League of Legends Patch 14.15 aims to halt double ADC compositions, specifically in high elo and competitive games, according to lead designer Matt “Phroxzon” Leung-Harrison. Phroxzon announced the changes on X, citing more nerfs to tackle the high presence of double ADC compositions.
In the LCS alone, Tristana has a 93% pick and ban presence as the second most-picked champion in the mid lane, according to Gol.gg. Phroxzon says these compositions featured heavily in “very high MMR,” so Riot is looking to continue the work it did to tackle this problem in Patch 14.13.
Statikk Shiv and Kraken Slayer are the dominant first items seen in most games in the league. These items are receiving nerfs in League Patch 14.15, alongside Fleet Footwork’s healing to “reduce the power of the 1 item spike.” Champions like Tristana and Zeri heavily benefited from these items and were able to spike off them.
“While we think individual champion changes and absorb life changes from last patch will help here, we’re following up with further changes to bring ADC’s early game down,” Phroxzon added.
With ADCs being as strong in the meta as they have been, Fighters and tanks have had a relatively difficult job dealing with the damage output. Riot will be reverting a “portion of the % attack reduction on Steelcaps” to make Fighters and Tanks more reliable against ADCs in the late game.
These changes will significantly impact higher elos who’ve had to get accustomed to seeing an ADC in their lane, possibly for the first time. Tristana will feel the effects of these changes the most after being among the most-played champions.
Double ADCs are one of the many areas targeted in Patch 14.15, from significant changes to boots to the challenge of queue sniping, all the way to Arena. Riot isn’t messing around in this patch, and it promises to be one of the biggest of the season.
