Brand new Malzahar nerf

mye PP·Dec 11, 2015·1 votes·721 views

So Brand and Malzahar will never make the ban list. Why nerf them before their prime?

PS: Not that this makes any difference; I'm sure RIOT has a positive strategy behind this adjustment.

7 Comments

JustMyBassCannonDec 11, 20152 votes

Why not nerf them when they are actually running really high win rates, above what could be called acceptable variance unless they had less than 1% pick rate?

Why not nerf them when they have not really received any solid nerfs in years and have only received indirect item buffs as those years have gone by?

I'm a Brand player, and frankly, I'm surprised it took this long for them to nerf him after they've given him so many indirect item scaling buffs. They've literally buffed every single core item to him. Rabadon's gives even more % AP, Rylai's slow is 40% initially, then 20% for the rest of the duration because DoTs. Liandry's got +30 AP, pushing it to the usual 80 AP mark.

Sure, he's an immobile mage that can be counter-played, but counter-play is never a sign of perfect balance. It's a signal of relative balance, yes, but number tweaks are almost always necessary when things change.

While I don't main Malzahar, I have played him enough to know that much of the same applies to him, with the added bonus of literally not having a direct nerf in 4 years.

And no, I don't think, "Well, they haven't taken a nerf in a while, that means they need a nerf." That line of thought in a vacuum is a vapid, mindless statement.

There have been years of continual item changes, most of which have indirectly buffed both of these champions. The fact that they've finally surfaced as problems because of this power is no surprise to me, and that is why I am personally not bothered by--and indeed, am welcoming--these nerfs.

mye PPDec 11, 20151 votes

So why do I still see Fizz, Kat, Yasuo, Zed, even Veigar out there in the bans. shakes head

JustMyBassCannonDec 11, 20152 votes

Brand is sitting at a 13% ban rate, which is above Fizz, Kat and Veigar. Malzahar is sitting at the same ban rate as Fizz, Kat and Veigar.

Only Yasuo and Zed are higher ban rate than all of the champs mentioned, and frankly, more of that is scrub scare than them actually needing to be banned.

mye PPDec 11, 20151 votes

Not really. The reason they get banned (outside of flavor of the month) is because they really work. Can a Brand/Malzahar carry? Maybe.

Can a Kat, Fizz, Yasuo, Zed carry? That's not even a question to be doubted. Understand?

JustMyBassCannonDec 11, 20152 votes

If you're really questioning whether Brand can carry, you might need to actually play a game of League. Play several, in fact.

Malzahar, on the other hand, is not a carry. He is a disabler and AoE threat in a fight, meant to help the carry instead. This is why he has a smaller niche; he's an offensive demi-support instead of a carry or true support.

Rager DaveDec 11, 20151 votes

They abuse the Deathfire keystone too drastically and operate very well with Liandry's. I've been hit by pillar of flame and burned for half my health, it is easy to dodge yeah, but when my footsie gets caught and I burn for half my health their is an issue.