League of Legends Patch 12.16 Preview

Today, League of Legends Chief Balance Designer Matt Leung-Harrison, akaRiot Phroxzon,shared with the community a short preview of the upcomingpatch 12.16, which will be delivered to live servers in two weeks.

Phroxzon, as always, made a post on his personal twitter, where he briefly shared his thoughts with us about the release of patches on the eve of Worlds 2022. I am sure that one of these days he will write about the exact figures, which we will immediately publish on the site, so stay tuned!

“The first of the Worlds-focused patches. Since some leagues are still qualifying for the World Cup in this update, we are saving more significant changes for update 12.17.”

Indeed, as you can see from the list of champions that have received nerfs, most have a win rate of over 55% in the pro scene. And, perhaps, the only champion who is not changed because of the professional scene is Diana.

Buffs in patch 12.16

Half of the champions from Breaker's Gulch that received buffs are topplaners who can play on the big stage, but which we seem to be quite rare lately: Jace, Vladimir, Malphite, Irelia. I think that the top lane received such a large number of buffs in connection with a recent interview, where the jungler of the G2 Esports Jankos team expressed his opinion about the importance of this role. However, the League of Legends community didn't quite agree. Most think the role is weak in its impact on Phroxzon's twitter poll game.

In addition to topliners, three ADKs will also receive buffs: Caitlyn, Kai'Sa, Tristana. After recent nerfsKai'Sa fell out of the meta and began to fall behind other carries, but even so, we sometimes see her in drafts. With Caitlin, the situation is sadder. Since the time sheriff of Piltover has been heavily nerfed along with the Death Pace rune. Since then, she has buffed almost every patch, but the situation leaves much to be desired. Tristanis another botlaner that feels bad in the meta right now. After the Tempering of Champions, she was one of the hardest hit due to her burst damage and playstyle.

Zoey 's buff is also aimed more at the professional scene, as the champion is often weaker than meta mages, bruisers, and assassins. Nevertheless, we saw her quite often in the continental league. Moreover, her win rate in soloq also leaves much to be desired.

In addition to Champions, Evening Shroud, the least popular Mythic item for supports, will also receive a buff. Other mythics, tritely, have much more useful effects in the meta utility of supports.

Nerfs in patch 12.16

With nerfs in this patch, everything is extremely simple and clear. Zeri, as the most popular ADK with a win rate of around 55% in the pro scene, is likely to see a noticeable nerf.

Draven, the second ADC to be nerfed. Not the most popular botlaner, though with a good win rate. Chances are there will be a slight nerf on the champion. In comparison, Sivir requires much more re-nerf after the rework.

Yumi is apparently being traded due to her colossal ban rate throughout the Continental League. Perhaps this nerf will reduce the number of games where she will be banned, but will kill the champion himself, at least in soloq.

Poppy was the last champion to be nerfed by the balance team. The hammer yordle has become quite popular in the pro scene lately. A well-deserved nerf, as the champion has very good survivability, damage, and decent mobility.

Rework Diana

The last but rather important change for many League of Legends players is Diana's rebalance. Recently, the champion has been predominantly harvested through Sunfire's Aegis, a tank item. In this build, the champion did not lose much damage and became a nightmare for many, who is unpleasant to play against and difficult to stop. In platinum and above, she has a win rate of almost 52%.

Now the Riot Games balancers intend to remove that survivability and motivate the champion to choose a build through ability power. She will most likely be scaled up by ability power on her primary damage-dealing skills and have her shield weakened. It is likely that the build through the Hextech Protorbelt and Tooth of Nashor will return.

But the balance issue is not the champion itself, but rather the lack of suitable items for Bruisers with ability power. The same Mordekaiser also often collects the Sunfire Aegis.