Good day! It’s Librarian Husky. So, if we start things off by covering the most impactful top lane adjustments of 14.13, Skarner is now gone from the meta. Max health damage from Q dropping from 15% to 10% was such a huge nerf, not to mention the mana cost increase on Q as well. With Skarner Q being his main damage source and ability he uses to poke in lane, the nerfs have heavily impacted his viability for solo queue. We had moved Skarner down into A tier for the pre-patch tier list, but he’s in need of a push further down for mid patch now that we’ve seen just how detrimental the changes have turned out. So we’re moving the Scorpion into C tier.

Gangplank Adjustment and Current Top Lane Meta

Other than Skarner falling off a cliff, the top lane meta remains pretty stable as we reach the midway point of the patch. We accidentally had Gangplank placed in the top lane C tier for the pre-patch tier list, so we’re adjusting him up into B tier where we intended to have him. The buff Gangplank received this patch was somewhat impactful as his win rate has gone up about 1%, but it wasn’t quite enough to push him into joining that upper percentile of top lane champs. If players would adjust to the new optimal rune setup for Gangplank,

Analytical Insights on Rune Choices

It would definitely lead to a better analytical showing. Most players are either taking Grasp or First Strike, but Fleet Footwork is winning way more. It’s Precision primary with Inspiration secondary, which is a page we are seeing a lot more of as of recent, especially on ADCs. Fleet with Absorb Life and Biscuits gives GP some nice sustain.

Top Lane Changes in Patch 14.13

All the other top lane changes for 14.13 have played out to expectation. Kennan is now slotted into an A tier spot, while Gragas ended up losing his S tier status and is now in A tier as well. Zac ended up losing no win rate at all as a result of his nerf, so our decision to not drop him down the tier list was the correct play.

Minor Adjustments and Buffs

There was also the very minor Pantheon buff to his W damage, and as expected, Pan did not gain any significant strength from it. The big story coming out of the jungle for 14.13 has revolved around the death of a few AP junglers. Karthus’ nerf may have seemed light on paper, but the damage lost on Q has resulted in a 3% loss in win rate.

Impact of Karthus Nerf

With many other champs, losing just three damage on their main damage tool wouldn’t really matter that much. But the reason a change like this affects Karthus so much more is because his Q is such a spammable ability. For a spell without an actual cooldown, that three damage you’re missing adds up extremely fast while you’re clearing your jungle.

AP Jungler Meta Shift

Especially since Karthus is a jungler who wants to full clear pretty much every single game, this nerf to his clear speed is a big reason why he’s lost so much strength. So when it comes down to AP junglers, Lilia is now miles ahead of Karthus priority-wise, as we’ll be shifting Karthus into the C tier for mid patch.

Changes to Electrocute and Dark Harvest

The changes to Electrocute and Dark Harvest have been interesting to track as the patch has rolled out. Nidalee is one champ who seems to have a new optimal rune setup, with her being such an early game-reliant jungler.

Optimal Runes for Nidalee

The rune that has been seeing the most success on her in 14.13 is actually Electrocute. Dark Harvest and Conqueror are still more popular, but because Electrocute was buffed so heavily in the early game, it’s fitting in really nicely on Nidalee. You have more damage and a lower cooldown on Electrocute now, so it’s perfect for Nidalee to help her snowball more reliably.

Full Rune Setup for Nidalee

Here’s a look at the full rune setup as you’re taking Domination for primaries and then grabbing Precision for secondaries. If you put the time into Nidalee and can play her at a good level, then she’s in a solid spot right now as you’ll find her in the jungle A tier.

Jungle Tier List Overview

Having a look at the jungle tier list, it was a relatively tame patch, so not much has shifted in the grand scheme of things. Lilia remains as the lone OP tier jungler. Look to take advantage of her while you can because Riot has thrown some nerfs on the PBE that will be headed to live servers for 14.14.

Impact of Skarner’s Nerfs

It wasn’t just top lane Skarner who was decimated by the nerfs this patch, as jungle Skarner is in just as bad of a spot now. Jungle didn’t end up losing as much strength as top, but that doesn’t really say much when you take into account top lane Skarner is now one of the weakest champs in the game. Jungle Skarner is being moved further down into the C tier for mid patch.

Changes in Jungle Meta

The most notable shift for jungle this patch is definitely the fact that Karthus and Taliyah are now absent from meta. Both champs have been quite high priority ever since the addition of Blackfire Torch, but their time as powerful carries has come to an end in 14.13.

Dark Harvest on Mages

We noted in the pre-patch tier list that we’d be keeping a close eye on how Dark Harvest performs on certain mages, and Lux is looking like one of the bigger winners. Dark Harvest had its damage per stack increased; however, its base damage was lowered. Champions that have a relatively easy time farming stacks benefit much more from the rune now. With Lux, she has the ability to farm stacks in lane due to the long-range poke.

Optimal Rune Page for Lux

It’s even easier to get those stacks rolling in. The rune page leading to the best results for Lux in 14.13 revolves around running Domination primary and then grabbing Sorcery for secondaries. Lux had already been one of the better solo queue mages in recent patches, and this indirect buff to Dark Harvest has solidified her spot in the S tier even more.

ADC Mid Lane Meta

We’re seeing pros really gravitate towards ADCs in the mid lane right now, and the best that you can play for solo queue is Tristana. Ezreal and Corki are two other ADCs that are being played quite often in mid lane right now, but Tristana just has way more agency over both of them.

Advantages of Playing Tristana

It’s so much easier to succeed with Tristana as she doesn’t really rely on landing a single skill shot, and her pushing power is superior. You’ve got to be way more immaculate mechanically in order to win with Ezreal or Corki, whereas with Tristana, there’s nothing mechanical that will hold you back. So it’s just about playing off your power spikes and punishing enemies’ mispositioning.

