League of Legends Patch 9.10 breakdown and analysis

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Yuumi in a mysterious location. League of Legends.

League of Legends. Courtesy of Riot Games. /

A whole host of changes will be hitting the Rift today with the introduction of Patch 9.10. It may be a relatively small update, there’s still a lot to dissect in our League of Legends Patch 9.10 breakdown.

Two weeks ago, we were hit with one of the largest patches so far this League of Legends season with a number of renewed and recycled champions, items, and runes. This week, however, it’ll be a much more relaxed rundown containing a small list of easy to digest changes.

Aside from the debut of new support champion, Yuumi, the largest alterations in Patch 9.10 are based around pre-existing champions that require some fine-tuning. Master Yi, Riven, and Vayne are all notable inclusions in these ‘snack-sized’ patch notes.

Champion changes

Yuumi

Check out our breakdown of

Yuumi’s abilities

to get our initial impressions of her kit!

Brand

"E – Conflagration MAGIC DAMAGE :: 70/90/110/130/150 (+0.35 ability power) >>> 70/95/120/145/170 (+0.45 ability power)"

Mage supports have been left in the dust recently, creating space for their tankier, CC-heavy counterparts. As a result, high damage bottom laners, like Brand, have been tossed to the wayside and ignored for the vast majority of season 9, evidenced by his absence from pro play, and minuscule solo queue pick rate (4.2%). These buffs are unlikely to change that.

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Brand’s E – Conflagration is one of his least utilized damage tools and is maxed last, therefore he won’t be feeling the effects of increased base damage until the very late stages of the game (and even then, +20 damage at max rank is barely noticeable). Likewise, boosting his AP ratio by .1 is mostly ineffectual as this ability is secondary to his W – Pillar of Flame and R – Pyroclasm, and will only be used once or twice in a team fight.

“What about mid lane Brand?” you might ask. Well, if he’s not being played now, you shouldn’t expect him to suddenly rise in priority as a result of these tiny buffs. If anything, this should be considered a placebo change intended to increase the play rate of the champion in order to gauge his true power level over the next few weeks of solo queue.

Caitlyn

"W – Yordle Snap Trap HEADSHOT BONUS DAMAGE :: 40/90/140/190/240 >>> 60/105/150/195/240"

It’s been a long time since the Sheriff of Piltover last ruled in the bottom lane and nowadays she’ll only make an appearance when paired with Morgana for their unmatched wave clear and lane dominance. However, with these changes, we may see her rise up a tier. Taking her already oppressive lane bullying when matched with the right support and adding more damage via her W – Yordle Snap Trap is a recipe for success and Caitlyn players will rejoice at the potential of these changes.

Caitlyn’s main strengths lie in her extremely powerful late game because of her range and wave clear capabilities. Balancing this out with a stronger early game creates a much more well-rounded champion that could begin to slowly rise in priority. Obviously, these buffs aren’t huge, but they definitely aid in pushing Cait in the right direction, adding another option in the bottom lane.

Fiora

"W – Riposte INTERACTIONS WITH DEBUFFS :: Riposte ||| prevents Braum and Kennen from applying the last stack of their passives >>> allows Braum and Kennen to apply the last stack of their passives, blocking the stun (and still blocking the damage from the attack)"

This is a nice, albeit small change to Fiora. Previously Fiora mains may have felt aggrieved due to this interaction but tuning it to be a little fairer is definitely an excellent idea. With the high pick rates of Braum and Kennen in both pro play and solo queue, this change certainly increases the likelihood of the Grand Duelist showing her face more often in the coming weeks.

Graves

"Q – End of the Line DETONATION DAMAGE :: 85/115/145/175/205 >>> 85/120/155/190/225"

Personally, I’d be happy if we didn’t see Graves for another few years. But, to be fair to Graves mains, it has been a while since his last spell in the upper tiers of jungle champions. His Q – End of the Line is maxed first, which means the full effects of this buff will be felt as early as level nine.

When invading the enemy jungle or skirmishing around objectives in the early game, this ability is a large threat to any jungler. At present, tank and utility junglers are gaining prevalence, but early game focused champions still rule the roost. Is there a champion better suited to early game jungling than Graves? While this buff won’t see him immediately ascend through the jungle tiers back to his S7 and S8 state, it’ll have junglers considering him as an option in the weeks to come.

