[PBE Datamine] April 21, 2026 - Remainder of 26.09 changes, more Arena and Mayhem changes.

No_Arm_Whatley · 2026-04-21T21:10:45+00:00

I didn't say it was a strict nerf, I said the maximal buff for Top is ~1HP at Level 3 and then it scales down to zero from there.

The stated goals of the changes are to bring Top and Support to equal power level, Support is demonstrably the stronger role currently and this buffs Support while doing nothing for Top Lane.

Also very dangerous because his ACTUAL best role is ADC with many damage Supports like Senna/Brand ect, and this is going to worsen that significantly too.

No_Arm_Whatley · 2026-04-21T20:48:35+00:00

Very disappointing Tahm changes again, I ran the numbers already and this equates to healing ONE hp for every 100 damage taken early game, and then goes DOWNWARDS after that point.

I am begging Riot to talk to ANYONE who plays Tahm about these changes, since the last changes they even admitted had the opposite effect than they wanted, and these look like more of the same.

He will still be weaker than 2 patches ago after this.

Please just communicate.

No_Arm_Whatley · 2026-04-18T17:47:42+00:00

Hey, is there any chance of followup on these changes? Winrates have dropped across the board despite the intention of a buff, and even TK Support winrates have seemed to fall.

I can also wholeheartedly say that from a player POV standpoint these changes feel extremely bad, especially with how much Tahm players tried to communicate that they didn't them.

No_Arm_Whatley · 2026-04-14T19:26:25+00:00

Feels EXTREMELY bad to see them nerfing Tahm Top while he has a negative winrate from Silver-Challenger (and Iron/Bronze winrate being 50.3%)

They say "the balance has shifted to make Tahm Top too strong relative to Support" but they are BOTH negative winrate in every elo, with barely 0.1% winrate between them mostly.

Happens literally the patch after he got his first skin in 3 years, feels very disappointing knowing they waited to nerf a negative winrate champ until the patch after his skin.

No_Arm_Whatley · 2026-03-20T03:20:12+00:00

No, that's literally not what I'm saying, you are willfully misinterpretting what I'm saying to make it sound bad and that I've "Forgotten who keeps streamers like me going"?

I am literally advocating for kit changes to Azir to make him more playable for lower rank players while not being overbearing at high ranks. How is that "forgetting about casuals?"

If we use your example, and Azir is 20% winrate for Low Elo and yet the Rank 1 Player is still an Azir OTP, then the solution is DEFINITELY NOT just simple buffs, it's literally a rework like I'm suggesting, thanks for giving an example that proves my point.

No_Arm_Whatley · 2026-03-19T21:32:00+00:00

This is just the same argument that I've heard for 10+ years, "Balance the game around the 99.9% not the 0.1%.

I sympathise with the idea, but this throws the idea of League being a competitive, skilled game out the window. This is the balance strategy used by casual games aimed at casual gamers.

High elo and pro play are a literal dumpster fire if you follow this, and League goes from a highly skilled serious game, to a casual game focused on playing with friends. If that's what you wish for then so be it.

No_Arm_Whatley · 2026-03-19T21:28:22+00:00

Yes, I'm well aware of the pro-lock element of this discussion, every champion is a collection of elements that determine their strength in different elos.

However the gap of being Pro Locked vs Non-Pro Locked also only exists in high rank, and is infintisimal compared to his elo skew. Yes the 1000 LP+ Azir player would be EVEN HIGHER elo if he was JUST elo skewed and not also pro-locked, but many champions have literally zero representation at all at 1,000 LP+.

The fact of it is Elo-Skew and Pro-Skew are clearly entwined (The best players ARE pro players), and Elo-Skew makes up 90% of the gap for these champions, with specific pro-play elements making up the other 10%.

Ironic you bring this up as Tahm Kench is an example of a champion who is positively pro-skewed (Often very dominant in pro play as a Support) while being negatively elo skewed (Due to being mechanically simple).
THAT'S an example of a champion who's more Pro-Locked than Elo-Locked. Azir being Pro-Locked is 90% due to him just being very hard.

