Patch 11.19 is bringing about a host of buffs, nerfs, and changes to Summoner's Rift just a mere couple of weeks out from Worlds 2021.
Riot Games has given all the teams heading to Worlds 2021 two weeks to familiarise themselves with the latest patch 11.19, which drops today. It is targeted towards pro play as we edge closer to the LAN tournament in Iceland. Aside from the various nerfs and buffs, Riot Games is also introducing a brand new champion known as Vex, which we will also talk about in a bit.
Riot is also introducing a host of updates to the game. This includes the return of the popular game mode, 'Ultra Rapid Fire' (URF) as well as penalties for players who are away from the keyboard (AFK). A total of 20 champions are involved with the various nerfs and buffs. However, 15 of those champions will receive buffs whilst the remaining five will be nerfed. Its latest in the list of never-ending champions is Vex, the Gloomist.
Vex, the Gloomist
Doom & Gloom (Passive)
Doom - Vex becomes empowered by Doom periodically, allowing her next basic ability to Fear enemies and disrupt dashes.
Gloom - Whenever a nearby enemy dashes or blinks, they will be marked by Gloom. Vex's next basic attack on a marked enemy detonates the mark, dealing bonus damage and returning part of Doom's cooldown.
Mistral Bolt (Q)
Vex launches a wave forward and deals magical damage to enemies it passes through. The wave will accelerate after a short delay but with a smaller width. If it hits any marked enemies, it will trigger Gloom on said enemies.
Personal Space (W)
Vex creates a shield around her that releases a shockwave, dealing magical damage to enemies around her. Gloom will also be dealt onto any marked enemies it hits.
Looming Darkness (E)
Vex sends a Shadow to its desired location, increasing in size as it travels. Upon impact, the Shadow not only deals magic damage but will also slow and mark enemies hit with Gloom.
Shadow Surge (R)
As its name suggests, Vex launches a Shadow forward that marks and deals damage to the first enemy champion it hits. This gives Vex the chance to recast her ability to have Shadow pull her to the marked target, dealing additional magical damage.
If the marked target dies a short while after taking damage from Shadow Surge, this allows Vex to cast her ultimate once more within a few seconds.
Champions - Buffs & Nerfs
Buffs
Aatrox
- Infernal Chains (W) Cooldown:
26/23/20/17/14 seconds⇒ 20/18.5/17/15.5/14 seconds
Akali
- Health regen increased from
8⇒ 9 - Health regen growth increased from
0.5⇒ 0.9
Cho'Gath
- Rupture (Q) Cooldown:
7 seconds⇒ 6 seconds
Fizz
- Nimble Fighter (passive) - bonus damage reduction against champion basic attacks removed
- Seastone Trident (W) damage reduced from
20/25/30/35/40 (+35% AP)⇒ 10/15/20/25/30 (+35% AP) - Playful/Trickster (E) cooldown reduced from
16/14.5/13/11.5/10 seconds⇒ 16/14/12/10/8 seconds - Chum the Waters (R) damaged increased
- Guppy Damage:150/225/300 (+70% AP)⇒ 150/250/350 (+80% AP)
- Chomper Damage:200/275/300 (+85% AP)⇒ 225/325/425 (+100% AP)
- Gigalodon Damage:250/325/400 (+100% AP)⇒ 300/400/500 (+120% AP)
Galio
- Shield of Durand (W) cooldown decreased from
18 seconds⇒ 18/17.5/17/16.5/16 seconds
Gragas
- Drunken Rage (W) damage AP scaling increased from
20/50/80/110/140 (+7% target's maximum health) (+60% AP)⇒20/50/80/110/140 (+7% of target's maximum health) (+70% AP)
Gwen
- Base health regen increased from
7⇒ 8.5
Mordekaiser
- Death's Grasp (E) cooldown decreased from
22/19/16/13/10 seconds⇒ 18/16/14/12/10 seconds
Poppy
- Iron Ambassador (passive) cooldown decreased from
16/12/8 seconds (at levels 1/7/13)⇒ to 13/10/7 seconds (at levels 1/7/13)
Qiyana
- Edge of Ixtal (Q) bonus damage against monsters increased from
25%⇒ 50% - Reworked Qiyana's E+Q combo - if the target of the said combo is still within Qiyana's default attack range (150 units) at the end of Audacity (E), it will be undodgeable
