Riot Games released League of Legends Patch 6.3 last week, and with it came a lot of changes. The strangest one has to be the emergence of Rammus, a champion that wasn’t even buffed. Pros like Marin have been spamming him in solo queue and Giants Gaming won with him today against Elements. There are a few reasons as to why everyone’s favorite silent armadillo is finally seeing some play.
Rammus’ items got major changes. Warden’s Mail, Deadman’s Plate and Randiun’s Omen all had their prices lowered by 100 gold. Armor gives Rammus more attack damage and works in tandem with his Defensive Ball Curl. Picking up a Thornmail with these items can do devastating damage to an enemy that gets caught in his Puncturing Taunt.
In exchange for the lower cost, Deadman’s Plate had its slow lowered by 25 percent. Rammus isn’t affected like other champions that build this item. Rammus engages by going into a Powerball and slamming as many squishy enemies as possible, zooming past the tanky front line. Enemies are then slowed from 20 to 40 percent, depending on Powerball’s skill level. The movement speed and stats are why this items good for Rammus, the slow was just an added bonus.
Sunfire Cape received a significant buff as well. It now deals 50 percent more damage to minions and monsters. Rammus has always been known as a jungler who can gank lanes quickly and efficiently. He was never really taken top because of his inability to clear waves well. Defensive Ball Curl and Powerball have fairly high cooldowns and can destroy a Rammus’ mana bar. With this Cape buff and Tremors, our spiky compadre can farm effectively, making him a great top laner.
Season 6 has become the season of assassins and marksmen, champions with high amounts of damage with little in the way of defense. Rammus is great at taking out assassins, taunting them before they get a chance to kill his teammates. 6.3 gave us a new item called Duskblade of Draktharr, which deals a percentage of a champion’s health as damage after two seconds. This item works on the first champion auto attacked, so a well-timed Rammus taunt can essentially nullify the items effectiveness.
Kogmaw received a large buff in this patch, giving him increased damage and attack speed. Rammus is a great counter, especially on team compositions built around protecting the ooze monster. Lulu can’t stop Kog from getting taunted and walking closer to the enemy team. A well timed Powerball can even interrupt Living Artillery.
Rammus is going to get a lot of play soon, okay?
