Worlds Predictions.

Group A:
1. Samsung White
2. EDG
3. AHQ
4. Dark Passage

Group B:
1. TSM
2. Star Horn Royal Club
3. Taipai Assassins
4. SK Gaming

Group C:
1. Samsung Blue
2. LMQ
3. OMG
4. Fnatic

Group D:
1. Najin White Shield
2. Alliance
3. Cloud 9
4. Kabum!

Jawn's Top 25 - Pre-Worlds 2 Season Four

CHINA, EULCS, NALCS, OGN, SEA/Taiwan, Wildcard.

1. Samsung Galaxy White +1 
2. Najin White Shield +15 
3. KT Rolster Arrows +0 
4. Edward Gaming +15 
5. Samsung Galaxy Blue -4 
6. Alliance +1 
7. Cloud 9 -1 
8. OMG +1 
9. SKT K -5 
10. Star Horn Royal Club +8 
11. Fnatic -3 
12. SKT S -7 
13. Team Solomid +11 
14. Najin Black Sword -4 
15. LMQ +1 
16. SK Gaming -4 
17. Curse -3 
18. Taipei Azubu Assassins +4 
19. Jin Air Greenwings Stealths +? 
20. Roccat -9 
21. Supa Hot Crew -8 
22. Dignitas +? 
23. Evil Geniuses -2 
24. AHQ +1 
25. Counter Logic Gaming -5 

Off the list: KT Rolster Bullets (#15.), Taipei Azubu Snipers (#23.)

Patch 4.15 Analysis

Alistar

W - Headbutt

SUCKER PUNCH:Alistar can no longer land an additional basic attack on his Headbutted target as they fly away

This takes a chunk out of Alistar's lane dominance. He no longer freely wins trades. Alistar is still strong late-to-mid, but he won't be as highly contested. 

Also, RIP AP Alistar?

Gnar

Q - Boulder Throw

BODY BLOCK:Boulder now checks to see if any enemy champions are standing really close to Gnar's center point when he casts (and it now hits them)

SHRAPNEL:Boulder now does its area-effect damage in a small radius on landing if it hits no enemies

BOULDER SPEED:2000 ⇒ 2100

BOULDER WIDTH:80 ⇒ 90

GOOD FORM, GNAR:Gnar can now pick up his thrown boulders off the ground after 0.5 seconds ⇒ 0.3 seconds

Q - Boomerang Toss

NEWTHAT'S A SMART BOOMERANGBoomerang's return logic has been improved to better track Gnar

OUTGOING WIDTH45 ⇒ 60

RETURN WIDTH70 ⇒ 75

MINIMUM SPEED1000 ⇒ 1400

BOOMERANG CLARITYBoomerang's return particles have been improved!

R - GNAR!

NEWMAGICAL GNAR:Now scales with 0.0 AP ⇒ 0.5 AP

RELIABLE GNAR!:Fixed a bug where GNAR!'s knockback ministun (not the wall stun) would sometimes be removed too early

GNAR SO STRONG:Gnar now moves and perform actions after casting GNAR! in 0.5 ⇒ 0.4 seconds

Boulders and boomerangs will now be a bit harder to dodge, but only slightly. AP Gnar is probably not viable. Strongest Gnar is tank Gnar. He is annoying. Please stop playing him.

Urgot

General

THIS REALLY HELPS:Recommended items have been updated

THIS PROBABLY HELPS MORE:Basic attack missile speed is now 1300 ⇒ 1600

---

Q - Acid Hunter

NEWGET BETTER AT LAST HITTING, URGOT:Now refunds half mana cost if Acid Hunter kills an enemy

NEWFANCY PARTICLES:Now with extra spinning and a trail

RESPONSIVE MISSILES:Fixed a bug where Acid Hunter would fail to home if it was fired too quickly after Noxian Corrosive Charge was applied

---

R - Hyper-Kinetic Position Reverser

COOLDOWN:120 seconds at all ranks ⇒ 120/110/100 seconds

COST:120 mana ⇒ 100 mana

NEWHYPER KINETIC WALKING THROUGH THINGS:Urgot now ignores unit collision for 1 second after successfully using Hyper Kinetic Position Reverser

A VERY SMALL BUFF:Now grants bonus armor and magic resistance after a 0.25 second delay ⇒ immediately

LESS DISORIENTATION:The in-game camera no longer shifts for Urgot when he completes his Hyper Kinetic Position Reverse (so Urgot can follow-up with appropriate skillshots without having to re-orient his camera)

Just some quality of life buffs. Urgot is hidden OP if played well, so be careful. After the change he went from about a 40% win rate to a 42% win rate.

