Thoughts on the 2.9.0 Balance Patch: Winners and Losers

Thoughts on the 2.9.0 Balance Patch: Winners and Losers

Hey everyone, NicMakesPlays here, and today I’m going to cover the big winners and losers of the 2.9.0 balance patch.

Overall, there weren’t as many buffs and nerfs as everyone anticipated with only 4 cards receiving balance changes along with a few bugfixes.

However, with every change, we can expect certain decks to rise and fall.

To see my thoughts on these changes, head to my 2.9.0 patch breakdown.

Let’s dive into the decks!

Winners

Frozen Thralls

Deck Code: CEBAIBAHDQWEESIEAQAQCBIGBEBQIBAHBUPSE6ADAEAQCFBSAECACDQA

[See Taliyah Lissandra Frozen Thralls deck details]

Frozen Thralls got buffed this patch due to Taliyah’s stats being buffed, as well as Irelia Azir being nerfed which is its worst matchup.

This deck has the tools to deal with Thresh Nasus and Trundle Lissandra.

Against Thresh Nasus you can look for board clears like Avalanche and Blighted Ravine to clear their board in the early game while you Countdown your Frozen Thrall.

Against Trundle Lissandra you can make really greedy plays going all-in on a Frozen Thrall countdown as fast as possible.

In this deck, you can Promising Future on a Frozen Thrall and then summon a copy of it with Taliyah so it will end up summoning 4 Frostguard Thrall’s on Countdown.

Yasuo Malphite

Deck Code: CECAEAICBAHQIAYJEM4WBXIBAMCASCANBYAQEAQFAMBQGCI4KRKQCAICFYAQGAQFAA

[See NicMakesPlays Yasuo Malphite deck details]

Malphite was changed to only need 10+ mana of landmarks to level up, which means he levels up from a single Eye of the Ra-Horak’s daybreak effect.

This allows the deck to have more room for other cards since you no longer need Blue Sentinel or Startipped Peak + Eye of the Ra-Horak to level Malphite.

Malphite is also easier to level and a more reliable win condition because you don’t need Blue Sentinel or Startipped Peak to level him as well.

This deck can more smoothly use Yasuo + Eye of the Ra-Horak to hold down the mid-game and then finish by having Yasuo + Malphite in the late game.

Losers

Irelia Azir

Deck Code: CECAKBACAQCQSCYPAQCAOAY2GNOQEAICAYVACAYCAUBACAYCCQAQIB2NAA

[See NicMakesPlays Irelia Azir deck details]

Irelia Azir got slightly nerfed with a cost increase to Blossoming Blade and Inspiring Marshall, as well as cost changes.

Blossoming Blade now is a 5 cost which is a 4|3 and Inspiring Marshall is a 6 cost which is a 4|5.

The change to Blossoming Blade makes it more expensive to try and play multiple blade dances in one turn, an easy example is not being able to use Blossoming Blade and Ribbon Dancer together on turn 6.

Inspiring Marshall was great on turn 5 to either try and win when you had a weak hand, or further your victory by buffing all of your Blades + Sand Soldiers on turn 5 onwards.

With this card costing 6, it comes into the game much slower and can’t salvage weaker hands-on turn 5.

This leads the deck to potentially look for alternatives such as Voice of the Risen to replace Inspiring Marshall.

One thing that did buff Irelia Azir is Irelia now gains a Bladesurge on the attack she levels up.

This was listed in bug fixes and was a huge buff to Irelia. Overall, the deck should still be slightly nerfed and the meta will change accordingly.

Lucian Azir

Deck Code: CECAKBAHAMNDGOK5AQAQACIWDUZQEAQAAIEQCAYABYBACAQAA4AQCAAVAA

[See NicMakesPlays Azir Lucian deck details]

Lucian Azir took a big hit since Inspiring Marshall was nerfed and is a 3 of in this deck.

Inspiring Marshall is a key component in Lucian Azir and its changing from 5-6 cost makes it compete on a curve with Cithria the Bold.

This deck loses the ability to play Inspiring Marshall on turn 5 → Cithria the Bold on turn 6 which causes it to lose a lot of power and tempo.

This overall is a huge nerf on top of already being outclassed by Irelia Azir.

Those are my big Winners and Losers of the 2.9 Legends of Runeterra balance patch, I hope you enjoyed it!

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions, feel free to ask NicMakesPlays during his streams (usually 6PM-1230AM EST).

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