has partnered with Gamer Sensei to analyze and discuss the changes in League of Legends Patch 12.8. With the Mid-Season Invitational approaching, it’s essential to understand how these champion changes will impact the meta. Four experienced coaches from Gamer Sensei, including NicoThePico, Veteran, Dftba, and JalYt Justin, provide their insights on the patch.
Champion Changes:
Swain
Image via Riot Games
Passive – Ravenous Flock:
- Healing From Soul Fragments: 4/5.5/7 percent of maximum health -> 4/5.5/7/9 percent of maximum health (at levels 1/6/11/16)
- Maximum Health Increase Per Soul Fragment: five -> 12
- [UPDATE]: Swain can no longer use Passive – Ravenous Flock to pull and rip out Soul Fragments from immobilized enemies (see E – Nevermove)
Q – Death’s Hand:
- Damage: 55/75/95/115/135 (+40 percent AP) -> 60/80/100/120/140 (+38 percent AP)
- Bonus Damage Per Additional Bolt: 8.25/15/23.75/34.5/47.25 (+6/8/10/12/14 percent AP) -> 12/22/32/42/52 (+8 percent AP)
- Maximum Damage (5 Bolts): 88/135/190/253/324 (+64/72/80/88/96 percent AP) -> 108/168/228/288/348 (+70 percent AP)
- Cooldown: 9/7.5/6/4.5/3 seconds -> 7/6/5/4/3 seconds
- Mana Cost: 65/70/75/80/85 -> 45/50/55/60/65
W – Vision of Empire:
- Mana Cost: 70/80/90/100/110 -> 60/65/70/75/80
- [NEW]: Pinging W – Vision of Empire now displays a list of visible enemies within range in team chat (similar to Twisted Fate and Nocturne ults)
E – Nevermove:
- [NEW]: Can now be recast to pull all champions rooted by E – Nevermove, ripping out one Soul Fragment from each of them
- [REMOVED]: Swain’s pulls no longer deal damage
- [NEW]: Now grants vision of all rooted targets
- [NEW]: E – Nevermove’s cooldown is reduced by 20 percent during R – Demonic Ascension
R – Demonic Ascension:
- Cooldown: 120 seconds -> 100/80/60 seconds
- Drain Damage Per Second: 35/50/65 (+14 percent AP) -> 20/40/60 (+10 percent AP)
- Drain Heal Per Second: 20/35/40 (+16 percent AP) -> 15/40/65 (+25 percent AP)
- [REMOVED]: No longer grants Swain 125/200/275 bonus health
- [REMOVED]: ACTIVE DURATION: 12 seconds -> Based on Demon Power
- [UPDATE]: Activating Demonic Ascension grants Swain 50 Demon Power, which decreases at an initial rate of 10 per second. After five seconds of Demonic Ascension, Swain’s Demon Power decreases faster at a rate of 15 per second
- [NEW]: Swain gains 20 Demon Power per second while draining enemy champions
- [UPDATE]: After 2 seconds of Demonic Ascension, Swain can recast his ultimate as R – Demonflare. R – Demonflare can only be cast once and does not end Demonic Ascension
R – Demonflare:
- Damage: 100/150/200 (+50 percent AP) -> 150/225/300 (+60 percent AP)
- [NEW]: Demonflare now slows enemies by 60 percent, decaying over 1.5 seconds
- [REMOVED]: Demonflare no longer deals additional damage based on health drained from enemies
Gamer Sensei coach insight:
According to Veteran, Swain has received significant updates and has become stronger overall. The changes to his Q have improved his laning phase, making him a strong pick, especially in the support role. However, his ultimate may be weaker during the early game. As a result, Swain is expected to be a priority pick in the support role, according to Veteran.
