Will Aphelios be back for Worlds?
The League of Legends World Championship is right around the corner and the early notes for Patch 10.19 highlight buffs for champions who aren’t seeing a lot of love in competitive play right now.
League’s lead gameplay designer Mark Yetter released a preview today of the changes we’ll see for the patch that teams will compete on in Shanghai at Worlds.
For the top lane, Irelia’s ultimate is getting more power, with the perimeters of her attack-disabling spell dealing additional damage at higher ranks (125-275 >>> 125-375).
In the jungle, less-common picks may diversify the meta with Ivern and Udyr receiving buffs to their utility and damage, respectively. Ivern’s E, Triggerseed, shields an ally and slows enemies near that ally when the shield expires. That slow is being increased (40-60% >>> 50-70%), offering this supportive jungler more carry-protecting potential. For Udyr’s Phoenix (R) form’s cone of flames, both base damage and AP scaling are increased (50-275 (+60% AP) >>> 50-325 (+70% AP)).
The mid lane may see some more skirmishing since Ahri will be able to access her Fox-Fire (W) more. It’s getting reductions in both cooldown (10-6 >>> 9-5) and mana cost (55 >>> 40). Counterpick potential, on the other hand, increases with Sylas’ ultimate, Hijack, getting its cooldown reduced at higher ranks (100-60 >>> 100-40), solidifying his place as a solid choice against champions with global, game-changing ultimates like Galio and Twisted Fate.
With arguably the most volatility from these changes, the bot lane’s meta seems primed to shift as more traditional carries are seeing increases in power. While Sivir is getting more kiting and outplay potential with a buff to her passive, which offers her increased movement speed (30-50 >>> 35-55) after damaging an enemy champion, Vayne and Aphelios are getting flat damage buffs. For Aphelios, a champion that saw little competitive play after a series of nerfs, an addition to his AD growth per level (2 >>> 2.4) may just be what it takes to see the formidable champion at Worlds. Vayne’s ultimate, Final Hour, will increase her attack damage even more (25-55 >>> 35-65), giving her the carry potential that may just edge out the utility that current meta bot laners like Ashe and Senna can offer.
This patch could lead to a huge shake-up in the meta, with many changes oriented toward more strength for AD carries. On top of this, with some utility increases for other roles, the possibility of hypercarry bot laners supported by their team may come true. Ultimately, these changes are sure to spice up the action for Worlds, which you can watch starting Sept. 25.
