New Aphelios changes coming soon to League

League of Legends boasts one of the largest rosters in the gaming world. The developers at Riot Games have worked hard to create champions with diverse playstyles.

One of the most popular roles in the MOBA is the AD carry, a position primarily focused on kiting and dealing damage from a distance through auto-attacks. The role requires a balance between dealing damage through auto attacks and abilities, which can vary based on the effectiveness of different items.

Currently, Aphelios is heavily focused on using abilities. However, the developers want to change this and have plans to significantly revamp the champion in an upcoming patch. In the patch 14.14 preview, Riot Phreak explained their vision for the champion.

“We actually aren’t huge fans of the fact that Aphelios is kind of a caster right now. His primary build is E max second, and rush Collector. We’d really rather he be more of an auto-attacker and less of a 5000 range burst mage.”

Aphelios has been a controversial champion since his release, particularly due to his ability to deal massive on-hit damage with his white Chakram gun. Since then, the developers have significantly nerfed Aphelios, leaving him less impactful compared to other champions.

Riot Phreak mentioned that he has some ideas for Aphelios. He suggested that it’s possible they might implement some patchwork changes in updates 14.15 or 14.16. These changes would aim to make Aphelios more of a traditional auto-attack carry and less focused on what can feel like overly powerful gun combos.

According to the League of Legends patch schedule, Patch 14.15 is set to be released on July 31, with Patch 14.16 following two weeks later on August 14. This means we may soon see many of these changes implemented.

The current meta of the summer professional arena can be sum in two ADC champions: Tristana and Corki, dominating the mid lane and leading to boredom for viewers.

This current season has seen an AD-centric mid-lane meta, with marksmen champions consistently appearing in this role and maintaining a very stable win rate. Specifically, Corki and Tristana stand out as the key marksmen in the mid lane, and teams are eager to secure one of these two champions.

Statistics from recent Summer tournaments highlight this trend, with Tristana and Corki boasting presence rates of 85% and 64% respectively. Their dominance is evident as they surpass other popular mid lane picks such as Taliyah or Leblanc, who have a presence rate of less than 45%. This clearly demonstrates that Corki and Tristana are exceptionally powerful picks, causing significant issues in the professional scene.

In summer regional tournaments, the LPL typically commences early, and as soon as LPL teams began heavily utilizing these champions, other regions quickly recognized their advantages.

Corki and Tristana offer reliable damage, strong laning phases, and flexibility, making them ideal choices in a meta that emphasizes mid lane and carry junglers. This understanding has led to their high presence rate in matches.

Riot Games has released 3 updates since the start of the summer tournament, but apart from a slight nerf to Corki (after his rework) to balance his damage, there have been minimal changes affecting these champions. Consequently, teams continue to use Corki and Tristana extensively in all matches during the Esports World Cup.

The community is growing tired of the lack of creativity in champion selection for carries, and there is hope that Riot Games will implement significant adjustments soon. It’s noteworthy that Tristana not only dominates the professional arena but also enjoys high popularity among regular players, yet Riot has maintained her status across several patches.

In contrast, during the Spring season, the meta focused on control mages, with Orianna and Azir being the top picks. This resulted in a more balanced champion presence, with various viable counterpicks, rather than the current scenario where teams feel forced to choose between just two champions.

The mid-lane meta revolving around only 2 champions is causing a sense of monotony in new tournaments like the Esports World Cup. It also indicates that the remainder of the summer tournaments may follow a similar pattern unless Riot Games introduces a significant update to shake up the meta.

Patch 14.12 sees ADC change reverted

In the patch notes for 14.12, Riot Games unveiled major adjustments for multiple ADC champions, indicating potential balance changes for the game. This update included a comprehensive review of stats for the ADC role, where champions saw an increase in defensive scaling but a decrease in AD and attack speed growth. These changes affected almost all ADCs, including less conventional ones.

However, just a few hours after announcing these changes, the developers decided to retract them from the patch. This quick reversal suggests that the developers need more time to refine these significant updates before they can be properly implemented.

Previously, in Patch 14.10, ADCs received substantial changes that affected how they build items, significantly boosting their overall power and damage output. This resulted in many ADCs becoming much stronger, necessitating nerfs for some that were overperforming.

