Hey everyone, Librarian Husky here! I’m excited to bring you the latest updates for Patch 14.15. We’ve got a bunch of changes coming to the ADC Meta, with nerfs to some key items and runes, as well as adjustments to a whole lot of champions. Whether you’re a Top Laner, jungler, midlaner, ADC, or support, there’s something here for you. Let’s dive into all the details and get you prepped for success in your solo queue games!

Item Changes and Affected Champions

Let’s start by looking at all the Item Changes and discussing which champions will be affected the most. Kraken Slayer is going to be nerfed, with its movement speed dropping from 7% to 5%, and its passive damage for ranged champs is also being nerfed. As if Tristana wasn’t already in the gutter, she’ll be getting even weaker with these changes. Kindred, Jinx, Aphelios, Ashe, Xayah, Vayne, and Yasuo are a few other champs who have been building Kraken very regularly and will be negatively affected.

Impact on Jinx

Jinx, in particular, has been performing better analytically in recent patches by rushing Infinity Edge. So, now that Kraken is nerfed, we wouldn’t be surprised if IE begins seeing a lot more play as a rush item. Static Shiv is the other ADC item nerf for this patch, as its movement speed is being reduced from 7% to 5%, and the cost of the item is going up by 100 gold. The biggest Shiv users from recent patches have been Zeri, Kai’Sa, and Sivir, and then very few champs actually prioritize the item.

Effect on Kai’Sa

This nerf will help bring Kai’Sa back down to earth as she has been the highest priority ADC for solo queue over the past few patches. The Fleet Footwork adjustments will influence the strength of a plethora of champs for 14.15. The healing is nerfed early on in the game; however, Riot has stated that from level 14 onwards, the rune is buffed.

Overall Rune Changes

This is really just a flat-out nerf, though, because in a lot of games, you’re not even going to reach level 14 when playing ADC. You may string together a few games in a row where they last super long and you benefit from this change, but over the course of 100 games, the impact will be more noticeable.

Impact of Adjustments on ADCs

There’s no way this adjustment ends up being net positive. Zeri is one champion in particular who should become much weaker for the next patch because she’s hurt by the Shiv and Fleet changes. A handful of other ADCs do have the ability to swap over to Press the Attack, so for someone like Jinx, she shouldn’t be as badly affected due to these nerfs.

Item Nerfs

Lord Dominik’s Regards and Mortal Reminder are also getting nerfed for this patch, but the nerfs won’t have as much of an impact compared to the Kraken Slayer and Shiv nerfs. This is due to the fact that you don’t purchase Lord Dominik’s and Mortal Reminder in every single game. The armor penetration on Lord Dominik’s is dropping from 40% to 35%, while Riot will be reducing the AD on Mortal Reminder from 40 to 35.

Impact on Champions

It’s not even really ADCs that will be impacted most by the Mortal Reminder nerf, as Garen and Gangplank are two champs who build Mortal Reminder more often than others, so they’ll be feeling the effects of this one the most.

Mage Item Changes

If we move on to looking at the Mage Item Changes now, Cosmic Drive is going to be buffed. Health on the item is going up by 100 while the movement speed from its passive is being increased as well. Vladimir and Orianna were the two champs building Cosmic Drive the most in 14.14, so they’ll be most positively impacted by these buffs.

Rocketbelt Adjustments

Many of the champs who used to build Rocketbelt kind of just dropped the item entirely because of how good Lich Bane has been this season. Riot is looking to give Rocketbelt more priority in 14.15. Health on Rocketbelt is going up from 300 to 400. Kennen, Neeko, Ekko, and Fiddlesticks are four champs who will be liking this change.

Mage Item Changes

It feels like an eternity ago when Storm Surge controlled the meta, but it’s been on the weaker side for a while now and is getting buffed for 14.15. Passive bonus movement speed is being increased from 25% to 35%, and the range passive damage proc is going up from 75% to 90%. Vladimir is one champ who’s going to gain the most amount of power from the Mage Item Changes this patch as he can slot Cosmic Drive and Storm Surge into his build.

Impact of Storm Surge Buffs

Very few other champs have been running Storm Surge as a priority purchase in recent patches, so we’ll have to see if these buffs are enough to change that. When it comes to a magic pen purchase, Void Staff has been completely overshadowed by Shadowflame this season, so Riot’s trying to close the gap between the items a little more. They’re doing this by buffing the AP on Void Staff from 90 to 95.

Void Staff Changes

This is definitely not an overly impactful change, as it most likely does not shift the focus away from Shadowflame. Riot’s throwing in one buff for fighter champs this patch as they’re buffing the armor on Death’s Dance from 40 to 50. This makes it a more attractive pickup now in games where the enemy comp is heavy AD and you’re playing a fighter champ.

