League of Legends Patch 9.17 Breakdown – Summoner’s Rift

Galio

"Base Stats Mana Regen: 9.335 –> 9.5. Q – Winds of War Cooldown: 14/13/12/11/10 seconds –> 12/11.5/11/10.5/10 seconds. W – Shield of Durand Minimum Damage: 10/20/30/40/50 –> 20/35/50/65/80. Maximum Damage: 30/60/90/120/150 –> 60/105/150/195/240."

Since Galio was massacred on Patch 9.14, he has sunk to a sub-1% pick rate in solo queue and has been completely disregarded by pro teams. Removing his ability to Flash during Shield of Durand, as well as moving his power half-way between mage and support, has transformed the Colossus from a high priority CC bot to a non-existent champion in any role.

Increased mana regen, a reduced Q cooldown, and added damage to W aren’t going to revive Galio in his current state. While this improves his trades in the bottom lane, he is simply useless without the guaranteed crowd control offered by a Flash-W.

Kalista

"Base Stats Attack Damage: 67 –> 69. Mana: 231.8 –> 250. Mana Growth: 35 –> 45."

Kalista is another member of the below 1% pick rate club in both solo queue and competitive play; there are simply more reliable options in the bottom lane right now, and some small base stat bonuses won’t change that.

Leona

"Q – Shield of Daybreak Cooldown: 6 seconds –> 5 seconds."

Leona’s priority amongst engage supports has started to rise in recent weeks with her popping up in pro play throughout the last few patches. At present, Leona sits at a 50.18% win rate, which suggests she’s in a fine state going into Patch 9.17, however she is receiving a small cooldown buff to her Q – Shield of Daybreak to help her along.

As a result,  expect to see Leona’s priority rise even further as she climbs up another tier and can begin to challenge the best supports in the current meta.

Lucian

"Base Stats Attack Damage: 61 –> 64."

Hide your Kai’Sa. Hide your Varus. Hide your Xayah. There’s a lane bully in town and he’s here to punish the early farmers looking to hit two item power spikes freely. Although +3 AD is just a small buff, it will definitely have an impact on the bottom lane tier list as Lucian is unleashed and can begin to shut down scaling carries early on with his improved trading damage.

Neeko

"Passive – Inherent Glamour [New] When disguised, Neeko can select herself to deactivate her disguise, putting it on a 2 second cooldown."

I feel like Riot wanted to add this when Neeko was released, but couldn’t find a way to implement it. After a few months somebody has suggested left clicking as a solution and voila! Helps when she disguises as a melee champion and wants to return to her natural form without using an ability, but doesn’t impact her gameplay much at all.

Pantheon

"Q – Comet Spear [New] Thrusting Pantheon’s spear (releasing the ability within 0.35 seconds) now also increases the physical damage on targets below 25% of their maximum health (matching a fully hurled spear’s bonus damage). E – Aegis Assault [Removed] No longer reduces damage against non-epic monsters."

Riot really want Pantheon jungle to happen, as evidenced by the E buff. However, they’re also looking to improve solo lane Pantheon as he now has an execute on his Q – Comet Spear. As players begin to adapt to reworked Panth, there’s no doubt his 47.55% win rate will increase, and we can judge his power more accurately at a later date on Patch 9.17 or 9.18.

Qiyana

"E – Audacity Base Damage: 70/105/140/175/210 –> 60/95/130/165/200. R – Supreme Display of Talent Cooldown: 120/100/80 seconds –> 120 seconds at all ranks."

Qiyana become a high priority flex pick for top, jungle, and mid since her release and is one of the most popular champions in solo queue and competitive play. Her 48.29% win rate for mid and 43.50% win rate for jungle suggests that players are still adapting to the Empress of the Elements, but there’s no doubt that her high damage and excellent utility in the mid game is a cause for concern.

E – Audacity is maxed second, mainly for cooldown, and the damage doesn’t have a huge impact on her burst. Even then, reducing the damage by 10 at every rank is unlikely to make much of a change. On the other hand, increasing her ultimate cooldown by 40 and 20 seconds at ranks 1 and 2 will definitely impact her early to mid game and reduces the number of opening she’s has across the map.

These changes don’t kill Qiyana, but they’ll certainly reduce her presence on Patch 9.17.

Ryze

"Base Stats Magic Resist: 30 –> 34."

Ryze is no longer the power pick he used to be after his 9.14 changes, so it’s safe to give him a touch back in the right direction. He’ll now be able to deal with mages in top and mid on Patch 9.17, increasing his safety and making him a stronger pick overall.

Zyra

"R – Stranglethorns Cost: 100/120/140 mana –> 100 mana at all ranks. Cooldown: 130/120/110 seconds –> 110/100/90 seconds."

As a support, Zyra often looks to burst down enemy carries with a double dose of crowd control and high magic damage, particularly in the early game. By reducing the cooldown on her ultimate, Stranglethorns, the 50.97% win rate support could start to climb up the tier lists and make herself known in solo queue and pro play due to having more agency to start fights and shut down opponents.

What do you think of Patch 9.17? Are there any changes you’d like to see on Patch 9.18? Let us know in the comments, on Facebook, or on Twitter!