League of Legends 12.20 Patch Notes: Aatrox Nerfed, Blitzcrank Adjusted

With the pre-season coming closer than we expected, the League of Legends patch 12.20 serves as one of the few last patches before the pre-season patch comes online

Champion Buffs

Evelynn

Evelynn’s Q, Hate Spike, is buffed. Its Q marked bonus damage is now increased from 10/20/30/40/50 to 15/25/35/45/55.

The charm duration on her W, Allure, is increased from 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 seconds to 1.25/1.5/1.75/2/2.25 seconds

Evelynn has been falling off compared to other AP assassins, so Riot Games buffed her burst power to make it easier for her to kill enemies.

Gwen

Gwen’s Q, Snip Snip’s damage per snip is increased from 10-26 to 10-30, while the last snip damage is increased from 60-140 to 60-160.

Gwen has not been intimidating for a while, so she is getting buffed to boost mid-game potential to help her compete with other fighters.

Jayce

The mana restore on Jayce’s W, Lightning Field, is increased from 6/8/10/12/14/16 to 6/8/10/12/14/16.

His R, Transform Mercury Hammer’s bonus armour and magic resist increased from 5/15/25/35 to 5/15/25/35 with + 7.5% bonus AD.

With Jayce, switching to melee and charging into the opposing team can be quite challenging and terrifying in the late game. As a result, he is receiving minor buffs that will make him more durable in the late game and provide him with more playing tools in his melee form to play with.

Rammus

The self slow on Rammus’s W, Defensive Curl, is nerfed from 30% to 0%, ultimately removing its debuff effect.

The dash speed on his R, Soaring Slam is increased from 105% move speed to 110% move speed.

Rammus' W received a nerf as a result of the 12.19 bugfix. Because of this buff, some of his weights have been lifted, and he will now move much more quickly.

However, Riot Games will be monitoring Rammus to make sure he is as quick and tanky as possible, and tweaks will be made if necessary.

Wukong

The physical damage per cast on Wukong’s R, Cyclone, is increased from 8/12/16% of target's maximum health (+ 220% AD) to 8/12/16% of target's maximum health (+ 275% AD)

Wukong currently has a higher damage output if his ultimate is ended before the countdown expires, which is poor by today’s standards.

His ultimate is therefore getting strengthened so that it may be used for the entire length instead of ending it early.

Ziggs

The magic damage on Ziggs’ Q, Bouncing Bomb, is increased from 85/135/185/235/285 (+ 65% AP) to 95/145/195/245/295 (+ 65% AP).

Ziggs has had a difficult year and is in desperate need of more power in his arsenal. Thus, he is obtaining more power to aid him in pushing lanes for more map priority.

Champion Nerfs

Aatrox

Aatrox’s passive, Deathbringer Stance’s healing is reduced from 100% of damage dealt to 80% of damage dealt.

According to Riot Phroxzon on his Twitter account, Aatrox had to be nerfed because he was still strong even after Eclipse was nerfed.

His passive not only gives him a huge amount of damage, but also a huge number of healing thanks to the Lethality item, which amplifies his percent max health damage.

Eclipse had been nerfed in the last patch but it did not stop Aatrox from dominating his lane, regardless whether he used Goredrinker or Eclipse.

His healing had to be nerfed so players must rely on skillshots to sustain himself.

Maokai

Maokai’s passive, Sap Magic’s healing is reduced from 4.5-12 percent max health to 4-10% max health.

His ultimate, Nature’s Grasp, is also nerfed by increasing its cooldown from 120/100/80 seconds to 120/110/100 seconds.

Maokai’s update has made him into a flex champion for several roles, but he is a top laner at his roots.

So, his sustain is getting tuned down in his mid-to-late game and his ultimate cooldown is increased to hedge his strength.

Sett

Sett’s base Magic Resist is reduced from 32 to 28.

His passive, Pit Grit’s bonus health regeneration is reduced from 0.25/0.5/1/2 to 0.15/0.5/1/2 while his Right Punch bonus AD ratio is increased from 50% to 55%.

Riot Phroxzon said these changes were made to nerf Sett Mid, affecting his performance at the top lane.

Champion Adjustments

Elise

The cast range on Elise’s Q, Neurotoxin, is decreased from 625 to 575. Its range detection is also changed from Edge of Elise’s model to center of target’s hitbox to center of Elise’s model to edge of target’s hitbox.

These changes are targeted to Elise’s human form.

Elise's Q range is currently smaller than her auto attack range, which causes an awkward side step when she uses Q and subsequently auto attacks enemies.

While the numbers are reduced, the change to her range should result in a minor range boost, especially when facing larger enemies, and should make her combos feel smoother.

Blitzcrank

Blitzcrank’s base AD is decreased from 62 to 60. His attack speed is also nerfed from 0.65 to 0.625

The shield amount on his passive, Mana Barrier, is reduced from 30 per cent of maximum mana to 15-45 per cent of maximum mana which scales from 1 to level 18.

The damage on monsters on his W, Overdrive, now scales from 60 to 180, to 60-220, which also scales from level 1 to level 18.

Patch 12.19 succeeded in persuading players to try out Blitzcrank as a jungler. However, he is still not as strong as Riot wanted him to be.

On the flipside, these changes increased his strength as a support, unintentionally. Therefore, Riot Games nerfed Blitzcrank support while increasing his jungle prowess.

Item Buffs

Mortal Reminder

Mortal Reminder’s total cost is increased from 2500 gold to 2600 gold. Its attack damage stat is increased from 25 to 35, while its attack speed is decreased from 25 per cent to 20 percent.

Mortal Reminder has been buffed to be a better Grievous Wounds item, but it is still outshined by Phantom Dancer in terms of stats. So, its AD stat is emphasised so it can stand out against Phantom Dancer’s attack speed and movement speed.

Sterak’s Gage

Sterak’s Gage’s The Claws that Catch bonus AD is increased from 45 percent base AD to 50 percent base AD.

Its Lifeline shield amount is from 75 percent bonus health decaying over 3.75 seconds to 80 percent bonus health decaying over 4.5 seconds.

Sterak’s Gage has been outshined by Death’s Dance as a preferred Bruiser item since champions are not worried about getting burst down immediately.

This item is buffed to make it more relevant to Bruisers, so it will still be taken into consideration when players are deciding on their itemisation.

Item Nerfs

Frozen Heart

Frozen Heart’s total cost is increased from 2,500 gold to 2,700 gold and the cost to combine it is now 800 gold instead of 600 gold.

Its armour stat is increased from 80 to 90 and its Rock Solid damage reduction is reduced from 7 (+ 3.5 per 1000 health) to 5 (+ 3.5 per 1000 health).

Frozen Heart has been quite a strong tank item for the majority of this season, but it has been gaining traction as an early rush item on non-tanks.

Its base damage reduction is reduced to synergise it better with tanks, while his gold cost is increased so non-tanks have to delay their damage items even longer should they choose to build this item.

Item Adjustments

Demonic Embrace

Demonic Embrace’s health is reduced to 350 from 450 and its Ability Power is increased from 60 to 70. Burn damage per tick for ranged champions is reduced from 1 percent maximum health to 0.8 percent maximum health.

Demonic Embrace currently is working well for AP bruisers like Sylas and ranged Damage over time champions like Brand.

Unfortunately, it is working too well for AP tanks like Amumu and Zac. This change focuses on the AP aspects, so it works the same for primary users while nerfing the tankiness of the item for pure tank champions.