Essence Reaver

COMBINE COST:1050 gold ⇒ 850 gold

TOTAL COST:3400 gold ⇒ 3200 gold

BUGFIX:Fixed a bug where Essence Reaver was restoring more mana than it should at higher mana levels

Reaver is getting stronger and stronger. It is now probably a good rush on Graves, Lucian and Ezreal. Also a good item on Jayce. It is arguably better than Bloodthirster overall. 

Honorable Mention:

ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ﾉ

PERFORMANCE:Framerates have been improved by 5-10%

Some great skins are coming out including Project: Yasuo and Final Boss Veigar. Riot still needs to give small buffs to the rest of the champion roster. Post on that coming up. Swag.

Jawn's Top 25 - Pre-Worlds Season Four

Note: these are based off of records and standings, I have only seen some of the gameplay in EU, OGN, SEA, CN, etc

CHINA, EULCS, NALCS, OGN, SEA/Taiwan, Wildcard.

1. Samsung Galaxy Blue
2. Samsung Galaxy White
3. KT Arrows
4. SKT T1 K
5. SKT T1 S
6. Cloud 9
7. Alliance
8. Fnatic
9. OMG
10. NJBS
11. Roccat
12. SK Gaming
13. Supa Hot Crew
14. Curse
15. KT Bullets
16. LMQ
17. NJWS
18. Star Horn Royal Club
19. EDG
20. CLG
21. Evil Geniuses
22. TPA
23. TPS
24. TSM
25. AHQ

Honorable Mention: Millenium, Gambit, Copenhagen Wolves, Dignitas, Complexity, CJ Blaze, CJ Frost, JAS, JAF, Yoe Wolves, World Elite, LDG, Invictus Gaming, KABUM!, Dark Passage.

Patch 4.14 Analysis

Corki

General

SOON:Soon.

This is just riot joking about the seemingly annual Corki buffs before worlds.

Kassadin

R - Riftwalk

WAS MORE LIKE A RIFTSPRINT:12 seconds ⇒ 20 seconds

This change is a substantial nerf to Kassadin. What this actually is is an increased cooldown on the refresh of his mana cost and damage on his ultimate. Kassadins will have to commit fully when engaging now. He still does a lot of damage however, and he has his match-ups. He will see a lot less competitive attention, but will probably still be banned in solo queue, as players ban him simply out of custom.

Kog'Maw

General

BASE MOVEMENT SPEED:330 ⇒ 325

---

E - Void Ooze

WHEN DID YOU EAT THAT, KOG'MAW:Has new particles, looks more gross

---

R - Living Artillery

BONUS BASE MAGIC DAMAGE TO CHAMPIONS:125% ⇒ 100%

Kog is still too safe for a hypercarry. These changes are negligible. I think Riot should consider reducing their base health even more.

Maokai

W - Twisted Advance

BASE MAGIC DAMAGE:9/10.5/12/13.5/15% max health ⇒9/10/11/12/13% max health

ABILITY POWER RATIO:+4% max health damage per 100 AP ⇒ +3% max health damage per 100 AP

---

R - Vengeful Maelstrom

NEWMAXIMUM DURATION:10 seconds

The tree came from nowhere in 4.13. After realizing the damage and tankiness that Maokai brings, he suddenly a 100% pick/ban champion. The damage nerfs don't hurt him too much, but the ult change stings. I like these changes a lot, but I think Maokai will still be a great pick in this patch competitively.

Morgana

E - Black Shield

BASE SHIELD:95/160/225/290/355 ⇒ 70/140/210/280/350

---

R - Soul Shackles

BASE MAGIC DAMAGE:175/250/325 ⇒ 150/225/300

TOTAL POSSIBLE MAGIC DAMAGE PER TARGET:350 / 500 / 650 ⇒ 300 / 450 / 600

Morgana will still be one of the top three supports. These changes don't address the ridiculous duration and size of her binding. I don't understand when these stats remain unchanged, while Elise's cocoon width was nerfed last patch. I just don't know.

