Greetings, Summoners! Librarian Husky here to guide you through the latest updates in Patch 14.23. This comprehensive breakdown will cover all the major changes to champions, items, and the evolving meta, helping you stay ahead in solo queue and competitive play. Whether you’re an aspiring challenger or a casual player, these insights will ensure you’re ready to adapt and climb the ranks. Let’s dive into the details!

Buffs to Wild Arrows

Wild Arrows has received substantial buffs in this patch, enhancing its value for ADC champions. The item’s cost has been reduced by 100 gold, making it more accessible during early itemization. Additionally, its passive duration has increased from 4 to 6 seconds, and the cooldown is now 30 seconds instead of 40, ensuring more frequent uptime. These changes make Wild Arrows a stronger contender for champions like Jinx and Caitlyn, potentially redefining ADC build priorities.

Item Nerfs in Patch 14.23

Patch 14.23 introduces key nerfs to several popular items, shifting the balance of power in the current meta. The Collector sees a slight cost increase, reducing its accessibility and marginally impacting champions reliant on burst damage builds. These adjustments are aimed at toning down the dominance of items that have consistently appeared in core builds, encouraging players to explore alternative strategies.

Nerfs to The Collector

The Collector’s cost has been increased from 2950 to 3000 gold, slightly slowing down its acquisition. While this may seem minor, it marginally impacts the gold efficiency of ADCs relying on this item. Champions like Graves, who often use The Collector alongside Ghostblade, are particularly affected. This adjustment subtly reduces the dominance of burst-oriented ADC builds.

Changes to Champion and Objective Bounties

Champion bounties will now grow 14% faster through kills and assists, making snowballing riskier for dominant players. On the other hand, losing teams will see increased reductions in champion bounties, up to four times more than before. Additionally, the contribution from gold leads to objective bounties has doubled, incentivizing comeback plays. These updates aim to create a dynamic and rewarding bounty system.

Changes to Ambessa in the Top Lane

Ambessa’s updates in Patch 14.23 enhance her gameplay fluidity and overall effectiveness. The cast window for her Q2 ability has been extended, providing more time to execute follow-up attacks and improve her combat flow. Although her passive dashes can no longer traverse player-created terrain, this change has minimal impact due to the rarity of such interactions. Combined with improvements to her ultimate’s reliability, these adjustments solidify Ambessa as a competitive top-lane pick.

Ambessa’s Gameplay Adjustments

Ambessa’s Q2 cast window is extended from 3.5 to 4 seconds, making the ability easier to utilize effectively. However, her passive dashes no longer traverse player-created terrain, limiting certain niche plays. Her ultimate ability now discards unintended movement commands after a successful cast, reducing misplays. These adjustments improve her usability and consistency, contributing to her rising win rate.

Optimizing Ambessa for Patch 14.23

Ambessa benefits greatly from these quality-of-life changes and has seen a rise in popularity. Players are experimenting with Voltaic Cyclos Sword as an alternative to Eclipse, yielding impressive results in high-level play. The summoner spell combination of Ignite and Teleport has also proven effective, emphasizing her aggressive and versatile playstyle. These builds could solidify Ambessa as a top-tier pick.

Ambessa’s Position in the Tier List

With these changes, Ambessa is expected to rise into the S tier for top lane champions. The adjustments make her a more reliable pick without significant drawbacks in the current meta. Other top lane champions remain largely unchanged, giving Ambessa an opportunity to shine against consistent favorites like Malite and Maai.

Top Lane Meta and Picks

In Patch 14.23, the top lane meta remains diverse, offering players a variety of strong champion options. Malphite continues to dominate the OP tier due to his consistent impact and reliability in solo queue. The S tier features champions like Poppy, Darius, and Aatrox, each providing unique strengths that cater to different playstyles. This variety allows players to select champions that align with their strategic preferences, ensuring a dynamic and balanced top lane experience.

Top Lane Standouts

Malite continues to dominate the OP tier due to his consistent impact and reliability in solo queue. The meta remains diverse, offering a variety of strong picks that cater to different playstyles. Players can choose champions that match their preferred strategy, ensuring a dynamic and balanced top lane experience.

Underrated Top Lane Choices

Malai has emerged as an underrated pick in this patch, leveraging the power of Unending Despair Rush. This underutilized item allows Malai to achieve over 55% win rates after completing it. Such overlooked strategies highlight the potential for innovation in the top lane meta, rewarding players who experiment with new builds.