Master Yi

"Q – Alpha Strike [REM] CAST TIME :: No longer takes 0.1 seconds to cast [NEW] BETA STRIKE :: If Master Yi has struck fewer than the maximum amount of times he can with Alpha Strike and there are no other nearby eligible targets, he will now strike the same target for 25% of the damage before checking for nearby targets again W – Meditate [REM] CAST TIME :: No longer takes 0.05 seconds to cast E – Wuju Style [REM] :: No longer grants 10% attack damage while not on cooldown R – Highlander MOVEMENT SPEED :: 25/35/45% total movement speed >>> 35/45/55% bonus movement speed"

Playing as Master Yi will now feel as smooth as butter. Removing cast times on Q – Alpha Strike and W – Meditate, combined with increased bonus movement speed on his R – Highlander gives him a little nudge towards a more powerful state. Losing the bonus damage on E – Wuju Style balances the changes out, but experienced Yi players will probably feel happy with the direction of these changes overall.

Riven

"Q – Broken Wings COOLDOWN :: 13 seconds at all ranks >>> 12/11.5/11/10.5/10 seconds E – Valor COOLDOWN :: 10/9/8/7/6 seconds >>> 14/13/12/11/10 seconds"

No matter how much we beg for it, Riven will not go away. Instead of outright nerfing this extremely strong champion, Riot have opted for a gentler approach – replacing a low E – Valor cooldown with a low Q – Broken Wings cooldown. Ultimately this puts Riven in a more balanced state by removing the annoyance of a permanently available shield, but it could be argued that the balance team could have been a lot harsher on a high skill ceiling champion with a 52% win rate.

Shaco

"R – Hallucinate APPEAR :: Random position 50-250 range in any direction around cast position, facing a random direction >>> 200 range in the direction of Shaco’s cursor, facing the clone CLONE APPEAR :: Random position 50-250 range in any direction around cast position, facing a random direction >>> 200 range in the opposite direction of Shaco’s cursor, facing Shaco"

This is an extremely nice change for both Shaco players and those who are facing him in game. Previously both parties were forced to guess the location and direction of Shaco and his clone, whereas now we’ve been handed a much better alternative. Not only is this an overdue modernization of an outdated ultimate ability, but it also provides a lot more outplay potential for accomplished Shaco mains.

Soraka

"Q – Starcall BONUS MOVEMENT SPEED :: 14/18/22/26/30% >>> 15/20/25/30/35% MOVEMENT SPEED DECAY :: Rapidly >>> Significantly less rapidly"

In its current state, the movement speed on Soraka’s Q – Starcall is pretty underwhelming and reducing the movement speed decay should have a positive impact on the utility of the ability. That being said, Starcall is maxed second and thus the effects of this buff will not be felt in lane, which is where it would be most impactful. There’s no doubt that this change will help Soraka out, but it doesn’t offer much other than increased maneuverability in team fights.

Tryndamere

"E – Spinning Slash COOLDOWN :: 13/12/11/10/9 seconds >>> 12/11/10/9/8 seconds RATIO :: 1.0 ability power >>> 0.8 ability power"

A really simple and healthy change for Tryndamere. Reducing the cooldown of his E – Spinning Slash by one second at all ranks allows him to remain competitive in the top lane, particularly when facing ranged opponents.

Vayne

"R – Final Hour TUMBLE COOLDOWN REDUCTION :: 50% at all ranks >>> 30/40/50%"

Vayne is currently amongst the strongest marksman on the current patch, boasting a 51.6% win rate due to her strength at all stages of the game, especially after reaching two items. The already mobile AD Carry becomes a kiting monster once she pops her R – Final Hour.

By reducing the cooldown reduction granted to Vayne’s Q – Tumble when activating her ultimate, she becomes more manageable in team fights. That is, of course, until the late game when she returns to 50% cooldown on her Q, which is fair considering Vayne is meant to be a late game carry.

Xin Zhao

"Q – Three Talon Strike COOLDOWN :: 9/8/7/6/5 seconds >>> 7/6.5/6/5.5/5 seconds"

Xin excelled when the meta revolved around early game junglers and playing around early scuttle crabs, but after the recent change to scuttle spawns, along with a number of direct nerfs, he has returned to being a situational pick. This small buff offers an avenue back into pick contention for the Demacian warrior as a reduced cooldown on his Q – Three Talon Strike increases his damage in early game trades, as well as having the option of a knock-up available more often.

This ability is maxed last, which means there is a two second reduction on Xin’s normal Q up until level 14, which is a very nice buff and could see Xin Zhao becoming a strong option for early game focused teams.

Zyra

"Passive – Garden of Thorns FERTILIZER :: Damage from basic attacks that doesn’t trigger on-hit effects (ex. Corki’s Hextech Munitions, Miss Fortune’s Love Tap, etc.) no longer deals a separate instance of damage to Zyra’s plants"

Not really an important change to be honest.

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