League of Legends news » It Lives: Urgot mid with xPeke and Innox

Terror rises up through the mid and bot lanes as Urgot shambles back into the professional scene. The undead Noxian headsman has forced his way back into relevance, raining acid and missiles down upon the opposition.

But the timing of it is suspicious -- his re-appearance in professional play coincided with the release of Cinderhulk and an increase in thick-skinned tank champions who normally prefer going up against a champion like Urgot. His relatively short auto-attack range and lack of mobility options usually leaves him vulnerable to hard initiators like Sejuani. So what's allowed his unexpected return?

ACID HUNTER

"With how the meta shifted back to the whole 'let's go tanky and run at them,' alongside the 'we need back line carries that shred,' Urgot fell right into place," said mid laner Tyson "Innox" Kapler of North America's newly qualified Enemy Esports. Innox formerly made his name on the Evil Geniuses lineup in 2014, and paved his way back to North America’s premier circuit in part thanks to his Urgot play against Final Five in the Challenger Series.

When AD carries can reasonably expect there to be two or three Randuin's Omens and a Frozen Heart in the game, they need all the extra armor penetration they can get their hands on, and Noxian Corrosive Charge burns through a flat percent of their target's health. "It ends up giving your ADC an entire Last Whisper for free," says Innox.

But over in Europe, Origen mid laner and captain Enrique "xPeke" Martinez thinks that the predominance of tanks was merely coincidental with Urgot's reanimation. "When he first got buffed, some people still played only one or zero tanks. Right after the buff, people started playing him to counter assassins like Zed or LeBlanc, allowing them to get solo kills 1 vs. 1 and go into team fights without being scared of getting one-shot while crowd controlling enemy assassins." While the synergies with tank-busting AD carries helped keep him relevant through the metagame changes, xPeke suspects that Urgot would've found a niche even without his most recent buffs.

It helps, of course, that Urgot also inherently lanes well. Said Innox, "To put Urgot on a scale of strength with other champions, he's actually going to be on the high end. He doesn't have many bad matchups, and will actually end up bullying and being able to solo kill most champions in the game."

BOILED CRABGOT

While Urgot has laning power and team fight synergy, there are key limitations to consider. "He's still really weak to ganks," said xPeke. "He's not really fast, and all he has is a shield, which makes him really easy to catch if he is a bit overextended."

"[An] example of something I ended up bringing out to counter Urgot: AP Kogmaw," said Innox. He notes that Urgot remains vulnerable to particularly long-ranged kiting champions -- and his single-target damage focus makes him a poor strategic choice at times. "It's important not to run him when you need mobility for rotations, or the ability to wave clear or shove a lane."

And despite Urgot's Hyper-Kinetic Position Reverser (R), both mid laners stress against using him as a frontline initiator, and instead like a walking damage amplifier for the AD carry. "When you're building a team with Urgot, you usually want to have other champions that can front line for you, and a late-game scaling AD carry such as Jinx or Kog'maw," said Innox. "He can fill as an initiator, but his main role would most likely be something that sits in the bank and peels for the ADC, focusing the same target as the AD carry."

"That's why I think playing good chain-crowd control comps with tanks is good [with Urgot]," said xPeke. He recommends champions like Maokai, Gragas and Sejuani to set up the fights for an Urgot team. "Even supports like Leona, Braum or even Nautilus."

STITCHED TOGETHER

Mana and cooldown reduction are particularly important for Urgot, as most of his damage comes from spamming Acid Hunter (Q) after painting a target with Noxian Corrosive Charge (E). "The best [power] spike for him is probably just as soon as he gets Muramana," said xPeke. "And then Frozen Heart and Last Whisper. Those are the two best spikes he has."

"You usually want to rush a Tear of the Goddess into a Brutalizer," said Innox. But he advises going into a Black Cleaver after Muramana, to add even more armor shredding onto Urgot's target, and upgraded boots immediately after so that Urgot can get into position for his spells.

As for changes to the champion himself, neither mid laner are inclined to the popular belief that Urgot needs upgrading. "Though Urgot has been on the rework list for a very long time, I don't actually see a rework being necessary," said Innox.

According to xPeke, "[Urgot]'s a bit weird, since he is like a ranged tank or a different style of AD carry. I like the idea of how he is right now, but maybe change him a bit so he is not too strong or weak."

"I think he was always just a champion people ignored due to bandwagoning," criticized Innox. "I've always kind of thought that Urgot was a champion you could bring in even prior to the buffs and into different metas," he said, crediting former Evil Geniuses AD carry Peter "yellowpete" Wuppen for his insights into the champion. "If I had to think about changes to be done, it would make him more open to different build paths."

For now, whatever limitations Urgot has, his specialty is in high demand. As health bars and armor stats inflate, the Headsman is called on to cut them short -- starting at about the shoulders.