Despite these enhancements, Riot seems interested in steering the ADC class in a new direction. By reducing the AD and attack speed, they aim to lower the overall damage output of ADCs while simultaneously enhancing their survivability during team fights.

Historically, ADCs have struggled with survivability, as even perfect play could lead to being quickly eliminated by CC abilities. This balance change would require players to strike a delicate balance between dealing damage and staying safe in team fights, making the ADC role one of the most challenging yet rewarding positions in the game.

The decision to pull these changes from Patch 14.12 indicates that Riot is not yet ready to make such drastic alterations. However, it does suggest that they are considering more extensive changes for the ADC class in the future.

Stormrazor before it’s removal in LoL Patch 14.10

Initially, Stormrazor was slated for removal, a blow to marksmen relying on its swift benefits like Jhin, Caitlyn, Vayne, and even unexpected users like Twisted Fate.

Interestingly, despite the announcement of its removal, Stormrazor swiftly rose to prominence, becoming the top choice for many marksmen who previously overlooked its potential. Even traditional marksmen like Jinx, Ashe, and Xayah, who typically favored other items, began picking the item into their core builds.

It’s noteworthy that Stormrazor remained unchanged in patch 14.9, prompting speculation that its sudden surge in popularity could be attributed to a “bandwagon effect” as players scrambled to experiment with it before it vanished from the game.

However, the win rates and usage statistics for it paint a different picture, showcasing impressive performance metrics that defy expectations.

Typically, when an item experiences a surge in popularity, its effectiveness tends to diminish as a result of oversaturation. Yet, Stormrazor bucks this trend, maintaining consistently high win rates despite increased usage. This suggests that the item possesses real strengths that were previously underestimated, only coming to light as its removal draws near.

One explanation for it’s newfound popularity lies in the evolving meta, characterized by frequent skirmishes and team fights. In such a dynamic environment, marksmen require items that provide immediate combat benefits rather than focusing solely on farming support items.

Stormrazor fits this bill perfectly, offering early-game power spikes with its charged attacks and kiting capabilities, complemented by its acceleration effects. This strategic makes it an optimal first item choice, paving the way for subsequent damage-oriented purchases such as Infinity Edge to amplify overall damage output.

As the community braces for the departure of Stormrazor in patch 14.10 and beyond, marksmen are urged to seize the opportunity to capitalize on its strengths while it remains available, recognizing its potential to elevate their gameplay and help them to victory.

Lethal Tempo rune is being removed in the upcoming patch

The chatter among League players reached a crescendo on Reddit over the weekend, with discussions delving into the implications of bidding farewell to Lethal Tempo. One player expressed unequivocal approval, heralding the move as a triumph for game balance and overall player satisfaction.

They pointed out how certain champions, notably Yasuo, Yone, and Kayle, leveraged Lethal Tempo to compensate for early-game vulnerabilities, effectively nullifying potential counterplay by effortlessly overwhelming opponents with sheer attack speed.

Lethal Tempo, within the Precision rune tree, has long been revered as a game-changer, granting players the ability to push their attack speed beyond conventional limits and assert dominance on the battlefield. It was most evident in the chaos of team fights, where AD carries could ramp up their tempo and decimate enemies within seconds, particularly when their kit of attack speed items was fully optimized.

With patch 14.10 looming on May 15, this change will be keenly felt, especially among AD carry champions who rely heavily on auto-attacks. Jinx, Caitlyn, Tristana, Vayne, and Ashe, renowned for their attack speed-centric builds, face an uncertain future as they navigate a landscape devoid of Lethal Tempo’s empowering effects.

Yet, the effect extends beyond the bottom lane, impacting formidable top lane contenders like Kayle or Tryndamere, who have long embraced Lethal Tempo as a cornerstone of their playstyle.

Despite receiving numerous nerfs and even undergoing a minor rework in the past, Lethal Tempo persisted as a favored choice among players, prompting the developers to take decisive action.

They deemed previous attempts at balancing the rune ineffective, as it continued to foster an unhealthy playstyle that circumvented traditional investment in attack speed items, undermining the strategic depth of the game.

