Illaoi Starts to Take Over! Winners and Losers of League of Legends Patch 25.16

The latest League of Legends update arrived just days ago in what turned out to be one of the biggest patches in recent memory. Patch 25.16 has brought important changes to a long list of champions, but with particular focus on the jungle.

As champions continue to rise and fall in priority with the latest update, it's time to take a look at the champions that became the biggest winners and losers of LoL Patch 25.16.

Biggest Winners of the Patch

Illaoi

Back in Patch 25.15, Illaoi received some tweaks aimed at reducing some of the most frustrating parts of facing her in lane, while also getting some buffs to her [E] Test of Spirit to compensate. However, in the words of Riot Phroxzon himself, "the changes landed a little harder than intended."

To make up for the meager state she was left in, Patch 25.16 buffed Illaoi's tentacles to scale a little better with AD, but also spawn faster, particularly in the early game. These changes served to see Illaoi's win rate increase by more than 2% across all ranks (currently at around 51.7%). Is it possible Riot overshot the mark, or has Illaoi landed where she was meant to be all along?

Morgana

Admittedly, Patch 25.16 saw a long list of champions (Nautilus, Sylas, Brand) receive buffs aimed at their ability to jungle. Few of these, however, benefited from these as much as Morgana has. The Fallen received sizeable buffs to the minimum damage her [W] Tormented Shadow deals.

The changes served to see Morgana's pick rate more than double in the jungle with the new patch. With a kit full of value in the form of crowd control as well as crowd control denial, Morgana currently sits at a solid 51.2% win rate in the jungle, making her one of the biggest winners of the patch.

Zyra

Zyra's place on this list was given to her by the fact that her buffs in Patch 25.16 have allowed Zyra to return to the jungle, for one, while also allowing her to become even more oppressive in the support role.

Buffs to the cooldown of her [E] Grasping Roots means Zyra can fish for roots more often in the early game. Meanwhile, buffs to the base damage of her [R] Stranglethorn makes Zyra's level 6 power spike even greater. If your team's ADC gets caught by Zyra's E when she is level 6 or above, consider yourself a man down.

With pick rate and win rate spikes across two different roles, Zyra players are without a doubt some of the biggest beneficiaries of the new patch.

Biggest Losers of the Patch

Trundle

For a large part of the year, the Troll King sat comfortably atop his throne, proving to be one of the best junglers in the game both in Solo Queue and in pro play. Now, Trundle took a considerable hit in Patch 25.16 after receiving nerfs to both the Bonus Attack Speed and the cooldown of his [W] Frozen Domain.

Make no mistake, Trundle is still strong. He's just not 53.5%-win-rate-strong. Time will tell whether Trundle settles into a state Riot can feel comfortable with, or if further nerfs remain on the horizon.

Xin Zhao

Like Trundle, Xin Zhao has been running rampant in 2025. The new patch, however, toned down Xin's Base HP a tad, as well as lowering the Bonus Damage of his [Q] Three Talon Strike. Both of these nerfs served to reduce some of the champion's early dueling power.

We expect Xin Zhao to still be picked consistently in pro play, though his pick rate will certainly take a hit in Solo Queue. That is, until his coming Visual Update officially hits the game.

Lulu

You can't convince me someone at Riot didn't have a personal grudge against Pix. In Patch 25.16, Lulu's bread-and-butter ability, her [E] Help, Pix!, was hit hard with the nerf hammer, causing it to have a longer cooldown, do lower damage, and offer weaker shields.

As such a large part of what lets Lulu control most of the early game in lane, the nerfs to her E have caused Lulu's win rate to drop by over 1% across all ranks. If anything, just the fact that the ability feels considerably less satisfying to use makes Lulu one of the biggest losers of Patch 25.16.

Keeping Up With the Meta

Patch 25.16 has only just kicked off, but it's already proving to bring big changes to League of Legends. As always, climbing the ranked ladder depends on your ability to adapt to all the latest shifts in the meta. The jungle may look a little different this time around, so it's important to keep up!

To find out more about all of the newest changes, make sure you check out the complete Patch 25.16 notes.

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Feature image credit: Image exclusive to Strafe Esports

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