League of Legends Patch 9.18 notes breakdown – Summoner’s Rift edition

Lee Sin

"Base Stats Health: 570.8 –> 575. Attack Damage: 69.2 –> 70. R – Dragon’s Rage Damage: 150/375/600 –> 175/400/625."

Worlds meta = Lee Sin meta. The Blind Monk has received buff after buff in the run-up to Worlds to ensure he’s a priority pick for the ninth year in a row. He’s been on the rise towards the top tiers of the jungle in recent months and now he’ll finally break into the top five jungle picks just in time for his favourite time of year!

Miss Fortune

"E – Make It Rain Slow: 28/36/44/52/60% –> 40/45/50/55/60%."

If you somehow join a game with a Miss Fortune in it, be careful of her 40% E slow at level 1. That being said, I’m pretty sure the majority of the player base has forgotten what MF looks like due to her miniscule 3% play rate on Patch 9.17.

Nunu & Willump

"Base Stats Health Growth: 90 –> 82. Armor Growth: 3.5 –> 3. Mana: 283.56 –> 280. Mana Regen: 7.44 –> 7. E – Snowball Barrage Slow: 50% –> 30/35/40/45/50%."

Despite his clear absence from competitive play, Nunu has somehow accrued a massive 55.13% win rate in solo queue on Patch 9.17, so obviously needs some fine tuning. A scaling Snowball Barrage and lower base stats is the perfect way to reduce his power in the early game.

Nonetheless, Nunu should continue to be a power pick in the jungle in the current solo queue meta, although he probably won’t manoeuvre his way into the pro play priority.

Teemo

"Q – Blinding Dart Blinded targets will now see a green light around their screen when they are affected by Teemo’s Q. W – Move Quick Move Quick’s ability icon will now have a bar above it to show its active duration. R – Noxious Trap Mushrooms will now trigger more responsively, especially on enemies dashing through them quickly. Rift Scuttler no longer triggers mushrooms when it’s not in combat. Mushrooms can now bounce once off of each other –> infinitely off of each. Max Charges: 3 mushrooms at once at all ranks –> 3/4/5 mushrooms at once."

Teemo buffs? Dear God why Riot, why would you do this to us? The biggest changes are, obviously, the ability to store more charges of mushrooms (meaning he’ll be able to spam them more often late game) and the fact that Rift Scuttler no longer triggers mushrooms. Luckily, it will trigger them if it’s in combat (meaning it’s scurrying away from the jungler that’s hitting it like a coward) but this means you can never approach a Dragon or Baron pit, for fear the surrounding river might be full of shrooms.

Warwick

"W – Blood Hunt Warwick now properly gains bonus attack speed against all Blood Hunted enemies."

It’s a bugfix that Riot says will function to be a buff. I’m not sure how often this is happening, but I would guess the end result is a slight bump to his power and win rate.

Xayah

"Base Stats Armor: 28 –> 25. R – Featherstorm Cooldown: 140/125/110 seconds –> 160/145/130 seconds."

Xayah has been a strong pick in pro play, but it’s only recently that she’s become a contested pick in solo queue. With these changes, she’s probably no longer contested. I think this was a bit overzealous by Riot to hit both her base armor and the ult cooldown, and would rather they take power away from the Featherstorm first to see where she lands.

Zoe

"Passive – More Sparkles! Damage: 10/12/16/20/24/28/34/40/46/ 52/60/68/76/84/94/104/114/124 –> 16/20/24/28/32/36/42/48/54/ 60/66/74/82/90/100/110/120/130."

Did you miss getting one-shot by Zoe? Of course you did! So now she gets more damage off her passive to nuke you in lane after she hits one Trouble Bubble!

What do you make of Patch 9.18? Did it have all the changes you wanted to see? What do you want to change before the Worlds patch?