The 2023 League of Legends ranked season is officially starting in a few days and the Balance team has revealed some changes that should arrive in the first official patch of the year.While not many champion changes are expected in patch 13.1, Riot has been killing champs that have been strong over the past few months, which is likely to change the meta. The devs have also replaced some underpowered items, so we may see new champions and strategies crop up.Without any compensating nerfs to item costs or stats, Axiom Arc is getting an extra eight lethality on items.If you need more information about 8 key takeaways from League’s Patch 13.1 notes then read carefully and don’t forget to share with your friends.
With that in mind, here are our eight findings from the opening notes for League patch 13.1.
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In other words, it’s free additional armor penetration that the item’s purchasers would receive.This could be the buff some AD killers needed to make the purchase of the Axiom Arc worthwhile. Ultimate cooldown refund is going to be useful on a champion like Kiana that can kill multiple targets at once, but it won’t be a staple item: it’ll probably be the third or fourth buy in most item builds.
Tanks and Bruiser have been dominating the top lane meta for quite some time now, so maybe it’s time to change things up. One champion that may be able to do this is Jessie, who has been receiving several buffs over the past few patches.First, he increased his damage on his abilities as hammer, then he got a buff on his mana restoration and a new bonus Resistance buff, which reduces his bonus attack damage. Now, he’s increasing base attack damage by three and another two damage buffs on his W and Q as a hammer.If the patch preview changes do indeed hit the live servers, we could see Jayce make a huge jump in priority in the top lane.
U.gg. According to, considering the sub-50 percent win rate at Masters Elo and above, Aatrox’s nerfs are quite surprising. These nerfs are more related to his high play rate and the fact that he has been heavily picked since the beginning of Worlds.He is primarily hit when he casts his ultimate, reducing his healing and movement speed bonuses upon casting. Still, it’s a healthy change that won’t make him as oppressive as in the past.Expect to see a slight drop in his play rate once patch 13.1 hits the live servers on January 10th.
Riot has drawn some intriguing buffs out of Rod of Ages. The item made its return to Summoner’s Rift during the start of preseason, but hasn’t had much success: even champions who should be getting the item, like Kassadin, are having more success with other Mythic options (along with Crown 51.79 percent win rate) of the Scattered Queen, according to u.gg).
The item buff is great in several ways: it provides more health and it requires fewer resources to trigger the passive speed buff. In addition, the speed buff is 10 percent stronger.It’s too early to say if the item will become stronger as it depends more on which champions can take advantage or abuse the new changes. It is said that users of the Rod of Ages such as Sven, Kassadin and Rage will be monitored.
Fiora’s nerfs seem small compared to other top laners in this patch. He got a slight damage reduction on his passive and on his cue but it shouldn’t be something that forces him out of the top lane.For the past few patches and prior to K’Sante’s release, Fiora has been one of the strongest champions in the top lane, currently with platinum elo and the highest ban rate in up (36 percent according to u.gg). This nerf should bring him up to par with the other champions, but expect him to remain a strong challenge early in the season.
For bot lane players, this nerf is substantial and it may shift the meta more than expected. Yumi has the highest ban rate out of all support champions, despite having an average 46 percent win rate across multiple elos according to u.gg.
Intrepid to the damage of his Q means that Riot does not want the magical cat to wield such oppressive blows, but instead maintains his identity as a warlock. His laning phase will be much worse than his current state and this could be a nail in the coffin of his high play rate. Some players will be crying with joy, while others may have to learn new enchantments. With the rumored Ixtal champion expected to be released soon, this could be a good opportunity to master a new pick.
Since his release in patch 12.21, K’Sante has been one of the strongest top laners. He was not only a great chariot and tank, but he offered a lot more damage than most of the others in his role. Riot must have realized this and is finally kicking it with some bigots.
The reduction in speed of a five-speed may sound like a joke, but it is always an underestimated change that champions heavily. Not only this but the damage done to his passive and W is going to be very low.It’s clear that Riot wants to maintain his strong points as a tank, but doesn’t want to make him an inefficient machine that takes down others in the process. These nerfs seem fine, so we should see a more balanced version of K’Sante in the future.
The biggest highlight of the patch will be a change to none other than League’s newest item, Jaxho, the Protean. The Mythic item was supposed to be for tanks, but it became a must-have item on most bruisers that remained in their kits.The increased cost is a negligible nerf but the tweaks to drain damage along with bonus resists are real game changers. Now, the item won’t make you tanky enough if you don’t build up the bonus resists in the first place.
The drain healing change is also smart: it will no longer work on minions and monsters, which is something players often abused during teamfights and skirmishes.Simply put, Jak’Sho is going to be too strong for the intended users and too weak for all other classes. If the changes in the patch preview hold, we may no longer see Jak’Sho built on Bruiser.
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