Riot Games addresses an upcoming Tahm Kench rework

Nov 26, 2020

Reading time: 3 min

Fans of Tahm Kench might have to wait a bit longer for the upcoming rework, according to Riot Phlox.

The upcoming Tahm Kench rework was teased over five months ago, but fans have not seen the River King’s rework just yet. This has gotten some dedicated players to wonder what the status of it is, and Rioter Phlox recently answered that question on Reddit.

“So the [Tahm Kench] rework is coming once preseason is (more) settled and we have time to finish up the work and allocate the resources,” Phlox said. “Really would prefer to have it out before pro starts again, but I sadly can’t just slap a timeline here.”

The response indicates that Tahm Kench mains might have to wait for a few more patches for the rework to arrive since the current state of the offseason is taking up most of the balance team’s resources. Plenty of bugs and overpowered items are currently taking over Summoner’s Rift, which has forced Riot to work overtime in the last few weeks.

Even though the Tahm Kench rework was announced first, Riot will be releasing the Pantheon rework with patch 10.25 in December. This rework will seemingly hit the live servers before Tahm Kench, which shows that the rework has taken a hit in priority.

We have some work coming to shift Pantheon from support to solo lanes. (it’s a few patches out) It’s fine if he can be an interesting support pick but we want solo lanes to be primary.

We’re slower than we should have been on this follow up, I take responsibility for that.

— Mark Yetter (@MarkYetter) October 31, 2020

Even though waiting for a few more patches isn’t the end of the world, Tahm Kench does need the rework to come through looking at his current stats in solo queue. The tanky support was sitting at a 47.11% win rate just a few patches ago on patch 10.20 and has remained below 50% since then.

The only thing fans can do now is to wait for the rework, even though it likely won’t be before next year.

Why is Tahm Kench bad?

Tahm Kench has mainly been struggling in Season 10 because Riot has nerfed him several times since his release. Tahm Kench used to be a very strong pick, and was deemed too strong. After Riot nerfed his Devour (W), Tahm Kench slowly fell out of priority, but he is still picked in certain matchups.

When did Tahm Kench come out?

Tahm Kench was released in League of Legends back in July 2015. Back then, he was the newest support tank and there is currently no other champion quite like him.

What role is Tahm Kench?

Tahm Kench is mainly seen in the support role, but has also been played in the top lane. His kit is great for the support position since Tahm Kench can save allies who are in danger and can also roam around the map with his Abyssal Voyage (R).

Tahm Kench can also be a fine top lane pick, as he is very tanky while still dealing damage. He can be a great lane bully in certain matchups.

What kind of damage does Tahm Kench do?

Tahm Kench mainly deals magic damage, but also has abilities that deal a percentage of the target’s maximum health. Tahm Kench’s Tongue Lash (Q) deals magic damage and slows the enemy when hit. His passive, An Acquired Taste, has both magic damage and percentage of maximum health damage, making him one of the harder champions to build resistances against.