Did Ziggs Just Become OP?

Ever since the initial release nerf, Ziggs has been an unreliable, underperforming champion in both solo queue and competitive play, with only a handful (or just phantoml0rd) of people considering him a viable choice.

But why? He's got sick wave clear, long long range, fast cooldowns, and with blue buff is, (and always has been) one of the biggest nuisances in lane. So why hasn't he historically done well in solo queue?

Well, the major reason he's been suppressed thus far has been due to the presence of...assassins.

That is to mean assassins and burst damage champions of course. With a previously less than reliable escape mechanism, he was easily CC'ed and burst down.

However, after the nerfs to champions like Zed, Ahri, Talon, and Akali (who was terrorizing the scene on Ziggs' release if I remember correctly), poke champions like Nidalee and Ziggs are starting to shine brightly, as they're no longer instantly decimated before their first round of cooldowns. This means that champions with spells that are naturally longer than other champions have a safe, constant presence in teamfights.

Of course, the last few rounds of buffs have also given him a much smoother gameplay such as the following:

Bouncing Bomb

• Bouncing Bomb will now cast when targeted outside of its maximum range (will fire to the maximum range in the targeted direction)

As every Mordekaiser and Annie player knew, there's nothing more frustrating than to try and kite an enemy only to have your champion momentarily stop and start walking back into range.

Minion Waveclear

Hexplosive Minefield and Mega Inferno Bomb are both more effective against minions, with minions no longer taking reduced damage from multiple hits of Minefield and Mega Inferno Bomb dealing double damage to minions

The increase in Ziggs' waveclearing power is actually more substantial than it seems. By increasing Ziggs' waveclear on minions via his mine field, it allows for him to clear creeps much faster than before, giving him a bigger gap in which to pummel his enemies with long range Bouncing Bomb damage.

Before this change, Ziggs needed a few shots on the minions and/or a bouncing bomb to get rid of the wall of defense surrounding the enemy champions. With this obstacle gone, he's free to wreck havoc from afar for much longer periods of time between wave spawns.

Conclusions:
There might be more to it than meets the eye as to why Ziggs has had such a bounce in win rate, but if there is I haven't spotted it yet. He's definitely a fun champion to play, and now that he actually wins more than loses, I'm definitely playing him more and more.

On the other hand, it should be noted that he's still a very skillshot reliant champion with a skillshot escape. Don't expect to be stellar with him as soon as you pick him up. I'm still a little incredulous at the win rate and think it might just be a coincidence, but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.


Patch 3.13 Notes

Got more insight as to why Ziggs' win rate jumped so high? Think it's statistically unfounded and we'll see a win rate drop? (3.24% play rate) Comment below!