Legends of Runeterra Patch 1.14 is coming this week and its a huge balance patch including changes for 7 Champions, 8 Followers/Spells, and tweaks to Expeditions.
Read on below for a full list of the changes including context on why the changes were made (arguably the most important part!). In addition to balance, we've also got the following to look forward to:
- The new Hexperimentation 101 Lab.
- Change to Gauntlets for 2 weeks to move to a Best of Three format in preparation before the tournament.
- Friend Spectate v1 has arrived!
- This is limited to Friend Challenge, vs Player (Normal), vs AI, and Expeditions until they add a button to disable spectating.
- Vietnamese is now a supported language in-game.
- Updates to the Leaderboard, including most used deck code, player icons, and visual polish.
Before we jump into the full patch notes, Riot's Steve "RubinZoo" Rubin will be doing a Q&A and 1.14 Patch Review on Twitch this weekend. He is not sure which channel it will be on yet but we'll keep you posted.
Quote From Steve Rubin I'll be doing Q&A + a @PlayRuneterra patch 1.14 review on twitch next Saturday at 2PM EST.
1.14 Runeterra Patch Notes
Quote From Riot Games Patch 1.14 brings with it an all new experimental Lab, the debut of Friend Spectate, and a hefty set of balance changes headlined by updates to seven Champions. We’ve also got some metagame data to share!
Card Updates
As we mentioned last patch, Patch 1.14 is one of the larger mid-expansion balance updates you can expect to be the norm going forward, and these changes are the last ones we have planned before the first Seasonal Tournament in December. This patch focuses mostly on improvements to several Foundations set Champions, small buffs both direct and indirect to Call of the Mountain champions that need some help, and adjustments to high cost followers across regions.
- RubinZoo, Live Design Lead
Champions
Lucian(Level 2)
- Can now trigger the same round as leveling up.
This change and the similar one to Jinx below are intended to better align their Level 2 effects with the way those of newer Champions like Sejuani and Soraka function. There is some challenge here due to their current state of balance, but we feel that Champion consistency in this area warrants a change. We're releasing these changes as buffs since the new functionality didn't feel significant enough in testing to warrant compensatory nerfs, but we'll be carefully monitoring their impact to understand whether further changes are needed.
- Power: 3 -> 4
Shyvana is designed around attacking, but her statline too often kept her from being able to profitably do just that.
Dragon Shyvana (Level 2)
- Power: 4 -> 5
- Old text: Attack: For each attacking ally other than Vladimir, deal 1 to it and deal 1 to the enemy Nexus.
- New text: Attack: For each attacking ally on my right, deal 1 to it and 1 to the enemy Nexus.
- Level up: You've had 6+ allies survive damage. → You've had 5+ allies survive damage
We’re giving Vladimir a small boost by making his level-up condition easier to achieve and giving players more agency in choosing which allies are hit by his effect.
Vladimir(level 2)
- Old text: Attack: For each attacking ally other than Vladimir, deal 1 to it and drain 1 from the enemy Nexus.
- New text: Attack: For each attacking ally on my right, deal 1 to it and drain 1 from the enemy Nexus.
- Health: 6 -> 5
Trundle was too effective as a stat-stick, helping him act as a stall tool doubling as a win condition. We love that Trundle has opened up new kinds of ramp decks since Call of the Mountain, so we want to make adjustments that preserve his ability to do that while opening him up to a bit more counterplay and softening his prowess as a blocker.
In addition to a health nerf to Trundle himself, we’re also adjusting Ice Pillar, which had too much impact given its free cost—leveling up Trundle, giving enemies Vulnerable, and giving players a "free action" provided too much of an advantage. Similarly to Trundle, we want to reduce the overall amount of stalling it provides and give opponents more potential for counterplay to its round start effect.
Trundle(Level 2)
- Health: 7 -> 6
- Health: 8 -> 6
- Level up: You've targeted 10+ enemies this game. → You've targeted 6+ enemies this game.
We want to take an alternative but hopefully healthier direction for Ezreal—an easier level-up condition in return for more conditional output for Ezreal (level 2). We also want to remove much of his current Burst-speed potential to open up more possibilities for counterplay. We're leaving some of that potential (along with an easier level-up) so that he can still serve current decks, while providing a new incentive to continue targeting opposing units—giving players the option to play a bit more of a control gameplan with a combo finish.
Ezreal (Level 2)
- Old text: Nexus Strike: Create a Fleeting Mystic Shot in hand. When you cast a spell, deal 2 to the enemy Nexus.
- New text: Nexus Strike: Create a Fleeting Mystic Shot in hand. When you cast a spell, deal 1 to the enemy Nexus. If it targeted an enemy, deal 2 to the enemy Nexus instead.
Jinx (Level 2)
- Can now trigger the same round as leveling up.
