Patch notes are here: https://playruneterra.com/en-us/news/patch-1-14-notes/
I really like it. I’m actually surprised that Miss Fortune/Quinn is doing so well in the meta (>0.55 win rate), so I might go back to maining them again. I did a survey (unofficial) on the state of the meta a few days ago, which helped me form concrete thoughts about what exactly I liked and disliked, and this patch actually hit quite a few cards I’ve mentioned, if not exactly in the way I suggested.
Trundle
Trundle’s nerf was exactly as I wanted: His health was too high to kill in one turn, and the fact that he regenerates means you won’t kill him. Especially after his level up on turn 8 bringing him to 7 health. I do see why they nerfed Ice Pillar, but that might be a bit too much imo. Ah well, we’ll wait and see, I guess. I hope this double nerf doesn’t nerf him to the ground, because even though he’s strong, I do like the Behold granting stats mechanic.
Ezreal
They did it better than I could ever suggest. An earlier nerf made him level up when he targets 10+ enemy units, up from 8+. So the genius that I was suggested (in the survey) that Riot should buff him to 9+ units. So when I saw they buffed him to 6+ units I was like WTF, but the mini-rework of his level 2 ability balanced it out. His Nexus damage is halved unless the spell targets an enemy. Now that his levelled-up ability is a Nexus ping, I wonder if he’ll work with Sejuani?
Vladimir
I thought he was too weak, and they did rework him, but I’m not sure how much better that makes him. His associated cards are the Crimson Cultists (I think that’s the name. I might be mixing them up with something from Thaumcraft.) which is basically the self-harm/burn aggro archetype. (I say that because only the Crimson Disciple sees any play.) So I wonder if a Soraka burn archetype might work?
Other cards
I certainly didn’t expect Tianna Crownguard and Minah Swiftfoot to get buffed. The Minah buff is huge. (Huge buff, not necessarily a huge change to the meta.) Though she’s probably seeing the most play in a Feel the Rush counter, and I’m not sure how huge of an impact she’ll have there. If she’s played before the opponent’s FtR, her attack isn’t big enough to kill their champions, who would be 10|10, but if she’s played after, and recalls their champions, you would probably have won the game anyway with your own FtR the next turn.
Funsmith is a welcome change. Would love to see her actually played.
4-damage pings are starting to become common with Black Spear‘s change. Now even a pre-nerf Wyrding Stones couldn’t escape its damage. I think this is a big change to the meta as a whole, as being at 4 health before meant the card is out of many damage ranges, and your opponent would have to spend at least 2 spells to deal with it, with the only major exception being Jaull Hunters’ 4|1 Challenger statline. I’m not counting Ravenous Flock because the card has to be used on damaged units (which means the unit has more health than 4). I’m talking 4 health in general. As for Wyrding Stones itself, it would be even easier to kill, given its 3 health statline. 3 damage pings are still more common, after all, and Avalanches must be used much more carefully, especially if the opponent is playing Bilgewater or Shadow Isles.
Riptide Rex might see some fun synergies with Ezreal, because he levels him up instantly even after the nerf. I didn’t think Rex was too OP, given the number of high-health units present in the meta nowadays with Feel the Rush and Dragons. (Though to be honest I might change my tune after I get board-wiped by one.) Spamming out the spell limit is definitely an issue though, but I’m not sure how they couldn’t just change it to one spell that targets 7 enemies. Now that I think about it, it might be a problem with visibility. Double-targeting the same unit would make the two targeting lines overlap.
The high health thing comes into play again with Eclipse Dragon. Again, didn’t expect the change.
Consistency
I liked the consistency changes with Lucian and Jinx. Not much to say. I love consistency.
Disappointments
Lee Sin. Lee Sin is still a disappointment. There’s still no counterplay to the Overwhelm Lee Sin combo unless you have some way of killing Lee Sin directly, which means you need yet another ping to get rid of his Barrier. I think making it so that Overwhelm doesn’t work on levelled-up Lee Sin would be a way of dealing with this, or that Dragon Rage removes Overwhelm for the round. To compensate, I think striking the enemy unit could allow for Overwhelm to go through. So the first strike on the enemy unit would be as if you were directly attacking, so if your Lee Sin’s attack is greater than their health, the damage would leak through to the Nexus, then Lee Sin strikes the Nexus directly. An example: A levelled-up 5|8 Lee Sin challenges a 4|2 unit. On striking the unit, he deals 3 damage to the Nexus. Then he deals another 5 damage to the Nexus, totalling at 8 damage. So kind of like an Overwhelm-Double Attack combo, but you recall the unit after the first strike. More details in a hopefully upcoming post about stuff I want to change about LoR.
But what do I know? I’m just a lowly Silver player.
