Azir to be Nerfed on the Eve of the 2023 League of Legends Worlds Championship
In a surprise move by Riot Games, Azir, a popular mid lane champion in competitive play, will be receiving nerfs just before the upcoming 2023 World Championship.
Patch 13.19 of League of Legends, which will be played during Worlds 2023, is considered one of the most important balance updates of the season.
Yesterday, we got a first look at the patch from Matt “Phroxzon” Leung-Harrison. Today, we learned that Azir will be receiving changes and will replace Ziggs in the list of planned buffs, nerfs, and changes for Patch 13.19.
According to Leung-Harrison, Riot decided to nerf Azir because he has benefited too much from recent meta effects. The developers want to avoid an event dominated by Azir and are specifically targeting his Conquering Sands (Q) ability.
His Q ability will have a cooldown increase of two seconds, making it scale from 14 to six depending on the number of points invested in it. While this change won’t have a major impact since most players prioritize maxing Arise! (W) before Conquering Sands (Q), it will require players to make slight adjustments during laning phase and teamfights.
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Azir was heavily picked during the 2022 League World Championship, with teams like DRX, Gen.G, and DFM frequently selecting him. Throughout the event, he maintained a 50 percent win rate, which is quite impressive considering he was played in 48 matches.
In the current season, Azir has been a common pick in various regional League of Legends splits. However, he was not played once during the 2023 Mid-Season Invitational in London, which is surprising given his popularity at Worlds the previous year.
While we may still see Azir in action at Worlds, these Patch 13.19 nerfs may decrease his prevalence on the tournament stage.
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League of Legends, Worlds 2023, Azir, nerfs, Patch 13.19, competitive play, meta effects, Conquering Sands, changes, mid lane, champions, balance patches