Gragas rolling a barrel and Rell on her horse with spear, in their respective poses from League of Legends.
Images via Riot Games | Remix by Dot Esports

Gragas, Rell, K’Sante and more targeted for nerfs with upcoming LoL Patch 13.12

Changes to red buff? What year is it?

The early notes are in for League of Legends Patch 13.12 and nerfs are aplenty, with Riot Games developers identifying nine champions, five items, and two particular ‘systems’ as far too strong in the meta.

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Dev team members Phoroxon and Phlox shared the changes in a series of tweets on June 5, and while a select assortment of underperforming champions will receive buffs, a substantial more will see adjustments designed to bring them back in line after jumping ahead over the past month.

After delays in Rell’s mid scope update which finally landed in Patch 13.11, it was determined she was far too strong for Riot’s liking, with the champion expected to receive adjustments across both her support and jungle roles.

Another multi-positional champion in Riot’s scope is Gragas. While the Rabble Rouser hasn’t seen any significant champion adjustments since February 2023’s Patch 13.3, he has been growing in strength in both the jungle and the top lane. Gragas was a relative mainstay at MSI 2023 in London, with the champion among the top 10 most contested at the tournament.

The other champions in line for nerfs include Kha’Zix, Kog’Maw, Lulu, Milio, Yuumi, and Zeri, most of whom have been mainstays in League at all ranks for some time now.

Also receiving some long-awaited nerfs is K’Sante, who, outside of bug fixes over the past three months, has gone relatively untouched despite enjoying a 50 percent win rate at lower ranks since his addition to the game.

Related: Ashe, Kai’Sa, Gangplank among ‘languishing’ champs getting LoL Patch 13.12 buffs

Items are also on the chopping block, with Ardent Censer, Bloodthirster, Galeforce, Imperial Mandate, and Rapid Firecannon receiving a pass of nerfs. Riot devs will also be looking into reducing values for the Precision rune Overheal.

But one adjustment, in particular, will have junglers intrigued: Crest of Cinders, better known as the Red Buff, will be receiving its first nerf since Season Eight back in April 2018—over five years ago.

In Patch 8.7, Red Buff lost its ability to deal true damage to towers. As to what form the 13.12 nerf will take? That’s yet to be confirmed at this stage.

All this and more is expected to land on the live game on June 14.


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Author
Nicholas Taifalos
Weekend editor for Dot Esports. Nick, better known as Taffy, began his esports career in commentary, switching to journalism with a focus on Oceanic esports, particularly Counter-Strike and Dota. Email: nicholas@dotesports.com