League of Legends Patch 9.24 preview: Is Conqueror still broken
Champion Changes
Akali
"Q – Five Point Strike Max Rank Bonus Minion Damage: 133% -> 125%."
While this bonus damage to minions was added to reward Akali for reaching Level 9 and enable roaming in the mid-game, it’s slightly too powerful and makes her wave clear a tad too fast. An 8% reduction may not seem like much, but it could result in an extra auto-attack per minion in certain stages of the game, which can significantly reduce the speed of her wave clear and impact on the map.
On Patch 9.23, Akali sits at just a 47.38% win rate which makes one question whether this change was necessary. Although, the balance team were probably hoping to reduce her monstrous 26.4% ban rate by letting players know she’s not “as strong” as before on Patch 9.24.
Amumu
"Q – Bandage Toss Cooldown: 12/11/10/9/8 seconds -> 10/9.5/9/8.5/8 seconds."
AP junglers are all the rage at the moment, well, all except Amumu. Currently lingering at a “meh” 49.03% win rate, it’s only right that Amumu receives some love on Patch 9.24.
A 2-second reduced cooldown on Bandage Toss is a pretty big deal for a champion that relies on his crowd control plus gap-closer to deal damage and offer utility in ganks, and could lead to him seeing a small boost in win rate over the next few weeks. As this is the second ability to put levels in, the change is rather significant throughout the early game and will affect Amumu’s clear speed, ganks, and dueling in the first ten minutes.
Braum
"Base Stats Health per Level: 87 -> 98. Health Regen: 8 -> 8.5. W – Stand Behind Me Cooldown: 14/13/12/11/10 -> 12/11/10/9/8. Mana Cost: 50/55/60/65/70 -> 40 at all ranks. Percentage of Braum’s Armor and Magic Resist Granted to Ally: 10/11.5/13/14.5/16% -> 12%. Percentage of Braum’s Armor and Magic Resist Granted to Braum: 10/11.5/13/14.5/16% -> 36%. R – Glacial Fissure Base Damage: 150/250/350 -> 150/300/450. First target knocked up from 1-1.5 seconds at all ranks based on distance from Braum. Every other target hit is knocked up for 0.25 seconds."
A tonne of buffs for Braum who currently sits at an abysmal 46.24% win rate in solo queue. Let’s just break them down one-by-one.
In terms of base stats, Braum now has an additional 187 Health at Level 18, as well as +0.5 Health Regen at all ranks. This makes Braum beefier at all ranks and gives him slightly more sustain in the laning phase. Nice buff!
As for Braum’s W – Stand Behind Me, this has seen its cooldown reduced by 2 seconds, it’s mana cost reduced by 10, its ally bonus resistances increased by 2%, and its Braum bonus resistances increased by 26%. So, as you can tell, his W has been buffed quite significantly and makes Braum MUCH tankier for 3 seconds whenever he casts the spell. Very nice buff!
R – Glacial Fissure will have its damage increased later in the game and its single target knockup increased if the champion is far away from Braum. This is, once again, a nice buff for Braum players.
All in all, Braum is much stronger, and these buffs should see the champion climb from a near 45% win rate to above 50% due to the number of buffs he’s received. The W buffs are particularly strong as this is an ability that’s maxed last, so Braum receives a massive 26% increase to his resistances very early in the game.
While he won’t be S tier on Patch 9.24, Braum is definitely one to watch out for in the coming weeks and months of preseason.
Garen
"E – Judgement Spins per Attack Speed: 1 per 20% -> 1 per 25%. Damage Increase per Level: 8.2 -> 6.6."
Despite being hit by multiple nerfs, Garen still remains the pride of Demacia and is sitting comfortably in the S tier of top lane with a 52.95% win rate. A lot of this can be blamed on Conqueror, but it’s clear that Garen is still not in a healthy state even without the rune.
At present, Garen players rush Berserker’s Greaves, Trinity Force, and a Phantom Dancer to make use of his spins per attack speed on E – Judgement. This is powerful not just because of the spins, but also because of the increased damage on the ability as Garen levels up.
To combat this, the balance team are planning to increase the threshold for additional spins from 20% to 25% Attack Speed, significantly reducing the impact of a full AS Garen build. As well as this, the increased damage per level is being reduced from 8.2 at Level 18 to 6.6 at Level 18, which means the Beyblade is a much less terrifying foe and could see Garen fall down a couple of tiers.
Karma
"E – Inspire Shield: 70/95/120/145/170 -> 80/110/140/170/200."
Did you nerf solo lane Karma? Yes. What did it cost? Support Karma.
Support Karma mains are victims of several nerfs targeted towards top and mid lane Karma and have unfortunately seen her win rate plummet to 48.24% as a result. Time to make amends with these planned Patch 9.24 changes.
Ignoring the Ability Power ratio on Inspire, Karma gains +10 on her shield at rank 1 (Level 3) and +30 on her shield at rank 5 (Level 13). While these may seem like tiny nerfs, they’re just small nerfs instead. No, they won’t make her OP, but they will touch her slightly towards that glamorous 50% win rate.