League of Legends Patch 9.14 breakdown – Summoner’s Rift edition

Flat Damage Reduction Champions

Fizz

"Passive – Nimble Fighter Damage Reduction: 4/6/8/10/12/14 (levels 1/4/7/10/13/16) against basic attacks –> 4 (+0.01 Ability Power) against all sources of damage (maximum of 50% reduction)."

Fizz, an already annoying champion, has just become that much more frustrating to play against. Initially, losing damage from basic attacks against the Tidal Trickster was troublesome but manageable. Now losing damage from all sources has the potential to be the cause of several broken peripherals. 4(+0.01 AP) isn’t massive though, so fortunately this shouldn’t be game-changing for Fizz.

Leona

"W – Eclipse [New] Eclipse now grants 8/12/16/20/24 pre-mitigation damage reduction (maximum of 50% reduction). Armor: 25/35/45/55/65 –> 20/25/30/35/40. Magic Resist: 20/30/40/50/60 –> 20/25/30/35/40. R – Solar Flare [Removed] Leona no longer gains empowered basic attacks after casting Solar Flare."

Removing Armor and MR from Leona’s W and pushing it into straight damage reduction is hard to judge initially, but from first look it feels like a nice buff to her engages in the early game, especially since this ability is maxed first. As with all of these new mechanics added to existing champions, we’ll have to see how they play out before we can make proper judgements, but they all seem fairly balanced so far.

True Sight Champions

Karma

"W – Focused Resolve/Renewal [New] Focused Resolve/Renewal now reveals successfully rooted targets for the duration of the root as well."

The utility from Karma’s W is now a lot stronger as she can reveal champions for the duration of her root. Obviously this only benefits Karma and her team in specific match-ups, but it’s a nice QoL change and could act as a direct counter to certain stealth champions.

LeBlanc

"E – Ethereal Chains [New] Ethereal Chains now reveals successfully rooted targets for the duration of the root as well."

Same again. LeBlanc will enjoy certain mid lane match-ups much more now as she is granted full vision of champions heading into stealth through her E root.

Morgana

"R – Soul Shackles [New] Soul Shackles now reveals successfully stunned targets for the duration of the root as well."

Three for three. Morg directly counters stealth champions with her ultimate now. A boost to certain match-ups.

Anti-Mobility Champions

Ahri

"E – Charm [New] Charm now cancels in-progress dashes. Bonus Damage Duration: 5 seconds –> 3 seconds."

There was nothing more frustrating than landing a charm as Ahri only for the enemy to dash away without taking the full brunt of your damage. No more. In fact, if an enemy is charmed now, they’ll take the full force of Ahri’s burst. In return, she loses 2 seconds of her bonus damage duration, but usually the full spell rotation has finished at this point anyway. This won’t have a huge impact on her win rate but certainly helps her out a little against mobile lane opponents.

Cassiopeia

"General [New] Cassiopeia can now buffer her ability casts. Base Stats Health: 537 –> 575. Health Growth: 87 –> 90. Mana: 418 –> 350. Mana Growth: 31.5 –> 40. Armor: 25 –> 20. W – Miasma [Removed] Cassiopeia no longer has a minimum cast range on Miasma. Maximum Cast Range: 800 –> 700. Cooldown: 18/17.5/17/16.5/16 seconds –> 24/21/18/15/12 seconds. E – Twin Fang [New] Cassiopeia heals for 75% less when she poisons minions and small monsters. Heal: 5-22 (based on level) (+0.1 Ability Power) –> 13/16/19/22/25% of her Ability Power. Cost: 40/45/50/55/60 mana –> 50 mana at all ranks."

A lot of changes for Cassiopeia, and a lot to digest without seeing her perform in solo queue, but ultimately it seems like she’s in a much better state heading into Patch 9.14. Her W has a tonne of utility, her base stats allow her to survive in lane, and her E heal scales very well into the late game. Overall we’ll need to see how her win rate changes over the next few weeks, but we could well see her rise into the higher tiers if she’s allowed to scale and become a mid game monster.

Poppy

"W – Steadfast Presence [New] If Poppy stops an enemy from dashing or casting a movement ability, she grounds and slows them by 25% for 2 seconds. Movement Speed Duration: 2.5 seconds –> 2 seconds. Bonus Movement Speed: 30% –> 35%."

Do not get caught in Poppy’s W or you will die. That just about sums it up. Poppy can lock you down with her E+W and kill you during that duration, so tread carefully around the Iron Ambassador on Patch 9.14.