Many in the League of Legends community would agree that on release, reworked Urgot was too strong. Balance wise, he had absolutely everything you wanted in a top lane champion. Instead of nerfing him endlessly, Riot decided shifting some of his kit around could lower his urgency. These changes ended up pushing Urgot in to the jungle role for many top players for patch 9.6.
W Means Everything
In 9.6, Riot adjusted Urgot’s W to remove a lot of its power in one v one matchups. Firstly, they shifted his shielding off of his W to his E. Doing this made it so landing his E is required to win many one v one fights. With the shield change, however, came a welcome change to rank five of the skill. Turning the skill into a toggle allowed for some of the best clearing a jungle champion can do. Pairing that with his burst, Urgot can contest scuttle against many champions in the current meta.
This W change isn’t the only thing that allows Urgot to deal massive damage in the jungle role. In 9.4, changes to Conqueror shipped that would later effect his role in the jungle. With these changes, the boost in attack damage he gets in fights can be monstrous in late game. W’s ability to stack conqueror allows him to fight many of the current meta junglers.
Ultimate Range Matters
With a drastic buff from 1600 to 2500, Urgot’s ult can now secure a kill from his own jungle. Just as he is in the top lane, Urgot is able to use his ultimate to clutch out really well fought team fights. Throwing in the fact that he’ll constantly be roaming around the map, he can use it to assassinate from a screen away.
To make matters worse, when he hits level nine, you’ll be facing a W toggle Urgot with extreme kill pressure as the enemy jungler. While he isn’t invincible and has his weaknesses, it’s likely that he can win a lot of these skirmishes in the hands of a skilled Urgot jungler.
Further Balance Changes
Due to the rise in his win rate and oppressive ability to jungle, Riot took quick notice and made changes in order to pull some of his power as a jungler back. With two percent of his passive damage gone in the late game, his ability to clear was hit just a bit. While he isn’t entirely torn down by this change, it does make an impact late game.
These changes have likely put him back in to the top lane for the time being. Even if that is the case, look out for any skilled players pulling this pick out in the higher echelons of ranked. If effectively used, he can tear through a game in a matter of minutes.
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