In League of Legends, the new patch 11.12 will be released next week. The developers have provided a first look at the upcoming changes. Among these, there are notably many changes to the top lane, including a nerf for the currently strongest champion in LoL.
What changes with patch 11.12? On Twitter, developer Mark Yetter shared an image with the planned adjustments. It is evident that quite a few changes will occur in the top lane:
- Wukong, Nasus, Gnar, and Renekton will receive a nerf
- Illaoi and Malphite will receive a buff
- Dr. Mundo will finally get his visual rework
However, the nerfs are not surprising. Just in the previous patch 11.11, there were several adjustments to tank items that greatly benefited the top lane champions. This led to two of them currently having the highest win rates among champions.
When will patch 11.12 be released? The new update is expected to be released on Wednesday, June 9th.
Wukong and Nasus dominate the win rates
Which champions are currently so strong? According to the statistics website League of Graphs, the champion Wukong currently has a win rate of 53.6% and ranks 1st when looking at all ranked matches starting from Iron rank (via League of Graphs). He was able to gain a remarkable 1.3% in win rate since the last patch.
Nasus has also made significant gains, currently holding 3rd place in win rate with 53.4%. His chances of winning have even risen by 1.5% compared to the previous patch.
Looking at the statistics for ranked games in Platinum or higher, Wukong still ranks 2nd in the statistics, while Nasus comes in at 7th place. However, there are champions in the top 10 that hardly anyone plays:
- Wukong is used in nearly 10% of all matches, while Nasus appears in 5%
- Sona, who is in 1st place, is used in just under 2% of all matches. Skarner (in 4th place) is even the champion with the lowest usage at 1.1%.
Why are the top laners so strong? With the previous patch 11.11, several items for tanks were adjusted. In particular, the Divine Sunderer, one of the mystical items, was buffed so that Nasus and Wukong can deal more damage while also receiving more healing.
Nasus also benefited from adjustments to Randuin’s Omen and Frozen Heart, while Wukong benefited from the buff to Black Cleaver. Overall, patch 11.11 was good for these champions, which is why they are now getting a nerf.
What about the other nerfs? In addition to the top laners, Varus and Kai’Sa will also be weakened. Kai’Sa was represented in 37.7% of all matches on average, making her the second most popular champion in LoL. A nerf here seems justifiable.
Varus, on the other hand, was relatively unpopular for a long time. In recent weeks, his popularity has increased somewhat, directly followed by a nerf from Riot Games.
Dr. Mundo gets his long-awaited rework
What changes for Mundo? With patch 11.12, Dr. Mundo will receive a new character model, new animations, and special effects to make him look better. However, his old playstyle as a super tank will still be preserved, along with the throwing of his giant cleaver.
Mundo is already the 24th rework that Riot Games is making to older champions. You can see exactly what these changes look like in this YouTube video from SkinSpotlights:
On June 11, the e-sports scene will continue. The pros are expected to play on an older version, through which we might see Wukong in the top lane. However, we will not see some professional players in the upcoming Summer Split.
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