Lets's talk about Gangplank.

I am a Gangplank main, this is not going to be just another QQ thread. Wanted to get that out of the way first. For those who don't want to read my wall of text with explanations and reasoning, I'll write a tl;dr at the end of the thread.

Ever since Gangplanks rework hit the live servers, he has been a very strong champion. He was intended to build like a fighter, but ended up being hilariously strong as a lategame full damage hypercarry. Ever since his (re?)release in Patch 5.14, he has gotten nothing but nerfs. Deserved nerfs, but nerfs nontheless.

And even after the recent nerfs, the ones that finally got his winrate below 50%, he is still a strong champion who often gets banned. He is a lategame monster, but is also a pain to shut down in the early game.

His ultimate allows him to get random kills/assists on the map. His Plunder Passive on Q allows him to stay even when he should be behind, or to get ahead when he should be going even. And his abuse of the Bandit mastery allows him to constantly harrass the enemy toplaner. Bandit allows him to get above average Gold income even when he doesn't use Parrley to farm, the only downside here is that it'll take him longer to get to his Ult upgrades.

Some people have suggested ''why not give his ultimate a max range?'' That won't fix jack shit, it would kill Toplane Gangplank, and force him to become a Midlaner so he can ult Bot and Toplane from his centrall position on the map. His ultimate can stay as it is, a lategame hyper carry with Global Pressure can exist without being problematic/horribly weak. Karthus is 'living' proof for that statement. He is a lategame hypercarry, he has a global ultimate, he is definetly playable/not weak.

Let's move on to his Gold Plunder and Abuse of the bandit mastery.

I understand Gangplanks Gold plunder has thematic value. He is a pirate who will burn your village to the ground http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/1/12/Trial_by_Fire.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/20?cb=20150707190028&format=webp Blow up your houses, your friends, your families, your hopes, your dreams and your health bars http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/4/4e/Powder_Keg.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/20?cb=20150707190027&format=webp and leave with a movementspeed boost and his pockets full of gold.

But sometimes, gamehealth should be prioritised over thematic. A similar thing happened to Draven when he lost his Bleed passive. Rip Blood Brothers

Removing or reducing his Gold income on Parrrley would give him a much harder time staying relevant when he is behind, and would delay his scaling to be more in line with other lategame carries.

On the other hand, without the bandit abuse, Gangplank should use his Q to farm, which automatically allows lanebullies to do a lot more work versus him. And I could see Gangplanks start maxing E first if there is not enough reason to keep maxing Q first.

With his Gold plunder having strong arguements for and against it, I'll move on to the main fucking issue: His bandit abuse.

The way Toplane Gangplank plays the laningphase is by placing a powder keg, hugging it, being indirectly tankier because it's risky to enter that zone, and then spam his Q on the enemy toplaner to force them out of lane. Bandit gives 10 gold per Q. Parrley ha sa 4 second cooldown. It adds up, and it adds up fast. Gangplank should be forced to use Parrley to farm. Using it to harrass should have some SERIOUS downsides. to it. IF Gangplank has to use his Q to farm, Melee lane bullies won't get harrassed from range nearly as much, so they can trade with Gangplank (who won't trade well with them in melee range) more confidently. He'd be a lategame hypercarry with a shitty early game, like he should be.

My suggestion; change Bandit to only give gold if the attack deals it's damage up to 250 units away. You could change it so Parrley is considered a ranged attack... But do we really want Gangplanks running around with a Runans , shooting 3 bullets instead of 1?

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#tl;dr

Gangplank is too hard to shut down and keep down because of his ultimate, his Gold plunder and his abuse of the bandit mastery. His ultimate is a necessary evil and can't really be fixed, luckily, fixing his other issues should make it less problematic aswell.

His Gold plunder has good arguements for and against it. It could get removed I don't think a world where Gangplank can be healthy with this mechanic is impossible.

His abuse of the Bandit mastery NEEDS to go, because being forced to farm with Q to get your gold allows lanebullies to actualy bully him. Because Currently Gangplank does not miss out on gold if he spams Q to harrass.

EDIT: FUCK THERE IS A GODDAMN TYPO IN THE TITLE