Greetings, Summoners! Librarian Husky here, your guide through the ever-shifting sands of the meta. Today, we dive into the surprising rise of Malai top and the unfortunate downfall of Re in the support role. Remember the days when knowing how to set up a wave freeze in low ELO felt like a secret skill? Times have changed—low ELO players have leveled up, but it seems some advice from high ELO remains out of touch. Let’s explore what’s shaping the current meta and how you can adapt to stay ahead. Grab your notepad; it’s time to learn!

Challenges for Low ELO Players

When you ask for help, you often receive outdated advice or, worse, tips that only work in High ELO. Suggestions like syncing up wave crashes with teammates across multiple lanes, setting up invades, or prioritizing objectives may theoretically be correct but often don’t work in your own ELO. Instead, it may be something that seems out of the ordinary, like split pushing as an ADC, which can provide you with more agency.

Maokai’s Rising Popularity in Korea

Over in Korea, especially, Maokai has seen a huge spike in play with his play rate now sitting at around 9%. Western regions, on the other hand, have yet to catch on quite as much, with Maokai having around a 2% play rate in North America and Europe. Whenever we see a big spike in play like this, win rates tend to go down as a result. However, Maokai’s win rate has literally increased this patch despite more players picking him up. This is a clear indication of a really strong champion.

Build Strategies for Maokai

The core build for Maokai is really what’s pushing him over the top right now. Utilizing Unending Despair with Winter’s Approach and Spirit Visage provides so much added healing and shielding that it gives Maokai incredible extended fight strength. The build is also super versatile; if you’re up against an AP top laner, you can simply swap the order in which you purchase Unending Despair and Spirit Visage.

Matchups to Avoid

Looking at Maokai’s matchups right now, there are two champions you will want to try and avoid picking him into: Mordekaiser and Fiora. Mordekaiser excels against tankier champions like Maokai because he does a great job at outlasting them in extended fights. Fiora’s W makes it very difficult for Maokai to freely engage with his own W in lane, and as the game drags out, Fiora’s percent health true damage will eat away at Maokai in the side lane.

Conclusion on Maokai’s Viability

Other than these matchups, though, Maokai is faring incredibly well in this patch. You’ll want to take full advantage of him while you can, as we are moving him up into the Top Lane OP tier. Maokai’s gaining popularity is the only significant trend shift in the Top Lane for this patch, so the tier list won’t be changing very much overall.

Adjustments to Ambessa and Jungle Strategies

The other adjustment we’re making is moving Ambessa up into the top tier as she continues to excel with players becoming more accustomed to the pick. If you’re looking for a good answer to Ambessa in case you don’t want to play or ban her, Renekton is one of the better options. Ambessa can’t utilize her mobility to outplay as much in the Renekton matchup.

Due to his point-and-click stun from W, Renekton also has the shield-breaking mechanic built into his W, which negates the shield from Ambessa in a few matchups where she absolutely thrives. Right now, Atrox, Kante, and Yone are unlike Renekton; Atrox actually heavily relies on landing skill shots to deal his damage. So with Ambessa’s mobility, she can do a great job at dodging those and can outplay Atrox much easier than Renekton.

Jungle Changes and New Optimal Skill Order

Moving on to the jungle now, in our pre-patch tier list, we theorized that with the buff to Rammus‘s Q, we could see a new optimal skill order emerge for this patch, and we now have some data to back that up. W max into E second and then Q last is actually what has been winning the most now on Rammus in patch 14.23, outclassing Q max by over 1%. Last patch, though prior to the Q buffs, this skill order of W first into E second and Q last had a 1% lower win rate than Q max first. So, due to the Q changes, it’s now looking like maxing the ability out last is actually quite strong after all. The main reason why maxing Q over W was so good in the past was due to how much the cooldown of Q dropped from the first rank to the last.

Changes in Champion Dynamics

The spell duration has decreased from 16 seconds to 6 seconds, and now that it stands at 12 seconds at rank one, there is less incentive to max the spell first. Instead, players can focus on maximizing early dueling threat and improving clear speed. With this new skill order for Rammus in patch 14.23, he is positioned well for solo queue play in the jungle. However, predictions are not always accurate.

Rengar’s Performance Analysis

Despite initial optimism regarding the buffs for Rengar in this patch, his performance has not improved as expected. Rengar’s win rate has actually decreased, leading to his classification back down to Jungle C tier. There are numerous stronger and easier options available for solo kills, making Rengar less viable in the current meta.

