So I've owned him maybe two weeks now and have gotten decent at playing him. Last game was 10/2/13 I believe. But I've lost 11 out of 12 games as him!

Is he just bad luck? Am I randomly drawing awful feeder teams just by playing him somehow?

Or were teams just so reliant on my carrying as Karthus that they can't win with me as GP? This doesn't seem likely.

But the losing streak seems undeniable. I just need to figure out why so I can counter it.

I'll get downvoted for this but....

Gangplank really doesn't bring anything to the table until very late game. Early game he is denying (no that is not enough to warrant him being in lane, stop thinking it is) and farming....that's about it. He can escape ganks fairly well but has trouble offensively pushing against any champions. Anyone building armor/hp will only get tickled by him, and he's relatively squishy that most other champions can burst him down.

His only saving grace right now is that his ultimate is good for 2 things. A)Deterrent to a teamfight if they push when your team isn't ready, or B)Forcing a teamfight in your favor.

the only thing gangplank brings to our team-fight heavy meta is his ult, and possibly his q (which sucks til late game)

hes really not all that useful. i dont think i've ever lost against a GP just because he is soooooooo easily picked off and doesnt really do much even at the 40 minute mark.

Denying early is why I wanted to try him, as he's the only char that can do this and I thought it was interesting. I do see a difference of as much as a couple levels by the time I hit 6, with a proper ranged harassing lane mate I see how it could work well. But I never seem to see it happen. I've been blaming lack of skill on my lanemates, maybe it's just too much to hope for?

I don't usually play melee, so I did notice him being a bit squishy (MR and merc treads helped some) but didn't know if this was how melee always is or what. I find myself at times just using Parley and ignoring autoattack, which isn't good.

It negates the differential, but now you're even instead of being behind.

The problem is you're thinking of Gangplank as a carry - he's not. Despite what you might think, he simply can't put out consistent damage like other carries. He's too fragile, has no gap closer, and no way to stick on his target like other melee DPS do. What he does have is good movement speed and a spammable, hard-hitting poke (Parrrley). Early game he has a global ultimate to help ganks suceed, and he can deny exp and gold from his opponents.

So what we learn from this is that Gangplank is support DPS. Similar to Teemo in that you don't pick him for his damage output, but his utility. Since it's more common that you'll avoid autoattacking in teamfights in favor of staying at range to Q spam (to avoid dying), while using your deny to buff your team, I think that proves the point. Plank's job is to soften up the enemy or to burst down squishies while his ultimate helps slow the enemy team down as your team pounds on them.

Obviously, his use as a support DPS is questionable when you pair him against many other support DPSers out there, and this is why he's not really thought of as a strong pick for ranked play. Not that he's a useless champion, but I hope you see what I'm trying to get at.

I see what you're saying. I consider Morgana support DPS as well. But she has two stuns, a shield and an AOE area denial. GP has his ult and a not much else that's too support like by comparison.

Following that line of thinking, is the reason my teams keep losing when I play him that I'm short changing them by playing as him?

I dunno I think GP is a pretty solid carry if you rune right - since he has cleanse+heal built in he is actually one of the best late game champs....you just have to get there in good shape, which most people cannot do