Before anything. Ill say this out of the gate. I’ve got 193 hours on Reed and peaked Plat 1. Not claiming I’m some top player, but I’ve spent a lot of time in the lab with him trying to make him work in real matches. And my MMR is high enough in QP (which is where i mostly play due to work) that i am on average fighting diamond and above level players. So I am not just pub stomping silver players and thinking I am The Maker.
First thing out of the way:
He is not unplayable. My stats are solid, and you can get consistent value out of him. The problem is how much work it takes compared to what you get back.
Reed doesn’t really struggle because of low numbers. Its because it feels like youre fighting his kit as much as the enemies. Especially considering his Big Puft form is supposed to be a dmg boost and buff when in reality its an animation lock out. Ability lock out. AND you get one of if not THE biggest hit box in the game because you become ROTUND. He has zero usability in his Elastic state outside of using it as a quick heal potion that I nine times out of 10 cancel immediately so I can just go back to having actual Abilities. My biggest use of it is getting it mid fight then just running at their supports to make them back off then retreat. Im not even getting to usually use it to beat face just more of a scare tactic.
He is in a weird spot right now. While he can get value. His biggest weakness is literally his strongest passive in the form of elasticity. Forcing me into an animation that I cannot cancel out of except to Fridge Dance has lost me many fights even if not dying but them getting away from me or just out of my range and heals. Allowing him to use the same Abilities with either different outcomes and or different multi forms ability entirely like Blade and DP.
I think I will just give a list of changes and ideas to each of his abilties starting with his auto attack although most of these changes are basically for his Big Puft form only but I'll mention it for base Reed to where needed. As Base Reed isn't awful but his dmg numbers and stuff are so incredibly low because you're MEANT to play for elasticity uptime but it literally punishes you.
AUTOS
It already has the ability to Cleave. Making it to where if it hit upwards of at least 2 separate people I can bring it back through for another cleave. His TTK in 1v1s wouldn't change and it would only make it faster if you can actually get value out of it since it has to hit another separate person entirely before being allowed to hit the first again. Rewarding high aim and flick but still not giving anymore elasticity past the initial hit and if need be make his punches slightly longer. I dont see this as being breaking as you have to then wind it all the way back to the first person making you decide between cleaving the whole team or just trying to focus on securing a single kill. However he would be unable to do this in Big Puft form meaning while buffed he can only still hit once per swing.
Pressure vs elims. Basically
FLEXIBLE ELONGATION (E)
I like his E as it is. The only changes I would make to it is honestly let him use it in his Big Puft and take away the shielding aspect and increase the knockback from base form since It already has a small one in tiny Reed why not just keep it as it and make it bigger in Big Puft while again removing the shielding aspect. And make it to where he can only do it once per Elasticity. So you only get one E while in big form but 8 second cooldown>6 second form you wouldn't realistically get it back to begin with. And that means if you were to get this you could use your Big E to knock someone off your supports cancel the form then hit them with another E to shield them. Don't increase its dps and if anything remove it in big puft form. Its purely a displacement tool. Since his Buffed form punches do shred HP.
Distended Grip (Right Click)
Again. I actually like his right click as is. You act as the anchor point when you connect the second grip so if you land the second grip then walk to the sides or forward you can throw them behind you. To the side. Wherever you just were when you connected the second hit is where its going to try and hook them even if you move afterwards. So it acts like this weird anchor point. And being able to smack two people together and throw them in the air is also really nice. For his Big Puft. I think keeping it to where he can do the same thing without a yank is a better idea. So let's say in the big puft form you right click one person twice instead of yanking them to you youd like squeeze them extra tight dealing extra dmg and or just applying a stun. And make it to where his right click can function like Sett's E from League (if anyone plays it) but for those that don't know he can grab an enemy on either side and attempt to slam them together and if he does theyre stunned for a small amount of time. You could do the same with Big Puft right click. If you grab two separate people you can throw them together like you already do and just stun them for like .5 seconds instead of just throwing them into the air as they can still act just cant move.
His fridge dance is honestly top tier. I can't complain about it.
Brainiac Bounce (Q)
This is where i think we all agree. This thing sucks unless youre in the most enclosed space known to man. At best it can force a support ult. At worse you just yell FANN- and die immediately. My honest suggestion? Turn that bitch into an Zac ult. He could flatten himself onto the ground and then scoop everyone up still on top of him and basically bounce them a direction. It wouldn't do a lot of DPS but as a huge displacement tool it would be amazing. Basically take everyone from one spot and make them fight here instead. It still "Bounces" it would reward high thinking in the moment leaning into his fantasy as well as giving the enemy plenty of time to shoot him to still kill him or break the "pancake form" but by lowering his hitbox to the floor making enemies flick downwards makes them have to pick between running and or standing their ground. You'd have to make it slow enough to let people have a chance to escape of course but his ult is already the third most expensive for what feels like nothing. Why not lean all in to this displacement playstyle?
