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A Rengar Main's perspective (based off a certain Zed forum)

Gommunism·1/5/2016, 12:15:32 AM·6 votes·921 views

So as of recent I've been hearing "Rengar's so broken," "Riot needs to nerf Rengar," and "He's too toxic of a champion, can he be reworked again?" Or something along those lines at least. I have 150k on Rengar and I play him as AD Assassin in Jungle and Top Lane, the latter been the lesser played one, yet still has generally the same mid-to-late game team-fighting view with the champion. I've also had well enough times playing against other Rengar players who are usually up to par when they are Junglers.

How I see Rengar right now is that he is honestly the same he has always been. The champion itself is in a good spot in terms of kit but it's just that the meta has switched from tanks/juggernauts since their items have been nerfed and been finally put into an ADC(/Assassin) meta that hasn't really existed since Season 2, according to my veteran high-elo ADC friends. This, naturally, will be a meta that Rengar and his good 'ol ninja friend Zed will thrive in.

There's also the item 3157 nerf but imo it seems more like a Zed thing than a Rengar thing due to how it's more impactful to Zed's ultimate and lane phase as a whole than Rengar's.

It's really not that Rengar is even a problem, it's just that there have been so many item changes that it sort of put him in a weird limbo of indirect buffs and nerfs. item 3077 and item 3074 got gutted in cost and build-path along with item 3035, but he also got a new, and arguably better, item 3087 in the form of item 3094 and the item 3142 and item 1412 changes don't seem so bad after I played around with them throughout the Preseason. Also, the item 3158 pseudo-rework is really nice because of the lower cost, Summoners reduction, and the right amount of CDR that can efficient cap to 45% if you have the right runes with you at the end of the day.

He's honestly got a decent amount of counters in the forms of champions such as Gragas Jax LeeSin Nunu Malphite RekSai TahmKench Vi Warwick TwistedFate Nautilus Zilean and Tristana. All of these champions have the ability to easily negate Rengar's one-shotting in one way or another or just abuse his early game weaknesses, like no mobility outside of bush-hopping and low wave-clear.

There's also the new item 3046, and this item is fucking stupid. It honestly feels like it activates the second that whoever has it gets into combat. And reducing 12% damage for 10 seconds after you attack an enemy champion is fucking amazing. So ADCs, get this shit or work item 3812 into your build in some way and then come talk to me about Rengar or any other Assassin.

There's also something called item 2043 that, if someone isn't full build, should be carrying at all times when team-fights are starting to happen or you have a smart team that knows how to create the Pentagon of Anti-Stealth in the bushes that team-fighters are happening near. item 3075 also works as well since it's hella fucking cheep, 2350g. In terms of the new Assassin item, it seems more like a tank-buster for a fed Rengar that can one-shot or as a way to help a Rengar, or any AD Assassin, that has fallen behind. Sure the stats are fucking awesome but I'm referring to the Nightfall passive.

TL;DR: Rengar's in a good spot, it's just item changes and meta being squishy-focused. Assassin item's going to be an interesting test. And learn how to utilize counter-play that certain champions and items can offer for you against Rengar.

12 Comments

shyie1/5/2016, 12:35:45 AM1 votes

I'm not going to doubt your experience with Rengar, but I can argue against your reasoning. I'll break it down in chronological order. First, Zhonya's is a counter for Zed and Rengar. I don't think it's "more of a Zed thing" than a Rengar one. You also literally put in your post how the new items help more than hurt Rengar. Now, for those match-ups. Ohhh boy. First, I will ignore the tanks as they aren't prime targets for Rengar anyway, so on to the non tanks. Jax's counterstrike has a shorter active than Rengar's ult so that's out. Lee Sin can't reveal Rengar unless the Rengar is a potato standing next to him, and he can't ult him if he's in the air doing his combo in 1 second. WW is the same thing, so is TF, and Trist too. You argue that PD and Death's Dance are "counter" items, but come on dude. ADC's have no counter play against this guy unless they can't predict like a god. I've never seen a 1 v 1 between a Rengar and ADC because Rengar kills the ADC before he/she can react. Pink Wards reveal his position yeah, but then what? You see the Rengar and he's running at you, what do you do? Unless you have some dispositioning or CC spell they can insta cast, they're donezo anyway. Thornmail will not save you as the armor isn't enough for the Armor Penn, and the passive will only retaliate a fraction of the damage he deals. I'm tired of seeing Rengar posts at this point, so I'll say this. He's not in a balanced spot, everyone knows. It's the preseason. Give Riot a little time and I'm sure something good can come out of some certain people (not you specifically) shutting up.

pE4CbxDPQO1/5/2016, 1:50:34 AM1 votes

Fellow Rengar main here (194.4k), all of this is very well put. Furthermore, it's not like Rengar is auto win or even necessarily easy to play. I wont dispute that after some practice the "ONE SHOT COMBO!!!" is pretty easy to pull off, but have you ever had to play a game as Rengar where everyone else on your team is struggling for one reason or another? It's not like you are playing Rammus and can zip in a quick gank, get a double assist and go back to farming all for a 25 second investment. Most people don't know how to work off of a Rengar gank pre or post 6 and you basically have to do everything yourself. After that its still like 4 to 10 and they are up two towers and invading your jungle. If you can pull of surviving this nonsense and get to late game on only a slightly uneven footing you deserve your win.