Teemo changes might be coming in League Patch 9.18

League of Legends developers revealed what may be the most controversial change to Summoner’s Rift since Yasuo was introduced⁠—Teemo buffs.

League design director Andrei “Meddler” van Roon updated fans today in the Dev Corner, explaining that Patch 9.18 will bring much-needed changes to the mushroom-wielding Yordle.

“Focus here however is more on usability/clarity and fixing some points of unneeded frustration, rather than attempting to reshape his strengths and weaknesses a bit as well,” Meddler said.

This update might make Teemo enthusiasts happy, but it certainly won’t please other top laners. Three of Teemo’s abilities will be improved, providing quality of life upgrades and an increase to his scouting power.

• Blinding Dart (Q): Blinded enemies now have a light green tint on their screen to make it clearer they’re blinded.
• Move Quick (W): Now has a clearer time for remaining duration of the buff.
• Noxious Trap (R): 
  • Shrooms now check for nearby enemies more frequently. 
  • Shrooms no longer detonate on Scuttlecrabs who aren’t in combat. 
  • Shrooms can bounce off other shrooms multiple times, letting you deploy them a bit further away in some circumstances. 
  • Max ammo’s now 3/4/5, increasing late-game relevance a bit.

These changes to Teemo’s ultimate are huge upgrades. The Yordle’s mushrooms are now more intuitive, giving him better scouting ability because they can go farther and ensuring that they’re always triggered.

The dev update also included some thoughts on Patch 9.17 balance issues.

In order to jungle more efficiently, Pantheon received a buff by removing the minion damage reduction off of his E. The patch also buffed his Q, giving the spear execute damage. Meddler feels that the changes have Panth “performing pretty solidly,” though he promises to keep an eye on the God of War in case Riot made him too strong.

Meddler is also happy with the Ryze buffs, claiming that his win percentage in solo queue is in a healthy spot.

The design director even addressed Teamfight Tactics AI issues where units would frustratingly freeze up in the middle of combat. The bug likely centers around melee unit pathing, where they stand still if they’re blocked off from an enemy. Although no solution has been implemented, it’s a “priority” for the future.

As usual, Meddler provided a disclaimer that any future work discussed in these updates isn’t “guaranteed to ship.”