Orianna

General

BASE ATTACK DAMAGe:47 ⇒ 41

This scratches Orianna's early game a bit. She can't CS as well or punish as hard anymore, but her mid and late game versatility will keep her a top pick.

Rengar

General

BUG-FREE KITT:YFixed a rare bug where Rengar would not leap from a brush if he recently flashed into it

---

Head of Kha'Zix

NEWDON'T ASK HOW THIS WORKS:Rengar now has increased vision range while in a brush with the Head of Kha'Zix

---

R - Thrill of the Hunt

NEWX-RAY CAT FINDER:Warning indicator now appears even if Rengar is in the fog of war while stealthed. In other words, if Rengar is within 1250 range of any opponent while stealthed via Thrill of the Hunt, they will be notified.

LONG RANGE CAT FINDER:Warning indicator range increased from 1000 ⇒1250

COOLDOWN:120/95/70 seconds ⇒ 150/110/70 seconds

These R nerfs make engaging stealthily harder, but tank rengar forces engages anyway. Nerf to Assassin Rengar.

Zed

R - Death Mark

NEWTHE UNSEEN ZED IS THE DEADLIEST:When Zed uses Death Mark on a target, he dashes in front of them ⇒ behind them

NEWTHE UNBLOCKABLE ZED IS THE DEADLIEST:Zed now ignores unit collision while the Death Mark is active on a target

Zed saw some reason play in LCS and OGN, so he's obviously competitively viable to some degree. According to a Redditor, these buffs are to give this flashy assassin some play at worlds. I'd have to agree.

Honorable Mention:

Arcade Rihanna Miss Fortune is being released this patch, along with Gnar. Ultimate skin hints everywhere. Yasuo? Kha'Zix? Xerath? Find out next episode.

Patch 4.13 Notes Analysis

Elise

E - Cocoon

WIDTH:70 ⇒ 55

SPIDER-VISION:Fixed a bug where Cocoon was providing vision longer than the stun duration (now correctly matches it)

---

E - Rappel

SOME PREAMBLE:Rappel now calculates its range from the center of Elise to the center of the target ⇒ edge of Elise to the edge of the target (this means Rappel gains about +75 range)

RANGE:925 ⇒ 750 (~825 range if using the old targeting calculations)

I, for one, don't exactly agree that Elise needs nerfs. Currently sitting at a 46% solo queue win rate, she seemingly struggles. In the NA LCS, however, she is a different story, enjoying a 57% win rate and a 92% pick/ban rate. Something in her kit obviously boosted her viability in a team environment. The rappel changes will certainly make ganking and escaping more difficult, but I don't see this doing anything else than making her trash tier in solo queue and decent-to-bad in competitive play. Cocoon is an easily dodgable skillshot as it stands, this change was unneeded.

Evelynn

Q - Hate Spike

MAGIC DAMAGE:40/60/80/100/120 ⇒ 30/45/60/75/90

ABILITY POWER RATIO:0.45 ⇒ 0.35/0.4/0.45/0.5/0.55

BONUS ATTACK DAMAGE RATIO:0.5 ⇒ 0.5/0.55/0.6/0.65/0.7

COST:16/22/28/34/40 mana ⇒ 12/18/24/30/36 mana

These changes will encourage Evelynn players to return to the full damage builds of a few months ago. I feel like this is not a good balance change, but a good change lore-wise. Evelynn feels more like a mage than a tank, and these changes will help with that, but they may buff her a bit too much. I felt that, while annoying, she was balanced on the past patches.

Gragas

Q - Barrel Roll

NEWGRAGGY LIGHT:Now does 70% damage to minions

---

W - Drunken Rage

NEWCOST:Now costs 30 mana at all ranks

COOLDOWN:8/7.5/6/6.5/6 seconds ⇒ 8/7/6/5/4 seconds

DAMAGE REDUCTION:3 seconds ⇒ 2.5 seconds

SNEAKY DRINKING:Fixed a bug where Drunken Rage could be used twice in a row if Gragas was interrupted as soon as he started drinking

BRAWLING ETIQUETTE:Fixed a bug where Drunken Rage would sometimes not play the proper keg smash animation on attack

---

E - Body Slam

BUGFIXED BELLY:Fixed a bug where Body Slam would occasionally fail to work when Gragas leveled it first or second

Gragas is absurd right now. Insane health regen from his passive, insane damage for a "tank," great mobility. Adding a mana cost to his passive, while small, will certainly help with punishing his early game wave clear. The Q change feels a bit tacky, though. I would have preferred to see a damage reduction overall, not just to minions. Gragas will stay strong, but he will actually require some skill now.

