Alright, let’s talk about this whole “is Jayce dead?” thing I keep hearing.
Honestly, I had to check this out for myself. I used to mess around with Jayce quite a bit back in the day, felt pretty good smashing that hammer, you know? So, last week, I figured, why not dust him off? See what’s what.
First Impressions Again
So I jumped into a few games. Normal draft first, didn’t wanna troll my ranked teammates right away. Picked Jayce top. First game, got matched against… well, let’s just say something tanky that just kinda ignored my poke. Felt like throwing pebbles at a brick wall. My mana? Gone in like, three combos. Seriously.
I remembered him being mana-hungry, but this felt different. Maybe it’s the items now? Or maybe my own mana management just got rusty. But damn, I was backing constantly or just sitting there uselessly.
The Struggles Pile Up
Okay, one game isn’t enough. Tried a few more over the next couple of days. Different matchups.
- Against bruisers? Felt like I couldn’t trade effectively. They just run at you, and if your combo doesn’t chunk them hard, you’re just stuck kiting back, hoping your E cooldown is up.
- Against ranged? Still felt tough. Lots of mobility in the game now, felt hard to land skillshots consistently.
- Teamfights? Oof. This was the kicker. I felt like I had to play perfectly. Go in at the wrong time? Deleted. Stay back and poke? Damage felt… underwhelming compared to other picks. Finding that sweet spot felt way harder than I remember.
It wasn’t just me sucking, maybe partly, sure. But watching the couple of other Jayces I ran into during that time? Same story. They’d maybe get a kill or two early if they got lucky or a gank, but mostly they just seemed… outpaced? Outscaled? Something just felt off.
So, Is He Actually Dead?
Look, “dead” is a strong word. I bet some high-elo one-tricks are still making him work somehow. They always do. But for your average player? For someone like me just trying to have a decent time and climb a bit?
He feels pretty dead, yeah.
The effort you gotta put in compared to the payoff? It just doesn’t feel worth it right now. There are champs that do his job, or parts of his job, way easier and more reliably. Why sweat bullets trying to execute perfect combos, manage mana like crazy, and navigate teamfights on a knife’s edge when you can pick something else and just… work?
I finished my little experiment after maybe five or six games. Went back to my usual comfort picks. Felt like taking off a pair of shoes that were two sizes too small. Just relief.
So yeah, my personal practice log on Jayce? He’s benched. Maybe he’ll get some love down the line, some item changes will favour him again, who knows. But right now? Nah. Not touching him. Feels bad, man.
