Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Champion Review: Ziggs

Today we are analyzing Riot's newest champion: Ziggs, the Hexplosives Expert.


Class: AP Mid
Role: Burst Damage, AoE Damage
Abilities
Short Fuse (Passive): Every 12 seconds, Ziggs' next basic attack deals bonus magic damage. Cooldown reduced whenever Ziggs uses an ability.

Bouncing Bomb (Q): Long ranged skillshot with a small AoE radius upon explosion. The bomb will bounce forward from its initial landing spot. The farther the bomb is initially thrown, the faster and further it will bounce.

Satchel Charge (W): Ziggs lays an explosive trap on the ground that explodes after 4 seconds, or after Ziggs reactivates the ability. Enemies take damage and are knocked back. If Ziggs is within the explosion radius, he will be knocked away, but will not take damage.

Hexplosive Minefield (E): Ziggs scatters a cluster of proximity mines on the ground, exploding upon enemy contact. When exploded, the mines will damage and slow affected enemies.


Mega Inferno Bomb (R): Long-range AoE direct damage ability. Enemies are alerted of an inconming Mega Bomb right before it lands. Similar range to Nocturne's ultimate.

Ziggs is an aggressive, high-risk, high-reward AoE solo mid champion. Ziggs' abilities synergize perfectly with a highly aggressive strategy, aimed at bullying his opponent in lane. Bouncing Bomb gives him a huge range advantage, allowing him to poke from afar, setting up ganks from the jungle or combos with his other abilities.

Smart players have a wide range of combos for his abilities. For example, his W can allow him to either close distance for an attempted kill, or placed perfectly, can be used to knock a weak enemy back towards him. Minefield (E) can be combined with this skill to cut off tower retreat from a target, forcing them to either take massive damage walking through the minefield, or to take a longer route of retreat.

Finally, Ziggs' R possesses perfect utility in several situations. When enemies are attempting team objectives, such as pushing a tower, Ziggs can effectively use his ult as a burst damage version of Gangplanks, killing creep waves and forcing damaged enemies to back away from the push. The mega bomb is also great for initiating team fights at Baron and Dragon, severely weakening the supports and carries of the enemy team and creating a favorable starting situation for your team in the fight.

While Ziggs has exceptional utility in the hands of a skilled player, he does come with a few weaknesses. Ziggs relies on burst damage and aoe rather than sustained damage in the mold of a Cassiopeia or Ryze, forcing him to focus heavily on AP and Magic Pen rather than survivability. This makes Ziggs a primary target, as he is usually very squishy in the mid-to-late game. Ziggs' reliance on ability combinations (coupled with his passive) is a huge drain on mana, and therefore Ziggs can have mana issues without blue buff. This can be somewhat remedied with proper runes and masteries.

AP Mid
Burst: 9/10
Lane Harass: 10/10
Survivability: 6/10
Teamfighting: 10/10
Ganks: 9/10

AP Mid Rating: 44/50

Riot's Ziggs Champion Spotlight: 



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