Wednesday, August 13, 2014

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.

No comments:

Post a Comment