Death’s Dance Buffs

We had seen Death’s Dance pop up a little bit on Nilah as well in recent patches, so it will be interesting to see if priority comes back to that for 14.15. Another round of buffs to Dark Harvest are on the way as Riot just reduced the cooldown of the rune from 45 to 40 seconds in 14.13, and they’ll be going even further.

Dark Harvest Buffs

This patch is reducing the cooldown of Dark Harvest from 40 to 35 seconds, taking off 10 seconds now in the span of a few patches. This makes Dark Harvest a lot more attractive on laners who have strong poke power and can consistently proc the rune in lane. There’s a second buff as well, with the on-takedown cooldown of Dark Harvest being lowered from 1.5 to 1 second.

Champions Benefiting from Dark Harvest Buffs

Teemo, Vel’Koz, Lux, and Xerath are a few laners who have been performing pretty well with Dark Harvest in previous patches, so these buffs will increase the priority of the rune even more. Those are all the item and rune changes that will be live this patch.

Top Lane Changes

With all that covered, let’s head over to the Top Lane. Irelia is going to be adjusted as her base health is being increased from 590 to 630. Health regen is going down, however, from 8.5 to 6. This will be a buff for very early on in the lane and increase the level two all-in power of Irelia. However, as the lane drags out and the longer you stay in lane, the health regen nerf can outweigh the base health buff.

Top Lane Meta Stability

For now, we’ll be holding off on moving Irelia up the tier list as it’s difficult to say how the changes will land exactly for the average player. The meta for Top Lane will be quite stable for another patch as we continue to rate Sett and Volibear as two of the most consistent Top Lane carries.

Other Top Lane Adjustments

There are a few more champions that are played in the Top Lane who are being adjusted for this patch, but since Top Lane is not their main role, we’ll be covering them in detail later on. These champs include Skarner, Akali, Yone, Yasuo, and Kog’Maw.

Top Lane Champion Changes

The changes that we think could have a significant impact for Top Lane are the ones to Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia‘s changes are definitely the most interesting for Top Lane because her base mana is going up early on and the cost of her E is being reduced. It’s much easier for Top Lane Cassiopeia to take advantage of these buffs because she’ll be up against melee champs more often and will be able to look for level two all-in plays more reliably. Definitely don’t sleep on Cassiopeia top for this patch as we do think she could emerge as one of the more under-the-radar picks, and we’re moving her into the S tier.

Jungle Champion Changes

We just recently moved Shyvana up into the jungle OP tier and immediately after that, Riot has decided to nerf her for 14.15. Base damage on E is going up; however, the total AD ratio is being swapped for a bonus AD ratio and the AP ratio is being lowered. E in dragon form is dropping as well, with a 30% AD ratio being swapped for a 50% bonus AD ratio, and the AP ratio is going down from 30% to 20%. The damage over time from E in dragon form is also dropping as the 40% total AD ratio is being swapped for a 120% bonus AD ratio. Keep in mind, a bonus AD ratio is much less powerful than a total AD ratio, so even though the percent value is higher on the bonus AD ratio, it’s still a nerf.

Fleet Footwork Nerfs

We also have to take into account that Fleet Footwork is being nerfed for this patch too, and the rune has been a big reason why Shyvana has been so good as of late. With the direct nerfs combined with those Fleet changes, we do see Shyvana losing a good chunk of power and we’ll be dropping her from OP into S tier.

Skarner Adjustments

Skarner got absolutely hammered by his 14.13 nerfs, so Riot is revisiting the changes to make adjustments accordingly.

Skarner’s Buffs and Adjustments

The champion is getting some power back for 14.15. Health growth of Skarner is going up from 105 to 110, and the Q mana cost will be lowered from 50 to 45. There’s also a Q quality of life change that will be issued, along with a quality of life change to Skarner‘s E, which will no longer grab units behind him. Considering Skarner has been a 46% win rate champ over the past two patches, these are extremely underwhelming changes and we won’t be moving him up the tier list.

Jungle OP Tier Changes

We’ve got a new look to the jungle OP tier for this patch. With Shyvana dropping down, we’re going to be promoting Kha’Zix and Lillia. Lillia didn’t end up losing very much power from her 14.14 nerf, so we’re moving her back up into OP. As for Kha’Zix, he’s been on the verge of OP for a while now as he was directly buffed a few patches back, and now that Dark Harvest has been buffed multiple times, that’s been really good for him too.

Impact on Kindred and Graves

Kindred and Graves are likely to lose a little bit of power this patch as the Kraken nerfs affect Kindred, while the Fleet nerfs hit Graves. We won’t move them down the tier list for now, though, as it’s hard to say exactly how impactful those indirect nerfs will be. Dark Harvest changes will give a small boost in power to a bunch of junglers, but we definitely think the buffs of the rune are more skewed towards helping laners than junglers.