Maai’s Reliable Tank Build

Maai continues to excel as a durable tank with impactful utility. A proven build involves rushing Winter’s Approach as the second item, followed by Spirit Visage for enhanced sustain. He counters meta champions like Jax and Darius, providing consistent performance for players seeking stability in their matches.

Jungle Meta Updates

The jungle meta in Patch 14.23 sees significant shifts with buffs and nerfs impacting several key champions. Rammus gains an early-game edge with a reduced Q cooldown, improving his clear speed and early skirmishing potential. Meanwhile, Rengar benefits from enhanced scaling on his ultimate, boosting his snowball potential and early-game dominance. On the other hand, champions like Teemo and Zac face nerfs that reduce their efficiency, resulting in shifts in the jungle tier list. These changes create new opportunities for innovation in jungle strategies and champion selections.

Rammus Buffs and Impact

Rammus sees improvements with a 4-second cooldown reduction on his Q at rank one, enhancing his early-game utility. This adjustment might shift his skill point allocation, with W and E gaining more viability. The buff improves his clear speed and early skirmishes, making him a stronger jungle pick for both team fights and solo queue dominance.

Rengar’s Buffed Potential

Rengar benefits from two notable buffs to his ultimate ability. The bonus damage AD ratio is increased from 50% to 100%, while the armor shred rises to 15-25%. These changes significantly boost his snowball potential, especially during the early game. Rengar’s newfound power makes him a more viable choice in the jungle meta.

Teemo Jungle Adjustments

Teemo jungle is seeing a slight nerf, with his E bonus damage to monsters reduced from 150% to 125%. While this diminishes his clear speed, it does not entirely remove his viability. Teemo remains a strong choice for lower ELO players but moves from S tier to A tier due to reduced early-game efficiency.

Mid Lane Tier List and Adjustments

The mid lane meta remains relatively stable in Patch 14.23, with minor adjustments impacting a few champions. Ahri and Vex continue to dominate the OP tier, offering high reliability and versatility across different matchups. Swain sees a slight rise in popularity due to his recent buffs, solidifying his position as a strong pick for mid-lane players. Meanwhile, Silas has dropped to A tier after nerfs in the previous patch, reducing his overall effectiveness. These adjustments ensure a balanced mid-lane environment, with opportunities for both aggressive and control-oriented playstyles.

Stability in the Mid Lane

The mid lane meta remains relatively unchanged in this patch. Champions like Ahri and Vex dominate the OP tier, with their consistent performance keeping them at the top. Swain sees an uptick in play due to previous buffs, solidifying his position as a versatile choice in most roles except support.

Silas Adjustments

Silas has dropped from the OP tier to A tier following nerfs in the previous patch. His reduced performance stems from the decreased utility of his core abilities. Despite this, he remains a viable choice for players adept at capitalizing on his strengths.

Azir’s Minor Buffs

Azir receives a minor adjustment, with his W ability’s AP ratio increasing by 5% at all ranks. This change provides a slight boost to his scaling, though it does not significantly affect his overall power. As a result, Azir remains in the C tier for now.

ADC Changes and Adjustments

Patch 14.23 introduces several changes that reshape the ADC meta and itemization. Jinx benefits significantly from buffs to Wild Arrows and her AD growth, solidifying her position in the OP tier for sustained damage builds. In contrast, Caitlyn faces nerfs to her ultimate’s AD scaling and The Collector’s cost, leading to a slight decrease in her effectiveness. Meanwhile, Kog’Maw’s AP build is weakened through adjustments to his shred and damage, encouraging a shift back to AD-focused setups. These changes challenge ADC players to adapt their builds and strategies to maintain relevance in the evolving meta.

Jinx’s Buffs and Wild Arrows Synergy

Jinx’s AD growth is increased from 2.5 to 3.25, enhancing her late-game scaling. However, her W ability’s AD ratio is reduced from 160% to 140%, favoring sustained attack-speed-focused builds over lethality. The buff to Wild Arrows further boosts her potential, solidifying her OP tier status.

Caitlyn’s Nerfs

Caitlyn’s R bonus AD ratio is reduced from 150% to 100%, diminishing her burst potential. Combined with nerfs to The Collector and the rise of Wild Arrows, her build priorities are shifting. Caitlyn moves from OP tier to S tier as her dominance wanes slightly.

Kog’Maw’s Build Adjustments

Kog’Maw’s AP build suffers from nerfs to his Q shred and E damage at max rank. However, his AD build remains strong, as these changes minimally affect his early game. Kog’Maw transitions to a solid S-tier ADC as he adapts to these adjustments.