Silverfuse
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12 Min read In this patch breakdown, we’ll discuss all the buffs/nerfs/adjustments from the latest balance changes.
We recommend following along with the official Riot patch notes if you’re looking for their explanations related to game design.
A large patch for Legends of Runeterra just dropped with some major changes to some key cards that will shake up the meta!
This is also the Legends of Runeterra 2022 Worlds patch! I’m Silverfuse and let’s get into the changes!
Varus will receive a small buff where he is easier to level up which allows him to be a threat earlier on in the game. Varus needed some help and this will help him out a bit, but I don’t think this changes him too much.
Jinx has long needed some help and this has been a community favorite to make her more impactful earlier in the game.
This is a huge change for her, but since she hasn’t been in the meta for so long – it’s hard to say if this change will be enough for her and for the discard aggro archetype to be able to make a comeback. We will have to see!
Jax doesn’t become a threat until he is leveled up in which he gains overwhelm. This allows him to become a threat a bit earlier in the game, but it doesn’t change him too much.
Gwen’s minimum damage and drain go up just a bit with this. This is a nice quality of life change for Gwen that players will be a bit happier playing with her, but overall it won’t change much for her.
This is a huge change and one that everyone has been looking for! Seraphine leveled way too early to double spells. She was a much better Karma for only 2 mana!
This causes her to level up later and forces players to play more 2 cost spells in their deck to level her up. This changes up her deck building and the speed at which she levels.
She still has an incredibly powerful effect so I still expect to see Seraphine around, but now she won’t be as hard to deal with so early on in the game anymore.
This along with Seraphine is a card that a lot of players had gripes about. It turns out that a 5 cost spells for 2 mana that doubles with Seraphine is pretty good.
Not only that, but the huge pool this card could pull from made games feel chaotic. Making this card 5 cost makes you have to wait to play it along with it being further understated makes you have to invest into playing the card more.
As well as being paired with Seraphine leveling up later, we won’t be seeing two 5 cost spells being played so earlier anymore!
Tumble was too strong at 3 cost and quickly became a lower cost as well. It put way too much pressure on the opponent for too cheap and Vayne quickly soared into being one of the best win-rate champions in the game along with being played the most.
Slowing down tumble to a 4 cost makes players have to wait for the cost to be reduced or to decide to invest more mana into getting a free attack. Upgraded Vayne now reduces the cost of Tumble to 0 which means that leveling her will continue to be impactful but even more so now that Tumble costs 4 mana.
Lee Sin has long been a menace in several metas, especially in competitive play where he was often a ban him or make a counter deck.
Personally, I’ve long awaited a Lee Sin nerf and I’m happy we are getting one now where he will take longer to level up and attack for lethal.
This hurts him some, but I still expect him to be a good card or at minimum make a comeback in the future if he doesn’t stick around now.
Akshan has been a strong card since his release and players have loved him as well! However, with more spells that can target allies coming and Akshan causing more infinite combos he was starting to become a bit too strong for players’ liking.
This slows him down a bit without destroying him. Akshan is still strong and won’t be going anywhere.
Swain is getting a small attack nerf. I don’t believe this nerf is necessary as Swain felt perfect where he was. Not too strong or too weak and the win rate stats reflect that.
Hopefully, it doesn’t hurt him too bad.
When Tellstones were first shown Ionian Tellstones were at the top of most people’s list. Easy access to healing and recalling a unit were two powerful effects on their own. It made the card an instant add in Ionian decks while activating flow incredibly easily.
This is a much-needed change as Ionia generally has the answers and doesn’t need flexibility as much as other regions.
Landmark removal is less of an issue now than it was before so taking that from Ionia when they have access in an already strong card – Homecoming being main decked isn’t a huge deal for the region although losing Tellstones certainly doesn’t help the region.
Ionia didn’t need a Burst speed blocker when it already has so many ways to interact with your opponent. Changing it to Focus speed makes perfect sense as the card is still very strong and can be bursted out to attack.
Rally has long dominated Legends of Runeterra. Often splashed into decks and has become Demacia’s entire region identity at this point. Once again Relentless Pursuit is nerfed and I welcome it!
Can you believe this card used to be a 3 mana fast at one point?
Finally! I’ve been waiting for this change since this card was released. A 4-mana card that gave protection and Rally was too good and always has been.
This card has warped and dominated so many metas. At 5 mana it’s still incredibly strong and I expect it to continue to see play but being just a little less backbreaking.
Curse of the Tomb is a preemptive change for stopping Overhwlem decks from doing too much damage. I don’t have too much of an opinion on this one, but I can see why it is a good preemptive change.
Pantheon decks and Fated have been strong since release and continue to be despite multiple nerfs, so here is another one!
Sage Seeker was tough to deal with at 2 Health and with Fated it will continue to still be a solid 1 drop but easier to remove.
Being this hard to remove as a 1 drop and demanding answers is just a bit too much, so I think this is a really solid change.
This card has been dominant in just about every deck that you can add it into and it definitely needed a nerf. Good change.
Yordles are getting a lot of buffs and more synergy overall. This is a huge change to summon a Yordle and then on attack granting attack to all Yordles.
For 3 mana this is a lot of value! If Yordles become playable then this will definitely be one of the main reasons for the deck to be played.
Swole Scout used to gain Elusive, but after a redesign, is getting +1|+1 for each Yordle ally. He doesn’t have a keyword such as Overwhelm so he can be a big card but without any keywords, I can’t see him being very strong.
Think of Crowd Favorite which has Overwhelm and 1 less health for 4 mana and it has a hard time seeing play. This is also only for Yordles.
