The Chemtech Dragon was introduced with the start of Pre-Season 12 in November 2021 in League of Legends and was nerfed by Riot Games in the following two patches. Now they have decided to completely remove it from the game for the time being.
What happened? With Patch 11.23, two new dragons were introduced: the Hextech and the Chemtech Dragon. While the Hextech Dragon performed reasonably well in terms of balance, the Chemtech Dragon faced several issues.
Therefore, Riot immediately implemented two nerfs with the last two patches:
- With Patch 11.24 in December, the Dragon’s soul buff was weakened. The duration of the resurrection and the damage during it were reduced. Additionally, a new indicator was placed above the heads of the resurrected players to make them more clearly recognizable (via LoL).
- With Patch 12.1 on January 4, another nerf was implemented, introducing new plants into the game when the Chemtech Dragon changes the map.
However, neither of these was enough to bring the dragon to a good level. Many players continued to be bothered by the dragon’s special map mechanic. Therefore, it has now been completely disabled:
Will the dragon return? As of now, it is said that work is being done on the Chemtech Dragon in the background to address the current issues.
However, the dragon is expected to retain its identity and original concept even after the rework. The changes to the terrain are believed to be the primary reason for the deactivation. This point will also be the main focus of the overhaul, according to the developers.
When the dragon will return exactly is currently unknown. However, the post states: “[the overhaul] may take some time, meaning we may not bring the Chemtech Dragon back for a while.”
Chemtech Dragon frustrates players because it rewards the winning team
What are the problems with the dragon? The biggest problem with the Chemtech Dragon lies in the change of the map. When it appears as the third dragon, fog fields are created in the jungle where champions are invisible and deal 10% more damage.
These fields passively ensure that, regardless of who kills the dragon, the dominant team gains control over the enemy jungle. Once a team controls the enemy jungle, the defending team cannot safely enter it anymore. This often pins them to their own base, allowing the already winning team to gain better control over Baron and more dragons.
A classic snowball principle that did not sit well with many players.
What else makes the dragon special and how teams use its strength has already been explained here:
LoL nerfs the new dragon twice within 4 weeks – why is it so strong?
