Teemo: Small steps for a Yordle or one giant leap for Yordle-kind?

"Size doesn't mean everything." TLDR: Consider replacing the W active with a dash that can hop walls. It will make him feel more like a scout and allow for more active play.

"Reporting In." Ah, Teemo. Whether you love him, hate him, or just love to hate him, he is an iconic League champion. Yet something is amiss with our little frenemy: his identity. We call him the Swift Scout, and he can run swiftly, but he falls short in both areas. Here I would like to take a moment to discuss his shortcomings and provide a simple change to help bring him up to speed.

"Never underestimate the power of the Scout's code." You may be thinking "What's wrong with Teemo's identity? He runs and he has vision granting 'shrooms. Sounds like a Swift Scout to me." These both are good points. In some ways he can do his job. The way he fights, however, tells a different story. He waits in ambush, blinds, poisons, lays traps, and when confronted, runs away to rinse and repeat. I'm curious to know if the theme of whatever scouting code book he has is "By any means necessary." Thematically, he plays the role of a scoundrel, rogue, or trap smith better than a scout. Still, I'm not one to judge his ways. The main issue here is Teemo's ability to actually do what a scout is supposed to do: act as an advance unit to gain information before a fight and, if necessary, skirmish until help arrives.

"Swiftly!" Let's talk about getting from one place to another. There are two main capabilities to consider: foot speed and mobility . Teemo unarguably has the first. A single rank in his W gives 10% "out of combat" movement speed doubling upon activation for 3 seconds. Zippy. Supplement that with items and he really can hustle. Mobility is a totally different story. Flash aside, he has no natural way to bypass obstacles like terrain. This limits Teemo's pathing choices when moving through the jungle. He has fewer options to enter the enemy jungle and consequently is more predictable. The last thing a Teemo wants is to be caught in a trap since his only means of escape is a 3 second speed boost. Any crowd control effects, even slows, will cripple his ability to get away and likely result a swift trip back to the fountain.

"War didn't change me, I changed war!" The remedy for this, it seems to me, is fairly straightforward. It pains me to type this but, let's consider giving Teemo a dash that can hop walls. A good place for it would be on his W, replacing the active for bonus speed. I think that the dash shouldn't be too long but decent. I imagine it being just enough that Teemo could dash between brushes in top lane. The cooldown would remain long. What does this change do? Pros: - Hopping walls allows for more diverse paths through the jungle leading to a sneakier Teemo. - A dash can act as a gap closer, gap creator, or skillshot dodge for a slipperier Teemo. - A simple play combo now looks like: Blind, poison, trap, run dash away for a more frustrating Teemo. - A failed dash would face-plant him into a corner for a more satisfyingly dead Teemo.

Cons: - Hitting Teemo now slows him permanently until he can get out of combat. - No extra speed reduces his ability to hold an extended chase

"This is where we draw the line" I'm sure a change like this would take testing and tweaking so here are a few variations on this dash concept: - Remove the out of combat speed entirely to replace it with a dash (nerf) - No dashing while stealthed (nerf) - Dashing also removes some forms of crowd control, like snares (buff) - Dashing preserves stealth while dashing probably breaking when he lands (buff) - Dashing to a mushroom double-dashes (awesome)

Overall I think that granting Teemo more mobility by means of a dash will make his play feel more like a scout. This tool would allow him to take more risks and invade deeper, faster. It could be used to avoid traditional warding spots so actual ambushes could be set up. A dash also allows for a higher skill of play and more interesting moves. When dashing over a wall, you could stop and stealth there or walk to the bush and stealth there. When going for kill it could be used offensively or defensively when caught in a bad spot so it preserves the original skill's uses as well.

Now, we wait. You want Teemo? Come and get him!