League of Legends Patch 9.11 Notes Breakdown and Analysis

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League of Legends. Photo courtesy of Riot Games. /

Another set of changes will be hitting Summoner’s Rift tomorrow with the release of Patch 9.11. It’s another big one, and every buff, nerf, and update will be analysed in our breakdown below.

It’s that time again! Riot have hit us with another set of patch notes with a long list of changes that will be hitting the Rift tonight/tomorrow. Patch 9.11 includes a number of champion tweaks and a new recall visual exclusively for an elite group of League of Legends players.

Champions

Akali

"Passive – Assassin’s Mark Energy Refund: 10/20/30 –> 10/15/20 Damage Ratio: 0.9 bonus AD and 0.7 AP –> 0.6 bonus AD and 0.5 AP"

She just won’t go away. Despite numerous nerfs heading her way in the last four or five patches, Akali has continued to linger in the upper tiers of solo laners in both competitive play and solo queue. These changes may finally fix that.

By reducing the power on her passive towards the later stages of the game, the Rogue Assassin becomes much more manageable in teamfights. The energy refund reduction will have a small, but noticeable effect on her all-in potential in the late game, and the damage ratio nerf is deserved, nudging Akali towards a healthier state.

Although the patch notes mention that these nerfs are targeted towards her pro play power, this will certainly have an effect on Akali’s solo queue win rate and we could see her fall down the tier list as a result.

Amumu

"Passive – Cursed Touch Bonus True Damage on Cursed Targets: 13% –> 10%"

Amumu’s 9.8 buff was a very welcome change and saw him become an option for solo queue junglers who required a tank in their arsenal. However, clearly the passive buff went a step too far and propelled the Sad Mummy amongst the highest win rate junglers over the last two patches. As a result, it’s no surprise that we see this change reverted and Riot will probably look towards other areas of his kit to improve in future patches.

Ekko

"E – Phase Dive Clean Hits: Ekko will now consistently basic attack at his regular cadence after using Phase Dive instead of having to wait for his animation."

This is a very nice QoL change for Ekko players. There’s no longer any need to worry about missing out on damage due to an annoying bug. Ekko’s all in potential is no slightly scarier as he will consistently be applying that first auto after his Phase Dive.

Galio

"W – Shield of Durand Minimum Damage: 20/30/40/50/60 (+0.2 AP) –> 10/20/30/40/50 (+0.3 AP) Maximum Damage: 60/90/120/150/180 (+0.6 AP) –> 30/60/90/120/150 (+0.9 AP) E – Justice Punch Damage: 100/135/170/205/240 –> 80/120/160/200/240"

It feels like Galio has been a mainstay in both pro play and solo queue metas since the season began. Whether it be mid lane or support, The Colossus has permanently been in the top 5 most picked in his role in 2019, and it’s about time he saw some more nerfs heading his way.

As a support, Galio is not picked for his damage but rather for his immense crowd control. These changes will definitely be felt in lane but by no means will they see him fall down the tiers and disappear any time soon. Adding damage to his W – Shield of Durand later in the game is all well and good, but you actually have to make Galio viable in the mid lane before these changes have any impact.

Gragas

"Base Stats Health: 583.5 –> 600 Health Growth: 89 –> 95 Attack Damage: 61.4 –> 64"

Remember the days when Gragas was ever-present in the jungle rotation? It’s been a while since we’ve seen the Rabble Rouser show his face in competitive play and, on top of that, he’s disappeared from solo queue games. But he may finally be making his return as these small buffs will make it easier for Gragas to keep up with the meta junglers in clear speed and early ganks. With Elise and Evelynn being the only AP jungle options, it wouldn’t be surprising for Gragas to start being picked up by jungle mains in the coming weeks.

Janna

"W – Zephyr Cooldown: 8 seconds –> 8/7.5/7/6.5/6 seconds Base Damage: 55/100/145/190/235 –> 55/90/125/160/195 E – Eye of the Storm [New] Passive: Each ability that slows or knocks back an enemy champion reduces Eye of the Storm’s cooldown by 20%. Cooldown: 18/16/14/12/10 seconds –> 16/15/14/13/12 seconds Shield: 70/105/140/175/210 –> 80/115/150/185/220"

As Riot mentioned in their notes, Janna has been reduced to a poke mage in the early game and an ult bot in the later stages. These changes completely shift her power from mage to shield support, as she’ll now have her shield up more often and can properly peel for her AD Carry. It may even reach the point where Janna has a perma-shield in lane, which sounds very fun to play against!

We’re still in a tank support meta, but Janna might start making the odd appearance in solo queue and competitive play following these healthy buffs.

Jayce

"Q – Shock Blast Base Damage: 70/120/170/220/270/320 –> 70/115/160/205/250/295 Damage Ratio: 1.2 bonus AD –> 1.0 bonus AD"

As the patch notes very clearly state, Jayce is a pro play menace. His 100% presence in picks and bans throughout the Mid-Season Invitational makes him the ideal target for nerfs on Patch 9.11, and the direction taken will definitely have an impact.

Jayce is picked for his early game power, and that has been left untouched with these nerfs. Instead, the balance team have targeted his late game to give opponents an opportunity to shut him down once the laning phase is over. While it’s not a huge nerf, it certainly impacts the strength of his Q – Shock Blast post-laning phase and will have pros thinking twice before instantly picking him in the future.

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