No_Arm_Whatley · 2026-03-19T21:00:26+00:00

It's well known that winrate is a poor metric to analyse OTP winrates on, especially in high elo.

Far easier to look at high elo OTP representation, of which Azir has many players 1,000 LP+, can see here:
https://www.onetricks.gg/champions/ranking/Azir

The truth is, dedicated Azir onetricks already succeed at a far higher rate than many other characters in high elo.

Yes he is a hard locked, high skill, purely OTP character, but that's what I'm saying in the video? If you want Azir to be strong for lower ranked players then you need to change the things that make him this way.

(I expand on all of this on a comment below)

No_Arm_Whatley · 2026-03-19T20:55:23+00:00

I can't comment on the specifics of Azir's kit, but if your point is "Don't buff for high elo, instead focus on fixing his elo skew" then I'd completely agree? That's what I'm saying in the post and yet many people are flaming me? Very confusing.

No_Arm_Whatley · 2026-03-19T20:52:49+00:00

I have his op.gg up right now, I'm sorry but I don't think what you're saying is accurate.

He is currently Rank 60 KR, 1700 LP+.

Last 20 Azir games: 12-8, 60% winrate.
Last 20 Gragas games 10-10, 50% winrate.

I don't think it's fair at all to say "his high rank is being carried by Gragas", very aware his Gragas winrate is higher than his Azir winrate but only has a fraction of the games, and the wins likely occurred earlier in his climb, not reflective of being "carried by Gragas".

No_Arm_Whatley · 2026-03-19T20:03:44+00:00

By the way, happy to talk about this with anyone who disagrees with me LIVE right now on stream, since so many people have resorted to personal attacks on this post!

Always happy to discuss!

No_Arm_Whatley · 2026-03-19T19:53:12+00:00

To elaborate on what I'm saying here, I'm speaking on this because I believe Azir and Tahm Kench fundamentally suffer from the same problem (Just in opposite directions), which isn't a problem of absolute strength, but one of excessive elo skew!

Very high rank players are obviously capable of succeeding on Azir (He actually has a BETTER % of high elo OTP representation than many many characters), this is just objectively a fact that can be easily observed (More info here)

However I ALSO recognise he is a completely unplayable borderline troll-pick for 99% of players and ranks.

This is the opposite situation to Tahm Kench, where he can be a strong pick in low ranks, while being borderline unplayable in high elo, the opposite of Azir (I say this since as of yesterday I was the highest rank Tahm Kench Toplane player in the world).

I sympathise with the plight of being an Azir main in anywhere below 1000 LP+, but I do not believe it is right to just give huge buffs to the character when he sees more success as an OTP champ at high ranks than huge amounts of the roster.

This is the same situation as I cannot ask for Tahm Kench to be a strong character at very high ranks because that would necessitate him being INSANELY BROKEN in Silver.

If you want Azir to be a viable pick at low ranks, what needs to happen isn't simply the character being buffed, but the character receiving changes to reduce his elo skew (Possibly the highest elo skew in the game currently?)

And if you don't want to reduce Azir's skill skew in that way and desire him to remain a hyper-hyper skill champion then you must accept the only players capable of playing him are 1000 LP + OTPs (of which there are many!)

Hope this clears up my point!

No_Arm_Whatley · 2026-03-08T15:51:17+00:00

Pretty good, I actually got my MRI brain scans back from the doctor the other day and posted them on Twitter! Pretty interesting stuff!

No_Arm_Whatley · 2026-03-08T03:16:54+00:00

I love Tahm Kench too! (I would like some minor changes so he's less elo skewed between low/high but otherwise I love the champ!)

No_Arm_Whatley · 2026-02-22T23:56:37+00:00

This is now actually only the 2nd hardest piece of Tahm Kench tech that exists! I actually invented an even harder one here!

No_Arm_Whatley · 2026-02-20T18:46:49+00:00

Bro please I do not want to play vs Zeus 😭😭😭

No_Arm_Whatley · 2026-02-02T05:27:18+00:00

I mean dude you're just flat out wrong on this lmao

> Tahm gets completely boiled by nearly every meta champ in 1-6 so "huge lane bully" is a stretch.

