There aren’t many champions in the current League of Legends meta that deserve a nerf quite as much as Irelia and Aatrox do. Well, lo and behold, that’s exactly what they’re getting, according to the latest post from lead designer Andrei “Meddler” van Roon on the official game forums.
Both of these top lane (and sometimes mid lane) titans have completely overrun the meta at the 2018 World Championship, and although the pro meta isn’t always reflective of the solo queue meta that most players experience, it’s still been painful to watch. It’s interesting to see Aatrox on this list without Urgot, though, who’s been just as big of a problem. If Urgot or Aatrox are both banned or picked, you pretty much have to resort to settling on a lesser champion, and that never feels good.
Irelia hasn’t been as hands-down dominating as Aatrox by any means, but she’s been very consistently popular in the meta, too. And just because she’s not as big of a problem doesn’t mean she isn’t a problem at all, so these nerfs are still welcome.
Two nerfs were experimented on with Aatrox, including one to his base movement speed and another to his ultimate ability’s duration. Both were unfortunately pulled for more testing, but Meddler says it’s possible there will be even more serious changes in Patch 8.22.
Since Irelia isn’t as big of a deal, her nerf isn’t as impactful. Her base movement speed is dropping by only five points, which is actually quite significant as movement speed tends to be on the lower side compared to other stats. The goal here is to impact her entire game from start to finish by putting a damper on her intense mobility. If it isn’t enough in the long run, Riot is considering nerfing her W as well.
All things considered, these nerfs are far from complete thoughts, but it’s good to know that they’re being eyed for post-Worlds changes at all. Patch 8.22 is roughly two weeks away.