Check the Lucian context above for the full story, but one additional note for Jinx. If you play Jinx with an empty hand and she levels up, she still won’t create a Super Mega Death Rocket! right away—you’ll need to empty your hand again in some way (i.e., go from some cards in hand to no cards in hand).
- Power: 2 -> 3
Taric could use better combat stats to enable him to both attack more cleanly and contribute more on defensive rounds.
Taric (Level 2)
- Power: 3 -> 4
Followers and Spells
- Power: 7 -> 8
- Health: 7 -> 8
Tianna should be a bigger trump to endgame followers from other Regions. This change should give Demacia decks access to more finishing power and allow Tianna to more consistently set up devastating Rally attacks.
- Health: 4 -> 3
We want to open up more counterplay to mana ramp strategies given the additional powerful tools they’ve gained since Call of the Mountain, so we’re reverting an old buff to Wyrding Stones in order to give opposing decks more opportunities to delay powerful endgame cards.
- Cost: 4 -> 3
- Health: 3 -> 2
Support-based Ionia decks could use more effective options, and Fuzzy Caretaker was a bit too expensive to effectively fit the playstle of low-to-the-ground Support decks.
- Power: 6 -> 7
- Health: 5 -> 6
- Keywords: None -> Quick Attack
Minah's effectiveness hasn’t lined up with her cost—Quick Attack and additional stats should let her be a more effective game-ender after hitting the board..
- Cost: 5 -> 4
- Power: 2 -> 1
Funsmith has never been able to find a home given its cost and relative fragility, so we’re bringing it down the curve to make it a more enticing and flexible option.
Black Spear(and Kalista’s Black SpearBADCARDNAME)
- Old text: If an ally died this round, deal 3 to a unit.
- New text: If an ally died this round, deal 4 to a unit.
We’d like to strengthen removal options for synergy-based Shadow Isles decks, especially in light of the power of new Burst-speed protection spells from the last two expansions.
- Power: 7 -> 6
- Plunder: Fire 7 Cannon Barrages -> Fire 6 Cannon Barrages
The sheer volume of Cannon Barrages laid down by Riptide Rex have made him too consistent at wiping boards, finishing games with his high Power, and ultimately preventing counterplay (while also posing a long-term issue with our board’s nine-spell/ability limit). These changes aim to address all of those issues while leaving Rex’s core play pattern intact.
- Health: 5 -> 7
Eclipse Dragon’s stats were underwhelming given its lack of immediate game impact, and we’d like it to be a more generally effective option for both big Dragons and Daybreak decks.
New Lab: Hexperimentation 101
With the right combination of variables, anything can happen! Perform one of four experiments by crafting a deck with unique constraints, or choose one of Heimer's premade decks to take into battle. If your deck meets one of the following criteria, you'll gain the paired special ability:
- All Even - If all cards in your deck have an even mana cost, you gain:
- Start of Round: Grant allies +1|+0
- All Odd - If all cards in your deck have an odd mana cost, you gain:
- Start of Round: Grant allies +0|+1
- No Followers - If your deck contains no followers (it can contain Champions), you gain:
- When you cast your second spell each round, create a follower in hand that costs less than or equal to your max mana
- All Common - If your deck contains only common cards, you gain:
- From Round 7 onwards, Start of Round: Create a leveled up champion in hand
Gauntlets Update: Standard Best of Three
In preparation for the first Seasonal Tournament in December, we’re running the next two weeks of Gauntlets as ‘Standard Best of Three’ so players have a chance to experience the new game flow before the tournament. For now, this is a temporary change only for this patch, but let us know what you think!
Since each match requires more than one game to complete, we’ve reduced the number of wins needed per run down to 4 (and increased the XP rewards appropriately). Each match will play through the Pick and Ban lobby, with the additional restriction that a winning deck cannot be replayed in that match.
- For Patch 1.13 only, Gauntlets will use “Standard Best of Three” rules.
- Required wins reduced to 4 and XP rewards adjust appropriately.
- Winning decks cannot be played again during the same match.
Friend Spectate
This patch, we’re making our initial implementation of Friend Spectate, which will allow you to jump in and watch your friend’s games with all the usual in-game functionality like Oracle’s Eye, card details, and—most importantly of all—petting their Guardian!
Please note this feature is coming in pretty early, so we’re still squashing bugs and have further updates planned. For example, next patch we intend to add a ‘disable spectate’ option, which is why for now we’re restricting spectate to only be available for Friend Challenge, vs Player (Normal), vs AI, and Expeditions.
- Friend Spectate added to the social panel—click on your friends to spectate their matches in Friend Challenge, vs Player (Normal), vs AI, or Expeditions.
Expeditions
This patch brings some tweaks aimed at reining in the power of Dragon’s Descent, along with some buffs to Crimson Guard and Mending Touch. In particular, Mending Touch will now always have access to its alternate win condition, Star Spring, as otherwise it can sometimes struggle to win games the old-fashioned way.
- Offering rates for Monuments of Powers archetypes reduced to normal levels.