Early Game Strength of Tristana

Tristana has the ability to strike as early as level two, which is another factor that gives her the edge in solo queue. Being able to force an all-in that early on in lane and generate an advantage helps to set you up really well in winning lane. Even if you don’t kill the enemy, just having that health advantage so that you can freely do what you want in lane opens up so much for yourself and your jungler.

Mid Patch Tier List Adjustments

So, for Tristana’s tier list placement, we’re going to be giving her a bump up from A into S for mid patch. The mid patch tier list OP tier is looking the same as where it was before.

Pre-Patch Overview

We had it for pre-patch with Naafiri and Vex on top. Brand nerfs have played out to our general expectations as the champ has lost a bit of strength, but not to the extent where you should stop playing him at all, as he’s still a phenomenal S tier option.

Buffs to Lissandra and Orianna

Lissandra and Orianna were the two midlaners who got buffed this patch, and they’ve both seen an increase in strength, matching what we expected. Orianna is no longer in the bottom percentile of mid lane champs any longer as she’s now in the B tier, while Lissandra is a really solid A tier pickup in the correct spots.

Lissandra’s W Buff Impact

With that Lissandra W buff where it’s now on a 2-second shorter cooldown at rank one, she’s finding a ton of success into both Yasuo and Yone, along with most other melee mids.

Changes in the Bot Lane

The big change down in the bot lane for 14.13 was centered around Misfortune, as she’s back in a great spot for solo queue. Not only was the champ directly buffed, but there’s also a new build that players have gravitated towards that’s adding even more power.

Misfortune’s New Build

Bloodthirster rush is back on Misfortune and winning more than anything else right now. Bloodthirster has even better synergy with Misfortune than most champions because of the way her W movement speed interacts with shields. Normally, whenever you take damage, the movement speed boost from W drops off immediately. If you take damage while shielded, though, and for as long as the shield does not break, you won’t be slowed down.

Misfortune’s Build and Meta Adjustments

Losing the movement speed from W, so the shield from Bloodthirster not only makes MF more difficult to take down but keeps her a little more mobile as well. With Barrier now in meta as the best secondary summoner spell for ADCs, it’s just a ludicrous amount of shielding in general once you pick up that Bloodthirster.

Optimal Core Build for Misfortune

The optimal core build that you’ll want to be running on Misfortune consists of the BT rush into Essence Reaver second and Infinity Edge third. Rune page has also begun to shift as of recent, with more high Elo MF players liking Conqueror, and it’s even winning more than Press the Attack.

Misfortune’s Tier List Placement

So for Miss Fortune’s tier list placement, we’ll be giving her an added push up the tier list for mid patch, going from A into S tier. Other than Misfortune moving up the tier list, all the other ADC changes were either neutral or negative.

OP Tier ADCs

OP tier is now going to be locked down by Jinx and Kai’Sa as they are cut above all else right now. Barrier coming back into meta has been great for Kai’Sa. The level six skirmish power of Kai’Sa just feels super nuts right now, especially if she’s paired with an engaged support.

Kai’Sa’s Strength

You have the shield from R and then the shield from Barrier, which just gives the champ the ability to force fights really well. We were optimistic that the Varus changes would lead to on-hit Varus moving into a good spot, but the changes have just weakened the strength of the champ as a whole.

Other ADC Adjustments

On-hit is definitely much better as lethality is pretty dead, but both builds have become weaker due to the changes and we will be moving Varus down to C tier for mid patch. Kalista and Xayah were the other two ADCs adjusted, and the changes have played out to expectations. Xayah did not gain very much power at all as a result of her buffs.

Kalista’s Current Position in the Meta

While Kalista is now the weakest solo queue ADC that you can choose, Riot’s going to have to do something about this Warmog Rush on melee supports because it’s absolutely taking over the meta right now.

Alistar and Warmog’s Armor

Alistar is one of the best Warmog users and is being moved up into the support S tier for mid patch. Alistar has better synergy than most supports with Warmog’s because of his passive. Alistar‘s passive heal scales off his max health, so he not only gets much tankier but also provides his teammates with a massive heal by building Warmog’s.

Support Item Upgrade Priority

Now it’s not just the Warmog Rush that a lot of high ELO and pro supports have been liking recently as support item upgrade priority has been shifting as well. Nautilus, in specific, is one support that many pros have been loving with Bloodsong as their item upgrade. Bloodsong makes a lot of sense on Nautilus because whenever he lands a hook, he’s guaranteed to land an auto attack right after and proc the bonus damage from Bloodsong.

Nautilus Build Strategy

You already have enough tankiness from building Warmog’s anyways, so swapping out Celestial Opposition for Bloodsong when running this build works great. As for Nautilus‘ tier list placement, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise he’s up in the S tier with many of the other Warmog’s users.

Support Tier List Dominance

So for the support tier list, it’s the same theme as we’ve been working with for the past few patches now. Warmog’s supports are dominating the meta as Alistar, Braum, Nautilus, Leona, Rell, Maokai, and Poppy are all incredibly strong with the item.

Countering Melee Supports

If you’re looking for a champ to use as a counter to these melee supports, both Nami and Karma are two pretty good options. Nami and Karma, being enchanters that can exert some early game dominance, can look to shut down those melee supports before they are able to hit their massive Warmog’s spike.

Leblanc Support

Leblanc support is a really interesting pick right now, who’s gotten better this patch due to the Electrocute buff. She’s another pick that you can look to use against those melee supports, as you can really take advantage of the Electrocute cooldown buff against them.

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