Patch Day is once again upon us, this time heralding the release of Akali, the Fist of Shadow. It’s a patch I’m excited for, mostly because the ninja trio is finally complete. There are some other good changes, though, including a Shen nerf, a Master Yi semi-buff (more on this later) and, an Amumu buff, and some minor changes for several other heroes. This patch also gives us Gentleman Cho, so be ready for well-dressed alien epicurean exploits.

First, we should talk Akali. As mentioned in my initial review, she is too hybrid for the current itemization. If you’d like more than just my opinion, consider that Phreak’s Akali spotlight recommends Mejai’s Soulstealer and Sword of the Occult if she’s going to do well. It makes sense to a degree, but it also points out a significant gap in the itemization. The best thing after Guinsoo’s Rageblade is two high risk/mediocre reward items? Seems to me the 1235g for Mejai’s would be much better spent toward some real AP for Rylai’s or a Brutalizer on the way to your Ghostblade.

The Master Yi situation seems like a stopgap to me. It might keep the Yi fanatics from crying quite as much but he still suffers his old fate. He’s highly susceptible to CC, often requires his ult for escape rather than attack, and offers none of the team utility of other melee DPS toons. I’ll take a Garen/Pantheon/Udyr/Mundo/Shaco/Warwick/Gangplank and even Tryndamere over Yi any day of the week. Yi’s only strength is backdooring towers, and if he’s left to do so your team likely would have won anyway. He is undeniably better than before, but to a pathetic degree. It’s like “improving” a car by giving it a sunroof. Nice? Sure. Does it improve the functionality of the vehicle? Not so much.

The Amumu buff will be especially nice for the first 6-8 levels. That’s typically the worst part of Amumu play because of his long cooldowns and pathetic early-game damage. With an attack buff and some cooldown reduction for Tantrum, he should farm much better and generally seem more enjoyable at every phase of the game.

I’m willing to wait to pass judgement on Udyr until I hear a little bit more from Udyr players. I rarely play the shapeshifter, mostly because I struggle in the jungle (I know, it’s sad). I do know a few Udyr fans, so I’ll see what they make of the nerf before I offer any targeted opinion. I will say that using Treeline as the baseline for buffs/nerfs seems ridiculous when Mundo is so god-forsakenly strong on that map and hasn’t even been grazed by the nerf stick.

Enjoy the time with the new champ tomorrow! As always, I’m sitting on enough IP to buy her several times over, so you can bet I’ll be playing her as soon as possible.

Riot gave us yet another Gentleman Cho’Gath teaser in the form of an interview with the offender from the Riot Cafe Caper. It’s a pretty funny interview, if only because it makes use of so many of the Cho’Gath memes from the forums. Yes, the words ‘nom nom nom’ are actually spoken on microphone.

While I love the funny skins, like Urf, I probably won’t be getting the Gentleman. It’s a rare day that I feel like playing Cho, and even rarer to enjoy him. Unless you can get ahead he feels boring and underwhelming without much recourse. Any of you guys serious Cho’Gath players?

The Riot announcement forums have been a flurry of activity this weekend, though not for the things you might expect. Personally, I’ve been waiting on the Twisted Treeline matchmaking release every week since it debuted on the Test Realm. Instead, there was news of a café disturbance.

The perpetrator appears to be Gentleman Cho’Gath, a long rumored/desired skin for your favorite alien champ. The post included a crude sketch of Cho in a top hat and tuxedo with a monocle and a cane. Personally, I love the skin idea, though I wouldn’t be surprised to see it release with a fairly hefty price tag.

Speaking of hefty price tags (nice segue, no?), Riot also announced another legendary skin: Red Baron Corki. Why Corki needs two legendary skins is completely beyond me, but maybe he’s just easy to remodel. The skin drops our fearless pilot into a red biplane. It actually looks really damn cool, and one of the screenshots even featured Gentleman Cho, albeit in badly photoshopped form.

I’m assuming we’ll see Corki in the Shen patch, but it’ll probably be some time before we get the Gentleman. Now I just need to try and win a couple tourneys for the Riot points to buy that overpriced Corki skin.