Tahm Kench is finally getting his long-awaited rework, and here’s everything you need to know.
The River King has been out of the soloq meta for quite some time now. Because of his kit being considered as “overpowered” or “unhealthy” for the competitive games, Tahm Kench has undergone multiple nerfs in season 9.
Even Riot previously said, “it’s no secret he is one of the champions most famous for being weak for the vast majority of players because his kit is so strong for pros.”
As Tahm Kench didn’t receive any kind of buff in Season 10 despite underperforming, he pretty much became a “dead” champion in the soloq. Last season, he had a below 45% win rate while having a 0.3-0.5% pick rate. And currently, in season 11, his condition has remained the same.
Riot however did announce a small rework for Tahm Kench which was meant to come out last year. But Riot delayed the update and later confirmed that the rework is scheduled to come once “preseason is more settled.”
Even though there is still no official announcement on the Tahm Kench rework, Riot recently unveiled the new Arcana Tahm Kench skin. And apparently on the skin’s PBE preview Riot has already teased Tahm Kench’s reworked abilities.
Tahm Kench Rework Abilities
Tongue Lash (Q)
• NEW EFFECT: Now applies a stack of An Acquired Taste (passive)
• NEW EFFECT: Now heals for X.
• NEW EFFECT: Can now Devour enemy champions while being cast
Abyssal Dive (W)
- Swapped with Devour
- REMOVED: Allies can no longer join him.
- NEW EFFECT: Now deals X damage and knocks up enemies for X seconds on arrival.
Devour (R)
- Swapped with Abyssal Voyage
- NEW EFFECT: Now shields devoured allies for X
Tahm Kench’s Devour has shifted to become his new ultimate and his previous ultimate (Abyssal Voyage) is now his new W. And according to Riot, updated Devour will now become “more powerful as a spell cast” and “less dependent on allies”.
On the other hand, Abyssal Voyage – his new W is now becoming a new engage tool that can deal damage and knock up enemy champions.
Furthermore, with this new rework, Tahm Kench is also getting more self-healing thanks to his Q – Tongue Lash changes.
Updated Abilities from PBE:
Passive:
Tongue Lash (Q):
Abyssal Dive (W):
Thick Skin (E):
Devour (R):
Tahm Kench Rework Release Date
All the Arcana skins will hit the Summoner’s Rift in patch 11.10, as a result, a lot of players assumed that Tahm Kench rework will also release on the same patch.
Even though the skin preview did reveal the reworked abilities, his rework is still not out in the PBE yet. Regarding this, a dev who is currently working on the rework said that “Kench is not on PBE and will not be on PBE this [11.10] patch.”
Update: Tahm Kench rework is currently on the PBE and it is scheduled to release on LoL patch 11.13, June 23, 2021.
