you playing well against them.

A properly played GP doesn't have a lot of counterplay, it's up to him whether he knows how to play the champion, not up to you to outplay him, this is exactly why he now has a 100% competitive p/b.

Remlap12233 votes

I'm an old Gangplank main, and unfortunately he's now a legacy main of mine, since I hardly play him anymore. Back prework I played him support and jungle in Season 5 (support since Season 3). I just don't like playing top or mid, which unfortunately for me is where GP is actually built towards, which means I'm SOL in terms of playing him.

I got pretty decent at the barrel minigame (nowhere near on the pro levels though), but I'd also like to add that part of the reason is because his barrels have extremely poor QOL. No visible timers, and are VERY inconsistent across terrain barriers. Plus it's a crapshoot if I parrrley 0.25 seconds too early and my entire combo fizzles out.

HayRoss2 votes

There's a circle spinning around the barrel when you place it, that's the timer

Remlap12232 votes

No, I'm talking about after the barrels prime. There's no timer for how long the barrels have before they fizzle out (whereas wards, Zyra's plants, and Teemo's mushrooms have a visible timer.)

Ralanr1 votes

Oh that. Hate that.

dEAdbUs2 votes

New GP is toxic, and while playing him is fun, playing against him is antifun. Riot did thier job bad, and Worlds showing it - 100% pick/ban rates GP.

Only Play Darius20 votes

Because old GP with his permaslow and dumbass free stats wasn't anti-fun at all.

yabad

HayRoss7 votes

Don't forget his entirely luck based ult and pretty useless passive/e

Remlap12234 votes

Oh God please don't remind me about his old ult.

Tilt Thru Time1 votes

Flip a coin, to see if one of the cannonballs land.

Remlap12231 votes

Try five dice rolls Yahtzee style.

I've had scenarios where I take out opponents at half health with my ultimate, and scenarios where they'd walk out at literally ten health from the center.

Of course they fixed it later, but it still had shit DPS.

Now his ultimate is godly. Even before fire at will, the 3 round burst couples windows of counterplay with global pressure and good objective securing.

KONO RUBICK DA6 votes

{quoted}

New GP is toxic, and while playing him is fun, playing against him is antifun. Riot did thier job bad, and Worlds showing it - 100% pick/ban rates GP.

let's see, he can't permaslow you anymore. can't spam his Q 24/7 has a hard mecanic, no longer pray on RNGod since his ulti was changed and the damage of his ulti was nerfed.

HayRoss5 votes

I wouldn't say they nerfed his ult. It's weaker before you buy any upgrades, but just buy 1 and it's a lot better

Baron of Bread1 votes

I believe it is RNGesus.

HayRoss3 votes

They actually did pretty well with him. At worlds level, he's fucking terrifying because of his insane skill ceiling, but until you get to really high levels of play, he's not that good.

Partholonian1 votes

{quoted}

They actually did pretty well with him. At worlds level, he's fucking terrifying because of his insane skill ceiling, but until you get to really high levels of play, he's not that good.

I think they should consider nerfing the speed explosions propagate between barrels, so the long barrel chains are more jukable. Blowing up the barrel that's right there in your face has counterplay already.

The Bíg Ticket1 votes

No idea why you have 22 downvotes cause everything you said is true lol. There is a reason why he was banned in 22 out of 24 games at worlds so far and the 2 games he wasn't, he won.

dEAdbUs1 votes

This topic is about love to GP

Beacon 0F Light2 votes

Yeah, GP is currently my highest mastery champ, just because he's so fun with those barrels. I think I've gotten fairly good with the barrels, and it's just so satisfying.

Ralanr1 votes

Getting a kill off of those barrels is one of the most satisfying things I've ever done in league. A close second to killing Ekko with a Mandrop by accident.

Beacon 0F Light1 votes

I feel so devious when setting up barrel chain trap baits. Like a supervillain, just snickering quietly as my prey falls right into my fatal trap.

Ralanr1 votes

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/IUzCBE81FSw/hqdefault.jpg

Hellish Prophecy1 votes

I enjoy the barrel system, myself. I started playing GP more about....2 months before his rework was announced. I HIGHLY enjoy his overall rework. Of course, by my name you can tell I don't do crit or anything like that. The barrels allow the majority of my damage to come through in an AoE while I ult. The new W allows me to be a ridiculous tank that can win fights against someone like Nasus if I play it smart. The barrels, ult, new Q farming rewards, and the W....I love everything they did with him.

RisenDarkKnight1 votes

What items do you build on him?

Hellish Prophecy1 votes

item 1324 item 3025 item 3083 item 3065 item 3102 item 3143 item 3068 Are some of the ones I typically build on him.

TaoistMaster1 votes

I like that he is a mighty pirate.

Starfish H1 votes

Man screw the barrels. I enjoy him cause he's a mighty Pirate Arrrrrr.

JedenVojak1 votes

{quoted}

I picked him up a few days ago so I can't say I'm great at him. In fact I'm really not that good with him at times and I know exactly why.

The Barrels.

Most of the time my mistakes are do to poor timing and use of his barrels. Not that the other opponent was overpowered, not lag, not because of my team being bad or the enemy team being really good. Only my lack of skill in getting the barrels placed at the right time and setting them off at the best moment.

I love this. This is a mechanic that reminds me that I still need to learn how to play him properly.

I hate mechanics like that, actually. It's much better to have abilities that always work, like old Soraka's Q or Sion's stun-shield combo.

Chaotic Reks1 votes

I'm pissed that there's no joke between Gangplank and Gragas

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