Gangplank’s rework in League of Legends patch 11.17 could damage his win rate even further in high-rank games

Gangplank is set to receive a few changes in the upcoming League of Legends patch 11.17.

The latest patch is set to showcase a wide array of changes coming to champions. Patch 11.17 could play a significant role in how League of Legends’ World Championships might play out later in the year.

Therefore, Riot Games has been quite careful in the buffs and nerfs they bring to different champions. The five champions getting reworked are Akshan, Amumu, Gangplank, Lucian, and Viego.

Akshan, Amumu, Gangplank pic.twitter.com/ZW7FheFP7X

— Jeevun Sidhu (@JeevunSidhu) August 17, 2021

However, as it seems, the changes to Gangplank are not very convincing, and players feel it might be nerfing a champion who is already struggling in ranked.

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Gangplank’s win-rate in high-elo ranked matches is quite low within League of Legends

Gangplank currently has a win rate below 50% in platinum and above elo within League of Legends. This means that his win rate is definitely not convincing, even though many consider him to be a strong champion.

The issue with Gangplank is that he requires good communication to feel useful. Unfortunately, communication does not happen in ranked matches as it is all random players in the lobby.

Why are you nerfing GP so hard? Is it because of proplay? He seems to struggle in soloQ so i think other parts of the kit should be targeted

— Padre de todos (@GenisObrado) August 17, 2021

As presented by the lead game designer at Riot Games, the current changes include tweaks to his passive and Q. The changes being brought to Gangplank in League of Legends include:

Passive-Trial by Fire

• Move Speed: 30% >>> 15-30% by level

Q-Parrrley

• [NEW]: Counts as a ranged basic attack

E- Powder Keg

• [NEW]: Benefits from Critical Strike at 125% effectiveness
• Max Barrels : 3 at all ranks >>> 3/3/4/4/5
• Recharge Time: 18/16/14/12/10 > 18/17/14/15/14

Based on these changes, it is safe to assume that the champion’s effectiveness in League of Legends will be reduced considerably. Firstly, the movement speed reduction affects his lane presence quite a lot.

Other than that, his new Q basically reduces his ability to harass. This is because the new Q acts as a basic attack and does not stack well with his primary rune, “Grasp of the Undying.”

The fact that Gangplank could keep gaining stacks and gain bonus HP will now be reduced a lot due to the changes to his Q. These tweaks to Gangplank in League of Legends could be a way to balance him in pro play, where he is extremely powerful.

However, it is going to kill the champion completely in solo ranked games.