League players argue Briar shouldn’t be buffed despite abysmal win rate
Riot GamesBriar has had one of the worst releases in the history of League of Legends in terms of win rate, but many players are adamant that Riot shouldn’t be too quick to buff the champion.
The vast majority of League of Legends champions released within the last year or two have come with an incredibly low win rate on launch, largely due to their complexity and how difficult it can be to learn their kits.
It can be hard to tell whether or not a champion is truly bad until they have a week or two in the wild, although there’s certainly precedent for a new character to get some emergency hotfix buffs if they’re performing poorly.
In the wake of Briar’s release having one of the lowest win rates in League of Legends history, an argument has been sparked amongst players. The player base seems to be heavily in favor of not giving the champion any hotfix buffs just yet.
League players don’t want Briar buffs just yet
Riot GamesIt’s not hard to see why many avid League players are wary of buffing Briar before she spends a few days on the live server, there’s precedent for buffs coming a bit too early on new releases.
Both Zeri and K’Sante received buffs almost immediately after release due to their generally poor win rate, and both of these champions would go on to dominate at high-level play due to how heavily they’re rewarded for skilled play. K’Sante still has a subpar win rate despite being a heavily favored champion in pro play and was receiving nerfs even when his average win rate was 45-46%. Not to mention he spawned the infamous Showmaker rant.
Though it’s possible that Briar may need buffs to push her past a 36% win rate across all ranks and an even lower 32% at Emerald+, League players aren’t exactly begging for changes.
As it stands, Briar is currently the worst jungler in the game. And it’s not close. However, many have pointed out that this may be because of her unusual kit and a playstyle that requires full commitment and good decision-making.
“She has an int button on W/Ult, no innate regen, and requires knowing when to pull out of a fight to be effective. Unsurprising she seems so bad for novices.” commented one Reddit user, and many agreed with their sentiment.
This led others to ask Riot for her not to be buffed considering her “autopilot” kit could wreak havoc with better base numbers.
“Do not, do not, do not, I will say it again, DO. NOT. HOTFIX. BUFF. HER. Give it time, let people experiment, let them test it out. After a few weeks, if she still is at a low win rate, maybe do slight buffs. But my god, please do not do the kneejerk reaction you’ve done to many champs in the past.” said one very adamant Redditor.
If her win rate stays low over the coming days, there’s no doubt that Briar will get some sort of adjustment. Whether that adjustment can push her closer to the point of balance or push her over the edge remains to be seen.