After receiving a lot of critique, Janna’s gameplay update has received mixed reactions. This article explores the effects and what Riot needs to do moving forward in order to create sustainable competitive balance for their game.
So, as you may recall, I wrote a post on the League subreddit approximately three months ago: What Happened to the League’s Most Iconic Enchanter, Janna?
Janna’s basic faults, why she doesn’t operate in the game, and why she will definitely need a revamp were the focus of this essay. The piece received generally good feedback, with the most significant criticism summed up in the first remark. It goes like this: “Janna’s popularity has dwindled as a result of Riot’s actions. Shieldbot Janna, not whatever she is now, is a popular game.”
People appeared to concur that Janna’s problems stemmed from her shift to an aggressive play style. Players, it was felt, preferred a more passive Janna, one who concentrated on protecting teammates from the back line rather than participating actively in combat.
Despite this, her popularity has only improved little when she returned to a passive, shield-focused playstyle.
Janna is practically back to her old pickrate, barely over a month after her gameplay modification.
Despite the fact that she is still very strong, has one of the best winrates in the game, and is undoubtedly one of the most powerful champions with a very low skill level, her popularity has not increased.
So, let’s have a conversation about it.
Is Janna’s New Gameplay Already a Fail? A follow-up to the Deep Dive into Janna’s Core Issues and Identity Crisis.
I strongly advise you to read my original article if you haven’t already.
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Janna’s Opinion as a Player
To begin gathering data, I thought it would be useful to see how other Janna players felt about the change.
I conducted a large poll, however the results were likely biased owing to a large number of new players visiting the Janna reddit, who were more inclined to be pleased about the rework. These newcomers aren’t likely to remain with Janna either. Consider it like a new champion; a large number of people are interested.
r/ivernmains, however this is likely due to the fact that when he initially came out, people rushed to his subreddit.
Instead, I created a vote on Reddit and on the Janna mains discord. One that was a little more detailed and would take a little more time to complete. This was done with the intention of weeding out those who wouldn’t persist with Janna.
I received 105 answers. The solutions may be found below.
Yes/Agree = blue
Neutral = Yellow
No/disagree = red
https://preview.redd.it/tj0hg34ba9j81.jpg?width=818&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e074947bb8a23bd58e3de24c20aa83c3608fc6b9
https://preview.redd.it/piplur8ea9j81.jpg?width=805&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=46e6d38fbd73619f831cdcd12c2a4d2631a64e04
https://preview.redd.it/h6aohvrha9j81.jpg?width=819&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9e31d533e4b781c5fbe8b4ed663ccbb147714f6f
https://preview.redd.it/knnen2qka9j81.jpg?width=814&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a186bd17196d9ccd8f4014db79293ebc05110f7c
https://preview.redd.it/0b9xx9bna9j81.jpg?width=810&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=520e28bf33318e59c130da01bbb2a3b42c9320c0
https://preview.redd.it/x1grymopa9j81.jpg?width=830&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=44ac8a331b6b4df219c4e819e67c4a0857e675be
As a result, there are a few apparent takeaways from this.
Data Analysis and Interpretation
Janna’s update does not resolve her basic faults, according to her fans. Janna’s teammates still don’t believe she has a distinct playstyle or a coherent kit. One of the most popular complaints about Janna’s kit, and one that I discuss often, is that she seems more like a collection of skills than a champion. Janna seems to be more of a placeholder for skills that the League designers WISHED to employ but couldn’t find a place for in the game. Gale, Zephyr, and Eye of the Strom have very little face-to-face contact. They may have passives that work together, but they are fundamentally three separate abilities.
Janna’s popularity has remained relatively constant both before and after the change. In the end, this change seems to be unremarkable among Janna players. There isn’t much of a difference in terms of pleasure. There is a little lean toward folks preferring her previous kit, but overall, it seems that her old and new kits are almost equal in terms of pleasure.
Janna’s fans are divided on whether the change improved or worsened her kit. Most people appear to think there wasn’t a significant difference. This appears to confirm my suspicions that the revamp did nothing to improve her with her underlying faults.
The majority of players seem to appreciate her gear, which is expected given that the survey was conducted across two Janna-centric demographics. Obviously, the winner will be popular… People often love talking about and learning about the champions they admire. (Unless you’re a Ryze fan, in which case their subreddit is terrifying.)
Janna’s new kit includes a weaker laning phase owing to reduced poke, a simplification/dulcification of her skill expression, and mostly nerfs to her roaming abilities, according to her players. Due to her prominence in the top lane, Janna may have really become the greatest roaming support following her redesign. However, it seems that players are experiencing significant lag as a result of her general slower movement speed and nerfs to her additional movement speed from W.
When it comes to whether or not this makeover will survive the test of time, the answer is a resounding negative. Players believe that this revision will not be successful in the long term. Janna’s kit clearly has several flaws.
The Janna gamers’ viewpoint is clear…
This Champion is in desperate need of a makeover.
Janna is the league’s oldest enchanter who has yet to get any kind of upgrade. Soraka and Taric have had their kits overhauled at some time, while Janna has stuck with a fairly archaic set of skills.
