- Many underappreciated champions are getting buffed in League’s next patch
- Riot will target early-game ganking and jungling
- Many support tanks, among other champions, will become stronger
Riot Games aims to shake up League of Legends’ meta in the game’s next patch, which will arrive on February 8.
Patch 13.3 Comes Soon
Not even a week after Riot released Patch 13.2, the company has already announced what League’s next update will feature. Patch 13.3 is scheduled to release on February 8 and will bring a big shift in the game’s meta, with junglers being on the receiving end of a sizable wave of nerfs.
The patch will follow the somewhat controversial “mini-patch” 13.1B, of which players were left with not very great impressions. However, 13.3 plans to fix this by fixing system changes that did not make it to 13.1B, along with nerfs to tank champions. Additionally, League’s newest update will see a long list of underappreciated champions, who will get much-needed buffs.
Matt “Phroxzon” Leung-Harrison, Lead Designer of League Balance Team & Preseason (Summoner's Rift Team), outlined these changes on Twitter. “Jungle changes aim to nerf ganking (treats benefit ganking, making dives a bit riskier) & trading gold for XP (junglers pref XP),” the developer explained.
Who Is Getting Changed and How?
From Phroxzon’s post, it becomes clear which champions will receive buffs. These are Kayle, Lee Sin, Kayn (Assassin), Jarvan IV, Trundle, LeBlanc. Additionally, many support tanks are getting much-needed buffs. These are Braum, Alistar, Nautilus, Pantheon, Pyke, Rakan, and Thresh.
Phroxzon explained that the reason for Riot to choose these champions is to counteract the current meta. Right now, players are often opting for champions like Lulu, Nami, and Heimerdinger, as well as ADC supports. With these changes, Riot hopes to shake up the meta a little bit and give some attention to many other champions.
League patches often nerf as many champions as they buff. However, 13.3 seems to be somewhat of an exception, as just only three champions will receive nerfs – Amumu, Zac, and K’Sante. Phroxzon explained Riot was targeting these characters since they are still very strong because Demonic Embrace is in a good spot and called K’Sante and Radiant Virtue as outliers.
The most significant nerf that’s coming with League’s next patch, however, is targeting early-game ganking power. While Overheal is getting a system buff, Tenacity is getting a system adjustment in LoL Patch 13.3.
