I’ve been spending my time this week with Blitzcrank, a champion I cut my teeth on way back in the day. Blitz was always appealing because of the huge dopamine hit I get whenever I land a hook. It just…feels…so…good. More than that, a good Blitzcrank grab can determine the outcome of a fight, or at least I used to feel like it could. While I’m still having fun with Blitz, I can’t help but feel like he’s a little outclassed by the new crop of Tanky DPS champions.

It used to be that a hook under the tower was a kill on most of the damage dealing characters in the game, unless they could pull off a nice Flash. Thanks to new tower-tanking mechanics and tankier champions, I feel much less confident in my ability to land a kill under the turret on anything but the squishiest of champions. Against the squishy champs, Blitz still feels amazing though. There really is nothing quite like landing a grab in the early game for first blood.

With the increased survivability of several of Blitzcrank’s opponents, it’s really important to have a strong lane mate. In most cases, any stunner will do, but having a character with heavy harass by your side means you become a much greater threat to your opponent. When I hook full-health Jarvan, for instance, he stabs me and smacks me twice and I’m at half hp. When I hook a half-hp Jarvan, though, he immediately thinks about running away. If you’re interested in playing Blitzcrank, make sure you bring a friend with some solid harass.

I’ve also had some trouble convincing my teammates to gank at level one, and I can’t figure out why. When I see a Blitzcrank on the enemy team, I usually run for cover at level. I’ll hang around turrets, hoping my team has a CV and knows how to use it. For whatever reason, though, my teammates have been fleeing the scene when I try to gank in the early game, which is where Blitz really tends to shine. I woul encourage any budding Blitzcrank player to play extra nice in the early game so that your teammates are more likely to lend a hand. It’s tough getting solo kills early in the game, but not so bad if you have a team surrounding you.

Check back this weekend for the Blitzcrank wrapup. I think I have some decent ideas for giving Blitzcrank a little boost without turrning him into the OP champ of the month.