League of Legends Worlds Patch (14.18) Preview: The return of mages, AD junglers, Aurora and more!

Worlds 2024 patch looks ready to enter the stage! With the biggest League of Legends tournament of the year on the horizon, the meta will be shifting greatly with patch 14.18.

One of the most exciting notes on the patch will be the return of League of Legends' newest champion, Aurora. After being disabled in pro play for playoffs across regional leagues due to a game-breaking bug, fans will be delighted to see the champion return to the biggest stage.

"We're optimistic that the issue with Aurora and Chronobreak will be resolved by patch day and so we're hopeful that Aurora will be enabled on the Worlds patch."

This information about patch 14.18 came from an X (Twitter) post made by Matt "Phroxzon" Leung-Harrison, League of Legends' Lead Gameplay Designer.

Without further ado, let's dive in to find out what Worlds patch has in store for us!

"Top: In top, we're trying to add a few more situational picks in Malphite, Jax (buffs undecided currently), Gnar (though this is mostly compensating fleet nerfs), Shen. Rumble will be receiving a nerf and Nasus is mostly unchanged for Top; we expect him to be an effective situational counterpick there."

"Jungle: In jungle, we have a good diversity of champions in AP, Tanks, Enchanters and Fighters (Vi). However we're looking to get a bit more variety in there and tapping down some of the top champions."

"Mid: Of course, some of the ADC's in mid are being directly hit (Smolder, Zeri, Corki) and Aurora is expected to make an appearance as well. Azir is expected to be hit by Fleet nerfs, but he has some ready to go replacements in Conqueror and some situational answers in the meta as well that are being directly and indirectly buffed. Overall, we hope Mid has a lot of shakeups."

"Bot:MF as one of the top champs is getting a nerf to both her first item and her base AD, not looking to make huge swings here and we still want her to be present in the meta. Varus was overbuffed on the previous patch and so we're scaling it back. Ziggs has also been pretty prevalent with all of the AD mid action, but we expect his presence to reduce with a reduction of those AD mids and a direct nerf."

"Support: Overall the support meta is in a decent spot. While ranged supports aren't as prevalent in the meta (other than Senna), they're still doing quite well in solo queue, so we're bringing most of the top champions down. As a result, Rell and Leona are receiving direct nerfs, but we are buffing Lulu as she had a little bit of room there."

Champion Buffs

Ahri

"Mid is having a lot of changes here; we're getting Ahri back in the meta and some indirect buffs to other champions like Syndra, Ori, etc.

We've also buffed a few champs recently that should be situationally viable; Ryze, Liss, TF, etc."

• [E] Charm damage increased 80/110/140/170/200 (+60% AP) >>> 80/120/160/200/240 (+75% AP)

Gnar

• Mini-Gnar Base AD increased 57 >>> 60

Hwei

• [WW] Subject: Serenity - Pool of Reflection shield strength for allies increased 50% >>> 75%

Jarvan IV

"We'd like to see Viego, J4, Xin balance out the roster a little more AD wise, so that AP champions don't feel as pinched about their pairings."

• [P] Martial Cadence target's current HP ratio increased 7% >>> 8%

Jax

• [R] Grandmaster-At-Arms buffs:
  • [R-P] Bonus on-hit damage increased 60/110/160 >>> 60/120/180
  • Base bonus Armor per champion hit beyond the first increased 15/20/25 >>> 20/25/30
  • Base bonus Magic Resistance per champion hit beyond the first increased 12/15/18

Jayce

• [Hammer-Q] To The Skies! slow increased 30/35/40/45/50/55% >>> 35/40/45/50/55/60%
• [Cannon-E] Acceleration Gate bonus Move Speed increased 30/35/40/45/50/55% >>> 35/40/45/50/55/60%

Jinx

"Overall, the bot lane meta is quite utility focused as many carries are in mid lane mean that bot can afford to bring less damage

We're aiming to add a little bit of Jinx back in the meta."

