Following an early tease of League of Legends Patch 13.14’s changes yesterday, the Riot Games balance team has today revealed exact changes coming in the July 19 update—and it isn’t good news for those who have been enjoying Karthus in lane.
The Deathsinger has taken over the mid and AD carry roles as of late, but it seems the Riot devs are marching him straight back to the jungle with his Q under the microscope this patch. Karthus is among a pool of eight champions receiving nerfs with the update, with Rell, Milio, and Rek’sai also seeing hefty adjustments.
Karthus currently sits at an absurd 54.25 percent win rate in the bot lane, according to League stats site U.GG, but with an early game damage drop to his Q coming this update, his poke strength won’t be as potent as it was before. Combined with a decent nerf to mana through his E, and Karthus’ sustain in lane might no longer be viable.
On the plus side, Lay Waste (his Q) will receive a five percent damage buff against monsters, meaning his clear speed in the jungle—his main position—should be slightly faster despite the drop-off in mana regeneration. Throw in the fact the blue buff ability haste nerf is negligible to Karthus given Lay Waste’s low cooldown, and we should be seeing Karthus return to his home in the jungle come next Wednesday.
Rell, however, will take a little more adjusting to after massive changes to her passive, Break The Mold. Alongside a 10 percent drop in starting armor, Rell will now only steal 10 percent of a player’s stats via the passive instead of 15 percent.
Earlier on this change is negligible but in the late game Rell certainly won’t be as potent, and we expect her chart-topping 53 percent win rate as a League support will come down instantly upon 13.14’s release.
Related: Here are the early League Patch 13.14 patch notes
Riot is also striking down Milio, with his passive Fired Up! dealing almost half as much burn damage in 13.14, while his E, Warm Hugs, sees a drop in bonus movement speed when applied to an ally. Milio is one of three support champions picked in over 10 percent of ranked matches, according to League of Graphs, and has enjoyed the spotlight since his release in 13.6.
Other notable nerfs include a mana cost spike for Jax’s ultimate Grandmaster-At-Arms, a sizeable health regen and critical conversion rate cut for Rengar’s Q Savagery, and minor stat adjustments for Hecarim and Kindred.
Finally, Rek’sai’s E Furious Bite is getting a slight rework—instead of a high base damage plus extra damage based on the champion’s bonus AD, the ability will now scale based on Rek’sai’s total AD but deal far less base damage. This means Rek’sai won’t be nearly as effective earlier in the game, but will scale as AD builds throughout a game.
Interestingly, despite dominating League for the better part of 13.13—or 2023 as a whole— Maokai has avoided nerfs in Patch 13.14. The Twisted Treant is enjoying an above 50 percent win rate across three roles, according to METAsrc, but with few changes to items or counters, Maokai’s presence has been cemented for a little longer.
League Patch 13.14 goes live next Wednesday, July 19, at 7pm CT.
