A few weeks before the start of the 2020 World Championship, Riot Games has revealed some of the champions that it’s targeting with nerfs for League of Legends‘ Patch 10.19.
Since this is the Worlds patch, Riot’s lead gameplay designer Mark “Scruffy” Yetter said to expect the changes to be “fairly small” so that players don’t have to adjust to a completely new meta before the biggest tournament of the year.
The champions getting hit with the nerf hammer have a significant role in the current meta, however. This could lead to a bit of a shift in pick priority depending on how drastic the changes are in terms of numbers.
Azir, for example, has been one of the most picked mid lane champions this split across the world. He had a 60-percent pick/ban percentage during the 2020 LCS Summer, an even greater 82.2-percent pick/ban in the LEC, and a 63.5 percent pick/ban rate in Korea, according to Gamepedia. His effectiveness on talented playmaking mid laners is top tier but he could see a drop in play rate at Worlds with these nerfs.
Twisted Fate and Caitlyn are also strong picks that many top players have in their champion pool. Caitlyn is usually a safe pick for many marksmen, while Twisted Fate gives plenty of map pressure and teamfight presence with his global ultimate.
Senna ADC, Nunu, and Talon have all been placed on the nerf list as well. More details about these changes will be given on Tuesday, Sept. 8.
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