League of Legends Patch 11.9 Preview
League of Legends patch 11.9 is on the verge of being released and it's time for us to highlight some of the new updates on the way. There'll be some interesting item changes that'll impact the support and top lane. But the biggest changes we see come in the champions department where Riot sent out a huge amount of nerfs and buffs. Overall, this upcoming patch will bring a load of new and interesting changes to the rift as we currently know it.
11.9 Patch Preview with the tentative changes:
— Mark Yetter (@MarkYetter) April 20, 2021
While doing the Hecarim nerfs we wanted to shift his power so that tank build has notably less damage (but still tanky) making room for a viable damage build. pic.twitter.com/sAWqdqoAXF
League of Legends Patch 11.9 Preview
In regards to items, there weren't many changes that came but in this situation, it's quality over quantity. First off the Deadman's Plate nerf combined with the Death's Dance buff may shake up the top lane pick pool mainly not only in ranked but pro play as well. Gnar is often the go-to pro pick for the top lane if he's not banned, the Death's Dance damage increase evens the playing field for other high-level tops now that he has less health. We may see higher pro pick rates of champions like Ornn and Kled now.
We see a ton of nerfs roll through but these are more quality-of-life fixes rather than seriously damaging changes. The Morgana change reduces her W damage against jungle mobs by 15% but even with the reduction, she'll still hold the title for fastest jungle clear in the game. The Jinx bug fix was well deserved as she wreaked havoc in the bot lane with the highest pick rate and win rate amongst AD carries in pro play and ranked. However, she's still really powerful thanks to the range of her rockets and her previous health increase.
The champion buffs are where it gets a little bit interesting. The Kindred buff to his Q might be able to turn into him a viable pick now that he doesn't have a botched early game. Kindred hasn't been spotted on the Rift in a while due to his difficulty but maybe this could be the start of a turnaround for the champion.
Lulu has seen a change that may make her the most sought out support in the game. When you combine the Moonstone Renewer healing buff with the buff to her W, you'll see that she's primed to terrorize enemy teams. In a meta where movement speed and being able to stick to opponents is essential to success having a support like Lulu could be the push needed to dominate the competition.