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New release: Aurelion Sol
Patch 6.6 introduces us to the star forger himself, Aurelion Sol. He has the unique role of a DPS mage who slowly whittles down enemies with the stars orbiting around him. His lack of gap closer is made up for by his movement speed increase and ability to fly over any wall. He may make for some interesting plays in both mid and top as a niche pick, but it is hard to say with any new release.
Alistar
E - Triumphant Roar:
Heal to allies lowered to 33% from 50%.
This mad cow is no stranger to competitive League. He was one of the top bans in Season 4 and has since been one of the best supports around. A solid blind pick due to his innate tankiness, sustain, and play-making abilities, Riot thought it was time Alistar lanes need to play a bit safer. Now, if an ally is damaged, Alistar’s heal will not so easily heal them up. This significantly weakens his team fight ability and forces his carry to play more safe in lane. He will still remain a top pick for his high crowd control, but he will not be as oppressive against the enemy.
Ekko
Passive - Z-Drive Resonance: Movement speed increased to 50%/60%/70%/80% from 40%/50%/60%/80%.
E - Phase Dive: Cooldown lowered to 11/10/9/8/7 seconds from 13/11.5/10/8.5/7 seconds.
Gotta go fast. A personal favorite of mine, it is interesting to see the boy who shattered time continually get buffed. He has so far only seen competitive play in top lane from both Seong “Huni” Heo of Immortals and Darshan “Darshan” Upadhyaha of Counter Logic Gaming, even earning a penta-kill from Huni. This added mobility will not only increase his dueling potential in lane, but he may even contest Gragas as a strong ability power pick in the jungle.
Fiora
Passive - Duelist’s Dance: Base true damage lowered to 2% of target’s maximum health from 3% of target’s maximum health.
Ratio raised to 4.5% per 100 bonus attack damage from 2.8%-4.5% per 100 bonus attack damage.
E - Bladework: Slow lowered to 30% from 40%/45%/50%/55%/60%.
Bonus range lowered to 25 from 50.
About time. Since her rework, Fiora has been a menace in the top lane, currently carrying the highest win percentage of any top laner in the North American LCS. Now her insane ability to melt tanks is weakened, making her less of a threat during the laning phase. The increase in ratio may also be the push that gives Fiora more of a reason to go a full AD build, rather than the bruiser build she has been running that still gives ridiculous damage. The nerfs to Bladework are just the cherry on top to ensure her chase-down potential is weakened. Still a viable pick, but might have trouble against other top picks.
Janna
E - Eye of the Storm: Damage on shield lowered to 10/17.5/25/32.5/40 from 14/23/32/41/50.
R - Monsoon: Disable duration lowered to 0.5 seconds from 0.75 seconds.
The tempest may be at your command, but you might wanna ease up. Janna, like Alistar, is one of those safe support picks that is almost always good. The nerf Monsoon received is negligible, but the large loss in AD for her shield will make trading in lane quite a bit weaker for her ADC. Adrian “Adrian” Ma of Immortals might just want to stick to Soraka this patch.
Kalista
Base attack speed lowered to 0.644 from 0.694.
Attack speed growth lowered to 2.5% from 2.8%.
W - Sentinel: Sentinel laps reduced to 3 from 7.
Passive damage lowered to 5%/7.5%/10%/12.5%/15% of target’s max HP from 10%/12.5%/15%/17.5%/20% of target’s max HP.
NEW: Grants Kalista up to 9%-27% bonus AS when near Oathsworn.
R - Fate’s Call: Cast range lowered to 1100 from 1400.
Oh boy, this is a doozy. The queen of ADC’s saw a bevy of nerfs this patch, the largest being her AS taking a very large hit. This low base and growth will cause all of her item purchases to be less effective due to scaling on percentage increases. To compensate, Kalista is now forced to be with her support to be more effective. Kalista will still remain as a situational pick, but choices like Jhin and Sivir will now easily outshine her as contested ADC’s.
Lulu
W - Whimsy: Ratio lowered to 5% per 100 AP from 10% per 100 AP.
Movement speed duration lowered to 3/3.25/3.5/3.75/4 seconds from 3/3.5/4/4.5/5 seconds.
You had this comping. For seasons now, Lulu, originally intended to be a support, saw viable play in both solo lanes due to her safe laning and ability to poke from afar. This nerf will make her safety in lane far less frustrating to deal with and may finally tone down her pick/ban rate.
Lux
W - Prismatic Barrier:
NEW: Stacks and refreshes on second hit for allies.
NEW: Slower on the way out, but retracts to Lux faster.
Base lowered to 50/65/80/95/110 from 80/105/130/155/180.
Ratio lowered to 0.2 from 0.35.
A bit of added utility and flair, but the number decreases are going to make Lux quite a bit weaker at trading in a poke lane, and might even spell her death in times when she gets caught out. In a meta full of mobility and CC, pros should be careful when picking this immobile mage.
Maokai
Base magic resist increased to 32 from 30.
Magic resist growth raised to 1.25 from 0
E - Sapling Toss: Duration increased to 40/45/50/55/60 seconds from 35 seconds.
NEW: Saplings no longer stack on top of each other.
The tree is back. Now with some actual MR, Maokai will no longer suffer so harshly against AP tops such as Ekko, Nautilus, or Lulu. While saplings no longer stack for a cheesy jungle leash, the added duration will help in giving Maokai easy pressure around the map with his miniature mines. Expect to see this guy barking up top lane once again.
Nidalee
Passive - Prowl: Can no longer root monsters.
W - Pounce: No longer resets Nidalee’s auto attack.
Base damage increased to 65/110/155/200 from 50/100/150/200.
Nidalee’s jungling days are numbered after this. Losing her ability to kite out camps added with the loss of an AA reset significantly hurts her ability to clear camps to gain a quick lead over her foes. Other junglers such as Lee Sin and Gragas will now be of much higher priority.
Quinn
Q - Blinding Assault: Cooldown raised to 11/10.5/10/9.5/9 seconds from 11/10/9/8/7 seconds.
Blind duration lowered to 1.5 seconds from 2 seconds.
No more eye gouging for you, young lady. Quinn’s shift from ADC to top lane carry has made her quite hard to trade against in lane for all of the melee fighters. Having to spend less time in pitch blackness is sure to give Quinn’s enemies an easier time dealing with her. She will still be a strong duelist, but not as big of a lane bully as she was.
These meta shifts are sure to bring some new and interesting choices come time for playoffs. Comment below what new champion picks or play styles you hope to see in this upcoming patch.
