For League of Legends devs, one of the toughest lines to balance is making sure that a champion still feels rewarding to play for those who put time into learning their kit, while not making them impossibly hard to try for newcomers. But for Ivern mains who already put down roots with the champion in 2016, the Greenfather’s latest rework has made him “shallow to play as and oppressive to play against.”
In a detailed post on League‘s subreddit, a Challenger-level Ivern broke down their grievances with the champion’s rework, saying that a lot of the changes have either removed a lot of the champion’s skill expression or counterplay.
“I also don’t want to come off as somebody who is against change,” the player said. “I absolutely love how Ivern was pre-13.11, but I could reasonably learn to enjoy future changes as long as they’re well designed and keep the spirit of Ivern alive.”
Ivern’s Brushmaker, for example, was changed so that not only will his team gain vision for a longer period of time, but its cooldown was also reduced. As a result, Ivern players are no longer required to think critically about where and when they must place a bush, and instead, can simply spam out bushes for information and control.
Related: LoL devs set to nerf Kai’Sa stats, Ivern’s Rift Maker build in Patch 13.15
His Triggerseed shield was also changed so that if the seed’s explosion doesn’t hit an enemy, its shield is reapplied for the same amount and duration. This change was supposed to give Ivern more tools to support ranged champions, but instead, it removed any counterplay against his shield for the enemy team.
Lastly, Daisy’s new buffs have made her incredibly simple to use, while also being incredibly strong in almost any situation. Ivern players no longer have to micromanage Daisy’s whereabouts, but she also hits incredibly hard and is very difficult to avoid.
Although many Ivern mains are disappointed since all of the time they’ve put into mastering his unique skill set has been rendered relatively mute, these changes are pretty good for casual players who are trying to learn the champion. One user, for example, said that the rework has made Ivern “bearable for people to actually play,” instead of him being an incredibly complex champion that many newer players will avoid.
It’s a tough line to toe since devs want Ivern enthusiasts to feel like their hard work was worth it, but they also don’t want to deprive the general player base of a unique jungling experience. In the end, however, there will always be tougher champions with higher learning curves, that require more time and patience to perfect.
