With the League of Legends World Championship just around the corner, Riot Games wants to solidify a stable meta in Patch 9.18—and it starts by nerfing Aatrox and Akali.
Riot released the patch notes for 9.18 today hoping that the state of the game will balance out before the 9.19 Worlds patch. Big changes are coming to the solo lanes with Aatrox and Akali taking a serious hit, while champions like Caitlyn and Lee Sin get some love from the developers.
Aatrox
The demonic deathbringer has been dominating the top lane, especially in pro play. These changes look to clip Aatrox’s wings by nerfing his sustain and wave clear during the laning phase.
Aatrox’s passive now heals for less damage when stabbing a minion, but the healing against other targets is unchanged. His Darkin Blade (Q) damage to minions was also nerfed to 40 percent at all levels.
Akali
Akali has undergone many iterations since her rework last year since the champion either hits like wet tissue paper or is too overpowered—this time, it’s the latter. The ninja’s ultimate is taking a huge hit in an effort to limit her early power spike.
Akali’s Perfect Execution (R) is losing its micro stun upon its first cast. The ultimate is also decreasing in damage (from 255/450/645 to 195/420/645) while increasing in cooldown at level one and two.
Further changes
ADCs also got some attention from Riot in this patch to try to balance out the bot lane. While Caitlyn, Miss Fortune, and Jhin’s early game got buffed to bully outscaling marksmen in lane, late-game ADCs like Xayah and Kai’Sa took a hit. Xayah’s base armor was decreased, while her ultimate’s cooldown increased by 20 seconds at each level. Kai’Sa’s late game took a hit by decreasing the bonus attack speed she receives from her Supercharge (E).
And everybody’s favorite blind monk is getting some extra oomph. Lee Sin’s early game is getting a buff so that he can further capitalize on successes and have a bigger impact during the laning phase. The monk’s health and attack damage are getting a minor buff, while his ultimate’s damage is increased by 25 at all levels.
Patch 9.18 is scheduled to go live tomorrow, Sept. 11.