Don’t let the vanguard tank updates overshadow these big champion changes in Patch 7.9

Don’t let the big, shiny reworks to Sejuani, Maokai, Zac, and the Rift Herald fool you, there’s still the usual nerfs and buffs being dished out in tomorrow’s patch.

These changes certainly aren’t as huge as the vanguard class update, but they’re absolutely worth mentioning, because there are a few champions that are going to be noticeably impacted by this patch.

Graves

The outlaw may be getting his cigar back, but that may have been a ploy to distract Graves’ fans from this big nerf to his kit. He will no longer be able to queue up multiple spells at a time. This will prevent him from negating the recoil from his ultimate with a Quickdraw, as well as cancelling auto attack animations with his Q that let Graves dish out as much damage as he does. This was a big draw to pick Graves, particularly in professional play, so don’t be surprised if he falls off a bit following this nerf.

Renekton

The big bad gator is getting the opposite of Graves’ treatment. He will now be able to queue up multiple abilities and attacks at once, rather than cancelling one ability when he begins another. His kit will be more fluent, and it will be much easier to dish out consistent damage with his kit.

Ryze

Ryze’s Spell Flux (E) will now bounce to nearby targets even if the target dies before the E lands. Not only will this be more forgiving to Ryze players experiencing some lag, but it will make harassing your lane opponent with E bounces much, much easier. This may help Ryze’s suffering solo queue performance.

It isn’t rare for Riot to dish out normal balance changes alongside big patches like the Midseason or Preseason updates, so always be sure to read all the way through the patch notes during patch time.