Tomorrow’s patch includes some very welcome changes to CC-reduction, which I’ve covered in another post, but also some unexpected changes to champions. Shen’s getting a damage tweak, Karthus is getting a small nerf, as are Jarvan and Nocturne, while Gangplank is getting a buff. Along with the champion changes, Sunfire is getting a nerf and Wit’s End is catching what I can only consider a buff.

I’m not sure why Riot thinks Shen, or any tank for that matter, needs to be able to carry games, but that’s the context given for Shen’s upcoming damage tweak. Vorpal Blade and Ki Strike are getting an initial nerf but will now scale better to “let Shen carry but not deal a ton of damage without trying.” I get that with the Vorpal Blade change, but Ki Strike scales with his HP, something he’s likely to itemize for in most any situation. Like I said, I don’t get the change, but I’m hoping the Vorpal reduction will be enough to counterbalance what could be a very strong late game Ki Strike.

Karthus is getting a basic AP ratio nerf to his ult and a duration nerf on his passive. Essentially, killing him will actually reduce some of the damage he does, though not by a ton. I don’t see Karthus much these days, but I know he’s made it into a few high-level matches recently. I’m guessing the changes are coming as a result of his presence there.

Jarvan’s getting a much needed damage nerf to hopefully force him to build for damage before dishing out crazy burst. I’m curious to see how the numbers will work on this one, so I’m not gonna say too much about it. Nocturne is getting the same treatment – damage nerfs to his highest ranks of Duskbringer and Paranoia, which will hopefully tone him down a bit.

Gangplank is getting stat per level buffs to both his attack speed and armor along with an attack range buff. His Remove Scurvy and his Ultimate are getting cooldown reductions, and his ult will now have a better slow at early ranks. All of this is good news, but I wonder if it will really be enough to make him enjoyable to play. He still has low base health and his ult’s radius is too small for the way the cannonballs hit. It’s still unclear why Riot hasn’t just made it a larger version of MF’s Make It Rain at this point. I’ve seen a couple people say they don’t want it to be a global snipe, but making it unpredictable isn’t necessarily a more favorable situation. The guy who gets sniped by it won’t be consoled knowing that Gangplank’s next two ults didn’t work in other games.

Sunfire and Wit’s End are both getting some tweaks, though the Wit’s End changes are much more significant than Sunfire. Sunfire remains the same, just with a 5 damage per second reduction on the burn. Wit’s End has lost the mana burn, though it still deals the 42 magic damage per hit. In place of the burn, the item also grants the bearer 5 magic resistance on attack for 5 seconds, stacking up to 4 times. I think we’ll start to see Wit’s End much more often with the change.

I’m looking forward to testing the changes tomorrow. Check back for impressions and, as always, you can add me at “The Wiggin Boy” if you’re looking for some games.

A couple days before the latest patch went live I gave an overview of the ninja champ, Shen. At first glance he seemed as though he might suffer from confused design, and that his energy system wouldn’t scale well. I was reluctant to unlock him at first, but after seeing the way he changes a team fight, I decided to give him ago.

First, I think Shen is among the more balanced champions in the game, even though he dramatically changes the dynamic of any game he’s in. His ultimate gives him the ability to prevent ganks and sometimes turn them for a kill. It’s a unique skill, despite similar abilities in someone like Pantheon or TF because Shen shields his target, actually for quite a lot. At rank one, Shen’s ult is a 450 damage shield, more than enough to soak damage output of two heroes at level 6. Shen also shields himself for half that amount, giving you a serious advantage, particularly in what used to be an even fight.

Unfortunately that’s about it. Yes, his taunt can mess things up, but it’s short enough that it doesn’t drastically alter the course of a fight unless you’re near a tower. The rest of his skills are actually pretty boring, and that’s Shen’s biggest drawback. He’s boring. His ultimate has a fairly long cooldown – two minutes or more. The rest of the game seems to be a lot of running around waiting for a chance to use that ult.

Part of the problem is that his CC, the taunt, is so expensive. It takes most of your energy pool to cast, which is why I recommend building him with a Rylai’s. Vorpal Blade becomes a spammable slow, basically guaranteeing no one will get away from you. The chase is long because you do so little damage, but you’re durable enough that you should almost always get the kill.

I’ll be curious to see if he gets any changes in the next patch. The Ezreal buff surprised me, and though Shen hasn’t seen the same overwhleming negative outcry, I also haven’t seen many people singing his praises.