Biggest winners and losers of League of Legends Patch 12.16

League of Legends Patch 12.16 brought a series of changes to the game, some small and some big.

The update, which hit the live servers today, buffed champions who haven’t seen regular play for some time and nerfed others who have become too strong over recent weeks.

As explained by lead game designer Matt “Phroxzon” Leung-Harrison earlier this month, the devs are looking to stabilize the game ahead of Worlds 2022. While this mostly comes in the form of “small swings” to the game, some major changes have also been implemented.

Related: League of Legends Patch 12.16: Full notes and updates

A total of four champs were slammed with the nerf hammer in Patch 12.16, while seven others received buffs. Diana, on the other hand, was adjusted and Udyr’s rework finally went live. All in all, Patch 12.16 shouldn’t be overlooked by players.

We dove into the changes and underlined the winners and losers of the update.

Winners of League of Legends Patch 12.16

Zoe

Zoe is still a strong mid laner, especially if you have a composition built around poking. In terms of AP mid laners that rely on delivering long-range and high-damage abilities, there are few as useful as Zoe. But her recent changes have made her stronger than ever.

With Patch 12.16, minions killed by allied champions nearby Zoe will now also drop orbs, meaning it will be easier for her to pick up missiles and unload them on her enemies. Zoe’s Sleepy Trouble Bubble damage has also been increasing, meaning it should be easier for her to one-shot enemy champions that are caught by the ability.

While Zoe has always been a sturdy pick in solo queue, with her recent changes, she could easily become one of the most powerful mid laners in the game.

W – Spell Thief

• [New]: Minions killed by Allied champions will now also drop orbs while Zoe is within 1500 range

E – Sleepy Trouble Bubble

• Magic damage: 60/100/140/180/220 (+40 percent AP) > 70/110/150/190/230 (+45 percent)
• Maximum pop damage: 60/100/140/180/220 (+40 percent AP) > 70/110/150/190/230 (+45 percent)

Udyr

After seeing almost no play at the professional level and often being overlooked in solo queue, Udyr received a much-needed rework in Patch 12.16

While we still need some time to see whether the rework will lead to players picking Udyr on a much more regular basis, it’s safe to say the changes have refreshed his kit, making him a more valuable champion in every stage of the game. More importantly, with a set of new abilities, he’s also really fun to play.

After the changes, Udyr looks like a much more early and mid-game-focused jungle. And, looking at the meta, it would be all but surprising to see Udyr spearhead the jungle role in the coming weeks.

Passive – Bridge Between

• Awakened Spirit: Udyr has four basic abilities that swap between stances. He can periodically recast his active stance to Awaken it for bonus effects, with a shared cooldown between stances.
• Monk Training: Each time Udyr enters or Awakens a stance, his next two attacks gain attack speed and refund some of Awaken’s cooldown.

Q – Wilding Claw

• Udyr gains a burst of attack speed and his next two attacks deal bonus physical damage.
• Awaken: Udyr gains even more attack speed, and his next two attacks chain lightning off the target, bouncing up to 6 times. Lightning can strike the same target multiple times, dealing heavy damage to isolated targets.

W – Iron Mantle

• Udyr gains a shield and his next two attacks restore health.
• Awaken: Udyr gains a bigger shield, his next two attacks heal even more, and he restores a percentage of his max health over the next few seconds.

E – Blazing Stampede

• Udyr gains a burst of move speed. His first attack against each target while in this stance lunges a short distance and stuns them (per-unit cooldown).
• Awaken: Udyr gains even more movement speed and briefly becomes immune to crowd control.

R – Wingborne Storm

• Udyr temporarily summons a storm around him that slows and damages nearby units. His next two attacks cause the storm to pulse, dealing bonus magic damage.
• Awaken: Udyr unleashes the storm, causing it to deal additional damage and chase after nearby enemies.

Losers of League of Legends Patch 12.16

Zeri

Zeri is a champion that has been targeted with either nerfs or buffs the most this season. The devs are clearly struggling to find the perfect place for her, but despite their best efforts, she still seems to be one of the strongest AD carries in virtually every patch.

With the newest update, though this might finally change. The Spark of Zaun has received nerfs to the AD and AP converters on her Burst Fire (Q) and Ultrashock Laser (W), which could hurt both her early-game ability to skirmish and late-game hypercarry potential. The devs are also aiming to nerf the AP ratio on her abilities so that she doesn’t transform into a poking mage like Kai’Sa used to be at the beginning of the season.

With these changes, Zeri should still be a reasonably strong pick but just not as strong as some other bot laners in the meta.

Q – Burst Fire

• Damage: 8/11/14/17/20 (+105/110/115/120/125 percent AD) (+60 percent AP) > 8/11/14/17/20 (+100/105/110/115/120 percent AD) (+60 percent AP)

W – Ultrashock Laser

• Damage: 20/55/90/125/160 (+130 percent AD) (+60 percent AP) > 20/55/90/125/160 (+100 percent AD) (+40 percent AP)