The end of season 11 of League of Legends is quickly approaching, but major balance changes are continuing to keep players on their toes as the meta continues to shift. With Patch 11.16, Riot is continuing to address what champions have been too oppressive, as well as bring some old favorites back into the light.
Jeevun “Jag” Sidhu, lead game designer on Summoner’s Rift team for League, revealed that alongside some long-awaited nerfs for champions like Lulu and Lee Sin, other champions are planned to receive a bit of help in Patch 11.16. Many of these names have been notably absent from play in their respective lanes, so these buffs will likely help bring them up to speed with the competition.
While top lane champions aren’t seeing much in terms of buffs, Maokai is set to receive some changes that will likely shift one of League’s favorite walking trees from only being viable in the support role to regaining his glory up top. According to League stats site champion.gg, Maokai top has a 0.4-percent pick rate in Patch 11.15, and this has only decreased from previous channels.
The jungle will be shaken up the most with three champions set to receive buffs of some kind. Jarvan IV, Nunu and Willump, and Shaco have struggled to contend against the likes of Lee Sin, Viego, and Xin Zhao, so their potential in the jungle will be increased. Jag also noted that the Dr. Mundo jungle changes that had been continuously pushed back would no longer be coming, as “when people started skilling/building the right stuff his win rate came up a lot.”
Vladimir is the sole champion set to be buffed in Patch 11.16. The scope of his buffs are not yet known, but the Crimson Reaper hasn’t been seen on the Rift in a viable position for some time. Likewise, Jhin and Sivir are the only two champions in the bot lane on the buff list, likely due to the system changes coming to the Feet Footwork rune. This rune was commonly used on both of these champions, yet has fallen off in favor of runes like Dark Harvest that provide both champions with benefits for being aggressive.
Patch 11.16 also introduces the anticipated Sona changes, which have been in development for some time. These changes look to capitalize on her role as an enchanter that thrives in casting multiple spells in a short amount of time, as well as tune her kit to better work with season 11’s mana changes.
Unlike previous patches, there will be three weeks between Patch 11.15 and 11.16. Patch 11.16 is set to release on Aug. 11. All buffs and nerfs listed in this preview are tentative and subject to change prior to their release to live servers.
