As usual, a week before the official patch, Riot Games announces through its developers the next changes that will arrive on the new League of Legends patch. Although the precise details of the changes that will be made to the champions concerned have not been communicated, this gives an overall idea of the content of the patch. For 12.9, the main changes prepared by Riot Games will revolve around mini reworks or very important adjustments on three champions that were (according to them) missing from the meta: Olaf, Taliyah and Pyke.
The ups
Besides the changes made on Taliyah (which you can get an idea of here, knowing that some values may be adjusted between now and the release of the patch), as well as those which will be made on Pyke (more details here), some champions will be slightly improved. This is particularly the case of Hecarim who was however rather in good shape, but not enough in the eyes of Riot Games. The modifications for him will surely be minor, because he is not particularly in difficulty, nor particularly outclassed in his role. Faced with the current power of tanky supports that can initiate teamfights and skirmishes, Thresh and Braum will receive a small bonus to allow them to potentially return to the front of the stage. To see if this could allow them to return to the competitive scene, even if other modifications seem necessary so that the slightly more passive style of play of these champions can once again become a strategic option as interesting as the others.
Finally the last to receive a buff is Varus. This can be very interesting, depending on the axis chosen by Riot Games. If this improvement mainly affects the poke/lethality build, then we could even consider seeing it land on the midlane. If it’s more the classic on-hit/ADC build that is impacted, the buffs will have to be very interesting for us to see it again on the competitive scene. It’s not so much that the champion is weak, but the other buffed champions this patch are more likely to be tough on Varus hands, than the other way around.
Nerves (but not too much)
Arhi takes a small blow behind the neck. Apparently the vixen was having too much fun in the chicken coop, and Riot Games decided it was time to allow the hens to breathe (although we think they’d be buffed Azir, just to keep this joke going longer ). In short, given his winrate in soloQ and his performance on the competitive scene, this little nerf comes at the right time. The jungle seems to be getting some extra attention, as Master Yi, Nidalee, and Rengar all three get a little nerfed. We don’t know yet if this will impact their ability to clear the jungle or snowball, but these champions pose some problems in soloQ. Although they are relatively technical to play (even Yi, who has to think a bit until he has a comfortable lead), their snowball can really lead to frustrating games for opponents. So it would make sense for the nerves to go in that direction. Renata will also receive her nerf, though it’s unclear what aspect of her kit will be changed. As for Sion, the nerf should affect his lethality build, which has become very popular. Finally the Hullbreaker will also receive its deserved nerf.
However, do not expect extremely significant nerfs. Similarly, some champions who would surely deserve a little more attention have not been affected. Bigger changes will take place on patch 12.10 which will arrive during or after the MSI (probably after), which should indirectly nerf archetypes. Riot Games prefers to wait to see the impacts of this patch, before touching the problematic characters.
esport-lol
You’ve probably seen it on the networks, Team BDS went to South Korea, League of Legends’ flagship country for bootcamp, just to get their heads back in place before the Summer Split. We will carefully follow the adventures of the players, which could well be very eventful.