I think he is a great hero. I think i am biased as well as the Maker and Reed/Mister Fantastic have always been my favorite villain and superhero so. Maybe I have some slight rose colored glasses on. But I do find myself generally having the match playing around me weather its being focused by the enemy team or being a lobby admin. I dont think he's as bad as alot of people say but the sheer amount of work that you have to put into his kit to get the same results of a Bucky or Namor is by far valid. And I think should stay that way. Not every character needs to be the most popular. And I think having a weird niche playstyle for Council members like us is a good thing. But he needs some love. Especially with the ungodly amount of power creep within a year. When he came out the game was pretty straightforward still. Not to many fliers. Now its like a mix of everyone having different forms or utility belts and this and that. So its likely to say Reed should DEF get a utility belt. In all of his comics hes making super tech devices for one reason or another. So I think would he have come out today he would definitely look a little different.
If youre still here. I thank you and genuinely ask what you think as well as your ideas for buffs? He's lowest on the totem pole almost all times. But for people like us Councilmen. We know better.
And as promised. Here's some slight things I mix into my gameplay when playing Reed to help get me over the finish line. Most of its pretty common but just in case id throw it out there!
-You can "Delay" his Big Puft form.-
Once you Hit 100 elasticity you can chain your E's into your Shift to in essence delay the Big Puft. If you get to like 97 Elasticity and or Hit 100 on an auto attack and immediately throw an E. You can E almost immediately upon arrival and these take precedent over your form change. So you can use your E twice to stack some shielding onto yourself and displace the enemy while protecting yourself while you inflate and heal. As well as if need be you can use your Shift right after so like E-->E again--> Fridge Dance---> Giga form
This is very useful for catching opponents off guard as they see you come out of an ability rotation not expecting you to go big form as most assume its an immediate transformation. As well as I use this to force the match to play around me. I go onto their backline. Force them to keep worrying about me before going into a mobile wall. Keeping my shielding from my E since my shift eats the dps. Then shooting it back at them THEN transformation time. Keeping them STILL focused on me while my team eats their hp.
-Distended Grip-
Use Distended Grip on the ground at your feet for a guaranteed +30 elasticity. Especially since when you transform you heal your entire base amount of hp. So using it as a quick reload into a health potion that you then cancel out of. Or if you need it to cleave their tanks hiding behind a strange shield. Etc etc. Its essentially a quick "reload" of his meter and you do not need to hit someone to guarantee it. You might miss on the small dps but being locked into the entire animation that could have saved you if you were able to expand vs just doing it if that makes sense.
The pull on a single target also treats where YOU were standing when you connected the second hit as the anchor for a 25m pull. So let's say youre standing close to a ledge and use it on let's say Groot.
Your land the second hit on Groot. Position your mouse and your character by basically walking in a small circle or walking forward then turning around and he will land where you just where. Then follow up with E and you can knock them off a cliff. This is really useful in maps like Dracula's Castle as you can stand by the side with the fall and yank people off the ledge or use your 200iq in the middle of a fight to yank someone close to it and do the Groot example.
As I am sure we all know his auto attack is a Cleave. It hits everything while its hitbox remains active. I myself play like a Schizophrenic Squrrel. I have my DPI set on 30 and just whip that thing like a Beyblade in a team fight as I am just smacking everyone and everything. I have learned how to play like this at this point so ik how to switch between single target and human blender. But I highly recommend playing a much higher DPI for this character specifically because of that. Even if youre aiming at one person you can still flick or whip the mouse to catch others.
Lastly. Use his Shift to body block! To many Reeds i play against use it selfishly. Use it to stand behind enemy tanks and prevent their healers from being able to heal their tank. They cant shoot through you nor heal through you (except Adam and Ultron and Mantis cause yknow they don't shoot to heal) use it to block tanks running away like a Emma. I just stood in front of her following her movements preventing her from being healed and leaving and we killed her. And or lock supports in a room with you. I've yanked a Luna snow into a room on the DP Museum map and just fridge danced in front of the door. She got away after but I effectively shut her out of the match for 5 seconds. Props if I could have kept her in there longer but she froze me frame perfect lol.
I will say I don't play him as a straight dps. I am not looking for final hits or kills. Yes I get plenty of them but I consider myself a Janitor. I am here to boost my team and provide utilities rather than straight up DPS. If I can use my right click and throw the enemy strange off point into a vulnerable spot that he has to retreat. We still won the fight cause he had to leave. I would definitely say a match will Always play around you. Cause youre going from frontline brawling their tank to backline diving their supports to cutting off their tanks healing then diving back out to your tank again. Rinse repeat.
I have always played characters that focus on utility more than dps in almost every game I play so Reed to me fills that role extremely well. I am a mosquito they can't ignore basically.
If you read all the way through give that Fantastic Brain a Stretch and try it out! But id love to hear your thoughts and opinions!