User blog:Alien Paranoid/Juggernauts Update

Mid Season Juggernauts Update

Hello guys,

today I'll share some of my thoughts about Juggernauts update. Riot has confirmed (not 100 % sure tho) that with  Tanks Update there will also be tweaks to Tank items and Juggernauts' base stats. Possibly, Tank items will be nerfed and since Juggernauts usually build 5 or 4 Tank items and 1 or 2 offensive items like BC, SG, MoM, TH, TF etc, they somehow need better base stats to be  tanky  enough to dish out some damage before they die. Some Juggernauts already have good base stats, but others don't. I also want to buff those underplayed / underperforming Juggernauts (based on my experience and statistics from champion.gg) and nerf those who I think are on the stronger side (Darius, Nasus, Yorick).



Based on champion.gg, Nasus has 53% win rate, which is the highest of all Juggernauts. Considering buffs to base stats, he needs some nerfs. I think, if you beat Nasus in lane, his Q is irrelevant mid to late game. But maxing E first removes most of Nasus's early game problems and safely clearing minions from distance in 95% of his hard matchups isn't good. This means you can not just punish him for stacking Q, and reaches his mid/late game easily. On the other side, stacked Q combined with E's flat armor shred 2-shots squishy targets late game. At the same time, Nasus's win rate decreases beyond the 35 minute mark. So he either has 500 stacks and splitpushes, 1-shots carries or he is irrelevant in teamfights. E's % shred will help him (and his team) against armor-stacking targets late game but reduce his damage to carries.
 * HP increased from 561 (+ 90) to 580 (+ 100)
 * AD increased from 59 (+ 3.5) to 59 (+ 4.5)
 * Armor increased from 25 (+ 3.5) to 29 (+ 3.75) 
 * E's CD increased  from 12  to 14 / 13.5 / 13 / 12.5 / 12 seconds
 * E's mana cost decreased from 70 / 85 / 100 / 115 / 130 to 70 / 80 / 90 / 100 / 110
 * E's armor shred changed from 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 to 15 / 17.5 / 20 / 22.5 / 25 %
 * E now deals only 80% damage to minions



Darius has fairly balanced win rate (49.83%) but in the hands of skilled player (50 games and more) he is kinda obnoxious in the laning phase. Considering he can heal based on his missing HP, his base health regen is pretty high, and you should be rewarded for poking him, good trading and dodging his Q outer range. Also he can win ranged matchups by maxing E second, but if u manage to kite him and run away after he pulled you, he simply kills you after 2nd or 3rd attempt. It is also an AoE pull (hard CC) and 45 mana is super low for this kind of ability.
 * HP increased from 582 (+ 100) to 580 (+ 110)
 * Health regen. reduced from 9.845 (+ 0.95) to 7 (+ 0.8)
 * Armor increased from 30 (+ 4) to 30 (+ 4.5) 
 * E's mana cost increased from 45 to 55 / 60 / 65 / 70 / 75
 * Enemies pulled by E are no longer knocked up (for about 0.75 seconds) and briefly stunned (there is a bug where you cannot move or attack for about 1 second after beihng pulled), only briefly knocks up enemies (for 0.5 seconds) within 175 range (those already in Darius's melee range).



Volibear has one of the lowest win rate of Top lane champions (46.5%) but decent win rate in the Jungle (50.86%). This means he is weak against most Top laners, but strong in the Jungle (farming, ganking, 2v2 skirmishes etc). Reducing damage of his W means less snowballing, but reducing its CD and giving him AD ratios (better scaling with TF, TH, SG) buffs his mid/late game. Also he is the only Juggernaut that doesn't scale with AD which is weird since he is mostly physical damage oriented.
 * HP increased from 584 (+ 86) to 580 (+ 96)
 * AD increased from 59.5 (+ 3.3) to 60 (+ 4.5)
 * Armor  increased  from  26 (+ 3.5)  to  30 (+ 4.5)
 * W's base damage bonus HP ratio reduced from 15% to 12%
 * W's CD reduced from 18 to 15 seconds
 * Q's damage changed from 30 / 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 to 40 / 55 / 70 / 85 / 100% AD 
 * R's damage reduced from 75 / 115 / 155 to 60 / 90 / 120
 * R now has 25% AD  ratio
 * R's AP ratio reduced from 30% to 20%




 * HP increased from 597 (+ 93) to 590 (+ 103)
 * AD increased from 60 (+ 3.5) to 60 (+ 5)
 * Armor  increased  from  26 (+ 3)  to  29 (+ 3.75)
 * Q's damage changed from 70 / 115 / 160 / 205 / 250 (+ 100% bonus AD)  to 15 / 45 / 75 / 105 / 135 (+ 100% total AD)
 * R's passive changed from 20 / 30 / 40 bonus resistances to 10% damage reduction

Olaf is on the weaker side with 46.84% win rate in the Jungle and 44.93% in Top. This is the straight buff to him, making him tankier, while Q doing more damage mid/late game, mostly with SG.



