I hate to do this, especially after missing last week due to travel, but I’m going to be away from home tonight. It looks like FG LoL Monday will have to wait for next week. I should be around for most of the week, though, so if you’re looking for a game, feel free to get in touch. You can always add me at “The Wiggin Boy” in the LoL client.
Talon video is coming together as I write this. It should be uploaded and ready to go tomorrow morning.
Riot posted the patch preview for the upcoming Graves patch some time last night. The video includes some decent champion changes, including Skarner buffs, but it’s missing some key champion nerfs that are long overdue. Gunblade is getting some nerfs, which are aimed at “hyper-carry” hybrids like Jax and Akali, but the changes will only really affect Dominion.
Skarner is getting across-the-board buffs – attack speed per level, mana cost reduction on Crystal Slash, duration increase on Impale. It’s a nice set of buffs that should make him much less mana dependent. Honestly, I think he might become the flavor of the month with these buffs. Skarner was in a decent spot, I think he just needed some mana adjustment. Now I can see him as an overwhelming solo top or jungler.
Corki is getting an adjustment to Gatling Gun that should make the damage output from the skill more consistent. I’m not sure why Corki is on the change list, though I haven’t seen him in many games recently. In fact, the only ranged carry I see with any consistency these days is Caitlyn. I would love to know when we’re going to see a couple adjustments to her kit.
The other serious changes made to the game all have to do with Dominion. There’s less ambient XP so the “hyper-carries” get to endgame more slowly. Gunblade spell vamp no longer stacks, and Gunblade is getting stat nerfs to bring the power benefit more in line with the cost.
I thought it was funny that Phreak played Akali for a large portion of the patch preview and yet there was no mention of nerfing her. I’ve thought Akali’s burst was broken for a while now, and after learning to play her using Westrice’s guide and some practice, I can’t believe she’s remained in the game in her current state for as long as she has. I wouldn’t be surprised if part of the hesitation to nerf her is that a lot of people are playing her now and a lot of those people don’t know what they’re doing. A big part of Akali’s playstyle is wrapped up in prepping her lane opponent for a kill before level six. At level six she outlanes virtually every single character in the game. This isn’t just on Noob Island either; it’s at every level of the game. Akali was used to devastating effect in the New York tournament this weekend and was the biggest reason Team Dignitas beat CLG.
It looks like the most exciting thing coming this patch will be Graves, unless of course you’re a Skarner devotee.
If you’ve played a game with me over the course of the past 6 months, chances are good you’ve heard me complain about Irelia. Sorry to subject that to you again, but every time I see her I see something that I think needs a change. Unfortunately, Riot has made it clear that they don’t intend to change her because it would cause too much disruption. Seems like a funny reason to leave such a frustrating character in such a frustrating state of development, but whatever, it’s not my game. Still, I think we could at least make one simple change to Irelia that would make her a little more reasonable.
As it currently stands, Irelia gets a two-second, targeted stun if she has lower health than her opponent by percentage. If you’ve ever played Irelia, you know how often she gets that stun, and you certainly know how often that stun saves her ass. The simple fact is that two seconds is just too long. Sion’s stun was changed for that very reason, and I think Irelia’s should get at least the same nerf, especially considering her passive.
Best case scenario, I would like to see her stun brought down to a one second duration. I realize that means a character with Merc Treads will only be stunned for .6 seconds, but honestly, I think that’s fine. I think it’s insane that she gets a stun at all, but again, don’t want to disrupt the players that like her. Keep the slow at two seconds, fine, but when that stun is coupled with her gap closer, true damage, massive lifesteal, and CC resistance, I think it’s perfectly reasonable to reduce the stun.
The League of Legends Public Beta Environment went live this week, starting with email invites to summoners who had been active members of the forums (and yes, a Rioter did confirm that the invites were based on summoners who had made posts in recent months that had been well received by the community). I wasn’t lucky enough to get an invite, being that I avoid posting on the forums as much as I can, but I was still able to create an account through a signup link one of the invitees was kind enough to spread on the forums.
It’s tough to say just how helpful the PBE will be. The first couple hours were bug-riddled, and if just anyone could sign up for a beta account I would imagine the realm is going to be fairly flooded. Of course, maybe that’s what Riot is after. Maybe it’s more about load testing the patches with the added benefit of catching bugs via the scattershot method – throw enough testers at the problem and someone is bound to find it.
I’m mostly hopeful that the PBE will bring back instantaneous champion releases on patch day. I’m not sure why I’m so bothered by it, but I really don’t like that the patch launches and the champion launches later in the day. Oh, I should also point out that the PBE has no NDA, so people can talk about whatever they see on the realm. That also leads me to believe that there wont’ be serious content testing going on.
Were any of you able to secure a PBE account?
I thought it might be nice to give some mid-rotation thoughts on Talon while I’m working to gather footage for his wrapup video. I’m not sure if there are some high-ELO streamers playing him these days or if he just shines enough in Dominion to make him worth trying on Summoner’s Rift, but I’ve been seeing a lot of Talon lately. I’ve also been seeing him banned, and though I think there are better bans than Talon, I can understand why he’s on the list for some players.
Part of what makes Talon interesting is the way his ultimate works. He can use it to produce a lot of damage, but most of the Talon players I saw in the weeks after his release were using the skill to get out of a fight or run away before a fight even started. In my experience, though, it’s best to save his ult for when you’re already in the fight and the skill can hit both on its way out and on the way back in.
That’s a mechanic I didn’t really pick up on in the Champion Spotlight (even though Phreak said it) partly because the tooltip is a little unclear on just how the blades deal damage. Shadow Assault has the potential to deal damage twice: once when the blades expand and once when they collapse. In most cases, that means you want to ult while you’re standing right on top of someone. When the blade go out they hit and then even if your enemy flashes the blades will likely land on the return. It took me a while to figure that out, but now that I’ve got it I find it fairly easy to burst down a champion.
I’ll have more thoughts on Talon later in the week, including the wrapup video. Keep checking back and let me know if you have any questions.
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