Was nerfing Kennen really necessary?

The biggest problem being the change to his ult.

The added reliability is great, because getting fucked over by high priority targets not being struck due to RNG was extremely frustrating. But the new strike model doesn't account for the fact that you're rarely, if ever, going to keep a high priority target inside of your ult for 3 seconds.

In reality, they're likely going to mobility out of your ult within the first 1 to 1.5 seconds, or something is going to disengage you or CC you before you get into range.

So, with this new model, you get 225% of the strike damage for keeping a carry in your range for 1.5 seconds, versus the old model, where you got 300% of the base damage. The 'upside' is that if you do somehow keep the carry in your range for the full 3 seconds, they'll take more damage than the old model, except that this will never happen unless you're playing against drooling monkeys.

It also doesn't address the problem that most AD carries can auto attack Kennen from beyond his ult's range. It's really fun to get hit by a point-and-click or snare as you start your ult, getting one strike off as the ADC steps out of it, and then dying or being forced to Zhonya as it autos you from the edge.

And then there's the problem with the nerf to Surge's range. This made no sense.

Kennen's 1v1 is atrociously bad, because his damage is built around team fighting. Going all in, he has no kill potential. He has to beat down his opponent over time before he can go for a kill. Because his only reliable damage was Surge, he was heavily reliant on it for trades.

Generally, a trade would consist of hitting the enemy champion with a charged shuriken, then juggling two Surges off of it. You would eat counter-damage as you got into range to auto the enemy champion, which would deal significantly more damage than your auto + Surge, but the extra 50 units allowed you to get a second Surge off from just out of range of most champions, evening things up.

With the 50 unit reduction in Surge's range, the second Surge is no longer 'free' damage. Most enemy champions can retaliate from the lower range, ensuring that Kennen comes out losing.

And then there are the itemization problems. The new items are all pretty terrible on Kennen. Most of the survivability items, which Kennen needs to get into the enemy team and survive, have mana on them. He's still pigeon-holed into rushing a Zhonya if he wants to contribute to team fights.

tl;dr these changes suck and make no sense.