League of Legends World Championship Balance Patch Outlined
By Zac Cameron ·
Riot Games has outlined some balance changes they are looking to make to League of Legends in the lead up to the World Championship later this year.
As we approach the League of Legends World Championships, it’s only natural for fans to look to Riot Games to provide some kind of insight into the state of the game. Many will remember the disaster’s that have occurred in the past when the Meta has been drastically altered just weeks, or even days, away from the biggest competition of the year, and Riot has realized that knowledge is power when it comes to shaping the game. The latest “Quick Gameplay Thoughts” post on the official forums outlines some changes that Riot Games will be looking to implement, as well as the thought processes behind them.
“We did some planning recently to identify initial targets for Worlds balance. Run through of that below. As usual this is subject to change. Worlds will be played on the 8.19 patch, though we're aiming to have a lot of the changes in for 8.18 in case any of them need followup. We believe the pro meta's in a decent spot overall. The overall targets we're using for Worlds balance are:
An interesting and fun to watch experience is most important from a viewer perspective.
A diverse meta's good, but not as important as interesting matches (better low diversity and exciting games than high diversity and slow, uneventful play repeatedly)
No champions should be 100% pick/ban, or very close to it
No major disruption (minimal systemic changes especially, changes to individual champs especially are more appropriate)
While we're putting more attention into pro balance for the next couple of patches, ideally any changes made should be positive for regular play as well. If not they should at minimum not be highly harmful to regular balance. That's the case in particular when it comes to buffing champs, with a fair number we believe could buff into pro play relevance but only by making them inappropriately strong for regular players.”
The blog post then went on to point out specific champions that might be looked at for buffs and nerfs:
Nerfs:
Trundle - Jungle dominance
Gragas - Jungle dominance (though does lead to interesting early play, especially with increasing common Predator builds)
Gnar - pushing champs out of top lane
Ryze - limiting mid picks
Braum - dominant support pick
Buffs:
Renekton (lacking from top and has some room for buffs in regular play as well)
Vayne (unseen in pro, on the weak side in regular play)
What these actual changes will entail remains to be seen, however anything that promotes champion diversity at multiple levels is never a bad thing. For more on the changes and to read the full post for yourself, check it out here.