Patch 5.24 has been up for two whole weeks now, and people have become used to the new Poppy! There’s no more fear of seeing Lollipoppy anymore.
Poppy saw a surge in popularity upon her release then quickly saw a drop as the new champion feel wore off. There were changes to her whole kit that helped her become more accessible and fun while keeping her unique feel. The key change though, is that these differences allow her to be tweaked without making her either completely useless or untouchable, which was the problem before.
Prior to her rework Poppy was untouchable due to her mechanics. Her passive was extremely overpowered and coupled with her ultimate, she was not able to be killed while diving enemy teams to remove damage dealers from the fight. Her old passive reduced damage if it exceeded a threshold based on her current health, and her ultimate ignored any damage or crowd control except from her target. These two skills alone did not allow Riot to shift power around in her skills to where she could be considered non-toxic to game play.
Enter the new Poppy! She received a new visual upgrade which allowed more of her personality to be felt and seen. Her passive was shifted over in form to a new skill Steadfast Presence, while gaining a new passive that allows her to gain a shield based on her maximum health. The ultimate was removed completely and changed to a new hammer attack, Keepers Verdict. There were changes to her Q skill from an auto attack enhancer to an extremely short ranged skill shot. Poppy’s E skill functions as before, causing a stun if properly landed into a wall but deals physical damage now instead of magic. All of these changes have changed her from the assassin she was never meant to be, into a bruiser that suited her thematic. Most importantly, these are skills and numbers which can be tweaked to keep her viable in the game.
Did these changes truly help Poppy? Before the rework she was enjoying a whopping winrate of 43.8%. Normally a percentage point within 50% is considered healthy. After the rework, 43.55% may not sound like a huge difference, but when viewed across thousands of games, this is a significant drop. Her kit is new, and it will take more time for people to master the nuances, however; this is still a good indicator that Poppy will need to be touched up. Players who have experience with her are doing well, enjoying easily above 50% winrate and reaching up to 60%. A last interesting fact is that she can now be played in a support role efficiently.
Overall, Poppy remains the same hammer-wielding yordle who smashes people in the face, which most people have come to love. Her changes have helped to put her into a healthy position on the Summoner’s Rift while also giving opportunities for the developers to buff and keep her viable. Despite her low winrate, she’s seeing more play because of the changes. Enlarging the champion pool without being considered a troll is always a great thing. I believe that over time, as people learn her changes, she’ll be a fun champion to see on the Fields of Justice. Besides, everyone can use a little Hammer Diplomacy.
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