Renekton
- Base health increased from
575⇒ 590 - Health growth increased from
87⇒ 92 - Ruthless Predator (W) animation speed increased by ~13%
- Ruthless Predator (W) self-lockdown duration decreased from
0.525 seconds⇒ 0.375 seconds (for both normal and empowered)
Sejuani
- Arctic Assault (Q) cooldown decreased from
20/18/16/14/12 seconds⇒ 18/16.5/15/13.5/12 seconds - Arctic Assault (Q) damage increased from
80/130/180/230/280 (+60% AP)⇒ 90/140/190/240/290 (+60% AP)
Seraphine
- Encore (R) cooldown decreased from
180/150/120 seconds⇒ 160/130/100 seconds
Sion
- Soul Furnace (W) shield increased from
50/75/100/125/150 (+40% AP) (+8/9/10/11/12% maximum health)⇒60/85/110/135/160 (+40% AP) (+8/9/10/11/12% maximum health)
Sylas
- Base mana increased from
280⇒ 310 - Base mana regen increased from
7⇒ 8
Nerfs
Kennen
- Thundering Shuriken (Q) damage decreased from
85/130/175/220/265 (+80% AP)⇒ 75/120/165/210/255 (+75% AP)
Ryze
- Overload (Q) AP ratio reduced from
75/100/125/150/175 (+45% AP) (+3% bonus mana)⇒ 75/100/125/150/175 (+40% AP) (+3% bonus mana) - Spell Flux (E) cooldown increased from
3.25/3/2.75/2.5/2.25 seconds⇒ 3.5/3.25/3/2.75/2.5 seconds
Sona
- Base armour reduced from
28⇒ 26 - Fixed bug on Power Chord (passive) damage decreased from
20-245 (based on level)⇒ 20-240 (based on level) - Fixed bug on Hymn of Valor (Q) to no longer target enemies Sona does not have vision of.
- Fixed bug on Song of Celerity (E) - Tempo's slow no longer bypasses the target's slow reduction effects
Soraka
- Wish (R) base heal decreased from
150/250/350 (+55% AP)⇒ 130/215/300 (+55% AP)
Varus
- Piercing Arrow (Q) cooldown increased from
16/14.5/13/11.5/10 seconds⇒ 16/15/14/13/12 seconds
Player AFK Update
Aside from the many champions that have been nerfed and buffed, Riot is also introducing a new penalty tier for AFK players. This will be tackling the ever-present issue of players who can never ready up for a game, causing an inconvenience amongst other things to other players. With this new system, Riot will be implementing a tier-based penalty system that will hope to offer a healthier game experience while ridding off serial AFK-ers.
Players who progress through the AFK penalty tier will now go through a new queue lockout penalty that will increase at higher tiers in addition to queue delays. The queue delays will be reset if the system detects a player is AFK during any of the five queue-delayed games.
The penalties are expected to roll out across both NA and LAS for initial testing before being introduced to the rest of the world in the next patch. Here is how the AFK penalty tier list looks like:
- AFK TIER 1 5 minute queue delay for 5 games
- AFK TIER 2 10 minute queue delay for 5 games
- AFK TIER 3 15 minute queue delay for 5 games
- AFK TIER 4 15 minute queue delay for 5 games + 24-hour queue lockout
- AFK TIER 5 15 minute queue delay for 5 games + 3-day queue lockout
- AFK TIER 6 15 minute queue delay for 5 games + 7-day queue lockout
- AFK TIER 7 15 minute queue delay for 5 games + 2-week queue lockout
What to expect of Worlds 2021
As the latest patch is now in full effect, this gives all the players and teams heading to Worlds 2021 less than two weeks to prepare. With this many changes to a fairly huge selection of champions that are picked during professional games, this will bring about a host of changes to the gameplay meta as we know it.
The likes of Kennen, Ryze, and Sona getting hit particularly hard by the nerf hammer. This may hamper their chances of being picked often for Worlds, especially when there are so many games to be played. However, champions like Fizz, Mordekaiser, and Seraphine could be making more appearances to come with the upgrades they've received. It'll be interesting to see what sort of pocket picks and strategies the teams will come up with now that the patch is finally here.