Garen is fairly balanced with 51.08% win rate. The problem is that he is weak early game against 90% of Top laners (excluding Tanks) and sometimes it is impossible to reach mid/late game. But once he reaches late game and didn't feed his lane (survived pretty good), he may be obnoxious against certain team comps. Reduced W's CD (and increased early buff duration) means Garen can trade better in lane, but late game the CD after the buff expires is the same (14 / 14 seconds without CD reduction, 6 / 6.8 seconds with 40% CD reduction, so even a slight nerf) but also the duration of buff is shorter late game.
 * HP increased from 616 (+ 84) to 590 (+ 94)
 * Armor  increased  from  27.5 (+ 3)  to  29 (+ 3.5)
 * Health regen. increased from 7.84 (+ 0.5) to 8.5 (+ 0.6)
 * W's CD reduced from 24 / 23 / 22 / 21 / 20 to 18 seconds at all ranks
 * W's duration changed from 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 to 3 / 3.25 / 3.5 / 3.75 / 4 seconds



Dr. Mundo is also balanced with 50.38% Top and 48.22% Jungle. Overall those base stats are mostly buffs to Mundo. Nerfs to HP regeneration and E's AD are there just to compensate.
 * HP increased from 583 (+ 89) to 580 (+ 99)
 * AD increased from 61 (+ 3) to 57 (+ 5)
 * Armor  increased  from  27 (+ 3.5)  to  30 (+ 4.5)
 * Health regen. reduced from 7.76 (+ 0.75) to 7.5 (+ 0.6)
 * E's minimum bonus AD reduced from 30 / 50 / 70 / 90 / 110 to 25 / 42.5 / 60 / 77.5 / 95



Trundle is pretty balanced right now with 48.57% win rate Top and 47.87% win rate in the Jungle, maybe on the weaker side, so increased base stats should be enough for him. Another buffs aren't needed since he can be obnoxious and is also used in pro play.
 * HP increased from 616 (+ 96) to 590 (+ 106)
 * AD increased from 60 (+ 3) to 58 (+ 4.5)
 * Armor  increased  from  27.5 (+ 2.7)  to  29 (+ 3.75)
 * Health regen. reduced from 6 (+ 0.85) to 5.5 (+ 0.6)



Shyvana is mostly played in the Jungle with 51.29% win rate. Increased AD helps her a lot in clearing Jungle camps and skirmishes where she is already strong, so her damage has to be nerfed somewhere - E % damage.
 * HP increased from 595 (+ 95) to 590 (+ 105)
 * AD increased from 61 (+ 3.4) to 58 (+ 4.5)
 * Armor  increased  from  27.6 (+ 3.35)  to  29 (+ 3.75)
 * E's bonus on-hit damage reduced from 2.5% of target's maximum health  to  2% of target's maximum health



Yorick is currently 7th strongest Top laner with 52.63% win rate and 2nd strongest Juggernaut after Nasus. His early game is super strong in almost every matchup (mostly melee) but falls off late game. There is an unwritten rule that if you don't snowball your lane with Yorick you become useless late game. While increased HP and Armor buffs his early, mid and mostly his weak late game, his health and mana sustain are decreased due to his strong early game. But changes to his passive (2 Graves from 1 minion wave late game) and Maiden of the Mist (harder to kill Maiden) should increase his late game potential.
 * HP increased from 580 (+ 100) to 580 (+ 110)
 * Health regen. reduced from 8 (+ 0.8) to 7 (+ 0.75)
 * Armor increased from 30 (+ 4) to 30 (+ 4.5)
 * Q's mana cost increased from 25 to 24 / 27 / 30 / 33 / 36
 * W's mana cost increased from 70 to 80
 * Final Service: Yorick raises a Grave for every 12 / 9 / 6 / 3rd enemy non-champion in level 1 / 6 / 11 / 16 from every 12 / 8 / 4th in level 1 / 7 / 13
 * Maiden of the Mist's base HP changed from 700 / 1500 / 3000 to 500 / 1500 / 3500



Udyr has win rate of 48.34% in the Jungle, which is pretty balanced but his early game has from 42 to 45% win rate which is below average. Considering his power comes from his abilities and his low mana pool makes him go oom in an extended fights, he is tied with Jungle, where you have better mana regen. and blue buff and after gank he can regenerate a lot of mana instead of recalling to base. This would provide some good matchups also in the Top lane where he has currently 34.46% win rate.
 * HP increased from 593 (+ 99) to 590 (+ 109)
 * AD increased from 58 (+ 3.2) to 60 (+ 4.5)
 * Armor  increased  from  25.5 (+ 4)  to  30 (+ 4.5)
 * Mana cost of all abilities reduced from 47 / 44 / 41 / 38 / 35 to 40 / 37 / 34 / 31 / 28



Illaoi has 48.6% win rate but she is stronger early game (52.25 to 51%), decent mid game (around 50 to 49%), but falls off late game (44.6 to 46%). She is in the same spot as Yorick (snowbally champion) but if not ahead, she is kind of useless in teamfights (no CC, easily kited). While increased HP and Armor buffs her late game, you are more rewarded for dodging her tentacles early game - less HP regen.
 * HP increased from 586 (+ 95) to 580 (+ 105)
 * Health regen. reduced from 9.5 (+ 0.8) to 8 (+ 0.7)
 * Armor increased from 26 (+ 3.8) to 30 (+ 4.5)

In my honest opinion, Morde is super busted and super weak at the same time, no CC, easily kited, but his damage and sustain is far above average (mostly unhealthy) in some circumstances doesn't take any damage and in coordinated teamfights (good CC, protection, engage) he has almost no counterplay. Also his ability to control a dragon (and push the whole lane) is simply OP and if he is viable in pro play, he is perma banned or picked. He definitely needs full VGU.