League of Legends Patch 11.19 has released and brings with it many small changes and tweaks to champions ahead of the League of Legends 2021 World Championship. The newest champion Vex is going live with the patch, along with a few Dawnbringer and Nightbringer skins and the new AFK penalties.
11.19 Full Patch Preview is here!
This is the second of two Worlds-focused patches. Given that we won't have any more opportunities to change the game, we aimed quite conservatively here. No huge swings anywhere.
Also, regarding Fizz…
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— Jeevun Sidhu (@JeevunSidhu) September 14, 2021
Champion nerfs in LoL Patch 11.19
As this is the patch that teams at Worlds will compete on, the balance team has put in extra work to add more options to the professional draft and taper off the power of the more prevalent picks. The select few champions receiving nerfs in the patch are mainly getting revisions on previous nerfs or buffs, instead of complete overhauls.
The list of nerf champions include Kennen, Ryze, Sona, Soraka and Varus. Kennen, Ryze and Sona are all seeing slight number reductions in either damage or mana to counteract their current power in the highest level of play. Soraka will see an adjustment on her buff from Patch 11.18. She can still cleanse Grievous Wounds with her ultimate but its overall base stats have been reduced.
Varus will receive a target nerf towards his Lethality build with an increase in his Piercing Arrow cool down.
Champion buffs and tweaks
The list of champions buffed in this patch is extensive. Champions receiving relatively minor buffs include Aatrox, Akali, Fizz, Galio, Cho’Gath, Gragas, Mordekaiser, Gwen, Poppy, Qiyana, Renekton, Seraphine, Sylas, Sejuani and Sion. Of those champions, only Fizz, Galio, Gragas, Gwen, Qiyana, Renekton and Sylas received the most impactful changes to their numbers.
Most of the champions had previous nerfs either straight up reverted (Fizz will go back to his pre-11.18 state) or lessened to an extent. Those seeing their nerfs lessened include Gwen, Sylas and Renekton. All three champions saw significant changes in previous patches and are now getting some love ahead of Worlds, so they have chance to reenter the pro meta. Gwen and Renekton will get changes to their base health or health regen, while Sylas is getting buffs toward his base mana and regen.
As for Galio and Gragas, the come-to-life statue will have his taunt cooldown decreased, and the wine lover will see his base bonus damage increased on his Drunken Rage. Lastly, Qiyana will get some adjustments to her E and Q combo, which has seen some strange interactions since Patch 11.18. Players cans still dodge the combo but Riot Games has made it so that when champions dodge into the ability, the damage will still register. She will also see an increase in her damage to monsters as Riot continues its crusade in adding assassins to the jungle.
This patch, and all of its changes, will hit live servers Wednesday, Sept. 22.
