Although Riot Games does not plan to introduce any major changes to the game over the next few weeks, League of Legends will receive a small patch called 12.5b in which the developer wants to make some adjustments. A succinct update that unpleasantly surprised the community, especially because of the nerfs it brings. Ryze and Aphelioscurrently ranked in the bottom 5 of the worst champions in terms of win rate in ranked games, will see their power reduced.
Nerfs for two of the worst champions
Many players have felt this adjustment as a free attack against characters who are going through a very difficult time. The developer relies on their performance on the pro stage to justify the power cuts. A decision with which they probably aim to expand the pool of champions available in the LEC Spring Split playoffs – but also in all the other major leagues. However, the decision doesn’t quite fit his champion leveling framework.
If Ryze does meet Riot Games’ criteria for a nerf with an average presence of 91.5% over the last two competitive patches, the change to Aphelios cannot be justified based on the usual League of Legends criteria. It’s true that the devs are taking liberties beyond this balancing frame to make changes, but with an average spawn rate of 74.5% and a negative win rate of 48.1%, even in pro game, this seems out of place.
Currently, Aphelios (45%) and Ryze (46.1%) are at the bottom of the rankings in terms of win rate. Even with slightly better performance in the higher ranks of the game, none of them quite match the rest of the roster in League of Legends higher MMRs. A situation that has been going on for a few seasons and has resulted in many complaints from the community, which can hardly play these two characters consistently due to the constant reductions in power.
This is “not really a VGU”, but rather something that Riot “never did” in League of Legends. On Reddit, Ryan “Reav3” Mireles stirs up the community by talking about a mystery project that seems to be unheard of…