League of Legends: Dr. Mundo rework nerfs every aspect of his character

As League of Legends progresses and matures through the years, several champions have seen rigorous reworks that sometimes completely change their gameplay and appearance. For some, the rework leaves players satisfied and happy with the changes, and for others, like Dr. Mundo, the classic feel evaporates.

According to Riot, Mundo has now received one of the most detailed VGU updates over the history of the game, and as confirmed by the devs, they have mainly reworked his visuals and ability features to better fit his mad-scientist theme.

The previous version of Zaun's crazed "doctor" felt iconic in the top lane from his insane damage absorption and health-chunking cleavers. While many of Mundo's abilities seem the same, Riot took away a big part of his core character that will take time to get used to.

League of Legends' new Dr. Mundo lacks the old school tank feel

It's well understood that the point of Riot's reworks on champions is to change them according to how League of Legends is adapting. Reworks are supposed to change how champions feel and update League of Legends' metas.

With that being said, however, League of Legends' Dr. Mundo rework might have taken it a little far. He's still a mega tank with a massive damage Q ability in the form of a giant cleaver, but something about him just doesn't feel right.

@LeagueOfLegends CHANGE YOUR DR.MUNDO WTF IS THAT !

— El Malek 🦁 (@riyyad23) June 16, 2021

First, when looking at Dr. Mundo's new appearance, he seems a little wonky and fluid for one of the game's hardest champions to kill. He takes up a lot of space, which correlates with his role, but his movements almost seem too smooth for a tank.

The animations behind his rework vamp his character concept as an experimented strongman. However, the loose manner in which his torso and arms move subtracts from the idea that he's walking on a brick wall.

The League of Legends Reddit thread, r/DrMundoMains, shows players that are livid at this update due to how they think Dr. Mundo received a massive nerf.

His Passive allows Dr. Mundo to shed away the first immobilizing effect cast upon him at the cost of a decent chunk of HP. Mundo's character has always been about losing HP to regenerate it later, but 7% of his health seems too much.

Image via Riot

The fact that any immobilizing ability can instantly slash 7% of his HP gives Mundo a squishy feel. Yes, he can shed off a 3 second Morgana Q, but possibly at a higher cost than Dark Binding could do.

His ability’s makes the trade less worth it since most other CC abilities deal less damage. Even still, League of Legends players can build Mercury Treads to reduce CC when Dr. Mundo's massive health pool is a pillar of his character.

In addition, Dr. Mundo's late-game presence plummets when his Passive will only block one CC ability when there likely are several. This, along with the 7% damage taken, greatly hinders his survivability for the outcome.

Dr. Mundo's Q still deals massive damage that resembles his previous version, but his new W tanks in comparison to the old. His updated W deals far less damage for an added heal that ultimately fails if an enemy champion isn't struck.

Here's a look at League of Legends' Dr. Mundo's new base ability stats: Why Mundo is worse than ever (complete explanation)

Lastly, looking at Dr. Mundo's ultimate, Maximum Dosage's teamfight potential drops heavily and doesn't have that "survive anything and everything" feel. The meta is driving further away from mega tanks, and his new R takes even more away from him.

After scanning his abilities, players look at his updated appearance and how it feels ill-inspired. League of Legends is usually pretty good about creating unique updates in art, like Sion's, but here, it's slightly disappointing.

Or by Design do you mean the cliche and uninspired artwork of the new dr. Mundo?

— Trythinking4once (@Trythinking4on1) June 15, 2021

Many League of Legends players seem to like Mundo in his new form but are paying attention to the shiny features that came with the update. His old school feel and mega tank viability appear to have been left behind.