Jungle Tier List Overview

Reviewing the jungle tier list, our pre-patch predictions were fairly accurate. Wukong and Nocturne have been successfully moved into the OP tier, and their performance supports this decision. Additionally, Graves will be moved back up into the OP tier mid-patch, as the nerfs to Ghostblade and The Collector have not sufficiently diminished his standing.

Adjustments to Other Champions

Additional changes include Teemo and Zac being moved down one tier further mid-patch, as their nerfs are proving to be more impactful than initially predicted. This patch has seen significant overhauls to Aurora’s abilities, making her the champion who has benefited the most from these changes.

Aurora’s Performance After Changes

We have observed a win rate spike of just over 1% for Aurora, which is quite significant considering that Riot intended for the changes to be power neutral. The major adjustments were made to Aurora’s passive and ultimate abilities. Players no longer gain movement speed from her passive; instead, they receive it when using her W ability, making her easier to play.

Details of Ability Adjustments

The refresh mechanic of her passive movement speed required players to be more aware, but now simply using W grants movement speed, lowering her skill floor. Furthermore, although her ultimate no longer traps enemies, its duration has increased by one second at rank one and by 1.5 seconds at max rank. This allows Aurora to be more agile, and if enemies try to escape her ultimate, they will still be slowed by 75% for 1.5 seconds. Overall, these changes have had a positive impact on Aurora’s gameplay.

Mid Lane Tier List Update

Now, we find ourselves in a solid position for solo queue, so we’re moving champions up into the mid lane S tier. With the season nearing its end, it seems unlikely that we will see any significant shifts in the meta until the preseason patch arrives. The top tier for mid lane will remain the same, with Ahri and Vex leading the charge. We are also adding a new champion to the mid lane tier list for this patch, as she has been enjoying considerable success in her role. Bessa mid is performing very well against other melee champions and only struggles against longer-range champions like Syndra and H.

In fact, she has a better win rate in mid lane than she does in top lane, which makes sense given how effectively she counters the more squishy, commonly picked melee mids. Aside from the adjustments to Aurora, Azir was the only other mid lane champion to undergo changes this patch, and the buffs have proven somewhat impactful. Although Azir remains on the weaker side compared to many other mid lane champions, the buffs have warranted a move up to mid lane B tier.

ADC Tier List Adjustments

Transitioning to the ADC tier list, we see a variety of minor adjustments taking place in this mid-patch update. The OP tier now consists solely of one champion: Corki. Kai’Sa has exited the OP tier this patch, and with the buffs to Wild Arrows not being particularly impactful for Jinx, Corki reigns supreme right now. Additionally, Kai’Sa has been moved down one tier as the nerfs she received this patch have turned out to be more detrimental than we initially anticipated. There have also been nerfs applied to The Collector.

Changes in ADC Tier List

The recent adjustments have not significantly impacted the overall performance of ADC champions, but Samira has experienced a notable decline in power. As a result, she is now categorized in the B tier. Currently, the Wild Arrows item is not performing exceptionally well across many champions, with Jinx being the standout character who benefits most from it.

Jinx and Wild Arrows

Jinx has emerged as the champion that maximizes the effectiveness of Wild Arrows, making it her best rush option. However, aside from Jinx, other ADCs have not been adopting this item at the same rate. Civer is another ADC that has had some success with Wild Arrows, although its usage remains low among players. Interestingly, Wild Arrows shares the same win rate as Essence Reaver for patch 14.23.

Strategies for Civer Players

If you play Civer, it is advisable to experiment with Wild Arrows to gauge its effectiveness for your playstyle. The optimal build involves rushing Wild Arrows, followed by Infinity Edge and Flicker Blade. This strategy has shown promising results for Civer players.

Impact of Smolder Adjustments

The recent adjustments to Smolder have proven to be power-neutral, as the win rate of champions utilizing this item has remained consistent from the last patch. Consequently, there will be no further movement for Smolder on the tier list, and it continues to be regarded as one of the weaker items.

Underrated ADCs

Several underrated ADC champions, including Vayne, Civer, and Zia, have indirectly gained strength over recent patches. Despite the Collector’s nerfs impacting numerous ADCs directly, these champions have benefited from the relative power boost, making them more viable options in the current meta. The ongoing discussions regarding the support role in patch 14 are also noteworthy.