Amid all the Heartsteel commotion dominating the discussion about balance in League of Legends‘ 2023 preseason, some champions have quietly become a little too dominant for Riot Games’ liking.
As has become tradition the week before a patch’s release, League balance team and preseason lead designer Matt “Phroxzon” Leung-Harrison tweeted out the big hitters without revealing what exactly the changes would be last night.
A mishmash of champions are tentatively slated to be nerfed, including Yuumi, Syndra, Mordekaiser, Shyvana, Trundle, and Lillia. All of them except Yuumi are sitting at above a 52 percent win rate in Platinum and above, according to League stats site LoLalytics.
With plenty of data to go off of thanks to the American Thanksgiving-induced extended patch cycle, with another one upcoming because of more holidays, expect one B-patch at maximum as Riot’s balance team has demonstrated its willingness to let patches play out, especially in relatively low-stakes times like preseason.
Additionally, other miscellaneous changes are coming to League in the game’s next patch. Kassadin and Dr. Mundo are set to receive some adjustments, the former of whom has risen slightly in pick rate thanks to the return of Rod of Ages. As far as items, Sunfire Cape has suffered since its demotion from a Mythic item. And if you’ve played even a little bit over the preseason, you know why Ravenous Hydra is on the chopping block. Its sister item, Titanic Hydra, received some nerfs recently as well.
Broad-strokes jungle changes are coming in the next patch, which can be found detailed in Phroxzon’s tweet.
These changes should go live when Patch 12.23 arrives on Wednesday, Dec. 7.