• Attack Speed per level increased 1 >>> 1.4

Lulu

• [P] Pix, Faerie Companion base damage per bolt increased 3-37 >>> 5-39 (based on levels 1-18, linear)

Malphite

• [P] Granite Shield max HP ratio increased 9% >>> 10%

Samira

• [Q] Flair AD ratio increased 85/95/105/115/125% >>> 95/102.5/110/117.5/125%

Shen

• [P] Ki Barrier shield increased 47-101 (+12% bonus HP) >>> 47-120 (+13% bonus HP) (based on levels 1-18, linear)

Viego

• Base AD increased 57 >>> 60
• [Q] Blade of the Ruined King bonus monster damage reduced 20 >>> 15

Xin Zhao

• Armor per level increased 4.7 >>> 5
• [Q] Three Talon Strike base damage per attack increased 16/25/34/43/52 >>> 16/29/42/55/68

Champion Nerfs

Aurora

"As it's played out, Pros and Elite players have been extremely good at capitalizing on her R engage range and we're taking some of the training wheels off in enabling these types of engages and picks now that players are a lot better at her. She has W to enable some of these tricky engages and we'd like her to be a bit more reliant to pull those off.

Players will need to be much more selective about their engages now and her ult will lock down champions for less time, which will give her slightly less time at lower ranks to R -> back portal assassinate and portal back (or at least put a tighter time pressure on that play). We expect Fleet nerfs to impact Aurora more in top lane and harm her ability to be flexed."

• [R] Between Worlds nerfs:
  • Duration reduced 3/3.5/4 >>> 2/2.5/3 seconds
  • Jump max distance reduced 450 >>> 250 units
  • Wall jump forgiveness reduced 700 >>> 450 units

Azir

• [R] Emperor's Divide damage reduced 200/400/600 (+75% AP) >>> 175/325/475 (+60% AP)

Corki

• [Q] Phosphorus Bomb base damage reduced 70/120/170/220/270 >>> 70/115/160/205/250

Ivern

• [E] Triggerseed nerfs:
  • Base shield reduced 85/125/165/205/245 >>> 75/115/155/195/235
  • Slow reduced 45/50/55/60/65% >>> 40/45/50/55/60%

Leona

• Base Armor reduced 47 >>> 43

Lillia

• [Q] Dream-Laden Bough damage cap reduced 70-100 (based on levels 1-18, linear) >>> 65 flat
• [R] Lilting Lullaby sleep duration reduced 2/2.25/2.5 >>> 2 flat seconds

Lissandra

• [Q] Ice Shard AP ratio reduced 85% >>> 75%

Maokai

• [E] Sapling Toss nerfs:
  • In-brush duration bonus HP ratio reduced 2.5% >>> 1.5%
  • Cooldown increased 16/15/14/13/12 >>> 18/17/16/15/14 seconds

Miss Fortune

• Base AD reduced 55 >>> 53

Nasus

• [E] Spirit Fire nerfs:
  • Initial base damage reduced 55/95/135/175/215 >>> 50/80/110/140/170
  • Base damage per tick reduced 11/19/27/35/43 >>> 10/16/22/28/34

Rell

• [E] Full Tilt initial bonus Move Speed reduced 9/10.5/12/13.5/15% >>> 9/9.75/10.5/11.25/12% (24/28/32/36/40 >>> 24/26/28/30/32% maximum)

Rumble

• [Q] Flamespitter damage per tick reduced 6.667/8.75/10.833/12.917/15 (+9.17% AP) (+0.5/0.583/0.667/0.75/0.833% target's max HP) >>> 5/7.5/10/12.5/15 (+8.33% AP) (+0.5/0.583/0.667/0.75/0.833% target's max HP) (80/105/130/155/180 (+110% AP) (+6/7/8/9/10% target's max HP) >>> 60/90/120/150/180 (+100% AP) (+6/7/8/9/10% target's max HP) total)
• [E] Electro Harpoon base damage reduced 60/85/110/135/160 >>> 50/75/100/125/150

Smolder

• [Q] Super Scorcher Breath damage reduced 20/30/40/50/60 (+100% AD) (+15% AP) >>> 15/25/35/45/55 (+100% AD) (+0% AP)
• [W] Achooo! glob base damage 50/80/110/140/170 >>> 45/75/105/135/165

Varus

• [Q] Piercing Arrow minimum damage bAD ratio reduced 100/106.67/113.33/120/126.67% >>> 85.8/92.4/99/105.6/112.2% (150/160/170/180/190% >>> 130/140/150/160/170% maximum)
• [E] Hail of Arrows bAD ratio reduced 110% >>> 100%

