League of Legends Patch 10.9 Preview: Kayn Set for Big Buffs

Here’s a preview of the upcoming League of Legends update, Patch 10.9. The preview includes all of the projected changes and a breakdown of their impact.

One week before the official release of League of Legends Patch 10.9, we’ve been given a sneak peek of what’s to come by the balance team on Twitter.

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Earlier in the week, @MarkYetter, lead gameplay designer for League of Legends, released a projected list of buffs/nerfs coming on Patch 10.9 which are subject to change over the next seven days.

Here is the full list of tentative changes and how they could affect your League of Legends experience on Patch 10.9 and beyond:

Champions

Bard

"W – Caretaker’s ShrineBonus Movement Speed: 50% -> 30%Cooldown: 12 seconds -> 14 secondsE – Magical JourneyCooldown: 18/17/16/15/14 seconds -> 22/20.5/19/17.5/16 seconds"

It’s clear that Bard has become a tad too strong over recent patches as illustrated by the Wandering Caretaker’s incredible 53.85% win rate across Platinum+ elos on Patch 10.8.

As a result, the balance team have opted to nerf W – Caretaker’s Shrine and E – Magical Journey on Patch 10.9 to limit Bard’s impact on the early game and reduce the level of utility in his kit.

These changes make it far more difficult for the support to roam around the map during the laning phase to pick up P – Traveler’s Call stacks, establish vision control, and gank the mid lane.

Cho’Gath

"E – Vorpal SpikesBase Damage: 22/34/46/58/70 -> 22/37.5/53/68.5/84"

Cho’Gath is one of the worst top laners on Patch 10.8 with an underwhelming 48.44% win rate and a number of stronger alternatives in his role.

The Terror of the Void is set to receive an E – Vorpal Spikes buff on Patch 10.9 which will increase his DPS during the laning phase and allow him to trade more confidently into the meta top lane champions.

Fiddlesticks

"E – ReapBase Damage: 70/100/130/160/190 -> 70/105/140/175/210"

The Fiddlesticks rework has been a success so far (51.63% win rate on Patch 10.8), but the balance team believe he still needs one small buff to increase his pick rate on Summoner’s Rift.

E – Reap is the fourth skill that Fiddle players max, meaning it remains rank 1 until Level 14. Therefore, until Level 14 this buff is nonexistent and beyond that, it is such a small buff that it is basically unnoticeable.

Unless this shifts the skill order of Fiddlesticks’ mains over the coming weeks, you can ignore this change completely.

Gnar

"Q – Boulder TossCooldown Refund: 60% -> 70%E – CrunchBase Damage: 50/85/120/155/190 -> 80/115/150/185/220"

Gnar’s 48.46% win rate is the outcome of the ever-changing top lane meta and multiple nerfs targeted towards the oppressive ranged top laner over the last few months.

On Patch 10.9, the Missing Link is set to receive a couple of compensation buffs in what could be considered an apology for the past twelve months of nerfs.

Q – Boulder Toss will have its cooldown refund upped and E – Crunch’s base damage will be increased meaning Mega Gnar will see a large boost to his overall damage output.

While this isn’t the problem Gnar faces right now, it will certainly do no harm in terms of his top lane presence on future patches.

Karthus

"Base StatsMovement Speed: 335 -> 325"

Since what seems like forever, Karthus has been an S tier jungler (50.24% win rate on Patch 10.8) and capable of winning League of Legends games with a single button push. Is that set to change on Patch 10.9?

Probably not.

Although base movement speed is one of the most valuable and impactful aspects of any champion’s kit and Karthus’ jungle clear speed will be harmed by this change, it is not the end of the world.

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Kayn

"Q – Reaping SlashCooldown: 7/6.5/6/5.5/5 seconds -> 6/5.5/5/4.5/4 seconds[New] Both instances of Reaping Slash deal 40 bonus damage against minions.W – Blade’s ReachSlow: 70% decaying over 1.5 seconds -> 90% decaying over 1.5 seconds"

Kayn is set to receive two buffs in what is by far the most exciting change of Patch 10.9! The Shadow Reaper has become an irrelevant jungler over the last few months (48.51% win rate on Patch 10.8) but may finally be able to reclaim his place in the meta with these changes.

