Tryndamere has been making headlines in the recent League of Legends meta, following a game-changing buff in Patch 13.17.
With the champion sprinting towards the top of the solo queue ladder, boasting impressive win rates (51.5 percent considering all ranks, according to U.GG), and becoming a great pick among top laners, Riot Games is hitting him with nerfs within two weeks of him getting buffed.
The Barbarian King is receiving health growth and base AD nerfs in the upcoming Patch 13.18, which should aim to lower his early-game power. What’s surprising is that the developers didn’t touch the buff that actually made him so powerful.
While most melee champions have their attack range at 125, Tryndamere received a 50 range increase last patch, reaching 175. Even though it doesn’t feel like a big change, for melee champions and especially top laners it’s basically day and night.
Riot designer Phroxzon went deeper into the reasons why the devs didn’t tune the attack range back to a more balanced state. According to him, their goal is to essentially allow players to showcase their skill expression by utilizing this mechanic, meaning that if you’re a strong player, you should be rewarded for taking advantage of the extra attack range.
“We would like to balance him around this +50 range and nerf elsewhere to reduce how binary he is,” Phroxzon said on Sept. 7. In other words, they want to move his power towards using his spacing tools rather than making him a stat checker in melee fights.
The top lane meta has also helped Tryndamere become a relevant pick. Most top laners want to fight to extend their leads through early skirmishes: Tryndamere excels in those scenarios thanks to his passive and the number of auto attacks he can use. Additionally, the Freljord champion has two different builds he can go for, having both the Stridebreaker and the crit-focused build. Each has its own distinctive strengths, giving him more options in-game based on the role he has to fulfill.
Phroxzon is aware the champion is in an OP state, and that the nerfs might not be enough to bring him down immediately: “He’ll still be a frustrating champion to play against, but we hope less so, when he’s not also overpowered,” he added.
Personally, I believe the base AD nerf will be more impactful than the lowered health growth. But if you have a favorable matchup and you’re able to play around the spacing, you’ll still dominate with the champion in the following weeks.
The Tryndamere nerfs are set to hit the live servers on Sept. 13 with the release of Patch 13.18.