Bard
Image via Riot Games
Passive – Traveler’s Call:
- Bonus Magic Damage On Attack: 30 (+12 per 5 chimes) (+30 percent AP) -> 35 (+14 per 5 chimes) (+30 percent AP)
W – Caretaker’s Shrine:
- Maximum Heal: 55/95/135/175/215 (+60 percent AP) -> 60/105/150/195/240 (+60 percent AP)
According to NicoThePico, Bard is an underutilized support champion who excels at roaming. Roaming plays a crucial role in winning games, and Bard’s roaming potential is unmatched. These changes may not seem significant, but they could help players realize Bard’s true potential in all levels of play. NicoThePico believes that these changes might be the push Bard needs to become more popular again.
Ezreal
Image via Riot Games
R – Trueshot Barrage:
- Cooldown: 120 seconds at all ranks -> 120/105/90 seconds
JalYt Justin believes that this change is a nice quality-of-life improvement for Ezreal. It will help boost his pick rate as both average and pro players will appreciate the ability to use his ultimate more frequently. In solo queue, players can use it to secure kills and steal objectives, while pro players can use it for wave-clearing and long-range vision checking.
Fiddlesticks
Image via Riot Games
W – Bountiful Harvest:
- Heal Percentage Against Champions: 30/35/40/45/50 percent -> 30/40/50/60/70 percent (still always 15 percent against minions)
Jhin
Image via Riot Games
W – Deadly Flourish:
- Root Duration: 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 seconds -> 1.25/1.5/1.75/2/2.25 seconds
- [REMOVED]: Damage against monsters no longer reduced by 25 percent (damage against minions and summons unchanged)
E – Captive Audience:
- Trap Recharge Rate: 28/25/22/19/16 seconds -> 24/21.5/19/16.5/14 seconds
- [REMOVED]: First Lotus Trap damage no longer reduced by 35 percent against monsters and summons (damage against minions and summons unchanged)
Dftba believes that the additional root duration for Jhin will be a nice boost to his ability to synergize with popular supports in the meta. Jhin excels in enabling weakside plays and has stronger half-roams to mid lane with the increased root duration. According to Veteran, Jhin brings a lot to the table in the ADC-centric meta. His ability to half-roam and his increased root duration will further enhance his impact in the game.
Jinx
Image via Riot Games
- Base Health: 610 -> 560
Jalyt Justin acknowledges that losing 50 HP early on is significant for Jinx, especially since she already struggles in some matchups. However, Jinx’s scaling and late-game power are still significant. The health decrease will only affect her early laning phase, and she will retain her high presence in pro play and solo queue.
Kai’Sa
Image via Riot Games
Passive – Second Skin:
- Bonus Magic Damage Upon Consuming Full Plasma Stacks: 15 percent (+2.5 percent per 100 AP) -> 15 percent (+5 percent per 100 AP) of target’s missing health
W – Void Seeker:
- Magic Damage: 30/55/80/105/130 (+ 130 percent AD) (+70 percent AP) -> 30/55/80/105/130 (+130 percent AD) (+45 percent AP)
R – Killer Instinct:
- Shield Strength: 75/100/125 (+100/150/200 percent AD) (+75 percent AP) -> 75/100/125 (+100/150/200 percent AD) (+100 percent AP)
Dftba believes that these changes to Kai’Sa’s AP ratios will shift her build back to scaling and on-hit, with the potential for a single AP inclusion. Previously, Kai’Sa’s AP W spam build was popular, but now players may opt for Kraken Slayer and Galeforce in addition to Nashor’s Tooth for her AD/Crit builds, taking advantage of her buffed AP ratios.
Kassadin
Image via Riot Games
Q – Null Sphere:
- Magic Shield: 40/70/100/130/160 (+30 percent AP) -> 60/90/120/150/180 (+40 percent AP)
E – Force Pulse:
- Magic Damage: 80/105/130/155/180 (+80 percent AP) -> 80/105/130/155/180 (+85 percent AP)
According to NicoThePico, these buffs will significantly improve Kassadin’s early laning phase. The increased magic shield and damage on Null Sphere and Force Pulse respectively will ease his matchups against mages. These changes greatly affect Kassadin’s viability as a counter-mage.
