Top Lane Tanks to Receive Buffs After Sunfire Cape Damage Nerf
Last week, Riot announced on the official League of Legends forums that top lane tanks will be receiving buffs to compensate for the recent damage nerf to Sunfire Cape.
The damage nerf to Sunfire Cape has transformed it into more of a farming and pushing item rather than a dueling tool. While this change has increased its damage against minions and monsters, it has made it less effective against champions. As a result, many top tanks have been struggling to keep up with damage-heavy laners.
One tank that has been significantly impacted by this change is Malphite. According to Champion.gg, his win-rate dropped below 50 percent upon the release of Patch 7.9. Previously, his win-rate had been consistently around 52 to 53 percent. Gragas also experienced a decrease in win-rate, going from about 51 percent to 48 percent. The Sunfire Cape is no longer a part of his most winning item build.
Even more dramatically, Nautilus, who was once considered the king of top lane, now has a depressing 45 percent win-rate. Champions like Nautilus, Gragas, Malphite, Sion, and others relied on the Sunfire Cape to remain relevant in the early game and keep up with high-damage champions like Teemo, Pantheon, and Yasuo.
Rather than simply reverting the changes to Sunfire Cape, Riot has decided to individually buff the suffering champions. This could involve increasing their natural AD to allow them to deal more damage while retaining their durability or examining each of their abilities. By focusing on champion buffs instead of item buffs, Riot hopes to address the larger problem with multiple champions and improve the overall health of the game.