Riot Games normally likes to shake up the League of Legends meta before major international tournaments begin. But this time around, the devs are only looking to nerf champions that actively deserve it.
In a patch preview for the upcoming Patch 13.8 scheduled to release on April 19, Riot Phroxzon, the lead designer on the League balance team, provided a list of nerfs expected to coincide with the patch—notably very small compared to the list of buffs. But all of the champions here have been rather difficult for players to play against within recent months, possibly indicating that these nerfs could solve some long-standing issues with them.
For a few patches, both Aurelion Sol and Rakan have been among the best champions in their respective roles. Since his massive gameplay overhaul, the Star Forger has been executing enemies at a rapid pace and punishing entire enemy teams that are not able to close games out early. Rakan, on the other hand, has simply risen in popularity in both solo queue and professional play for his playmaking potential and the re-emergence of Xayah at the top of the ADC meta.
Malphite has been the biggest cause for uproar among members of the League community throughout the most recent patches. Not only does this top laner inherently not take much damage, but he is capable of chipping away at opponents’ health bars—or depleting them in a rapid burst—without even having to build items that increase his own damage. At a 52-percent win rate, 12-percent pick rate, and nearly 30-percent ban rate in high Elo, Malphite is likely to be hit hard with the nerf hammer in various parts of his kit.
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Meanwhile, Jarvan IV became a glaring outlier in the jungle meta within Patch 13.7 in both solo queue and professional play. The champion’s access to survivability, mobility, and damage—very much akin to Malphite—has made him a hotly-contested jungle option, meaning these imminent nerfs will likely hit the champion hard.
More information regarding what these few nerfs entail is expected to be revealed tomorrow when the changes officially make their way onto League’s PBE. They are expected to ship to the live servers on April 19 but may be altered prior to that point if any discrepancies are noted during the testing period.
