League of Legends Patch 9.16 breakdown – Summoner’s Rift edition

1 of 5

League of Legends. Photo courtesy of Riot Games. /

Time flies when you’re grinding TFT/solo queue! It seems like just yesterday we were hit with Patch 9.15, but now another dose of League of Legends changes are headed our way with Patch 9.16!

With the LEC/LCS playoffs well underway or about to start, and solo queue split three beginning last weekend, there’s no better time to get updated on the most recent League of Legends patch and get the edge over your opponents in solo queue. In Patch 9.16 we’ve got a whole host of champion changes, a single item change, and the Pantheon rework!

Champions

Azir

"Q – Conquering Sands Cooldown: 15/12.5/10/7.5/5 seconds –> 15/13/11/9/7 seconds."

Azir’s unimpressive 46.48% solo queue win rate on Patch 9.15 will unfortunately be tossed to the wayside as the balance team target his obnoxious pro play presence. Viewers of competitive League of Legends have been up in arms about the rise in popularity of “boring Azir-Corki” match-ups, so Riot have taken action with nerfs targeted at both perpetrators.

First of all, it’s Azir. At rank three, his Q will have a +1 seconds cooldown, extending to +2 at max rank. As Conquering Sands is the first skill levels are put into, Azir will undoubtedly feel this from level 4 all the way through to late game. In lane, he’ll have less opportunity to relentlessly poke his opponents from range, while also reducing his teamfighting prowess in the later stages.

While this nerf will reduce Azir’s power level significantly, it may not be enough to banish him from the pro play mid lane priority due to his excellent utility and safety in the early game. Expect the Shuriman Emperor’s solo queue pick rate and win rate to fall, while still remaining in the pool for professional mid laners.

Corki

"Base Stats Attack Damage: 60 –> 55. Attack Damage Growth: 3 –> 2.5."

Boring mid lane nerfs part two! Corki this time, and once again it’s a gentle nudge in the right direction. However, in this case it’s a win-win situation for both solo queue and pro play, as his 50.27% win rate in the former will be reduced, as well as the latter.

Nerfing AD and AD growth is the perfect way to reduce Corki’s presence on the map through all stages of the game. With this change, Corki will have about 10 less Attack Damage in the mid game which probably doesn’t hurt him enough but is at least a positive change.

We’ll still see Corki, but he slightly moves down the tier list as a result of this change.

Dr. Mundo

"W – Burning Agony Tenacity: 10/15/20/25/30% –> 30% at all ranks. E – Masochism Cooldown: 6 seconds –> 6/5.5/5/4.5/4 seconds."

Who? This forgotten top lane champion currently sits at a miniscule 1.4% pick rate, and a 48.94% win rate, so it makes sense to buff him. 30% tenacity while his W is active is a really big change, especially considering he wouldn’t normally receive this until level 18 in the past. A 2 second cooldown reduction on his E when maxed is also a really nice buff for Mundo.

These two buffs combined add up to a pretty sizeable buff for Dr. Mundo and we could well see him climb up the top lane tier list on Patch 9.16. Currently dominated by bruisers and Karma, maybe its time for an annoying tank to be added to the top lane mix, and these changes could certainly make that a reality soon.

Ekko

"E – Phase Dive Bonus Damage: 40/65/90/115/140 –> 50/75/100/125/150. R – Chronobreak Cooldown: 110/90/70 seconds –> 110/80/50 seconds."

In pro play, Team Vitality’s Jiizuke is the only player championing Ekko on the competitive stage, and maybe it’s time that changed. But be careful what you wish for. As it stands, Ekko sits at a 50.44% win rate in solo queue and any small buff could skyrocket Time Boy’s win rate out of control and all the way up the mid lane tier list.

A +10 damage buff on E – Phase Dive is pretty unnoticeable but will add up in trades and bursts. At level 11, his ultimate Chronobreak will lose 10 seconds of its cooldown, which is pretty noticeable, particularly when split pushing and looking to remain safe in a side lane.

Added together, this is a healthy buff for Ekko that will see his win rate increase by about 1%. By no means does this mean Ekko is the insta-lock mid laner of Patch 9.16, but he’s definitely a champion to consider for mid lane mains over the next few weeks.

Home/League of Legends