League of Legends Patch 12.7 aimed to place the game in a better state for MSI, the first international tournament of the year. With this focus on professional play, one recognizable champion in particular has suffered a massive blow to his win rate in solo queue, which may not bode well for the upcoming competition.
Ryze, a champion known for his seemingly endless amounts of reworks since his debut alongside the global release of League, is suffering in his current state due to huge nerfs in Patch 12.7. Between direct nerfs to his kit and indirect nerfs to his favorable items, Ryze is currently sitting at a 41.55-percent win rate in Platinum and above, according to U.GG.
This patch, targeting Ryze due to his overwhelming presence in professional play around the world, took some power out of Ryze’s Q scaling with his mana. To compensate, the ability gained five percent on its AP ratio. But that wasn’t enough to account for the largest indirect nerf to the Rune Mage: nerfs to the item Winter’s Approach.
This item, included as part of the 2022 preseason additions, has been pivotal to Ryze’s success in professional play. Outside of granting users health, ability haste, and a large amount of mana, the item also could evolve in a similar fashion to Manamune and Archangel’s Staff. Upon evolving, Winter’s Approach becomes Fimbulwinter, granting even higher stats and allowing Ryze to become tanky without taking away from his capabilities as a mage.
As part of Patch 12.7, Winter’s Approach received heavy nerfs to its cost and some of the stats it grants. Due to these factors, Ryze now struggles to rush this item as his first full buy and doesn’t have any other great build paths to lean on due to how pivotal it has been to Ryze since its release. Therefore, Ryze’s win rate has plummeted to one of the lowest marks it has ever been at.
Another champion that was over-nerfed this patch was Zeri, though she received hotfix buffs yesterday to account for her sub-50-percent win rate. It’s unclear if Ryze will receive the same treatment or if Riot will reevaluate the Rune Mage in a future patch.