Vi

• [Q] Vault Breaker minimum base damage reduced 50/75/100/125/150 >>> 45/70/95/120/145 (100/150/200/250/300 >>> 90/140/190/240/290 maximum)

Zeri

• [P] Living Battery damage reduced 90-200 (+110% AP) (+1-15% target's max HP) (based on levels 1-18, backloaded) >>> 75-160 (+110% AP) (+1-11% target's max HP) (based on levels 1-18, linear)

Ziggs

• [P] Short Fuse structure damage ratio reduced 250% >>> 175%

System Adjustments

Luden's Companion

"AP items: We currently believe Liandrys is not too strong, but that the other items are too weak; or not shaped in the right ways; the Stormsurge threshold is being reduced here to make it easier for Mages to proc (over melee champions who typically have less frequent, more bursty trades). We're bringing the other items up to that level (Liandrys, Lich, Horizon, etc.)"

• AP increased 95 >>> 100
• Ability Haste reduced 25 >>> 20
• Cost reduced 2900 >>> 2850 gold

Shadowflame

• AP reduced 120 >>> 115
• Magic Penetration increased 12 >>> 15
• Cinderbloom buffs:
  • Enemy max HP threshold increased 35% >>> 40%
  • Damage over time and pet damage ratio reduced 130% >>> 125%

Stormsurge

• Magic Penetration increased 10 >>> 15
• Move Speed reduced 8% >>> 5%
• Stormraider enemy max HP threshold reduced 35% >>> 25%
• Squall damage increased 140/126 (+20/18% AP) (melee/ranged) >>> 140 (+20% AP)

Fleet Footwork

"Fleet is receiving a big nerf for ranged champions; overall we think this is doing a lot to make it hard to assail ADC's in midlane especially."

• Heal adjusted 5-100 (+10% bAD) (+5% AP) >>> 10-130/6-78 (+10/6% bAD) (+5/3% AP (melee/ranged) (based on levels 1-18, backloaded)
• Minion heal ratio adjusted 20/10% (melee/ranged) >>> 15% (stacks with above melee/ranged ratio)
• Bonus Move Speed increased 15% >>> 20/15% (melee/ranged)

Bloodthirster

"Additionally, there are some nerfs to BT and Shieldbow for ranged. In general, we think ADC's are too durable holistically, while the melees who build these items are overall fine."

• Life Steal reduced 18% >>> 15%
• Ichorshield shield reduced 50-400 (based on levels 1-18, linear) >>> 165-315 (based on levels 8-18, linear)

Immortal Shieldbow

• Lifeline shield adjusted 320-720 (based on levels 8-18, linear) >>> 400-700/320-560 (melee/ranged) (based on levels 8-18, linear)

Turret Bulwark

"Lane Swaps: Viewers don't sign up to watch 3v0's and I don't think Pro Players are signing up to play that either.

The changes here are making taking the first plate in top take twice as long, while the plates that are dropped in bot lane are going to be far more significant, especially off the first crash."

• Turret Armor and Magic Resistance increased -25/15/55/95/135 >>> -25/25/75/125/175 (5000/4000/3000/2000/1000 turret's current HP)
• Bulwark temporary Armor and Magic Resistance per stack reduced 45/45/90/135/180/225 >>> 20/20/40/60/80/100 (based on nearby champions 0/1/2/3/4/5)

Turret Fortification

• Damage reduction for the first 5 minutes increased 75% >>> 85%

 

With what's turning out to be one of the largest patches in recent memory, the meta is expected to shake up greatly for Worlds.

After AD carries ruling the mid lane for most of the year in pro play, patch 14.18 might just prove to be the one to change that in the end. Between nerfs to ADC's sustain in lane and several buffs to some of our favorite mage champions, the ADC mid glory days may finally be over.

Meanwhile, a similar tale has rung true in the jungle all season long, this time with AP junglers. With how strong Liandry's Torment was as an item, as well as increased jungle camp damage for Brand, Zyra and more, AP junglers have dominated the meta in 2024. Despite a lack of direct nerfs to AP junglers, expect to see far more variety in the jungle at Worlds with upcoming buffs to several AD junglers instead.

Following the vast dimensions of the upcoming Worlds patch, only time will tell how your favorite players and teams will be able to adapt to patch 14.18. One thing is certain, however, Worlds will be an exciting spectacle to behold.

Image source: Riot Games

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