League of Legends Patch 13.8 hit the live servers on April 19, and it brought some exciting changes that are shifting the meta, with new picks on the rise.
The devs have worked on a total of 14 champions, with five nerfs and nine buffs. In particular, the buffs were focused on making some of the less popular champions, like Ezreal and Janna, stronger.
That said, there are five champions, in particular, standing out from the rest, finding big success across different Elos. They not only have high win rates, but their pick rates have also gone up exponentially.
Winners of League of Legends Patch 13.8
Fiddlesticks
Many of the popular AD junglers like Lee Sin and Wukong received nerfs in Patch 13.7, tuning down their power in the meta. With them taking a hit, other junglers are finding increasing success.
One of these champions is Fiddlesticks, who is boasting a 52 percent win rate at platinum Elo and above (according to U.GG). The scarecrow got indirectly buffed by the recent jungle changes: the added gold from the monster camps allow him to take advantage of his fast clears and farm more resources than before.
Moreover, he does a great job at neutralizing hard engage with his own crowd controls, while also dealing massive damage to the enemies. Even though his pick rate is still not high (3.9 percent, according to U.GG), especially compared to other junglers, he’s an underrated pick that players must take advantage of this patch.
Ornn
Ornn’s rise in Patch 13.8 is a weird one, considering he did not receive buffs or nerfs. However, Riot fixed what was a potentially game-breaking bug: enemies could cleanse Ornn’s knockups from his E and R. Now that’s been fixed this patch, Ornn found himself in top-tier territory among top lane champions.
Compared to the previous patch, Ornn is currently sitting on a 53 percent win rate at almost all Elos below diamond (according to U.GG). Even though it drops at the highest divisions in solo queue, Ornn’s win rate is still well above the 50 percent mark.
Players are finally realizing his power and his play rate has gone up by more than one percent between the two patches. He might not be the best champion to carry in solo queue, but Ornn is definitely one of the best top laners you could play right now.
Kha’Zix
Lately, Riot has been giving some love to Kha’Zix, making a couple of changes, and hoping to see him more often on Summoners’ Rift. With the last buff on his Q this patch, the plan is finally working out: his pick rate spiked through the roof, doubling from the previous patch (according to U.GG).
Thanks to these numbers, he has become the third most popular jungler of the patch, only behind Kayn and Lee Sin. Not only that, but his win rate is averaging 51 percent, with the highest numbers recorded at platinum and diamond Elos.
Unless Kha’Zix finds himself against counter picks with multiple crowd controls, he’s a great solo queue pick worth playing.
Nidalee
Nidalee has been the biggest winner in the jungler role this patch. Even though her buffs might not look influential, the increased base armor and armor growth have allowed her to have a much stronger early-game presence.
Not only does she farm camps better, taking less damage, but she is now much stronger during the skirmishes. As a result, her win rate has gone up more than one percent compared to Patch 13.7 (according to U.GG) in the highest part of the solo queue ladder.
Given that Nidalee is a hard champion to learn and master, it will take more time for players to understand her strengths and get fully used to her playstyle. This means that we might be seeing her win rates go up even more in the following days.
If you like to carry games with invades and smart ganks, Nidalee is the right champion for you.
Poppy
League of Legends has become more and more dynamic over the last couple of years. Nowadays, most champions have dashes or mobility spells built inside their kits, to the point where crowd controls have become the most direct way to counter them. And Poppy is the queen of anti-dash mechanics.
The Yordle got two buffs in this patch which have increased both her damage and her resistances, transforming her immediately into a priority pick among top lane champions. She’s no longer a situational pick that you want to go for to counter specific opponents.
Instead, she has become a great pick that you can play at all times but excels particularly against mobile champions. Her pick rate has increased by 1.5 percent from the last patch, and her win rate also jumped by a similar amount at platinum Elo and above (according to U.GG).
She might not be the most popular top laner, but Poppy is a champion you should be considering playing.
