League of Legends Patch 9.14 breakdown – Summoner’s Rift edition
Champion Balance
Aatrox
"Base Stats Health Regen Growth: 0.75 –> 1. R – World Ender [Removed] Aatrox no longer earns a Revive through kills. Amplified Self-Healing: 40/55/70% –> 50/60/70%. Cooldown: 140/120/100 seconds –> 120/100/80 seconds."
The legend of Boris, the World Ender continues as the identity of Aatrox is continuously stamped into the dirt. Now Aatrox, a champion known for his revive passive for several seasons, no longer has a revive. Fortunately, Boris will now feel a lot nicer to play against as he won’t revive after you kill him, but the excessive healing he gets while his ultimate is running remains. Overall, this is a nerf, but not a huge one, and Aatrox should still be okay to run through enemy teams with his massive healing and ability damage.
Akali
"Base Stats Magic Resist: 32.1 –> 37. Health Growth: 85 –> 95. Q – Five Point Strike Ratio: 0.5 Ability Power –> 0.6 Ability Power. W – Twilight Shroud Stealth Type: Obscurity –> Invisibility (Akali is now fully revealed by True Sight effects, rather than only her outline). Cooldown: 25/22/19/16/13 seconds –> 20 seconds at all ranks. Energy Restore: 40/50/60/70/80 –> 80 at all ranks. [Removed] Duration Extension: Twilight Shroud’s duration no longer extends if Akali breaks invisibility by basic attacking or using abilities. E – Shuriken Flip Shuriken Damage: 70/105/140/175/210 (+0.7 bonus Attack Damage) –> 40/70/100/130/160 (+0.35 total Attack Damage). [New] Shuriken AP Ratio: 0.5 Ability Power. Dash Damage: 50/80/110/140/170 (+0.7 bonus Attack Damage) –> 40/70/100/130/160 (+0.35 total Attack Damage). [New] Dash AP Ratio: 0.5 Ability Power. R – Perfect Execution Cooldown: 100/85/70 seconds –> 120/110/100 seconds."
Akali’s been around the higher tiers of both solo queue and competitive play for quite some time, so it’s great that she’s seeing some nerfs on Patch 9.14. The only issue is they’re combined with some nice buffs that all in all might make her stronger in the next patch. However, the most important change is the loss of obscurity in her W – Twilight Shroud, which was her most annoying mechanic. Now she won’t be invulnerable for the duration of her W and can actually be killed… Finally.
Alistar
"Base Stats Mana: 278.84 –> 350. Mana Growth: 38 –> 40."
Alistar has fallen down the pecking order in the support role recently, despite the focus on tanks and playmakers. This buff will give him a nudge in the right direction.
Aurelion Sol
"Q – Starsurge Maximum Stun Duration: 1.65/1.8/1.95/2.1/2.25 seconds after traveling for 5 seconds –> 2.2/2.4/2.6/2.8/3 seconds after traveling for 5 seconds. Star Radius Growth: Increased by 33%. E – Comet of Legend Maximum Bonus Movement Speed: 25/30/35/40/45% –> 25-45% (levels 1-18)."
Who? Aurelion Sol has been mostly forgotten for the entirety of season 9 so far, but that might be about to change. A huge 3 second stun on his Q if its travelled for 5 seconds might make it worth picking him for the rare chance he actually lands a long distance stun, particularly with the buff to his star radius. Ultimately, these changes won’t project the Star Forger into the higher tiers but will remind mid mains that he exists, and they may pick him up in specific match-ups over the next few weeks.
Bard
"Base Stats Health: 535 –> 575. Health Regen: 7.5 –> 5.5. E – Magical Journey Travel Speed: 800 –> 900. Ally Bonus Speed: 10/20/30/40/50% –> 33% at all ranks."
Bard is nowhere to be seen in the support role, so these buffs might pull him into contention. A stronger early game and the potential to make plays with his E – Magical Journey should have support players excited to pull out Bard and look to make plays around his E and ultimate.
Diana
"Q – Crescent Strike Inner Arc Speed: 2100 –> 1900. Outer Arc Speed: 2300 –> 2100. W – Pale Cascade Cost: 40/55/60/65/70 mana –> 40/55/70/85/100 mana."
