In most cases, the newly released champions or have undergone major overhaul are banned from competitions for a few weeks, the time that Riot Games can ensure that these new characters are not not too strong (if they’re too weak, the pros just won’t play them, so no problem) nor do not create bugs or unwanted interactions. released yesterday, new Udyr could very well have be playable for the world championshipsgiven that these will start in a month, which would leave time teams to adapt. Nevertheless the publisher of League of Legends has decided to banish purely and simply competition, to everyone’s surprise.
Already having problems?
It took two days for Udyr to receive a first hotfix. If his build tank seemed to be as good as expected (48% of WR, which is normal the time that the players take it in hand), its AD damage build with a maxed A was too weak. With a only 41% win rate, he appeared to be too uninteresting, even once players got to grips with the character better. His AD scaling on A has therefore been buffedas well as bonus movement speed granted by his E. So that the build tank does not take advantage indirectly from this boost of mobility, the Z was a little nerfed as a preventive measure. If it is interesting to note these changes, it does not mean that Udyr was too strong, quite the contrary. There is therefore no reason to ban it, because if it is too weak, it will simply not be played.
However some bugs have already been detected on the champion, but only one of them can have an impact. It seems that in some situations, the Phoenix Stance does not stack Goddess Tear correctly. Otherwise, the other bugs are the Udyr’s masteries not progressing as it should (annoying for those who like the Eternals, but no impact in the game) and its abilities that would play their sounds even if the sounds are supposed to be turned off (embarrassing for playing comfort, but not in the game). So for now, Udyr doesn’t seem to deserve a ban for bugs.
But then why ban it?
Unfortunately, Riot Games didn’t really give a reason. You might think it’s for do not favor certain teamswho will have more time than others to train on champion. Indeed, some playoff stages (particularly in Europe) finish much later than elsewhere (2 weeks difference with China for example), and behind other teams must play the regional qualifications. The latter will therefore have less time to practice on the Worlds patch than the other teams.
If this explanation is correct, it seems a bit wobbly. It is logical that the directly qualified teams have an advantage on the others, especially since generally the teams that go through the play-in arrive sharper on the stage than direct qualifiers, since their Worlds have already started, and they are more used to handling pressure. It’s not not an absolute truthbut it still has been observed several times. Finally, characters can appear and disappear during Worldsand the teams must adapt, it is the very principle of the game. The most telling example remains the 2016 Worlds, with Zyra support appeared in the quarter-finals that no one was playing before, and the ROX Tigers response with Miss Fortune support pick in the semi-finals to counter it. Adapting is part of the game, and banning a character as a precaution does not seem to be the best solution.
Nevertheless, it remains a theoryand the reasons of the ban of Udyr are can be different. This article will be updated if Riot Games gives more information on this.