Changes Coming to Rakan in Patch 9.9 to Boost His Play Rate and Win Percentage
Rakan, the champion in League of Legends, has seen a drop in popularity and win percentage lately. From April 2017 to October 2018, he maintained a play rate between 10 and 15 percent. However, a series of nerfs in late season eight and early season nine caused his pick rate to plummet to just four percent. His support win percentage is now the fourth lowest across all ranks, performing better than only Malphite, Galio, and Tahm Kench support, according to u.gg, a popular stats site.
Riot Games, the developer of League of Legends, is aware of this issue and is planning to make changes to Rakan in Patch 9.9 to encourage players to pick him more often. The changes currently being tested on the Public Beta Environment (PBE) are focused on improving Rakan’s laning phase and survivability, which have been major pain points for Rakan mains.
Rakan’s base armor and magic resist are being buffed, and his magic resist growth is being increased to match that of melee champions. His base health is also receiving a boost, bringing him from having the second lowest base health in the game to a more mid-tier position. However, to balance these buffs, his attack damage is being slightly nerfed.
Rakan’s W ability, Grand Entrance, is also receiving attention in Patch 9.9. The move speed nerfs it received in Patch 9.2 greatly reduced its effectiveness, but it will now be partially reverted by increasing its base move speed. This, along with the damage buff it received in Patch 9.5, should give Rakan players a wider window to engage with their enemies.
In terms of Rakan’s ultimate ability, The Quickness, there is a slight change that will prevent him from flashing or using Grand Entrance for 0.5 seconds, but he will still be able to use his E ability, Battle Dance. While this change may be seen as a nerf overall, it is not as restrictive as the proposed change where Rakan would be unable to use any movement abilities for the entire duration of his ultimate.
These changes will have a significant impact on Rakan’s performance in solo queue. They will lower the entry barrier for playing Rakan, allowing players to survive and recover from potential mistakes. Rakan will no longer be irrelevant in the laning phase and can remain useful in the mid and late-game. Additionally, the changes open up the possibility for Rakan to experiment with different keystones, such as Summon Aery, Aftershock, or Predator.
In professional play, Rakan still had a place in the meta despite a slight decrease in priority. However, with these buffs, it is expected that more professional supports will start picking him again. Nevertheless, the changes should not significantly impact his influence on the game.
It’s important to note that Rakan still has vulnerable windows where skilled players can punish him for his mistakes. However, these changes will make Rakan a less risky pick for casual players and give him more power to compete in the constantly evolving bot lane meta.
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