Hecarim

Passive - Warpath

WARPATHIER:Hecarim gains bonus attack damage equal to 10/12.5/15/17.5/20/22.5/25% ⇒ 15/17.5/20/22.5/25/27.5/30% of his bonus movement speed

---

Q - Rampage

COST:24/28/32/36/40 mana ⇒ 24/26/28/30/32 mana

Great, simple buffs to help out the horse. He will probably see more play and will feel easier to jungle, without increasing in his win ratio.

Lee Sin

General

BASE HEALTH REGEN:6.95 health per 5 seconds ⇒ 8.95 health per 5 seconds

---

W - Safeguard

SHIELD DURATION:4 seconds ⇒ 2 seconds

---

E - Cripple

REMOVEDNEVER SKIP LEG DAY:Cripple no longer reduces enemy attack speed (only reduces movement speed)

Riot has to be extremely careful in balancing Lee Sin. He is one of the faces of the game that many will recognize instantly. Unlike Teemo or Katarina, not seeing him in competitive play would feel really weird. I think these changes successfully give him needed weaknesses. No need for a four-second shield and no need for an attack slow (remember, this will also decrease his health in the jungle!). He will definitely have to gank more and farm less, not that any Lee Sin was spending all his time farming before. On the note of the base health regen increase, this will give him only about 24 extra health per minute. Lee Sin will be slightly more balanced competitively.

Olaf

Q - Undertow

COOLDOWN:8 seconds ⇒ 7 seconds

---

W - Vicious Strikes

HEALING AMPLIFICATION:+1% healing per 2.5% missing health ⇒ +1% healing per 2% missing health

---

R - Ragnarok

COOLDOWN:120/100/80 seconds ⇒ 100/90/80 seconds

As stated in the notes, "Olaf hasn't had the best time adapting to the evolving game ... so he's getting a few buffs to keep up."

Kayle

E - Righteous Fury

ABILITY POWER RATIO:0.2 ⇒ 0.25

---

R - Intervention

COOLDOWN:110/95/80 seconds ⇒ 100/90/80 seconds

"Buffs to Kayle, you say?" It's okay. There wasn't really any problem with her ult, so I don't know about the cooldown reduction there, but AP ratio is not a huge buff. Her 4.11 ratio was 0.4. As one Redditor pointed out, these buffs are likely due to a new Kayle skin coming out in the future.

LeBlanc

W - Distortion

COST:80/90/100/110/120 mana ⇒ 80/85/90/95/100 mana

Much needed quality of life change. Likely won't do much, but it may her lift her out from having the LOWEST win rate currently.

Lissandra

Q - Ice Shard

COOLDOWN:6/5.5/5/4.5/4 seconds ⇒ 6/5.25/4.5/3.75/3 seconds

---

W - Ring of Frost

ABILITY POWER RATIO:0.60 ⇒ 0.40

---

R - Frozen Tomb

SLOW:20/30/40% ⇒ 30/45/75%

Call me Jon Snow, because I know nothing about Lissandra. I'll just trust Riot on this buff.

Lulu

Q - Glitterlance

REMOVEDMIGHT AS WELL BE A SNARE:Glitterlance's slow decay no longer scales with ability power

---

W - Whimsy

MOVEMENT SPEED BUFF DURATION:5 seconds at all ranks ⇒ 3/3.5/4/4.5/5 seconds

COST:65/70/75/80/85 mana ⇒ 65 mana at all ranks

These changes only nerf Lulu's utility. I would have preferred to see changes to her absurd waveclear. While her slows and speed-ups were insane, I feel that her lack of tankiness made up for it. People picked Lulu for bullying and utility, and Riot chose to nerf the wrong part of her kit in my opinion.

