Listen,

I get it. His W got nerfed pretty deeply. We're all still hurting, especially those of us who took him top lane. Don't let that nerf color your opinion on what I'm about to say, though. I think the community just sees NERF NERF NERF anytime W is mentioned, and I'd like to dispel that myth here.

First of All the Math:

• W = 20 DoT and 60 enhanced damage 10 DoT and 30 enhanced damage per rank. Since the DoT will refresh for a full duration at least once, this equates to at least 50 damage per rank, for 10 mana (and 8 mana refunded on killing target, except rank 4, which is 6 mana for some reason).

• E = 170 50 damage per rank, and 5% slow per rank, for 5 mana.

So at minimum your trades still come out to the same per rank, and if you sneak in an extra auto or two, you actually come out ahead by maxing W. But that's not the end-all of the discussion, and I realize that.

Other Pros

W is also up faster than E. A rank 5 E has the same CD as a rank 1 W (10s). This means if you want to reengage, your second trade will be superior, and by the time the trade is ending you have E up as an escape tool if you need to peace out or dodge an ability.

W damage is also much easier to land than E. The only time W doesn't land is when you fuck up and activate it out of their range. But E can be flashed away from, or dashed/blinked out of (Yasuo, Ezreal, etc.). I max W against Yasuo because of this, and literally never have a problem against him. Dance around all you want, bitch, my damage is loaded into my autos.

Now the Cons

10 mana per rank compared to 5 for E. This is the product of several reworks done by Riot to get people to stop building Tank Fizz by incentivizing E over W. It used to be the other way around, I believe. Still, it's something to consider, though again - E starts higher and is higher at all ranks, rank 5 W is still cheaper than rank 1 E, but in an all-in scenario, you will be using less mana overall by maxing E.

The Slow on E - 5% doesn't seem like much, but 15% is. The difference at level 9 will be felt.

Poorer wave clear. You'll now be using W to waveclear unless you're building protobelt. And max rank W will start to eat your mana in the long run, even with a Doran's Ring.

Longer CD on your escape. Honestly this isn't a problem for me, since you should just adjust your playstyle. You'll now be holding on to E until you need it, rather than leading with it or using it relatively haphazardly.

So When Are You Suggesting I Take W?

Against mobile matchups, or matchups where extreme aggression is required to win the lane. Like Yasuo and Zed. E becomes unreliable because if they read you, they can easily sidestep it and you've lost your main source of damage. It's honestly viable in any matchup still, but in my opinion someone immobile like Twisted Fate or Syndra you should still be maxing E, simply because of superior waveclear, dodging their abilities, and that slow.

But just try it out before you bang it. The next time you see Yasuo, max W, see if the matchup goes a bit better for you. Good luck on the Rift, friends.