Compared to Paparo he just isn’t near as impactful when he hits the board. Raw stats with no keywords being good in LoR have long been phased out.
This is a big change for this card as it is a 1 drop that can gain quite a bit of power and put pressure on the opponent. However, he doesn’t allow you to block. That is less important in an aggressive deck though.
I’m not sure if this will be quite enough for Yordles to come back because there aren’t that great of ways to cheat them out as well as they are missing keywords that make them more impactful. On top of this, Rally costing more also hurts Yordle decks.
Shatter now cost one less which probably doesn’t make it see play but it is now an option. A Slow Freeze just isn’t quite as impactful as you need in the current state of the game.
This change is a bit awkward as in some cases it is a nerf and others it is a buff. Ideally, you are doing damage to 0 attack units so the health isn’t supposed to matter however getting Mystic Shot or easily removed has been a problem for this card.
Overall, I’d say this is a fine buff but I don’t expect it to be too impactful as a whole.
I’ve played this card more than most people and the card already felt fine on its own. Often times in ramp decks you are so focused on ramping up that your early-game defenses don’t matter much.
I don’t think this card is bad, but it doesn’t really work with the decks it wants to be in. For that reason, I don’t think this change will do much for this card just because it doesn’t have a home that it makes sense in at the time.
A small buff where this does a bit more and helps in some midrange removal decks such as Jayce Heimer. A small quality-of-life change that is nice to have and might help this card see a bit more play here and there.
Nice quality of life change. Targon already has plenty of access to healing, but a little more doesn’t hurt.
After seeing a fair amount of play and a nerf that not many players asked for, this card was hit a bit too heavy-handed and the nerf is being slightly reduced.
It will be interesting to see if 11 is the magic number that makes this card feel good to play again!
A fun card that allowed for some fun combos that were a bit understated especially for a 6-cost card which is pretty late in the game for Legends of Runeterra. Nice change but probably doesn’t change much for this card overall.
This was one of Ionia’s best resource extensions and was important for Ionia. This nerf is reverted back to its original form which will help many Ionia decks that were hit a bit too hard. I don’t mind this change.
A spicy rework to Duelist that fits the Demacia package much better. This being another turn 2 option without requiring an on board setup will certainly be helpful for many Demacia decks!
I really like this reword as it feels what I’d expect from a Demacian deck.
Ibaaros no longer dies to Silence! Yea!
This card needed to come down a bit earlier to have a chance at being impactful. Even then, I still don’t think it will be quite enough but maybe we will see it in some landmark decks?
One of the most changed cards in Legends of Runeterra – we are now doing its 4th statline change. It’s been everything! A 4|4, 4|3, 4|2 which proved to be a bit too harsh and it’s now a 3|3. Maybe we will get 3|4 next? Okay maybe not.
Two health is easy to deal with in Runeterra and 3 health is a bit tougher. Slay and sacrifice decks have had a hard time. Shadow Isles token swam has long been gone as well. Part of it is due to this card not being good.
Maybe this helps it come back?
This is a huge stat change that might help this be seen in more Overwhelm Freljord decks. That’s about all I can think of this being added to. Five mana is quite expensive for adding stats at Slow speed.
This card becomes a bit harder to remove and helps the Cultist package be a bit stronger. This card might be passed up a bit less in Cultist packages and help the decks overall, but this isn’t a super impactful change. It’s a small change to help it out cards such as Kayn and Varus.
This card doesn’t do in any decks. If there was an easy way to give it Burst Overwhelm for cheap maybe it would see some play, but I don’t expect this card to see play still.
Setting your Nexus health to 10 didn’t always feel the greatest. Setting it to 12 feels quite a bit better while trying to close out the game with this absolute unit of a card.
A good change for Nightfall cards as well as it makes it better to get this off of Unspeakable Horror instead of feeling like it is a clunky card that you can’t play.
I wouldn’t be surprised if some Nightfall decks started to main deck this card as well. It’s much stronger than before. Turning from a 5 cost to 4 cost is massive!
This is a huge change for this landmark! This landmark already fit into a niche deck that was doing quite well.
Now, it’s even better with being able to play Reaver’s Row on turn 4 into Taliyah turn 5! I think we are going to see this card pop up a bit more now!
I love this change of giving allies +1|+1 everywhere! It makes playing this card feel so much better and dealing 1 to everything is way less of a downside now!
I don’t think this card is great but it is a lot better and more fun now which counts as a win to me!
This card comes down a bit too late and doesn’t do much to help Ornn or his buddies out, so I don’t see this change doing much.
This had a fun theme, but it wasn’t necessary for the card to deal damage to the holder. It’s a small, good change for the card.
You might be able to cheat this card out a bit easier. I’m unsure if this will see play in Ionia decks as they are often combo oriented and don’t need low-cost drops/blockers due to the reactive spells in their kits.
Void Seeker has an excellent quality of life change whereupon evolving it can deal damage to any unit which means champions now.
This makes this card much more appealing than before and allows the evolve decks to play a bit slower as well.
This gives direct damage to Bandle City instead of Keeper’s Verdict which wasn’t doing much for the deck. Bandle City Tellstones is still one of the weaker Tellstones in the game as it’s one that you generally only play when you get it from a Conchologist.
There were so many changes in this patch and several that are very impactful to the Legends of Runeterra meta as well as hitting multiple mainstays in the game such as Rally and Lee Sin. It will be interesting to see how this patch shakes up the meta!
Worlds meta will be developing the next few weeks and it will be interesting to see what players brew up!
See you next time!
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