Riot Games has revealed the first patch preview for the game’s next update, Patch 12.16, which is the first “Worlds-focused patch,” according to League of Legends lead designer Matt Leung-Harrison. With that in mind, most of the changes coming to the game with this patch will center around professional play.
At the center of the patch are four League of Legends champions who will be receiving direct nerfs in the update: Draven, Poppy, Yuumi, and Zeri.
Patch 12.16’s nerfs focus entirely on champions who have been prevalent in the pro meta. Since the patch is “Worlds-focused,” champions who have been prevalent in pro play in the 11 Worlds-qualifying regions will likely be targeted.
Zeri, for example, will be nerfed in the patch after holding a pick/ban rate of 81 percent across pro League’s four major regions this summer, according to League stats site Gol.gg.
Yuumi, another bot lane champion who’s had a massive impact on the game this summer, is slated for nerfs in Patch 12.16. Yuumi has been a strong pick alongside champions like Zeri and Twitch this season and nerfs to the Magical Cat could bring many other sufficient lane partners at the AD carry role down with her. Support players in Europe’s LEC have been particularly focused on Yuumi this summer, as the champion holds an overall presence rate of 96 percent in the league, according to Gol.gg.
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Poppy holds a 53 percent pick/ban rate worldwide, according to Games of Legends, and nerfs to her should bring about a change to the largely tank-heavy jungle meta of the Summer Split in time for the World Championship.
While precise nerfs to these champions have not been announced at this time, specific details should be expected to come tomorrow when Riot releases the expanded Patch 12.16 preview. Traditionally, all of the balance changes coming to the game are released with a full patch preview one day after the initial preview is shown by the developers on social media.
The League World Championship will not be played on Patch 12.16, as the patch is only the first in a series of patches that will lead up to the tournament.
Worlds is scheduled to begin on Sept. 29, with three patches set to launch on live servers between now and then, according to the official League patch schedule.