In summary, the departure of Lethal Tempo marks a significant turning point in the League of Legends meta, promising a fresh landscape ripe with new opportunities and challenges for players.

At the onset of the 2024 ranked season, League of Legends introduced substantial modifications to its in-game item shop, most notably by eliminating Mythic items. However, upcoming changes set to roll out in an imminent patch are poised to delve even deeper into item adjustments, with a particular focus on one role on Summoner’s Rift.

While the majority of players welcomed the changes implemented this season, some was left dissatisfied. Riot’s internal surveys highlighted ADC players as the most discontented with the 2024 item revisions. In response, Patch 14.10 aims to revamp ADC items, specifically addressing their interaction with power spikes.

“Back when power progression was more linear, each item felt equally as important, and item purchases felt powerful. Well that’s the world we’re looking to go back to!”

To achieve a more balanced system where power spikes are moderated and ADCs aren’t reliant on early advantages, Riot is implementing two significant adjustments. Firstly, Legendary critical strike items will receive a buff, increasing their crit bonus from 20 to 25 percent. Secondly, items will now feature only two scaling stats instead of three.

These modifications seek to grant ADC players greater flexibility in tailoring their builds to suit individual game scenarios, while also amplifying the impact of power spikes throughout a match. Although these intentions were initially introduced during the 2024 preseason ADC item rework, they are now undergoing further expansion in Patch 14.10.

“The Mythic and recent post-Mythic ADC system gave every stat you needed on a lot of items, giving a smooth power progression through the early and mid game for the role. This was powerful, but meant leads were less meaningful and item spikes felt uneven,”

Additionally, amidst numerous item adjustments, two items—Kircheis Shard and Stormrazor—are slated for complete removal from the game. Riot plans to restrict the Energized passive effect solely to Legendary items, such as Voltaic Cyclosword and Rapid Firecannon, while altering their build paths.

Riot’s overarching objective is to offer players wider options regardless of the ADC champion they choose to play. The developers will closely monitor player feedback throughout the Patch 14.10 PBE and its release on live servers.

In the latest update of League of Legends, some champions are getting banned a lot, even if there’s no clear reason why. One of these champions is Draven, a classic ADC.

In the Emerald+ rankings, nearly half of the players are choosing to ban him, according to U.GG. In the higher ranks like Diamond and above, this ban rate goes even higher, reaching 56%. Interestingly, Draven isn’t considered a top-tier pick right now, which led to discussions on Reddit. Players seem to just really dislike him, regardless of his performance in the game.

“i dont even know if he is actually good at the moment. i just hate him.”

“He’s one of those champs where half the reason you ban him is to just keep him out of the game. Still has a super toxic playerbase so it’s a bonus if they dodge, but even if they don’t draven just becomes the main character of a game too easily.”

Many other players in the discussion shared similar feelings. It seems that Draven is one of those ADCs that just irks people, particularly those playing in the bottom lane. Some even call him a “permaban,” meaning he’s a champion that’s always banned if given the chance.

The stats support this sentiment. Despite being banned so often, Draven isn’t actually performing exceptionally well in terms of winning games. He’s ranked 17th among ADCs based on win rates. In Patch 14.8, he’s won just under half of his games in the Emerald+ ranks, according to U.GG. In the previous patch, he did slightly worse, finishing in 19th place with a similar win rate.

For comparison, the second most banned champion right now is Skarner, but his ban rate is only 26.5% across different positions like top, jungle, and support. So Draven really stands out in terms of how often he’s banned.

Smolder’s win rate plummeted despite buffs in LoL Patch 14.7

In the latest patch, developers opted to buff Smolder by increasing his basic armor from 24 to 26. Additionally, they augmented his potential damage output by boosting the bonus physical damage based on critical chance on his Q ability from a range of zero-to-30 percent to zero-to-50 percent.

While such incremental modifications have historically propelled certain champions back to the competitive ladder, his resurgence seems slow at this time.

Presently, Smolder sits at a low 48.51 percent win rate across all ranks in the ADC role, according to data from U.GG. This lackluster performance places him a mere 19th among the top marksmen in Patch 14.7, at least in terms of win rate. Nevertheless, he maintains respectable pick and ban rates, standing at 9.1 percent and 14 percent, respectively.