Janna’s Problems: What Are They?
I’ll keep this as quick as possible since I went into great detail about it in my initial article.
There isn’t a cohesive kit.
Janna seems to have four distinct powers rather than being a single champion. Outside of built-in passives, none of her skills actually connect with each other in a beneficial manner. W and Q do operate together to some degree, but this is mostly something that can be employed in the laning phase, and it is still fairly poor there.
In addition, Janna’s skills often clash with one another. Why would I want to use my ult to boop a slowed adversary away? Why would I want to send an aerial adversary into their backline? Why does the AD boost suddenly expire when my E is broken if it’s supposed to shield harm? Am I supposed to utilize this ability for more damage or to block damage?
A Playstyle That Isn’t Clearly Defined.
To be honest, Janna’s playstyle is more defined… but not in a good manner. Janna’s individuality was stripped away in favor of a more appealing persona. She’s now simply another enchanter, like so many others. Outclassed, replaced, and forgotten in no time.
Identity Crisis
Whatever you want to call it. Janna is uninteresting. With the passage of time, her kit has begun to make more sense. Janna, on the other hand, lacks a true identity as a champion.
Janna’s place in the story is unclear. What role does she play in the story? Is she a child’s guardian? For that, we already have Taric and Soraka. Is she a spirit of whimsy? Isn’t that a little bit Ivern? Perhaps she’s seeking retribution for the deplorable circumstances in Zaun? Well… The phrase “vengeful spirit” already sounds like a marketing…
Janna is one of the worst champions in terms of appearance. Since her release, she has only had one visual upgrade, which was in 2012. To make matters worse, her single legendary skin is almost as hideous as her standard skin, leaving gamers with no option to escape her unattractive model. Janna also has several serious cosmetic flaws; her “ribbons” often have dark stains on her basic skin.
Janna’s crit animation isn’t really a crit animation at all… It’s nothing more than a 360-degree spin of her model. While this is amusing (you’re turning into a tornado), it also seems absurd since she utilizes the animation while wearing her E effects. Aside from that, her general abilities have extremely poor animations; her W is unimpressive, her E is hardly discernible, and her Q is almost similar to her crit motion.
Janna has a total of 21 voice lines. Only FIVE of the 21 are longer than three words, and two of those five are funny voice lines. To add insult to injury, four of her voice lines are laughing lines.
Many people don’t know how essential visuals and narrative are to a champion’s identity. She will struggle to become a relevant champion unless she gets an upgrade in this area.
What Was the Purpose of This Revision?
Reworks are usually carried out for one of three reasons.
- Boost Your Popularity (EX: Ahri)
- Make it easier to balance the champion (For example, Sona)
- Make Your Kit More Cohesive (EX: Diana)
Let us now consider if the Janna revamp achieved ANY of these goals.
Is Janna more well-liked?
Janna, who has barely been reworked for a month, is virtually back to the pickrate she had before the overhaul.
All Ranks
Prior to rework (Patch 12.1), the pickrate was 2.6-2.7 percent.
On the current patch (12.4), pickrate is 3.3-3.4 percent.
Plat+
Pickrate (Patch 12.1) before rework: 4.2-4.3 percent
On the current patch (12.4), pickrate is 6.2-6.3 percent.
So, what does all of this mean? Janna’s pickrate has been steadily declining, and this trend is expected to continue. Janna is still powerful, and she’ll most certainly get further nerfs as time goes by. People at Plat+ appear to like her more, although this is more likely due to her sheer might than to the real fun she provides.
I predict her pickrate to decrease to comparable, if not lower, levels than it was before to the redesign as time passes.
Is it easier to balance Janna?
I’m not going to go too far into this since it’s a hard question.
Is it really necessary to inquire whether Janna was difficult to balance in the first place?
No, I believe the answer is no. There never appeared to be much of a problem, and the developers have never characterized Janna as a difficult character to balance. She’s never had toxic builds, interactions, or an overabundance in professional play… all of which implies she was easy to balance.
However, Janna toplane, we must bring it up. I don’t believe this is a big issue, but it might indicate that the update made her more difficult to balance by allowing for non-interactive playstyles.
Is Janna’s kit well-balanced?
No. The answer is a resounding nay.
Virtually everyone, including myself, Janna players, and almost everyone else. Her kit doesn’t flow any better or worse than anybody else’s; in fact, it’s about the same.
Sure, her playstyle is more defined. Her powers, on the other hand, do not interact in a natural manner.
So, What Was the Purpose of This Revision?
I’m not sure.
Janna isn’t any more popular, her kit isn’t any more fluid, and she’s not any simpler to balance. She’s no longer entertaining, no one seems to like her, and nothing seems to have changed.
So it brings me to my last point.
Last Thoughts.
Janna is a very old champion with a kit that can’t compensate for her visuals and visuals that can’t compensate for her kit. She will remain one of the least popular enchanters in the game until she gets a substantial makeover or VGU. She’s in serious need of updates, and Janna fans like me will keep pleading for them till then.
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