Can we talk about Kog'Maw?

Top River King·9/3/2016, 4:14:48 PM·75 votes·11,035 views

Look, I never use the word "broken" to define something, but Kog'Maw is the closest thing I've seen to that in a long time. Unless your team has easy engage and lockdown, any Kog'Maw who isn't braindead can carry once it gets far enough into the game for him to get the requisite items, and God help you if there's a Lulu or something similar on his team.

He's just League of Legends' biggest time bomb, and all of his strength is based around one ability, which happens to be one of the least interactive abilities in the game. He builds attack speed, presses W, and goes to town on your team. The counterplay is either end before he reaches that power spike or have the right pieces in place to keep that damned mouth of his shut and hope that you do a better job of murdering him than the other team does protecting him.

But if the Kog'Maw is premade with someone else, like a Lulu, and they both know what they're doing, they can still decimate your team if you're not coordinated enough. Sure, you can itemize against him, with stuff like Thornmail, Randuins, and Frozen Heart, but if he gets ahead that won't be enough to stop him without proper focus and followup.

So can we please look into some changes for the guy?

155 Comments

zXr6669/3/2016, 4:24:45 PM18 votes

I give Kogmaw all the hugs when he dies, hes is but a baby and needs the embrace of another to let him know its "ok he did his best everything will be alright" -- You see if you neglect a child in need, even more so at that age, they can and most likely will have irreversible psychological damage. There is a time to say 'No' like when he looks hungrily at my Poros...thats when I must put my foot down, and generally what leads to his death in the first place.

inhale the mems9/3/2016, 4:48:18 PM14 votes

riot are like 'we cant nerf kogmaw hes weak as he is' Is that why he has % max health damage on an auto attack steroid that doubles the aa speed cap and is his main ability? Rito Gaems with the spaghetti designers.

RiotMeddler9/5/2016, 1:34:23 AM14 votes

Yeah, we're on the same page at this point. Kog's looking pretty stat checky right now, just clicking people at some points in the game without much subtlety. Some of that looks like just raw power, some is that some of his kit changes aren't working as intended. We're taking a look at him at the moment, aiming to ship some changes in either 6.19 or 6.20. Not sure exactly what yet though, the Live team's looking at possible directions right now.

BurningDolphins 9/3/2016, 9:21:07 PM9 votes

Yeah he is really frustrating. Kog jungle power farms all game and doesn't help his team at all but late game 1v5s my team and our tanks can't even get near him before dying

GrReaper969/4/2016, 12:01:07 AM8 votes

The problem with Kogmaw is that his W essentially makes him proc on hit effect twice. Hence he scales too good with any item that has on hit effect.

Limrick9/3/2016, 6:42:19 PM6 votes

I'd argue that Jax is a bigger time bomb, but at least he has to get in your face to kill you in .1 seconds.

Fowus9/3/2016, 9:00:19 PM4 votes

my friend and i duo queued as braum and kog and he could activate my stun in like half a second mid and late game it was so stupid

Finn Teh Human9/4/2016, 6:09:33 AM4 votes

I had a Kog Maw on my team who, tbh, wasn't what I'd call good. He only got fed because he didn't gank, he'd only clean up kills. And he didn't have to kite, he just had to stand there and aa. I think he's the true definition of "op".

Vallalan9/4/2016, 8:13:40 AM4 votes

I played him earlier, got completely caught out by an ekko stun. right after it ended in vain I pressed W, and auto'd who I could. double kill and almost quadra. my team promptly won the fight after despite the fact they had done exactly what they should have. they locked me down with a stun field, and all 5 of them focused me. I hd some support keep me alive just long enough through the stun for me to pop W and auto attack for about 1 second before i died.

im sorry but no adc should kill multiple people in 1 second let alone when hes caught out. even WITH peel.

Kog simply does too much damage. I'm ok with him being the highest dps in the game, but right now his damage is unhealthy. its insanely high, fast, and with hurricane he can hit multiple people.

bleufromage9/3/2016, 9:21:26 PM2 votes

you just described any scaling champ in the game. If you know what ur doing and can get the core items u need onAnivia Gangplank Kayle KogMaw Nasus Riven Ryze Tristana Twitch Vayne Yasuo MasterYi Vladimir you can 1v5 the enemy. And it gets even better if you duo with someone who can buff you such as a lulu.

Embertine9/4/2016, 1:16:02 PM2 votes

Jungle Kog'maw is the ONE thing I will perma ban on league.

KogMaw item 3006 item 1416 item 3124 item 3153 item 3085 item 3026

I've watched this thing get a triple in less than three seconds, which is shorter time then it takes for me to die in a 1v1 against any other opponent.

Ryuyah9/3/2016, 7:08:32 PM2 votes

Let's talk Thornmail