It’s been three days since Riot officially confirmed the patch for this week – yes, I’m considering a sale on new content that ends this coming Sunday an official confirmation – and there’s still no word on when it will actually drop. Nothing. Nada. No post in the announcement forums, nothing in the server status forums. Not even an update to the sale announcement that pushes the dates back.

I’d like to say I’m not one to speculate but, frankly, I speculate often so here it goes. My guess is that there’s some trouble related to a widespread Twisted Treeline rollout. I still stand on the assumption that it’s coming in this patch. The matchmaking test on the Test Realm was so short that my guess is they got a quick confirmation that, yes, it will work. If it was a no, you can bet there would have been more testing to figure out why. It’s a pattern Riot has followed rigorously to this point. Hell, when it seems 80% of the population can’t connect or chronically crashes the servers are set to “busy” while the team attempts to sort things out.

It’s also safe to say that this is the biggest patch since launch, with the possible exception of the store. The Twisted Treeline update will change the game in a huge way, and will likely a whole new set of hardware. Add to it the major revamp the patch gave to Twisted Fate and the release of a new champ with completely new mechanic and you have the heaviest content patch we’ve seen.

I’m still convinced it won’t happen, though. Tomorrow’s Friday and there’s still no news.

Patch notes are up on the Test Realm forum for the Ezreal rollout and I’ll say it, I’m scared. I was mostly excited for the last patch, but the XP system blew chunks and that queue dodge penalty is the worst thing to happen to the game since Nidalee. There are a few diamonds in the rough, though, and I’m hoping they will be enough to carry me through.

First, Shaco is getting a massive nerf. Deceive damage is down 10% at all levels, Jack in the Box damage scales more slowly and has its AP ratio decreased, and, the whopper, throwing Two-Shiv while stealthed breaks you out. It’s not clear whether that removes your crit damage bonus – my hope is that it doesn’t – but it’s possible. You might notice that none of this makes him any more viable for the late game, which is most players’ complaint.

Then there’s Nidalee. I’m personally of the opinion that she needs the kind of nerf Shaco received. Unfortunately, Riot didn’t contact me regarding the matter, so she’s getting a tiny nerf and a little buff. Primal Surge now has its mana cost increased by 5 per level instead of the flat 50. Can I just say that this is in no way a nerf. By the time you reach the max rank, most players have more than enough mana to cover the difference, particularly if they’re going AP build. Which reminds me, AP Nidalee just got a fat buff. Javelin Toss AP ratio is up to 55% from 40%. The other change is reducing her passive to 15% move speed from 25%. Really, though, that’s not the issue with Nidalee’s escapability. It’s the fact that you can spam Pounce, which, when coupled with the brush bonus, makes her extremely difficult to kill. They could take it down to 8% and she would still probably get out of most situations.

Twisted Fate got enough changes to make him a lot less frustrating to play against and probably more overall fun. His new passive, Loaded Dice, grants TF’s team an extra 2 gold per kill. It’s actually worse than Second Sight in my mind, but not such a problem. Gate is gone. In its place is Stacked Deck, which is basically a built in Sword of the Divine. Every fourth attack deals magic damage that scales by level, affected by ability power. It also increases his attack speed and reduces cooldowns. He’s another in the latest string of toons that will benefit in big ways from Guinsoo’s. The new skill is obviously severely overpowered, but a slight nerf should bring it in line. Gate is now built into Destiny, allowing you to teleport anywhere on the map though it no longer slows. Overall, I think it’s a good change, and will actually make him a lot more fun.

There are some other minor changes, including a slight buff to the XP system (50% of a level’s XP for same level champion kills instead of 40%) , but most of them shouldn’t change the game much. The XP system will still likely too heavily prioritize farming, but it just might be enough to discourage a lot of 5-man while encouraging some push. Honestly, though, ganking is what makes the game fun. Almost no amount of XP nerfing will make me want to stop.

With yesterday’s Jax buffs you can bet you’ll be seeing a lot more of the lamppost-wielding master at arms. The changes made him much more viable for competitive play, but he still requires a skilled player to truly dominate a game. I lost a few games in a row as Jax today, in part because my teammates couldn’t quite figure out how to complement the Jax playstyle. He is very different, so I’ve put together this quick guide to help you get the most from any Jax you might lane with.

As with most melee carries, Jax is most effective when he’s fighting. He really starts to shine, though, when someone is attacking him back. This is especially important to consider early game, when one stun can be the difference between a kill and a death. If specced and runed, Jax can have nearly 20% dodge at level one with Counter Strike. If you see him engage an enemy, especially a physical damage dealer, get in there with him. Chances are he’ll have a Counter Strike stun within the first 2-3 hits.

The same is true for the rest of the game. By level 6, Jax can easily have 30% dodge or more if he gets his Ninja Tabi, and it improves, albeit with diminishing returns, from there. If you see Jax engage and you are confident it will be an even fight or better in your favor by numbers, fight. His damage output is huge, and with his dodge chance and stun, you should both walk away in the end. The one exception is two casters, like an Annie/Ryze combo. Without silence, you’re both probably dead.

For the rest of the game, your best bet is to shut down casters early and often. Very few players can withstand Jax and a friend, and once you reach a certain farm level, meeting Jax one on one is guaranteed death.

There is one situation in particular that I feel needs covered because it happened to me several times today and it is infuriating to watch. If you have a Zilean on your team, consider that he can use his ult offensively. It is not just a tool to help you get away from an ignite or a poison. Jax is a great target for Zilean ult because he is very high damage and has to get in the mix to be a threat. If Zilean throws his ult on Jax, blow all of your cooldowns on as many enemies as you can see. They’ll surely burn Jax when he jumps in, but if you’ve done enough damage, he can pop up in the center of the scrum and wreak havoc.

