Riot Targets Dominant and Disruptive Runeterra Decks With 5 Card Nerfs Coming in a Pre-Worlds Hotfix

Published 4 years, 6 months ago by (Updated 4 years, 6 months ago)

We've got a round a card nerfs arriving before the Legends of Runeterra Worlds championship, Riot has announced this evening. They are targeting dominant decks that are disrupting the meta and have persisted through last week's release of Beyond the Bandlewood. Here are the 5 card nerfs we can expect:

Additionally, The Arsenal is receiving a bugfix which no longer lets it grant unintentional keywords.

Riot has not specified the exact timing these nerfs are going to arrive. Them being listed as a hotfix though indicates it should be very soon if they are not currently active.

Quote From @PlayRuneterra

With Worlds around the corner, we’re releasing a hotfix targeting some of the most dominant decks disrupting the meta that have persisted through the release of Beyond the Bandlewood. These updates aim to encourage deck diversity and address a high-impact bug fix.

Additional Context:

Barring any emergencies, this will be the patch version that Worlds is played on. We’ll be sharing additional context and details on balance updates moving forward in the 2.15 patch notes next week.

Balance Updates:

Ruin Runner: 5-cost 6|4 > 5-cost 6|3
Merciless Hunter: 3-cost 4|3 > 3-cost 4|2
Shaped Stone: If a landmark has been played, give a unit +3|+1 > If a landmark has been played, give a unit +2|+1

Balance Updates (cont.):

Flawless Duet: 1-cost > 2-cost
Flurry of Fists: 3-cost > 4-cost

Bug Fix:

The Arsenal: No longer grants unintentional keywords (i.e. Stunned / Perma-Spellshield)

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  • -1 Health is nothing, just is going to continue with this...

    • Now talking seriously, out of memes, lets recap the "nerfs", who for some cards are mere needed balances.

      Merciless Hunter: The nerf affects it? nope, it stills being a 3 mana 4 damage beatstick with better challenger and fearsome. The possibility of being worse is true, but only for people who think in trading with it. The true solution for me is that she and arda cast a Bounty HunterBADCARDNAME-like effect or destroying it. (making she 5/6 mana or making she a 2/3.) Also, is part of the everlasting-multiple Shurima engine who makes it the best region.

      Flawless Duet: At least a nerf to Blade Dance (F*ck You Blade Dance) and all that archetype who ended being very strong. Now having other problems (the new Elusives decks who play to Rally / Nami) it may down in the metalist, but idk, i like the nerf, they can't nerf the spellspeed for the form of how Blade Dance works (F*ck You Blade Dance) so... i think the cost is the best form of nerfing it?

      Ruin Runner: This is like the Merciless Hunter nerf but more important. Now Ruin Runner can't survive the trades of his turns (at least you make some unit A GIFT FOR RENEKTON, RIGHT ARDA? and you have the luck of your opponent having a 2 or less attack unit and no combat tricks in hand.), thing who is important, cuz you want to hit with she at least two times and if shit is good, win-blocking one time.

      Shaped Stone: Still a better Radiant Strike in a better region. Next!

      Flurry of Fists: I know that is in much lists of decks but i don't see this card anywhere playing. So idk, i like the card and i think is strong having the possibility to make ANY quick attacker into a doble attacker, but for 4 mana... and having his first effect being a strong but weird and now expensive combat trick... 

      • Now talking seriously, out of memes, lets recap the "nerfs", who for some cards are mere needed balances.

        That's exactly what a nerf is supposed to do, bring overpowered cards into a balanced stat.

        Merciless Hunter: The nerf affects it? nope, it stills being a 3 mana 4 damage beatstick with better challenger and fearsome. The possibility of being worse is true, but only for people who think in trading with it. The true solution for me is that she and arda cast a Bounty HunterBADCARDNAME-like effect or destroying it. (making she 5/6 mana or making she a 2/3.) Also, is part of the everlasting-multiple Shurima engine who makes it the best region.

        Yes the nerf does affect it. Now the card dies to more removal cards like Mystic Shot, Darkness, Fleetfeather Tracker, Laurent Protege, Avalanche, Blighted Ravine and can no longer trade favorably into some champion like Fizz, Akhsan or TF. Is the card still good? Yes but now more deck can deal with it in a cost efficient way.

        Shaped Stone: Still a better Radiant Strike in a better region. Next!

        Your just saying that Shaped Stone is now better than a garbage combat trick that nobody used in the first place.

        Flurry of Fists: I know that is in much lists of decks but i don't see this card anywhere playing. So idk, i like the card and i think is strong having the possibility to make ANY quick attacker into a doble attacker, but for 4 mana… and having his first effect being a strong but weird and now expensive combat trick…

        It was part of a stupid OTK that involve giving Sivir elusive with Ghost and double attack with Flurry of Fists plus some other combat tricks. For most decks the OTK was impossible to interact with due to both spellshield and elusive, you can see it here starting from the 20:00 mark.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrgqBKiZZ74

         

        • Quote From minuano28

          Now talking seriously, out of memes, lets recap the "nerfs", who for some cards are mere needed balances.

          That's exactly what a nerf is supposed to do, bring overpowered cards into a balanced stat.

          Merciless Hunter: The nerf affects it? nope, it stills being a 3 mana 4 damage beatstick with better challenger and fearsome. The possibility of being worse is true, but only for people who think in trading with it. The true solution for me is that she and arda cast a Bounty HunterBADCARDNAME-like effect or destroying it. (making she 5/6 mana or making she a 2/3.) Also, is part of the everlasting-multiple Shurima engine who makes it the best region.

