Patch 10.21 has hit the rift and with the new changes, it tried to tweak the Solo queue meta. Riot is making sure not to overtune any champions though, especially with the new item changes coming quite soon.
We’re asking ourselves though how the meta will shift in the coming two weeks. Who are we going to be seeing and is there an opportunity for new champions to shine? We will try to predict how the state of the game might change with these buffs and nerfs on Patch 10.21
The Support Role
Karma got buffed and Pantheon got nerfed. Unfortunately, we do not think that the buff to Karma was enough to catapult her into the OP Support category. She has gotten a bit stronger, but overall, it’s nothing to flaunt. She will probably stay in the lower tiers.
Pantheon support has been running rampant on Summoner’s Rift for a while now and Riot has had enough. They’ve taken some of his initial Attack Damage and spread it out over time. This means he has less damage output without items in the early game, but the AD they’ve taken from his base attack damage has been added as a percentage increase over time. So for anyone wanting to play him in a solo lane, you might have won out since he’ll be much stronger in the mid to late game.
Other than that nothing else was changed. The support meta has been pretty consistent without many changes needing to be made since there are just so many good support picks right now. Of course, Lulu is the queen of the support tier list, along with champs like Morgana, Leona and Janna.
Which Marksman is the Best ADC?
Samira got nerfed, but was it enough to dethrone her? Probably not. She does have to be a bit more careful and can’t all-in as well due to the elongated cooldown on her E – Wild Rush – and her lowered attack speed. Does this mean she is bad now? Not by far. She is still one of the strongest in the bot-lane and will continue to dominate.
Since Samira is so strong we do believe we will see more Miss Fortune or Draven picked up, since they do counter her pretty well and both can keep up with Samira’s damage output. Just make sure not to fall behind and you’ll be able to go toe-to-toe with any Samira.
The Aphelios buff has made the weapon of the faithful a little more appealing to those who know how to work with all those guns. Previously the only viable gun for his ultimate had been Infernum, but with the increase to the others as well we might see Gravitum and Calibrum used as well. Though, we still don’t believe that he is going to be the most played ADC in this patch.
Midlane… What Can We Say?
The mid lane had almost no changes… seriously a Corki buff was all the mid lane got and well… Corki isn’t a Tier 1 mid laner by any means. The bonus AD ratio he got has made his mid-to-late game a little better, but it won’t make him any more attractive than he was.
There isn’t much else to say about the state of the mid lane. Champions like Yone, Zed and Yasuo still run rampant in Solo Queue. We will likely also see counters, such as Fizz, Qiyana and Neeko who can keep up with these volatile mid laners. For those who want to be especially innovative, you can also pick Pyke or Lulu who have shown to be great counters to the current strong mid laners.
The Jungle Saw the Most Champion Changes
Hecarim was too strong, so Riot nerfed the base damage of his E. This won’t slow him down though and he will still be able to snowball any lead. Hecarim might be a bit less of an OP jungler, but he is still amongst the top.
Graves on the other hand won’t be as durable anymore with the decrease in armor stacks. Winning duels after taking jungle camps will be a bit harder due to him being squishier. He might fall off a bit, especially in the early game so we predict to see less Graves in this patch.
Other buffs and nerfs won’t really affect the meta much. Nidalee is basically the same as before, just a tad less strong in skirmishes due to the decrease in AD and the Trundle and Udyr buffs also won’t magically make them the most popular champions in the game.
Top Lane Changes… Were There Any?
Camille got nerfed, but if you’re meandering in low-elo this probably won’t have any effect on you, since this is a change made for those sitting in the higher bracket of play. The decrease in her E – Hookshot – bonus attack speed was lowered, which will have quite an impact on her late game.
Darius is still ultra-strong and we’re surprised nothing has been done about this yet. He’s been one of the top tier top laners for a long time now – trust us we’ve had him on our top 5 top laners on Patch 10.XX for as long as we can remember now – and he will continue to dominate.
We might see more Illaoi since she can counter Darius quite well and with the buff to her passive last patch, she is still going to be a viable pick into him.
So this patch, not too many big changes have been made, but there are quite a few options for each and every lane to dominate and get those last few ranked points before the end of the season November 10!
Which Champion is your main and who would you want to see buffed? Let us know on Twitter and Facebook and for more information regarding the 2020 World Championship keep reading on EarlyGame.