Crimson Guard
- Wild Pick Bonus Chance increased to High (from Medium)
Dragon's Descent
- Added: Chain Vest, Mobilize, Startled Stomper, Zenith Blade
- Removed: Hush
Mending Touch
- Star Spring will now always appear in Mending Touch packs seen during the initial Champion Picks of a draft
- Added: Hush
Language Support
We’ve added additional language support to LoR. New players should be correctly auto-detected, while existing players can swap languages in their login screen settings.
- Vietnamese now supported.
Miscellaneous
Various updates to the Leaderboard, including most used deck code, player icons, and visual polish.
- Imported decks are now immediately nameable.
- Rewarded cards are now inspectable during reward ceremonies.
- In Collection and Store, the details panel for cosmetic items can now be closed by tapping outside of it.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue where players occasionally couldn't collect rewards or XP would display incorrectly on region roads.
- Fixed issues with improper text formatting in Thai and Japanese.
Comments
I like the Vladimir update, it's always nice to get more decision-making points. Not convinced if the change will help him, but I still like it.
Ezreal change seems...brave. Let's see how that'll work out.
I think that they really should have gone farther with these changes. They didn’t nerf cards like MF, Jagged Butcher, or any of the Bilgewater Burn cards.I also wish they had buffed the Demacia Dragons (make the Broodmother a 6/7 and Kadregrin a 9/8) because Shyvana is pretty much the only good Demacia Dragon.
I'm fine with the nerfs so far, I'm so tired of Riptide Rex so any nerfs to that damn card are much welcomed. I think the change to Vlad isn't going to do anything. In fact they kind of made it harder to level him. Prior to this change you could level him by playing followers to the left, and having him go last, meaning that he could level up mid combat, which in some instances would help save him.
Now with his "power" requirement being that followers and others have to be to the right, he has to attack "first" (or sooner) in the attack lineup. This means he has less chance of leveling up in combat prior to taking a hit which can make the difference. Overall, I think they changed him and didn't really help him at all and he'll probably still not see any play. Making his leveling condition easier was never the real issue.
Screeching Dragon and Dragonguard Lieutenant was honestly carrying the archetype. Shyvana was a horrible card because she can't level up and dies without doing much as a 3/4, making her a 4/4 makes the archetype slightly better but I agree they could've been bolder with more changes. Though I think we're asking for too much already, especially with such a huge amount of Champion changes.
It's interesting to me that they increased Shyvana's attack and not her health. The biggest problem I find playing her is that her L1 form is so easy to kill off -- it's risky to block with her due to tricks like Pale Cascade / Sharpsight / Riposte, and since she doesn't have Fury yet on the attack it's usually pretty easy for your opponent to chump block for 2-3 damage and then challenge / Mystic Shot / etc for the rest.
I argue that dragons have to be weak to combat tricks to be a fair deck.
If you buff dragons so much that combat tricks do not really harm them anymore they become lowkey op as one of the most basic and boring to play/play against archetypes.
Dragons may suck in higher levels of play because they are meant to be a beginner archetype that makes new players find their success in the game.
Its okay for dragons to exist and be viable in iron - gold.
But I mean who wants an statstick/statcheck tribal to be top tier and how do you counter it if it gets there? I mean good luck to pull of combos if they go fight every unit you need for the combo right away or wipe you with the skies decend
I could see that in general, but with Shyvana in particular : you want to be able to flip her at least 50% to justify her inclusion in your decklist, and since her quest requires her to see and survive ~3 dragons striking she feels really bad when she dies to an early trick. Building off what Sykomyke writes below: being able to kill more things or build card advantage is never bad, but at the same time -- if you aren't flipping her more consistently, why not just cut down on the dragons and build a more consistent Demacia/Bannerman style deck instead?
An interesting viewpoint, and possibly not wrong. I'm guessing they have access to metrics we can't see so for now I'm going to reserve judgement in that they know what they are doing. I don't think it's wrong to buff her attack, the reasoning behind it according to the notes was that she couldn't kill things "cleanly" (i.e. being a 4 mana 3/4 champion that self buffs to 4/5 wasn't that great for a level 1 ability). Now she is a 4 mana 4/4 chamption that self buffs to 5/5.
Far too often I felt like I'd play her, only for my opponent to play Fused Firebrand completely shutting her out. It's kind of funny that a "common" dragon ends up being more effective than a champion and can usually be played the turn after. And the worst side is, she can't even use any removal or combat based attacks to remove a Fused Firebrand.
Overall this at least let's her threaten 5/5's. It's not like her role is aggro, but rather mid-range.
Shyvana is a bit of a weird card. Weak when she's in her base form but incredibly strong in her Leveled Up form. I think that buffing the Level Up condition would've been nice but I think that the Attack buff is much better because it technically makes her do more Dragon damage by herself, lowering that Level Up condition by 1 or 2 on average while giving her much more relevance in the midgame.