          Yes the nerf does affect it. Now the card dies to more removal cards like Mystic Shot, Darkness, Fleetfeather Tracker, Laurent Protege, Avalanche, Blighted Ravine and can no longer trade favorably into some champion like Fizz, Akhsan or TF. Is the card still good? Yes but now more deck can deal with it in a cost efficient way.

          Shaped Stone: Still a better Radiant Strike in a better region. Next!

          Your just saying that Shaped Stone is now better than a garbage combat trick that nobody used in the first place.

          Flurry of Fists: I know that is in much lists of decks but i don't see this card anywhere playing. So idk, i like the card and i think is strong having the possibility to make ANY quick attacker into a doble attacker, but for 4 mana… and having his first effect being a strong but weird and now expensive combat trick…

          It was part of a stupid OTK that involve giving Sivir elusive with Ghost and double attack with Flurry of Fists plus some other combat tricks. For most decks the OTK was impossible to interact with due to both spellshield and elusive, you can see it here starting from the 20:00 mark.

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrgqBKiZZ74

           

          Take it easy man, it was my take and recap of the nerfs, not saying that is mY oPiNiOn but it is, you don't need to recap all i said, be gentle daddy. So, you have all the reason, simply. Its true that Merciless Hunter now is more vulnerable to 10 thousand sh!ts (who is good!) but i think still a exaggeratedly/broken card, simply that. Over the other cards, what i said about Shaped Stone is that stills a good card, that's why i compare it to the sh!t of card that is Radiant Strike. I've seen and playing vs. Sivirs, but never with Flurry of Fists, that thing is nasty man.

          And i know what is a nerf, im from the time where "nerf" meaned DESTROY OLAF AND MAKE IT UNPLAYABLE, so must than nerf, for me is better calling it Balance, i associate the "nerf" word with something more violent, thats why i say it like that.

    • It’s a good nerf. For 4 3 mana, Merciless Hunter grants a unit vulnerable and summons a body for your board. Granting vulnerable is a cheap effect - several 1- and 2-mana spells give vulnerable for a turn and have another beneficial effect. I think the only comparable card that grants vulnerable is Chum the Waters. That costs 1 more than Hunter but gives you a 5/2 Overwhelm, and isn’t considered OP at all.

      In short, “grant vulnerable and summon a unit” is fine for 4 mana. The real problem is that the unit gave a little too much value. Removing 1 health may not seem like a lot, but it will prevent the worst board swings that the card allowed before.

      [Edit: Oops, I had the mana cost off. That’s a real mistake, but I think the basic point stands.] 

      • You clearly have a point, but Merciless Hunter being a 4/2 is still very very good. Chum the Waters is a interesting case of being basically the same effect but having a little tweak (1 mana of cost and being in another region) makes a very different card in the meta.

  • These are some good changes and the nerf to flawless duet in pretty brutal, I would have like it if they also nerfed some cards in the Ionia elusive rally decks but in the end of the day this is just a hotfix not a balance patch so I understand.

  • FOUR nerfs targetting the same deck? Wow that's what I call hate.

    On the other hand, was Flawless Duet actually used?

    • Quote From bananaMurloc

      FOUR nerfs targetting the same deck? Wow that's what I call hate.

      On the other hand, was Flawless Duet actually used?

      A more accurate statement would be four nerfs targeting an engine used by multiple top tier decks.

      And I am really confused by that question. What do you mean by "was Flawless Duet actually used?" Of course it was, have you never faced an Azir/Irelia? Something that is very unlikely if you have been playing the game for the last 4 months. 

  • Sure these are nerfs on the most powerful cards right now but are they reaĺly impactful?

    Well I doubt it. Removing 1 Health from both Ruin Runner and Merciless Hunter doesn't make them a lot weaker since all the merciless Hunter nerf will do is making the unit more vulnerable to spell removal, which is not worth it most of the time for a 3 mana unit and Ruin Runner cares even less about 1 health lost.

    Shaped Stone however drops significantly through 1 attack nerf and in combination with these nerfs could drop the shuriman midrange deck's winrate by 2-3% still it doesn't really impress me.

    • Individually, the shurima card nerfs can seem a bit underwhelming. But the three cards are often run together so decks that use them will take a huge blow.

    • The health nerf for both cards means that they mostly cannot survive more than one combat in many cases. One of the advantages of Merciless Hunter was being able to remove something and survive to gain a 2-for-1 advantage - that's a LOT less likely now.

      One of the bonuses of Ruin Runner is being alive for multiple attacks, or being able to block and then also still attack. With only 3 health, it's almost certainly only getting in one attack turn and dying to a blocker.

      So, I think the changes are more impactful than you're giving them credit for. Just look what one health nerf did to Fiora, Aphelios, and Rearguard (a much older example that was reverted to put him back to 2 health, but he was literally never used as a 3/1) - just as historical examples.

      • The huge difference between a Merciless Hunter and the likes of Fiora and Aphelios is: they are winconditions that you actively want to protect because they will win you the game if the live long enough, if your Merciless Hunter dies you won't be too sad about it because it's just a 3 mana fearsome unit afterall 

        Also is the Legion Rearguard example a different case because the card literally had as it's only benefit to be overstatted as a 1 drop (which afterwards it wasn't anymore and totaly lost it's purpose)

  • These are some of the biggest changes I have seen for LoR in a while, yet somehow it's a hotfix? Well, I'm not complaining.