Lux

Passive - Illumination

DAMAGE:10 + (10 x level) ⇒ 10 + (8 x level) (+ 0.2 ability power)

Lux previously fell off late game. This will help with that problem a bit, giving her more than simple burst. I feel that a problem with her, and other skillshot focused champions is that their skillshots can be dodged with a lot of practice. I expect to see Lux at least once competitively before season five, just for that 'surprise factor'.

Vel'Koz

W - Void Rift

MISSILE WIDTH:65 ⇒ 88

---

R - Life Form Disintegration Ray

RANGE:1500 ⇒ 1550

Buff to match visuals. Won't help poor midlane Vel'Koz much.

Yasuo

Passive - Way of the Wanderer

SHIELD DURATION:1.5 seconds ⇒ 1 second

---

Q - Steel Tempest

LESS-QUICK-DRAW:Steel Tempest now scales less effectively with attack speed and has a minimum cast time of 0.13 seconds ⇒ 0.18 seconds. The attack speed needed to reach this minimum is unchanged (at 114%, or 60% from items at level 18).

BUGFIX:Fixed a bug where Steel Tempest's whirlwind was dealing instant damage in the area of a normal Steel Tempest cast as it was traveling out (this is a very minor change)

---

W - Wind Wall

REMOVEDLOW ON FLOW:Wind Wall no longer passively grants bonus Flow from dashing

Yasuo is very strong in some matchups, and pretty weak in others. The first two changes don't hurt too much and are very justified. I disagree with the "Low on flow" changes. Charging flow with dashing was an interesting mechanic and I don't think its the proper place to hit him.

Ziggs

R - Mega Inferno Bomb

COOLDOWN:120/105/90 seconds ⇒ 120 seconds at all ranks

Simple nerf to Ziggs' overpowered late game waveclear. I feel 110 or 100 might have been a better cooldown, however.

Graves

Q - Buckshot

THIS IS GONNA TICKLE:Hitting a target in the face with Buckshot deals 35%⇒ 40% damage for each additional bullet

---

R - Collateral Damage

BASE PHYSICAL DAMAGE:250/350/450 ⇒ 250/400/550

A much needed buff for Graves. He is by no means bad, just outclassed by current marksmen in the meta. With certain supports (particularly Nami), these buffs might make him viable in solo queue.

Kog'Maw

General

BASE HEALTH:524 ⇒ 487

HEALTH PER LEVEL:84 ⇒ 87

---

Q - Caustic Spittle

ARMOR & MAGIC RESISTANCE SHRED:20/22/24/26/28% ⇒12/16/20/24/28%

Kog'Maw traded way too well for a hypercarry at level one and level six. I like all of these changes. They take away early strength without overcompensating and making him overly good lategame.

Lucian

E - Relentless Pursuit

REMOVEDOCCASIONALLY RELENTING:Relentless Pursuit no longer removes slows

COOLDOWN:14/13/12/11/10 seconds ⇒ 18/17/16/15/14 seconds

The cooldown nerf on E was a no-brainer, but some may disagree with the slow removal... removal. As a Lucian player, I would say that these nerfs are justified. While removing slows may be an interesting mechanic, it doesn't exactly make sense in his kit. It isn't necessary. It would be great if Lucian was helpless without it, but he isn't. It is just a bonus with no trade-offs. Lucian will stay overpowered in solo queue, but will likely be absent from competitive play. He now only goes even in most matchups rather than winning.

Sivir

R - On The Hunt

INITIAL MOVEMENT SPEED:2/3/4 seconds ⇒ 2/4/6 seconds

Meh.

Tristana

W - Rocket Jump

SLOW DURATION:2.5 seconds at all levels ⇒ 1/1.5/2/2.5/3 seconds

---

E - Explosive Shot

ACTIVE MAGIC DAMAGE:110/150/190/230/270 ⇒ 80/125/170/215/260

Slow duration was never a problem, I don't see why it was hit. The E nerfs are pretty significant. Tristana was great at snowballing of opponents mistakes, now she can likely only go even. While this is pretty sad for Tristana players like me, we must remember the ult range buffs last patch. Just ask RobertxLee, Tristana is the queen of lategame. Still viable.