The Q – Reaping Slash buffs will help Kayn’s jungle clear, wave clear, 1v1 damage, team fight damage, map movement, and basically every aspect of his game. A -1 second buff may not seem like much, but it is a huge change for Kayn who relies so heavily on Reaping Slash for damage and mobility.

On top of this, W – Blade’s Reach is set to receive a +20% buff to its slow which improves Kayn’s ganks significantly and makes for a huge overall buff combined with the Reaping Slash changes.

If these changes stick you can expect to see plenty more Kayn players in your solo queue games on Patch 10.9.

Lissandra

"Q – Ice ShardCooldown: 10/8.5/7/5.5/4 seconds -> 8/7/6/5/4 seconds"

On Patch 10.5, Lissandra’s Q – Ice Shard had its AP ratio buffed from 70% to 80%, but that clearly didn’t have the impact the balance team hoped for as she currently sits at a 48.62% win rate on Patch 10.8.

On Patch 10.9, Lissandra’s Q – Ice Shard is set to have its cooldown buffed from 10-4 seconds to 8-4 seconds which will help the Ice Queen navigate through the laning phase with stronger poke and trades, while also aiding in her farming and wave clear from range.

Nami

"Base StatsHealth: 489.32 -> 475Mana: 277.24 -> 265Passive – Surging TideMovement Speed: 60 -> 45"

Despite the tank-dominated support meta of Season 10, Nami has found her way into the bot lane as a champion that offers both crowd control and sustain for her lane partner. However, she’s become a bit too powerful on Patch 10.8 with a 52.42% win rate prompting balance team action.

The Tidecaller’s Passive – Surging Tide will now grant less movement speed to allies touched by her abilities, and Nami’s base stats are also taking a small hit.

By no means is the mermaid dead in the water after these nerfs, but Nami mains could feel like a fish out of water as they adjust to the Patch 10.9 nerfs.

Quinn

"Q – Blinding AssaultNearsight Duration: 1.5 seconds -> 1.75 seconds"

Another ranged top laner is set to receive buffs on Patch 10.9. This time it’s Quinn!

As if it wasn’t already obnoxious enough, Q – Blinding Assault will have its blind duration increased by 0.25 seconds on Patch 10.9 which slightly improves Quinn’s 1v1 power and could see her top lane pick rate increase over future patches.

Trundle

"R – SubjugateCooldown: 100/80/60 seconds -> 120/100/80 seconds"

From out of nowhere, Trundle has sneaked up to a scary 52.15% win rate on Patch 10.8 which could be explained by the number of tanks in the current jungle meta.

As a result, the balance team have decided to nerf the Troll King’s R – Subjugate cooldown by 20 seconds across all ranks which limits how often the jungler can seek out enemy champions for a 1v1 or kick off fights.

Wukong

"Base StatsArmor: 34 -> 31Q – Crushing BlowBase Damage: 30/55/80/105/130 -> 20/45/70/95/120W – Warrior TricksterClone Damage: 40/45/50/55/60% -> 35/40/45/50/55%"

Wukong emerged from his mini-rework far too strong and is being pulled back slightly to reduce his impact on solo queue and decrease his monstrous 53.79% win rate from top lane on Patch 10.8.

All three nerfs are small on their own but combined they make for quite a substantial change for the Monkey King which should see his win rate fall quite significantly over the next few weeks.

The most significant of the three changes is the -3 armor reduction which will allow top laners to trade into Wukong on Patch 10.9 without losing every 1v1, while also nerfing jungle Wukong and his sustain against physical damage dealing monsters.

Items

Sanguine Blade

"Recipe Cost: 1100 gold -> 1000 goldAttack Damage: 50 -> 55"

Sanguine Blade has established itself as the least popular lethality item since the small rework the group received a few months ago.

The balance team will be hoping that a small cost and AD buff will help increase the demand for the item, but ultimately its a case of the item’s passive not lending itself to the team-focused, 5v5-centric gameplay of solo queue.

Next. 5 Best Supports on Patch 10.8. dark

Are you happy with the projected changes for Patch 10.9? What would you like to see added/removed/changed before the official patch notes release next week?

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