The live servers have now released Patch 12.14. It’s unusual to see this many changes in the midst of a season in League of Legends given the history of the patches. Nevertheless, the durability adjustment in patch 12.10 dramatically altered the meta in both solo queue and professional play, so it makes sense that Riot would seek to iron out the wrinkles from earlier patches.

One of Riot’s objectives for this patch was “to bring League’s hyper healers (and their items) to justice,” particularly in light of the over-tuning of champions and enchanter goods that has occurred since the durability patch. Here is our explanation of the significant balance changes in patch 12.14, which include a lot of changes to champions, runes, and systems.

Runes and Potions

Biscuits and Potions now heal for less. In contrast to offensive runes (Scorch & Sudden Impact), defensive runes (Bone plating, Conditioning, Guardian, Second Wind, and Unflinching) all received nerfs. Those that trade effectively in lane will find it simpler to acquire an edge, while champions with poor laning phases—think of champions like Katarina and Qiyana—may find it more challenging. These adjustments might not seem like much on their own, but taken together, they will put players’ lane-taking skills to the test.

Items

The worth of enchanter champions like Yuumi and Soraka increased dramatically with the 12.10 durability patch. This is largely caused by the general nerf to Grievous Wounds. Riot decided to weaken all enchanter goods as a way to restore balance. Utility and tank support items will likely increase as a result of these nerfs.

Some AD champions are becoming well-known for using Sunfire + Blade of the Ruined King. These adjustments will reduce the potency of Sunfire + BORK, but tank champions will be more encouraged to construct Sunfire Aegis.

Drakes + Herald

Every single stat boost that drakes provided was boosted by 50% this patch. Additionally, this patch saw an increase in the amount of gold obtained from drakes and Rift Heralds. Players will be motivated to battle for these goals all across the map as a result, making your ability to lane even more crucial. Lanes will decide how quickly you can join your team to compete for drakes and Heralds, therefore the advantages you get during the laning phase will undoubtedly translate into how quickly you can rotate into battling for objectives.

Champions

Hello, Critplank—goodbye, bruiser GP. With these adjustments, Riot hopes to shift Gangplank’s build away from constructing bruiser items and toward constructing crit things. Due to his early game nerfs, these adjustments will not only alter his development path but also make his laning phase and teamfighting more challenging. Although skilled players may still rule the Rift as Critplank, these modifications are more of a nerf than anything more.

Gnar is a champion who is particularly adored in professional play. These nerfs appear to be intended to make Gnar more exposed throughout the laning phase. While his solo queue win percentage may decline, we believe Gnar will continue to be a popular selection in pro play.

The damage boost on Leblanc and the enhancements to her mana pool will undoubtedly make Leblanc players happy. This not only facilitates her trade throughout the laning phase, but the damage enhancements to her W – Distortion will facilitate her waveclear as well. I’ll leave the justification for why these upgrades are so significant to Challenger Leblanc main “Bobqin” in NA.

There is a lot of experimenting in solo queue, especially at the top of the ladder, if a champion is tweaked to be more effective in the jungle. Time will tell if Pantheon will be effective in the jungle, but given that he is a good early-game jungler and that the laning phase is getting harder, his impact will try to snowball leads over the map much more quickly.

Yuumi will become less oppressive as a result of the nerfs to enchanter items and the heal on her E-Zoomies. These nerfs will undoubtedly have an impact on Yuumi’s win rate in both solo queue and professional play because she is particularly oppressive when paired with hyper-carry bot laners like Twitch (or any hyper-carry champion, for that matter).

These adjustments may cause some champions to fade, but others may soar. How will these changes affect professional play and the solo queue? How the meta will change cannot be predicted in advance.