Mordekaiser
Image via Riot Games
Passive – Darkness Rise:
- Bonus Move Speed: three percent at all levels -> 3/6/9 percent at levels 1/6/11
According to NicoThePico, this increase in bonus move speed for Mordekaiser will greatly help him in the early game when dueling and during the laning phase. It will also allow him to scale more safely into the mid and late game. Poppy
Poppy
Image via Riot Games
W – Steadfast Presence:
- Cooldown: 24/22/20/18/16 seconds -> 20/18/16/14/12 seconds
R – Keeper’s Verdict:
- Uncharged Knock Up Duration: 0.75 seconds -> one second
- Charged Missile Speed: 2000 -> 2500
- Charged Knock Back Distance: 2400 -> 3400
- Cooldown Refund Upon Canceled Charge: 30 seconds -> 15 seconds
Poppy’s ultimate change will take her from being a situational champion to more of an all-around champion against dash-heavy compositions. This improvement will allow her to shine in various situations and will lead to more players picking her.
Sejuani
Image via Riot Games
Passive – Fury of the North:
- Frost Armor Timer: Sejuani receives Frost Armor after 12 seconds -> 12-6 seconds (levels 1-18) of not taking damage from enemy champions or monsters
According to Dftba, Sejuani will still struggle to duel and match against strong early game skirmishers and gankers, despite the increased availability of Frost Armor. This makes it difficult for her to be effective in the current jungle meta.
Soraka
Image via Riot Games
W – Astral Infusion:
- Heal: 100/135/170/205/240 (+70 percent AP) -> 100/130/160/190/220(+65 percent AP)
According to Dftba, this change to Soraka’s W ability significantly affects her healing output. The reduced base heal will make her more vulnerable and easier to exploit, especially when picked against heavy engage or with minimal peel and frontline.
Sylas
Image via Riot Games
R – Hijack:
- Cooldown: 100/70/40 seconds -> 80/55/30 seconds
JalYt Justin believes that Sylas will benefit greatly from the 20-second cooldown reduction on his ultimate ability. This change allows Sylas to use his ultimate more frequently, leaving shorter windows of punishment for opponents. With the cooldown reduction and Sylas’ ability haste build, he will have multiple ultimates for extended fights. This change greatly affects Sylas’ viability.
Tristana
Image via Riot Games
- AD Growth: 3.3 -> 3.7
- AD at Level 18: 115.1 -> 121.9
Veteran believes that this change in Tristana’s AD growth and base AD at Level 18 will significantly improve her scaling and overall damage output. This will make her more relevant in the late game and bolster her dueling potential.
Xayah
Image via Riot Games
Q – Double Daggers:
- Damage Per Blade: 45/65/85/105/125 (+50 percent bonus AD) -> 45/60/75/90/105 (+50 percent bonus AD)
- Cooldown: 10/9/8/7/6 seconds -> 10/9.5/9/8.5/8 seconds
Dftba states that these changes to Xayah’s Q ability will reduce her waveclear and overall damage output. Although the nerfs may seem minor, they will have an impact on her laning phase and dueling potential, especially in the early game. However, Xayah will still remain a strong hyper-scaling ADC.
Xerath
Image via Riot Games
E – Shocking Orb:
- Stun Duration: 0.5-2 seconds (based on distance) -> 0.75-2.25 seconds (based on distance)
Gamer Sensei coach insight:
NicoThePico believes that these changes will make Xerath more reliable in the early game due to the increased stun duration. Players will have more time to follow up on their abilities, making Xerath a stronger pick overall.
Zoe
Image via Riot Games
Q – Paddle Star:
- Mana Cost: 50/55/60/65/70 -> 40/45/50/55/60
R – Portal Jump:
- Mana Cost: 50 -> 40
According to NicoThePico, these changes will make Zoe more enjoyable to play, as champions with high mana costs can sometimes feel less enjoyable. Additionally, these changes might increase Zoe’s playtime across the board.