Varus

Q - Piercing Arrow

NEWCLARITY:Now shows a line indicator in addition to circle indicator while charging

---

R - Chain of Corruption

COOLDOWN:120/105/90 seconds ⇒ 110/90/70 seconds

Sorry, Varus. This isn't going to help.

Vayne

General

ATTACK SPEED PER LEVEL:3.1 ⇒ 4.0

---

R - Final Hour

WHOOPS:Fixed a bug where Tumble had an extra +0.1 attack damage ratio while Final Hour was active (now correctly matches Tumble's AD ratios)

COMPENSATION FOR THE ABOVE:Final Hour grants a bonus 25/40/55 ⇒30/50/70 attack damage throughout its duration

According to Riot, the Final Hour damage will be roughly the same. The attack speed is a decent buff, though. I need to experiment with builds and skill order, but Vayne might be great against certain team compositions. She still isn't the best solo queue champion (read: she ain't free win).

Sona

SNUGGLE ZONES:Sona's new particles now indicate the area of effect of her auras

CLARITY:Crescendo's particles have been resized to match its hitbox (area of effect unchanged)

GAMEPLAY:Sona has received a Gameplay Update!

I don't know. Sona will be easier to play against. I expect her to be buffed soon. Still meh.

Braum

Passive - Concussive Blows

BASE MAGIC DAMAGE:38 + (12 x level) ⇒ 32 + (8 x level)

---

W - Stand Behind Me

COST:30/40/50/60/70 mana ⇒ 50/55/60/65/70 mana

---

R - Glacial Fissure

FIRST TARGET KNOCKUP DURATION:1.5 seconds ⇒ 1.0/1.25/1.5 seconds

SLOW:60% ⇒ 40/50/60%

SLOW LINGER DURATION:When an enemy leaves Glacial Fissure's field of ice, they'll continue to be slowed for 1.5 seconds ⇒ 0.25 seconds

Taking damage away from his passive pop rather than his Q is a good choice. One takes skill, the other takes auto-attacks. Punishing early W spam will also help keep this behemoth that is banned 78% of the time in check. The ult changes are a little severe. The only big problem with his ult was his point blank ult knockups, the slow duration wasn't the problem.

Janna

Passive - Tailwind

RANGE:800 ⇒ 1000

---

Q - Howling Gale

NEWHURRAY FOR HURRICANES:Cooldown now begins when the Howling Gale begins casting, rather than when it releases

KNOCKUP DURATION:0.5 - 1 second ⇒ 0.5 - 1.25 seconds

The passive increase is pretty good. She is actually decent right now, but like Graves, Miss Fortune, Alistar, etc, she is outclassed. She will still not be seen competitively.

Nami

General

MOVEMENT SPEED:340 ⇒ 335

---

W - Ebb and Flow

COOLDOWN:9 seconds at all ranks ⇒ 10 seconds at all ranks

Justified nerfs. Still very underrated in solo queue.

Thresh

W - Dark Passage

NEWNO GROUP FARES:Now only shields the first ally to be near the Lantern. Thresh himself can still always receive the shield.

---

E - Flay

BUGFIX:Fixed a tooltip bug that listed Flay's slow duration as 1.5 seconds. It's actually 1 second (no actual change).

---

R - The Box

REMOVEDYOU'RE STUCK IN HERE WITH ME:The Box no longer deals additional damage to opponents when they break extra walls beyond the first. Extra walls still apply half slow duration.

I agree with the W change, disagree with the ult. Riot is struggling to find a weakness for Thresh without making him super squishy or feathery. Flaying someone into two ult walls was so satisfying. He is still top tier. 

Honorable Mention

Nomad's is better. Frost Queen's is worse. Banshee's got a slight cooldown nerf. Rylai's got more AP and less health. Very good buff. Deathfire Grasp has a longer cooldown. Only affects a few midlaners. Madred's recieved a nice quality of life buff, you can now see your stacks. 

Exhaust now has less damage reduction, but new armor/mr shred. Depends on the matchup whether Exhaust or Ignite is better. 

Heal nerfed a little early, a lot late. Maybe could see more cleanses and barriers, I'm not sure.

tl;dr

Late game marksmen now act as late game marksmen. Supports nerfed. Junglers considered op in competitive play nerfed; solo queue now messed up. Nidalee permabanned inc.