Let's talk Kayn
So the new Anime Protag to enter the rift has just hit the pbe and he has already been met with a lot of talk. Some already calling him OP and others labelling him as 3edgy5me. Whatever the case may be, I think I'd like to throw my 2 cents into the ring as a long time jungle player and frequent lover of assassins and playmakers.
First I think labelling Kayn as an assassin is a mistake. Now let me explain this line of thought. Right now as he stands, Kayn's kit reminds me more of a Fighter, Skirmisher than an Assassin. He has some elements of an assassin, ie from Ult and Shadow Step, but the vast part of the kit finds him in the heat of it.
One thing that really puts him away from Assassin in my mind is the lack of a clear engaging tool and inability to disengage well. Shadow Step may be a tool to disengage with but most players will use it to engage from ganks and fights to get behind. The cooldown of it ranges from 21-13 seconds. That means his total engage time frame from IN and OUT will be very long. His Q is a very small dash with a little less cooldown at 7-5 but the biggest issue he as an assassin is no hard engage or disengage.
An example of this is Zed and Rengar. When Zed goes in, will typically have Shadow and Ult to engage hard on a target and get out. Kayn doesn't have this same ability. When Kayn goes in he can't get out quickly leaving him with a lot of time to die. Rengar is another example of this with his Bush Jump and Ult. Rengar is able to reliably jump on the priority and kill them if needed. Kayn can ult but the ult itself has a decent amount of damage but is something with a lot of counterplay to it. You know who his ult'd and he can't do anything else once ulting. His exit of the body is also very short, going back to the main issue with his "assassin" role. This guy can pump out damage but his kit is more designed for longer engages and fights rather than pumping out all your damage on a target quickly and getting out.
This flows into my second point being Darkin form is objectively better for 75% of the games you'll play as Kayn. While Shadow Assassin form is cool and all, it loses a lot of survivability for somewhat more damage. You keep a lot of your base damages for more %damage in Darkin form but that means you will be better against a wider range of foes. Not only that but with most Damage deals carrying a lot of survivability in 2017 from items, the Shadow Assassin becomes a lot more of a risk to pick. That is why I see Kayn being heavily forced towards Darkin form but his kit also works with that form a lot more. His Q will have him dashing towards more foes, his E's cooldown is too lengthy for you to quickly burst someone and leave and his Ult is predictable and has a lot of counter play against it. Darkin form also grants Kayn some CC in his W which is a lot more rewarding for players compared to longer reach.
Overall I think balance wise, Kayn is pretty solid. He doesn't feel overbearing and oppressive like Camille but has a lot of counter play with clear weaknesses. When he hits live I see the best build being a bruiser style, sustain build to boost his Darkin form. While Shadow Assassin will have some fun times, it is currently heavily shadowed in my mind. His jungle clear looks pretty good with Q and W and he'll find his place on the rift nicely. I may have missed some stuff but these were a couple of things I wanted to point out.
So what do you guys think of Kayn? I'd love to hear your thoughts so let me know!