Mid Lane Champion Changes

Mid lane is the role with the most amount of champion changes for 14.15. So, let’s dive right into them, starting with Yasuo. Keep in mind, Yasuo is negatively impacted by the Fleet and Kraken nerfs, so even though the buffs are targeting other aspects of his kit, he may still struggle.

Yasuo’s Buffs and Impact

He’s getting directly buffed, but he won’t be gaining as much power as you may think. E damage will be increased as the base value is going from 60 scaling to 100 to 70 scaling to 130. Stack scaling on E is buffed, going from 15 scaling to 25% to just a flat 25%. Base armor is also going up from 30 to 32. Without question, Yasuo’s early game all-in strength becomes stronger for the next patch.

Yasuo’s Early Game Strength

If you’re a good Yasuo player who can capitalize on openings consistently, then even with the nerfs to Kraken and Fleet, we could see the champ coming out of the patch better off. With that said, Fleet losing early sustain will hurt the champ in more difficult matchups, as gaining damage doesn’t really matter if you can’t actually trade consistently. We’re leaning more towards the changes being relatively neutral on the grand scale, so we won’t be shifting Yasuo’s tier list placement for now.

Talon’s Q Adjustment

Who knows how impactful this Talon buff is going to be, as Riot has stated they are changing his Q so that it now always dashes to targets. Does this mean his Q would sometimes not actually work in previous patches? We’re not exactly sure, but maybe if you’re a Talon main and know more about this, you could provide more insight. No change to Talon’s tier list placement for now as we’re not sure at all how impactful the buff will actually be.

Aurora’s Nerfs

Riot’s not wasting any time at all in issuing nerfs to Aurora, as she has landed in quite a powerful spot for a new champion.

Aurora’s Nerfs and Adjustments

Passive base movement speed is going down and the bonus movement speed per spirit is being changed from a flat 5% to 2% plus 3% per 100 AP. A quality of life change is being issued to Q2 so that it no longer misses its original target. W will also be getting a quality of life change so that invisibility breaking on auto attacks now happens on launch attack instead of pre-attack, so you won’t accidentally unvis by starting and canceling an attack.

Cooldown and Range Changes

W cooldown is being changed from 18 scaling to 14 seconds to 20 scaling to 16 seconds. E jump back range is being changed from 800 to 150 plus two times your movement speed. R is getting a few quality of life changes and will also be getting some damage nerfs as the base damage on R is dropping from 250 scaling to 500 to 200 scaling to 450. The R AP ratio is down as well from 65% to 60%.

Impact on Aurora’s Strength

Considering Aurora is still very new and players have yet to fully optimize the pick, we don’t think she’ll actually be that much weaker this patch as a result of these nerfs. If you just look at the average win rate of Aurora in 14.14, it doesn’t give you a true picture of her strength because as the patch rolled along and players became more accustomed to the pick, her win rate rose a ton.

Win Rate Data Analysis

Looking at day-by-day win rates gives us a better idea of where Aurora is at, and towards the end of the patch, she was winning over 53% of the time in diamond and above. Riot likely picked up on this data as well, and it’s the reason why Aurora is being nerfed even though you may not think she needs it.

Assessing Aurora’s Nerfs

She’s nerf-worthy based on her average win rate from the patch. We had Aurora placed in the A tier for 14.14 and we probably could have even had her in the S tier with how well she progressed throughout the patch. So with these nerfs going live, we see A tier being a good fit.

Aurelion Sol Adjustments

Riot overshot with the 14.14 Aurelion Sol adjustments, so they are toning him down a notch for 14.15. Q mana cost is going up from 30 scaling to 50 to 35 scaling to 55. W base range is being lowered from 1500 scaling to 1900 to just a flat 1500. E mana cost takes a hit as well, going from 80 to 90. So three flat-out nerfs to Aurelion Sol for the next patch, and as a result, we will be moving him back down the mid lane tier list from S to A.

Cassiopeia Adjustments

The Cassiopeia adjustments are ones that we are pretty excited to see how they play out as Riot’s putting more power back into her early laning in exchange for a weaker late game. Base mana is going up from 350 to 400; however, mana per level is down from 60 to 40. This means that up until level four you will now have more mana than before, but level four onwards you’ll have less.

Mana Cost Reductions

Q mana cost is dropping from 50 scaling to 90 to 50 scaling to 70. W mana cost is also going down from 70 scaling to 110 to 70 scaling to 90. The E change is pretty massive as mana cost is being reduced from 50 scaling to 42 to a flat 40 at all ranks.

Early Game Power

With more base mana and now with E costing 10 mana less, the level two all-in strength of Cassiopeia does become significantly more threatening for 14.15. Damage has never been an issue for Cassiopeia, and these changes make her early game even stronger.