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League of Legends’ Tahm Kench rework could land in time for the next pro season

The Kench has been benched in solo queue but remains a permanent fixture in pro play, prompting a rework.

league of legends tahm kench

Riot Phlox, a member of the League of Legends design team, has opened up briefly about Tahm Kench’s scheduled rework. The champion, which has seen its solo queue viability plummet while remaining ubiquitous in pro play, is slated to re-release in time for the new professional season in January.

In response to a Reddit thread querying when Tahm’s rework would arrive, Phlox sets out the studio’s intentions to roll the re-release out in time for the resumption of pro play in January, though concedes that this is not a concrete timeline. “So the TK rework is coming once preseason is (more) settled and we have time to finish up the work and allocate the resources,” Phlox’s post reads. “Really would prefer to have it out before pro starts again, but I sadly can’t just slap a timeline here.”

Riot first made its plans for the debonair catfish clear in a quick gameplay thoughts piece back in June. The post acknowledges the issues with his kit – namely his semi-global ultimate, (R) Abyssal Voyage, which shines in co-ordinated map plays, but suffers in a solo environment – and notes that Riot has made some rearrangements in the studio’s testing environment.

Provisionally, Tahm’s (W) Devour will replace (R) Abyssal Voyage, though with some extra buffs: “It will both deal more damage to any enemies you may manage to eat, as well as better protect allies you are trying to save by granting them a shield and slowing you less,” the post reveals.

Meanwhile, Tahm’s (W) will become “a faster, shorter range personal Abyssal Voyage that damages and knocks up enemies on arrival,” which sounds almost like a modified version of Rek’Sai’s burrow and tunnel mechanics. Alongside these changes, Riot is also testing out a self-heal on (Q) Tongue Lash, while hoping to encourage more aggressive uses of Devour by allowing Tongue Lash to not only stack (P) An Acquired Taste, but also “devour enemies at range who are fully stacked.”

While we are still a way off from seeing the new and hopefully improved Kench unbenched, we are at least about to see the release of a brand-new champion on League of Legends patch 10.25 when Rell finally takes to the Rift.