Riot Games went full bananas ahead of Patch 12.7 as Wukong is set to shoot up in relevance, and as some much-needed changes have occurred across the board.
Meanwhile, Seraphine is crying, Kalista is frowning, Rengar is napping, and Zeri is dying (probably to a faster-clearing Karthus jungle).
Key points:
- Wukong stocks are flying to the moon; so are Orianna’s and Neeko’s.
- Zeri no longer has the zoomies and will need a Yuumi to reach absurd movement speeds again
- Riot is backpedalling on Karthus’s clearing speed and blundering with Ryze changes
Blips in the radar: Kalista, Galeforce, Abyssal Mask, and Moonstone Renewer
Unless you main Seraphine as a support, none of these should be of any concern.
If you main Seraphine, we have bad news: welcome to being the “worse Sona.”
When Riot Games decided that your champion should be a support, and since your biggest item has been nerfed, Seraphine was doomed to become a worse Sona instead of the other way around. For a while, Seraphine was the better Sona, but those days might be over.
Not that Leona/Braum/Thresh/Rakan don’t exist or anything.
Nice nerfs: Jayce, Rengar
It feels nice to have a patch when solo queue players and pros agree that tyranny has ended.
In Rengar’s case, his ability to 1v9 a game after a decent snowball became legendary. Had pros played on the current patch, the cat might have seen some play considering how fast he pulverized towers. Instead, he’s back to being decent in the jungle (and back to being a pro’s problem to face).
As for Jayce, although he is more vulnerable against AD/bruiser top laners, Korean pros likely won’t drop this guy anytime soon. Nevertheless, instead of his current blind-pick status, he could become counterpick material.
Nice buffs: Gangplank, Gwen, Lillia, Neeko, Pantheon, Yasuo, Yone
Everyone here is happy due to one change each:
- Neeko is best decision again if built on-hit at pro levels! She was already best decision in solo queue, but her appearance will likely lead to Sylas’s re-emergence.
- ARR MATEY! Gangplank can have fun in the early game again as he will hurt more with his passive damage. That, and Oranges cost less mana. Does that mean that we spend mana IRL by eating oranges, or what?
- Gwen will snip-snip people a little more often, making her counterpick situations (hi Jayce and Ornn!) all the better for her.
- Bambi Lillia is better top and jungle as her sustain has improved and W—EEP! bonks harder.
- For a change, Pantheon can move backward fast while shielding everyone, leading to less unnecessary deaths due to the entire team leaving him for dead. That, among more buffs, makes him more interesting overall.
RIP Zeri?
Zeri gaming in its fullest nonsensical glory is dead, but nobody will mourn her fall from grace. Riot struck her rollerblades with the nerf bat making her deal less damage, proc her on-hit passive items less often, and… not be as fast. Not exactly pre-rework Evelynn tier, but we’re getting there.
If only Riot Games would look at Jinx and Aphelios…
POGGERS: Wukong, Orianna
Here is a champion that everyone forgot about, brought back from the dead in style. Even better: his buffs give him nice mobility (hopping over terrain with W – Decoy) and more damage across the board. Broxah is already playing the champion on his stream, and you may expect him to do more of that.
As for Orianna, she no longer casts Sombreros after latching the ball on an ally.
Rito pls: Ryze, Karthus
What are Riot thinking?
Tanky Ryze is in quite a pickle: Ryze is already in a tough spot outside of pro play, and these adjustments to mana scaling and AP make it look like they want him to nuke people. From close range. While being vulnerable to everything in close range because his spells have low ranges. If that wasn’t enough, Winter’s Approach is also receiving nerfs.
On the other side of “rito pls,” a wild Jungle Karthus buff has made its appearance, making one wonder what their objectives are with the champion. His clear was so fast that he was the best option in quite a few patch cycles, and we are about to remember why they nerfed him to “decent-tier” in the first place.
