A Look at the Gangplank Update And How It Will Play In The Current Meta
A grasp of Gangplank's upcoming changes and how he will face off against others in competitive play.
As many already know, Gangplank will be receiving a large number of changes to his abilities and mechanics, attempting to make him a more viable and adaptable champion. Some may ask though, where is Gangplank going to fit in the meta? Will he be a solo queue centric champion or excel in competitive play? In this article we’re going to go over the changes to his abilities and how they create potential for high GP play.
Passive: Trial by Fire
“Every several seconds, Gangplank’s next melee attack ignites the target, dealing bonus true damage over time and granting a brief burst of movement speed. Destroying a Powder Keg instantly refreshes Trial by Fire.”
This new passive gives a whole new meaning to laning phase for GP. Being able to apply a true damage DoT (damage over time) to a champion every/every other trade can allow you to come on top very easily, making him a very strong duelist. As for late game teamfights, it is unknown how Trial by Fire will scale, but an assumption can be made that it will be a large amount of single target burst damage for carries and squishy targets.
Q: Parrrley
“Gangplank fires his pistol at his target, dealing damage and applying on-hit effects. If Parrrley kills a unit, the shot plunders bonus gold and refunds mana. For each Gold plundered, Gangplank gains a Silver Serpent that he can use at the shop to upgrade Cannon Barrage.”
Mostly unchanged, Parrrley still remains as a targeted damaging ability that applies on-hit effects. An added mechanic, though, is the Silver Serpents. Each time gold is earned from Parrrley, a Silver Serpent is obtained as well, used to upgrade his ultimate ability.
W: Remove Scurvy
“Gangplank consumes a large quantity of citrus fruit, curing all disabling effects and healing him based on his missing health.”
Remains the same at the moment, but scalings may change as more is announced.
E: Powder Keg
“Places a powder keg that can be attacked by Gangplank or his enemies. If Gangplank destroys a keg, it explodes in an AoE blast that slows and spreads the damage of the attack to all nearby enemies. Other casks within the zone will chain explode. If an enemy destroys the cask, it defuses the explosion and grants gold.”
Gangplank’s new E is what makes him a much more unique champion than in his current state. Being used as both AoE damage in teamfights and waveclear, GP can now effectively split push and still remain present on the map with his ultimate. On top of this, the mechanic of granting gold can add up with the gold earned from Parrrley, giving GP and edge over his laning opponent and other enemies.
R: Cannon Barrage
“Signals Gangplank’s ship to fire waves of cannonballs at an area. Each wave deals magic damage and slows enemies. Cannon Barrage can be upgraded up to three times.
Death’s Daughter fires an initial mega-cannonball in the center of the area of effect. Raise Morale gives allies within the area of effect additional move speed. Fire at Will increases the rate of fire over the duration of Cannon Barrage.”
The ultimate itself has been unchanged, it still remains as a global AoE damaging ability and slow that impacts teamfights greatly. In addition though, three upgrades have been added that cost Silver Serpents as we went over earlier. This change creates adaptability for Gangplank in the game, being able to choose which ultimate upgrade is superior for the state of the game he is in. It creates potential for an otherwise straight forward champion.
How will Gangplank compete in high level/competitive play?
Looking at all the changes to his kit and gameplay, Gangplank can be viable to competitive 5v5 settings if played correctly and in the right comps. Using him in succession with champions who have AoE crowd control to keep enemies in his barrel combos and ultimates can create huge damage potential to inflict on the enemy team. Tanks like Sejuani and Nautilus and carries like Sivir and Orianna will synergize with Gangplank very well when the update hits.
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions, feedback, or edits that you feel need to be made then please feel free to leave comment on the article or contact me on twitter @TheFallenHope.
All images used from: (http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/page/champion-update/gangplank-sails-pbe)
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