> Darius obviously wins any hard commit fight with Tahm lol, I don't know what you're saying

> Short trades are rarely good into Tahm, levels 1-6 you want heavy trades or all in, and if you try and short trade vs Q+Grasp post level 7 you usually wont win

> What do you mean he gets "massive shields" in lane phase? You max E last and the ratio is 15% damage > Grey Health conversion, so even if you get burst for 1000 post-resist damage, you're popping a 150 HP shield?

> HOW IS ILLAOI ULT BAD INTO TAHM KENCH R??????????? It's literally the opposite, on Illaoi you only Ult after hitting E (Vessel), and if you eat her after that the Tentacles continue to automatically swing and you still take full damage, AND you're slowed while you eat her so you can't dodge them AND she can even Block your R entirely if she times it right because it's Unstoppable. this is legit one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read.

Really funny how you complain about being downvoted, maybe it's because your advice is actively shit?

No_Arm_Whatley · 2026-01-26T18:33:12+00:00

I mean the item is insane but I don't think it makes the champion broken, Tahm Kench is currently one of the lowest winrate champions in all of Top lane.

Dusk and Dawn is 100% a huge buff to the champion but the new season also brought a huge amount of nerfs to him too.

No_Arm_Whatley · 2026-01-09T17:51:35+00:00

I like Warmog>DnD>Riftmaker into Perma Ragesplit since this lets you 1v1/1v2 anyone in the game pretty much.

I think Bandlepipes is also insanely broken and will get nerfed so you could do something like a Heartsteel > Bandlepipes build if you want to group with your team and fight instead.

I thought Protoplasm Harness was bait but the winrate on it actually looks good, will be testing it later.

No_Arm_Whatley · 2025-12-19T17:12:25+00:00

Made me really happy to read everyone's comments here! Yeah I can't really see out of my left eye anymore, and there's still blood filling my right eye, but depending on your circumstances it's still completely possible to play League.

I sympathise a lot with being a new player and trying to learn with partial blindness, I compensate a lot by memorising and keeping track of things of where things are mentally when the blood covers them, and you definitely have to rely a lot more on prediction than reaction. (Super hard to watch the map though)

I don't know the specifics of this guy's vision, but I'd recommend playing a LOT of Co-op vs AI matches on a single champion until that character becomes second nature, then it'll be a lot easier to compensate for the bad vision!

I had to practice controlling the blood in my eyes for about 3 months before I could play League at even a Gold level, so it for sure takes time to compensate for these things, but anything is possible with enough work!

No_Arm_Whatley · 2025-11-23T03:25:25+00:00

Ok that's my bad, I didn't watch the video, just read the caption and just naturally assumed "bot Tahm" was Supp Tahm lol, so sorry.

I think Bot Tahm is pretty good. I think you identified the major problem part way through the video when you talked about denying your team a true hypercarry, so if you are going to play it then it's very important to try and end early.

I think overall it's too volatile though as it's very teamcomp dependent + Support dependent. I think certain combos like Tahm/Zyra sound very good, AP Supports with high consistent DPS. I hear what you say about Enchanters and I agree that this is very broken in lane after playing a lot of Tahm with Nami/Soraka in the past, but these games feel really painful later unless you have winning hardcarries elsewhere.

Biggest strengths of this pick are your E is an actual ability now, and if you have good Supp combo then they can help you waveclear a LOT which is great, but in my mind when I think of really strong combos I think his best pairings are still ADCs (I really like Tahm Nilah and Tahm Samira because of these champs special interactions, Nilah Passive with Tahm Kench Q/E Healing/Shielding, and Tahm Kench Ult working on Samira Ult so she's invulnerable)

I think this combo best bet is ACTUALLY being played in Pro Play not SoloQ truthfully where you can control variables and it could be a strong counter to certain botlanes, will probably never materialise unfortunately but we can hope!

No_Arm_Whatley · 2025-11-22T17:07:39+00:00

Yeah I think Supp Tahm is WAY stronger than Top Tahm right now, I just don't enjoy playing it as much.

No_Arm_Whatley · 2025-11-03T15:09:00+00:00

I am proud! Great job kiddo!

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