Riot Games to Address Snowball Effect in League of Legends
Riot Games developers are planning to counter the snowball effect in League of Legends through various changes in the upcoming Patch 13.20. These changes will focus on Baron Nashor, death timers, Turret plates, and Dragons.
In a recent update from Riot’s lead designer Matt “RiotPhroxzon” Leung-Harrison, the team is aiming to tackle events, items, and objectives that contribute to teams snowballing to victory. They particularly want to emphasize Epic monsters like Baron and a more formidable squad of Dragons.
Since the end of season 12, Riot has actively worked on reducing leads gained from early advantages. They accomplished this by nerfing jungle power, encouraging junglers to prioritize farming over ganking, modifying items and champion playstyles, and more. These changes were implemented to level the playing field and give teams a better chance to recover.
While we were already aware of the Jungle changes, K’Sante adjustment, and significant item changes, the anti-snowball adjustments mentioned in this preview are new. We can expect modifications to individual Dragon rewards, Dragon Souls, Rift Herald gold, death timers, Turret plates, Runes, and Baron health.
These adjustments align with recent comments made by Phreak, a popular figure in the League of Legends community. He expressed concern about the overpowered nature of the jungle role and hopes that players will prioritize teamwork and macro gameplay instead of relying solely on one role to carry the game. The anti-snowball system changes should help reduce the jungle’s impact on snowballing in the game.
However, it’s uncertain how extensive these adjustments are and how they will affect low Elo players. These changes primarily resulted from high Elo players’ tendency to snowball games. One thing we do know is that these systems will be toned down, and Riot has decreased the value of early Dragons while maintaining the importance of Soul.
As a result of these changes, we can expect a slower laning phase, increased emphasis on teamwork and team fights for objectives, and reduced reliance on a single role. The full Patch 13.20 notes will be released on October 3, providing more details on these adjustments.
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