r/kirikomains

Before I begin, hi, my name is CrazyDude42. I’m a former Top 500 Kiriko and Wuyang player who reached Grandmaster earlier this year, and I’m also the founder of HeroIntel.gg, a platform for tracking in-game stats.

I’ve been lurking on this subreddit for a while and have seen a lot of people talking about the recent Kiriko nerfs. While I agree with most of them, I think there’s something we need to talk about as a community. I’ve been aware since Kiriko first came out that she was overtuned, and I always knew it was a question of not if, but when, she would be nerfed.

I’ve personally experienced people joking that Kiriko is for casual players who want a powerful kit, or that her kit is a crutch for her playerbase, and I do take those criticisms to heart. That’s why I invest time into other heroes like Wuyang and Winston. While Kiriko is still my favorite, I understand why so many people choose her because of how versatile she is. She literally has no counters, and I think we need to acknowledge how powerful she has been. I always knew, when I first started playing her back in 2022, that one day she would be nerfed. We’ve had almost four years of her being meta, and, perhaps controversially, I believe being meta applies to regular ranked games, too. I accept that I might rank down while adjusting (I’m currently in Masters, but I expected this), and I still believe Kiriko is S-tier. We just need to approach her kit differently.

It saddens me to see one of my favorite subreddits filled with discussions about abandoning her because she’s been nerfed. I understand being disappointed, but I also think joking about not buying her skins anymore because of the nerfs is a little petty. Kiriko is still my favorite and go-to hero, and I’m not going to stop playing her just because she’s been nerfed. I think these changes are ultimately healthier for the game as a whole, and I hope we can give ourselves time to adapt before writing her off.

https://preview.redd.it/ttwkkl5mvuuh1.jpg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1e1302539f6c3b1aeea5ec7406d04ffc5eb401a1

Please feel free and open to talk about this rework idea, I'm very open to hearing different opinions. It's very hard to balance her, but I think these changes would lean into her damage more and play her more like a flanker/assassin.

I would love if she was a 6 speed as well instead of a 5.5, but it would probably be too much.

I also don't care what they do to her ultimate. nerf it to the ground if it means she's more fun to play.

I have considered myself a support main for as long as I’ve played the game, and Kiriko has always been my go to. Of course, she has always been the go to support, and teammates almost always request her. That is, until now, for obvious reasons.

I’m not here to whine about Kiriko’s current state. I simply have felt a little lost with what do since she is not as strong as she has been.

I have been bouncing between emerald 3-5 on support, and have played Kiriko in probably close to 90% of my support games. Lately, it feels like I’m going on a downward trend with her, and I don’t think I’ve put enough time into the other supports to be able to confidently play someone else while keeping up like I would with Kiriko.

I think possibly what I’m noticing is that I don’t have as much carry potential with her, whereas in the past most of my wins were when I performed exceptionally.

I think this is why in the last month, I have been playing more dps - even surpassing my support rank, which has not happened before. I almost exclusively solo queue, and have found lots of success and enjoyment from play Freja, despite her recent nerfs as well. She is a hero that if played well, has lots of carry potential (I’m also aware this is due to the nature of the dps role, particularly in 5v5).

My question for any of you: considering me being a mid rank player, is it worth to learn another support hero that currently has more carry potential? Who have you guys been defaulting to? Or is Kiriko still extremely strong and I’m just bad?

disclaimer - I don’t mean I’ve literally never played another support. I like to think I have the fundamentals down for many other supports such as Ana, Wuyang, Juno, but don’t have nearly as much time on those hero’s in comparison to Kiriko. I am level 100 on Kiri, and my next highest level is Ana, which is level 25.

TLDR;
I’m a Kiriko one trick and not sure if I should hang her up for someone else given her current state, or continue to one trick her.

How long do y'all think it's gonna take?

https://preview.redd.it/lxuqh77h3tuh1.png?width=992&format=png&auto=webp&s=a227c4cf88e1dc177c85faa38ceba159426f65c2

kunai just feel wrong, idk why, and it also feels like everything will demolish me compared to just a few seasons ago :(
code: 8YBDHR

Recently whenever I see Kiriko’s current state being discussed I see people saying she’s still too strong and that she needs more nerfs and this confuses me. She has an overall win rate of 45% it goes even lower in ranks like GM where it’s 44%. I understand people don’t like Kiriko but I struggle to understand why people are still insisting she’s so strong when she loses so much. I would understand if people just said “she’s annoying” like Sombra but I see barely anyone saying that. What am I missing about this?

Im a pretty high ranked tank player and the meta in champ has shifted away from kiriko and more towards ana. Kiriko is still decently good but my problem is just what kiriko has done for the game and how obvious it is that she is missed when she's not in the compositions. This character should be meta for the vast majority of the time.

1. Ability to develop and maintain complex off angles
   With old school ana brig comps it can be difficult for a hitscan to develop an angle without being aped and immediately killed. Kiri is the only flex support that can shift around the map quickly without being one shot and support multiple angles at once. This creates much more depth in gameplay.
2. Ability to flip in with your dive
   This is another area where Kiriko simply adds more nuanced teamplay
   Let's say you are on Ana brig winston. Your Winston dives the enemy team's backline, and their tank responds by doing the same. Your only choice is to fight the Winston and survive until your dive gets value/kill the Winston if he missed up. Kiriko can do this, but she also has the option to TP to her tank, fighting in with him and avoiding the dive altogether by being in. This also allows for much more depth in teamplay.

The fact is this character was broken for a while, and suzu is still a whole separate issue that needs addressing, but the fact is this character enables a SIGNIFICANT amount of interesting compositions in the game, and adds more playstyles/ options for teams to lean into.

Kiriko thread for discussions, rants, opinions, etc. They will run every Friday until the next Friday.

Reminder that there's really only one rule for this subreddit--just don't be a jerk.

Hi! Sorry if this gets posted a lot, but I'm trying on Kiriko and she looks interesting but a bit difficult to get the hang of, do you have any tips?

Hey all just looking for some outside help on getting better. Ive got a ton of hours on kiri and feel like I just plateaued hard early and not improving. Kinda not growing out of Silver/Gold. All thoughts are greatly appreciated! Ive got a game here I thought I did alright in until they switched to Winston and just couldn't deal with it at the end.

replay code 1WQ2WZ