Though these statistics may not inspire awe, they represent a marked improvement over Smolder’s dismal showing in Patch 14.6, where he held the unenviable title of being the worst ADC in League. In the preceding update, his win rate floundered at 47.50 percent, trailing behind his counterparts in the role.

Smolder’s plight mirrors a common narrative for introduced League champions. Often, upon their debut, these champions emerge as formidable contenders, only to undergo successive rounds of nerfs that relegate them to the sidelines.

Upon his release in Patch 14.2, Smolder swiftly ascended to the ranks of the strongest ADCs, becoming a popular choice among both casual and professional players. Yet, it remains uncertain whether the adjustments in Patch 14.7 will exert any immediate influence on his presence in the professional scene worldwide.

The once-mighty Smolder faced the brunt of the nerf hammer in patch 14.6, effectively curtailing his late-game hyper-scaling prowess that had propelled him to the forefront of gameplay.

This adjustment was deemed necessary as Smolder had asserted his dominance across all tiers of play, from the Bronze ranks to the professional competition, even achieving Pentakill records in the process.

The nerfs inflicted upon himwere far-reaching and impactful, drastically reducing his effectiveness in scaling late into the game. The severity of these adjustments has left players astonished at the extent of his decline.

At present, his win rate languishes at the bottom of the charts, marking a stark transformation from being arguably the most formidable champion in the ADC role to one of the weakest, all within the span of a single patch.

Previously, Smolder had carved a path of destruction, boasting an unparalleled record of 24 pro play Pentakills achieved three times faster than his closest competitor, Zeri. His prowess on the battlefield necessitated intervention, marking him as one of the most potent champions ever introduced to League of Legends.

The eve before the patch rollout witnessed a gripping showdown between the underdog Nongshim RedForce and the reigning World Champions, T1, with Smolder’s presence nearly tipping the scales in favor of the underdogs. Such was the magnitude of Smolder’s influence in the previous patch.

Despite these adjustments, Smolder remains a force to be reckoned with in leagues still operating on patch 14.5, such as the LCK, LPL, and LEC. However, players in the LCS and those on the live client can now breathe a sigh of relief, free from the looming shadow of his dominance.

Smolder’s nerf in patch 14.6:

Q: Super Scorcher Breath

• Base execute threshold reduced: 1.25% max HP >>> 1%
• Execute threshold per 100 reduced: 2.5% >>> 1.5%

W: Achooo!

• Width reduced: 125 >>> 115

E: Flap, Flap, Flap

• Speed reduced: 100% >>> 75%

Furthermore, the subsequent tweaks to his abilities, such as the increased stack requirement for the third evolution of his Q, indicate that the initial nerfs were only a precursor to his dethronement. From a pinnacle win rate of 55% to a dismal low of 45%, Smolder’s descent has been nothing short of cataclysmic, solidifying his status as the weakest ADC in the game.

ADC not getting buffed in League of Legends

League of Legends has been undergoing a lot of adjustments lately, especially since the start of the season. The developers are using this time to make big changes to the game, which will affect how it plays for the rest of the year.

Many players have been expressing concerns about the balance of ADC champions, especially in the bottom lane. They feel that ADCs are struggling against other types of champions like bruisers, assassins, and mages.

In a recent update, a developer from Riot Games mentioned that they’re not planning to make significant changes to ADCs right now. Instead, they’re focusing on making supports stronger.

Leung-Harrison explained that they’re trying to make sure that supports remain powerful, which prevents them from boosting ADCs too much and shifting the game back to a heavy emphasis on the bottom lane.

He also mentioned that they’re making adjustments to critical strike items to make them more competitive compared to other types of items like on-hit and lethality.

The balance team is also looking into tweaking support-related aspects, such as gold income and certain starting items like Doran’s items. They’ve been spending time addressing the strength of support items, both in terms of gold generation and damage output.

However, not everyone is happy with this approach. Some players on platforms like Reddit are expressing frustration, feeling that they should have more agency in the game, especially if they’re doing well in a match.

As for the future of ADC players in League of Legends, it’s unclear what changes Riot may make. They could either make significant adjustments or continue refining other parts of the game as the season progresses.