Jax is in a better spot than he’s ever been, but he requires an extremely aggressive playstyle to succeed. If you can support that style, you’ll probably have a lot of fun playing with him. If not, be ready for a long game, because you’ll need a lot of farm before he becomes effective.

In my post about today’s patch I neglected to mention the big changes made to Gragas. The barrel-tossing brute hasn’t been in many of my games since his release. The ones in which he’s appeared have typically resulted in a loss for his summoner’s record. He simply doesn’t cut it. Today, Riot tried to rectify that situation.

Gragas got a round of buffs and bug fixes to help him get his groove back. He now attacks faster, scales better, moves faster in Body Slam, his barrels roll faster, and his ultimate casts farther and hits a larger radius than before. Granted, it was just patch day, but I have yet to see him once.

I’ll admit, I’ve never played Gragas. I’m willing to bet, though, that his unpopularity comes from his feel. His spells aren’t very interesting, and for thick casters you can do a lot better. I’ll keep an eye out for Gragas sightings over the next few days but I’m willing to bet the buffs weren’t enough.

I don’t know about you, but I was shocked to see a patch dropping today. Maybe all the downtime distracted me enough that I didn’t see it coming. It’s here, though, and packed full of Winter Olympic themed content for our enjoyment.

The big news this patch, at least the stuff Riot is touting most, is the eight Olympic-themed skins and the Olympic event that will take place over the next two weeks. As with the Snowdown Showdown event, the patch includes a special version of Summoner’s Rift and themed runes. Here’s the list of skins set to be available:

-The Mighty Jax
-Curling Veigar
-Vancouver Amumu
-Ice Toboggan Corki
-Whistler Village Twitch
-Team Spirit Anivia
-Festival Kassadin
-Union Jack Fiddlesticks

There will also be a special “Jack of Hearts” skin for Twisted Fate, available in celebration of Valentine’s Day.

Even though I won’t buy it, that Jax skin is one of the best skins out there. If only the hero was worth the RP. It’s nice to see some lesser heroes get a little skin love, though I’ll have to see how much they cost before passing judgement on whether or not they’re worth it.

Check the wallpapers for the rest of the skins at Pendragon’s forum post.

On the whole, I’ve been pretty impressed with Riot for its support. The servers are rarely down, and when they are, it’s typically for short periods of time. Until recently, anyway. It’s no secret that there’s been a lot of server trouble since the last patch. I won’t blame today’s issues on the patch, not in full anyway, but there have been red posts confirming that the latest patch included at least one crash bug. Couple the server-crippling problems with glitches like double spell casting and I have to ask, did they patch too soon?

My answer is yes. Absolutely. Frankly, I don’t know why it wasn’t broken into to two patches. There was so much content that something was bound to go wrong, particularly on a rushed schedule. Granted, the community was getting restless for Pantheon and Gragas, but both in one patch? Why? Pantheon was obviously ready – the only complaint I see about him is his ultimate, which needs very little change in my mind – but Gragas is a confused mess of AP, physical damage, and tanking skills. He doesn’t scale well and fits poorly into most team comps. Why not save him for a later patch.

I wouldn’t bother writing this if it didn’t have me worried about later patches. My hope is that the Twisted Treeline patch will get plenty of testing before it flies through. On the whole, I’d be much happier with six hours of scheduled maintenance each week to roll out small patches than the 10+ hours we’ve had this week to fix the blunders of the latest patch.

If you’ve played any games as Gragas you’ve probably felt pretty underwhelmed. I know I have. Generally, I like to give a new toon a chance to shine, but Gragas really can’t, and it comes down to his lack of internal synergy.

I realize that sounds like something from a Six Sigma retreat on 30 Rock so I’ll try to clarify. Gragas suffers because his skills are a weird mix of AP and physical damage. While some at Riot contend that he does best with a health/physica DPS build, the player community is frustrated with where that puts his AP scaling skills, most notably Barrel Roll and his ultimate.

Luckily, Riot has seen the light. Gragas will soon be receiving a buff per red posts on the forums. I’ll be interested to see how much, though. As it stands I think he’s fine for the early game, but he really suffers mid to late. Buff him the wrong way and suddenly he’s too big early and starts to feel just right late.

For what they got wrong with Gragas, they got completely right with Pantheon. I am completely in love with that Spartan bastard.

If you’ve been anxiously logging in every twenty minutes to check the servers you can stop your wait. Everything’s back up and running with the reported changes in place. As of this writing the store isn’t functioning, so I haven’t been able to pick up Pantheon just yet.

I am looking forward to a lot of the changes, though. As a Gangplank player I was glad to see the change to Parrrley in that it now applies Grog Soaked Wound. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve crit someone to a sliver of health just to watch him run off. There is a strange bug in his attack animation wherein every few attacks he points his gun at the target and it clicks as though you’ve tried to fire Parrrley and it didn’t go off.

I will miss that 10% extra crit damage from my runes, though it’s not a terrible nerf. I’m looking forward to giving it a go on Pantheon. I’ve got a feeling that Heartseeker Strike will be a crazy opener most people won’t expect for a few days.

And then there’s Gragas. I’ve not played him yet so I don’t have much to say other than this: he’s HUGE. His skills seem to be balanced just about right for a tank – nice control with just enough damage to overbalance a fight. I’ll have to experiment with some builds later in the day.