I play Udyr primarily as a top laner, and as such I like the change to Tiger Stance because it makes his early game better. It's going to naturally work off of masteries/runes in the early game where the diversified damage means less. Lategame I will agree that this is a nerf, but a Tiger Stance top lane build often goes 21 into offense to really capitalize on the crazy high damage Tiger Stance does, especially early game when resistances are low. I like this early game, and seeing as Tiger Stance is a top lane build, you will have higher income than a jungler; this should to some degree negate the diversification of his damage. For instance, I often get Black Cleaver lategame when playing top Udyr; in this case Tiger Stance dealing physical damage in conjunction with armor pen from any runes/masteries seems like an overall plus to me. There are games where I need to go heavy defensive in my build, or I just don't get to the point where I can get a luxury item like Black Cleaver and in those cases I would rather have magic damage. Overall its a bit of a tossup for me, but I completely agree with this change in terms of consistency. Tiger Stance dealing physical damage just makes sense. The ability scales off of his physical damage, the proc itself is an auto attack, and it's a freaking TIGER. Tiger's do physical damage.
In the jungle you are playing Phoenix Stance most of the time. I'm a wee bit drunk, so I'm not too keen on doing math right now, but I think getting the Phoenix proc on your first attack will equate to more damage than the AP/50% AD buff. That's just looking at it, and not really doing any math mind you. If that's right, then I think that's a fine buff that gives him some extra speed when clearing. I like it. I also really like that it gives you some upfront damage when ganking. That makes you far more dangerous. Tiger Udyr is traditionally a top lane build, but there has always been the argument that Tiger Stance jungling is good because of the upfront damage when ganking. You would have much slower clear times, but your gankes were more effective. Tiger Stance still has more upfront damage, so in that sense you can still say its better at ganking. However there is now a much more clear line drawn as to which ability is geared for which roll. Phoenix may not do as much damage upfront, but now it still packs a good punch, and you don't have to sacrifice clear time. Yeah, if you are in the "we need to promote as many builds as possible" camp than having clearly defined rolls in his abilities might not seem good, but personally I see this as a good thing for the character.
Bear Stance is both a buff and a nerf. It's a straight up nerf in the early levels. But lategame I would prefer the new version. Generally Bear Stance is maxed out last, after your primary damage stance (Tiger or Phoenix) and after Turtle Stance. So for a large portion of the game this is going to be a nerf. Even if less movespeed for a longer duration gives you more overall distance than higher movespeed for shorter distance, Udyr would rather have that higher movespeed. He's a sprinter, not a long distance runner. Once he catches you and gets one proc off, especially if he has something like Iceborn Gauntlet/Triforce, he can often seal your fate. In that sense, having that bigger initial burst is better. When playing Udyr, generally if I can't catch them after one Bear Stance they get away. And more often than not, it's them getting away at the beginning of the movespeed increase, not after four seconds of me running after them. Personally, if they taking Bear Stance in this direction, I would want to have some more oomph at level 1 in addition lategame. Maybe they think that will be too good? In a metagame dominated by Flash, and so many champions having mobility/escapes in some shape or form, it's not like people really have problems running away from the champion that has no other option but to run straight at you or pop a summoner. If I have to blow a summoner to catch you, I should catch you. That's my feeling at least.
Turtle Stance... Yuck. Ew. I can't see this as anything but a nerf. I don't care if I can crit. What kind of crit does Udyr even get? A small % from Triforce? Really not going to impact things. Loosing the mana sustain is a huuuuuge nerf to both jungle Udyr and lane Udyr. He has huge mana problems early game because he has a pitifully small mana pool and high mana costs until lategame. Lategame, even if you really don't need the mana sustain, what they give him in exchange for losing this by no means makes up for it. To be honest, I think they could clearly give him buffs in his other abilities (not these ambiguous maybe buffs/nerfs here) in addition to this Turtle Stance, and it would come out as a nerf. The mana regen on Turtle Stance is huuuuuge to his early game/mid game presence. As a champion who falls off lategame, he really needs to shine early on.
