League of Legends Patch 10.3 Breakdown: Aphelios and Sett Nerfed
Champions
Ezreal
"Base Stats Mana Growth: 42 -> 50 Attack Speed Growth: 1.5% -> 2.5%"
Following the removal of Kleptomancy during preseason, Ezreal has fallen from a top-five AD Carry to a very situational pick with a 47.79% win rate on Patch 10.2, the fourth-lowest among marksmen.
Now attempts are being made to revive the champion and bring him back into the ADC conversation. This starts with an increase in both mana growth and attack speed growth on Patch 10.3.
Firstly, the mana growth change has very little impact on Ezreal as he currently has no mana problems once Tear of the Goddess is in his inventory.
As for the attack speed buff, this is quite significant as it allows Ezreal to return to a marksman that can weave auto-attacks into his rotation, rather than being forced to focus solely on his abilities during a team fight. This increases his overall DPS and can now compete with other, more powerful marksmen in that regard.
From this, Ezreal will probably rise from C tier to A/B tier when it comes to ADCs and could become a much more popular pick on Patch 10.3 and beyond, even if he’s stuck with Conqueror as his only viable keystone for the time being.
Galio
"Q – Winds of War Tornado Duration: 1.5 -> 2 seconds Tornado Damage Ticks: 3 -> 4"
Let’s preface this change by asserting that if you stand in Galio’s Winds of War tornado for a full 2 seconds then you should consider turning your monitor back on. Unless you’re stunned or rooted, you should be taking a maximum of 1 second of damage from this ability.
Now that’s out of the way, we can assess the impact of these changes on Galio’s awful state in the current meta.
In short, this is a 33% increase to Galio’s Q tornado damage which is pretty significant considering it’s his main source of damage. That being said, this 33% increase only applies if a champion stays in the tornado for 1.5-2 seconds, and therefore is useless unless the player is blind or has somehow allowed Galio into Taunt range.
Leona
"W – Eclipse Damage: 60/100/140/180/220 -> 60/95/130/165/200 E – Zenith Blade Damage: 60/100/140/180/220 -> 50/90/130/170/210"
Leona has the second-highest presence among supports in pro play in Season 10 so far, while also boasting a massive 49.2% pick and ban rate in solo queue. But that won’t be the case for long as she’s destined to plummet down the support tier list as a result of this -10 (scaling to -30) damage reduction from her spell rotation.
Despite having incredible defensive stats, excellent bonus damage stats on Eclipse, low cooldown crowd control abilities, and the potential for a 3-second combined stun, it will be impossible for Leona to continue in League of Legends after these changes.
Leona mains may as well play start playing a different game (ideally Legends of Runeterra) as there is no way this champion recovers from losing 10 damage at levels 1-3, scaling to 30 damage at level 9.
Miss Fortune
"Base Stats Attack Speed Growth: 3% -> 2.25%"
If Aphelios and Senna didn’t exist, not only would the Rift be a more balanced, less confusing place, but also Miss Fortune would be the strongest ADC in the current meta. With a 60% presence in pro play and 53.09% win rate in solo queue, it’s clear to see that MF’s early game damage is highly valued in Season 10.
Her early game power is extended by the fact that she can build Essence Reaver into Infinity Edge without losing DPS, but that may be about to stop with a nerf to her attack speed growth. Now, MF players may be forced to purchase a Zeal item between ER and IE to negate the AS changes and maintain high DPS.
Obviously, this reduces her damage output both due to her loss of attack speed scaling and from early items, so we may see her drop down a tier or two as a result of this change.