As Worlds 2020 draws near, the next few update patches for League of Legends are crucial for shaping the meta for the highest level of competitive LoL gameplay on the international stage.
Patch 10.16 is a key example. Majority of the nerfs in this patch are targeted at strong meta champions used in pro play. Expect a few favorites get knocked out of favor among the world’s best LoL players.
Conversely, the buffs to 17 champions are a warm welcome. There are even updates to some characters that we haven’t seen in a while. Hopefully, they’ll bring more diversity to the shifting meta.
Winner: Fiora
Q – Lunge
- Cooldown decreased from 16/14/12/10/8 to 13/11.25/9.5/7.75/6 seconds
- Enemy hit cooldown reduction decreased from 60% (enemy hits refund 6.4/5.6/4.8/4/3.2 seconds) to 50% (enemy hits refund 6.5/5.63/4.75/3.9/3 seconds)
Lunge is Fiora’s bread and butter, so getting a buff to her Q should not be overlooked by Fiora mains and players who oppose her. A whole three seconds were shaved off from Lunge’s cooldown at level one, while its enemy hit cooldown reduction was tweaked to balance it out.
Riot’s rationale was one that was entirely related to the pro meta. Until this update, scaling skirmishers were nowhere to be seen and they weren’t fully able to pressure a side lane, which limits macro strategies.
This gives us hope that when Worlds comes around, the meta would have expanded beyond grouped up team fights.
Winner: Lucian
Q – Piercing Light
- Damage increased from 85/120/155/190/225 to 95/130/165/200/235
R – The Culling
- Total shots fired increased from 20/25/30 to 22/28/34
Lucian is a popular AD carry in solo queue, but not in pro play. Other AD carries like Miss Fortune pre-nerf, Aphelios, and Ashe took center stage this year.
When we do see him, he’s been a very specific pick against certain champions like Galio in mid or top lane (hey Huni). These buffs benefit him across the board. Not to mention, Piercing Light was recently buffed too in patch 10.13, where its effect radius increased from 900 to 1000 units.
Winner: Neeko
Q – Blooming Burst
- Damage increased from 70/115/160/205/250 to 80/125/170/215/260
- Bloom damage increased from 35/55/75/95/115 to 40/60/80/100/120
Neeko was used twice in the 2020 LPL Summer split, four times in LCK, and has zero presence in other leagues.
With a trio of nerfs to Syndra across the last five patches, we guarantee that the mid lane meta will change after this patch. The base damage boost to Blooming Burst increases her ability to wave clear and secure mid lane priority.
Winner: Ziggs
Passive – Short Fuse
- Bonus damage ratio increased from 0.3/0.4/0.5 ability power (levels 1/7/13) to 0.5 ability power
- Bonus damage multipler to structures increased from 2x ability power to 2.5x ability power
The last two times Ziggs was played to victory was in the LCK Summer Split: once in the mid lane by Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon against Twisted Fate, and the other time at bot by Jang “Ghost” Yong-jun against Aphelios.
With Riot’s intention to “bring an artillery mage into the meta,” it would be interesting to see which other regions will pick him up, as he’s very valuable as a flex pick. Plus, he now deals more damage to turrets!
- League of Legends August global power rankings: Top Esports remain the team to beat
- League of Legends patch 10.15: Support mains rejoice
Loser: Nautilus
W – Titan’s Wrath
- Shield decreased from 60/70/80/90/100 to 45/55/65/75/85
Nautilus’ base shield has decreased by 15 at all levels, which hurts his early laning phase. He’s less tanky now when he commits to a trade, which leads to less forgiving mistakes. Will Leona, or a ranged shielding support, be a better option instead?
Loser: Volibear
Q – Thundering Smash
- Bonus movement speed reduced from 15/20/25/30/35% to 10/14/18/22/26% (still doubles when moving towards visible enemy champions)
After all the buffs this beast has received since the rework, the nerf hammer has finally come down on him. The decreased bonus movement speed on his most important ability, Thundering Smash, will definitely slow down his jungle clear speed, as well as his ability to gap close in team fights.
Holding a 56.3% win rate in the jungle in pro play, expect this number to fall.
Loser: Syndra
Q – Dark Sphere
- Base damage decreased from 70/110/150/190/230 to 70/105/140/175/210
This Syndra nerf needs to be looked at in context. In patch 10.11, Scatter The Weak’s cooldown was increased. Then in 10.13, Dark Sphere’s mana cost was increased at all levels; 20 at level one.
Now, not only has the increase in mana remained, her damage on Q also falls off more as the game goes.
It’s highly unlikely we’ll see her blind picked in pro play moving forward.
Loser: Sett
W – Haymaker
- Base damage decreased from 80/105/130/155/180 to 80/100/120/140/160
E – Facebreaker
- Base damage decreased from 50/80/110/140/170 to 50/70/90/110/130
Sett is already not favored in the top lane in the current meta, and is only occasionally seen in the jungle. Solo queue Sett mains are the ones suffering from these nerfs, which are targeted at pro level where he is mainly fielded as a support.
It was nice knowing you, Sett. See you next year, maybe.
Click here for the full patch 10.16 notes.