Diana surprisingly sits at a 53.52% win rate in solo queue at the moment, so these nerfs should bring her back into line.
Galio
"Base Stats Mana Growth: 20 –> 40. Passive – Colossal Smash [Removed] Colossal Smash’s cooldown is no longer reduced every time Galio hits a unique enemy champion with an ability. Cooldown: 8 seconds –> 5 seconds. Damage: 12-80 (levels 1-18) (+1.0 total Attack Damage) (+0.5 Ability Power) (+0.4 bonus Magic Resist) –> 15-160 (levels 1-18) (+1.0 total Attack Damage) (+0.5 Ability Power) (+0.6 bonus Magic Resist). Q – Winds of War Cooldown: 10/9.5/9/8.5/8 seconds –> 14/13/12/11/10 seconds. Gust Damage: 70/105/140/175/210 –> 80/115/150/185/220. Cost: 80/90/100/110/120 mana –> 80/85/90/95/100 mana. W – Shield of Durand [New] Galio cannot Flash while channelling Shield of Durand. [New] Shield of Durand can now be interrupted by all the usual CC effects that interrupt channels. Self-Slow: 30% –> 15%."
Patch 9.11 – Galio was mercilessly killed by Riot Games in an effort to prevent the support role being 100% Colossus. Patch 9.14 – Riot Games attempt to revive Galio by buffing his Passive, Q, and W, but fail as he is completely useless as a support player if he cannot Flash-W. Don’t expect to see Galio back as a mid laner or support until he is buffed further, folks.
Jhin
"W – Deadly Flourish Cooldown: 14 seconds –> 12 seconds. Root Duration: 0.75/1/1.25/1.5/1.75 seconds –> 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 seconds."
Jhin lags way behind when it comes to AD Carries and is amongst the least picked in competitive play. This is mainly due to his lack of mobility and being unable to compete with the alternative marksman. Reducing the cooldown and increasing the root on his W is a step in the right direction as it gives him a major boos to his utility, but ultimately he’ll need a bit more if he’s to catch up to the likes of Xayah, Sivir, and Ashe.
Lux
"Q – Light Binding Cooldown: 10 seconds –> 13/12/11/10/9 seconds. Cost: 40/45/50/55/60 mana –> 50 mana at all ranks. W – Prismatic Barrier Returning Shield: Double outgoing shield –> Same as outgoing shield (returning shield still stacks with the outgoing shield). Shield Ratio: 0.2 Ability Power –> 0.3 Ability Power. Maximum Shield: 150/195/240/285/330 (+0.6 Ability Power) –> 100/130/160/190/220 (+0.6 Ability Power). Shield Duration: 3 seconds –> 2.5 seconds. R – Final Spark [Removed] No longer refunds a percentage of its maximum cooldown when hitting at least one enemy champion that dies within 1.75 seconds. Cooldown: 80/65/50 seconds –> 80/60/40 seconds. Ratio: 0.75 Ability Power –> 1.0 Ability Power."
Lux support is popular and oppressive in solo queue and competitive play at the moment. Nerfing her low risk Q – Light Binding, as well as removing her obnoxious double shield on her W – Prismatic Barrier is the perfect way to pull her back to where she belongs – as a niche support pick, not relied on in competitive play.
Malphite
"Q – Seismic Shard Malphite now spawns his rock 100 units in front of him rather than at his centre point. Slow: 14/17/20/23/26% –> 15/20/25/30/35%. Slow Duration: 4 seconds –> 3 seconds. [New] W – Thunderclap Malphite’s next basic attack within 6 seconds gains 50 increased range and deals 20/35/50/65/80 (+0.2 Ability Power) (+0.15 Armor) bonus physical damage. For the next 5 seconds after casting, Malphite’s basic attacks cleave enemies in a cone in front of him, dealing 10/20/30/40/50 (+0.2 Ability Power) (+0.1 Armor) physical damage to enemies hit. Cost: 25 mana at all ranks –> 30/35/40/45/50 mana."
These are some really interesting buffs for Malphite and should help push him into the mid tiers for top laners. Now he should actually be able to trade with his lane opponent instead of being a beefy ult-bot. Nonetheless, he’s still too one-dimensional to reach the higher elos or competitive play anywhere outside of North America.