Could Karrie be the most overpowered hero in the current M4 World Championship meta?
The M4 World Championship group stage is well underway. In just two days, only one hero remained with a 100% pick and ban rate in the tournament — and that is Karrie.
The marksman hero became a hotly-contested pick in this tournament, unlike last season. Out of 174 games in total at MPL PH Season 10, Karrie only appeared 24 times. The number is much lower at MPL ID Season 10, as she was only picked thrice in 172 games.
What makes her so powerful in the current meta? And will we see more of her in the upcoming days in the knockout stage?
3 reasons why Karrie is single-handedly carrying the marksman role at the M4 World Championship
The new item Swift Crossbow is the real deal
It might not be a tier-three item, but the new attack speed Swift Crossbow transforms Karrie into an early game monster.
Aside from the 20% attack speed increase, its unique passive of increasing her damage and attack speed with each basic attack stacks with her passive skill, Lightwheel Mark
This item alone drastically improves her damage output, as it is a lot easier to proc true damage on her basic attack when attacking the same enemy five times. This, along with her ultimate Speedy Lightwheel which increases her attack speed even more, sees her throwing lightwheels at the speed of light.
The item is cheap too, costing only 1000 gold, and therefore easily obtainable in the first five minutes of the game in the gold lane.
She was buffed in patch 1.7.44
Patch 1.7.44, which was released in late December last year, buffed a lot of marksman heroes, including the Lost Star. The cooldown of her Phantom Step and Speedy Lightwheel were slightly decreased.
Skill 2 – Phantom Step
- Cooldown decreased from 5-3s to 4.5-2.5s
Ultimate – Speedy Lightwheel
- Cooldown decreased from 40s to 35s
It might not be much, but these few seconds are crucial in team fights, especially in the early game when she doesn’t have her core items yet.
She also received an indirect buff with the improvements to Golden Staff and Corrosion Schyte, two items that increase her attack speed and damage output.
- OhMyV33nus and Wise chose to make these big personal sacrifices for the sake of M4
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Karrie is flexible against any team composition
Her kit allows her to thrive against any team composition. She can melt down any tank jungler with Lightwheel Mark, and the improved mobility of her second skill, Phantom Step, works wonders against assassins and marksman junglers.
The marksman’s strength was evident when ECHO’s Benedict “Bennyqt” Gonzales used the hero against RRQ Hoshi on the second day of the group stage.
Despite going up against Claude and Akai, one of the toughest tank junglers in the current meta, he had one of the best games on the hero so far in the tournament, recording a stellar 7/0/5 KDA in their first series win.
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