The League of Legends patch 9.10 was released on May 13, which is a day earlier than usual. It’s not nearly as big as the previous balance update, but that doesn’t make it any less significant. On the contrary, some of the buffs and nerfs are set to shake up the Solo Queue meta, so, without further ado, here’s our list of the top changes of patch 9.10!
LoL Champions Patch 9.10
Yuumi is out!
That’s right, the latest addition to the League of Legends champion lineup is finally here! Yuumi is meant to fill the support role, as she has multiple tools to assist her allies and hinder her enemies. Her most interesting spell—You and Me! [W]—grants her the ability to merge and share AD/AP with her teammates. Think of it as Rakan’s dash that also sticks you to your intended target and makes you untargetable by anything other than turret shots. Other than that, Yuumi has a conventional enchanter kit with heals, shields, poke spells, and an AoE root as an ultimate.
Our only concern is that Yuumi seems to be fairly weak on her own, so her usefulness will be determined by her W. To make matters worse, she doesn’t seem to have any unique skills that would warrant picking her over other enchanters like Nami, Lulu, Sona, or Soraka. You can find out more about Yuumi in the official champion preview.
Master Yi changes
Master Yi received some patch 9.10 changes! At first glance, it seems like the gods of balance were kind to him, as Riot removed the cast time on Alpha Strike [Q] and Meditate [W]. Moreover, his Q can now strike the same target twice if there are no other targets nearby, although the second strike will only deal 25% damage. Also, Highlander [R] gives 10% more movement speed at all ranks.
That being said, Wuju Style [E] no longer grants 10% attack damage while not on cooldown. To make matters worse, Riot nerfed one of Master Yi’s core items—Guinsoo’s Rageblade—so it’s hard to imagine his mains appreciating this patch.
Riven nerfs
It’s a good day for Solo Queue because Riven was finally nerfed! The cooldown on Valor [E] was increased by 4 seconds at all ranks, which should give solo laners more windows to trade against her. And while the cooldown on Broken Wings [Q] was changed from 13 seconds to 12/11.5/11/10.5/10 seconds to make up for the nerf, this is still a net loss for all the Riven mains out there.
Vayne gets fewer tumbles
Some of the latest balance updates pushed Vayne from the niche hypercarry into a bot lane power pick. And her ultimate is a huge reason behind this. Riot is addressing this by nerfing the Tumble [Q] cooldown reduction while the Final Hour [R] is active from 50% at all ranks to 30/40/50%. This should make Vayne more manageable in bot lane 2v2s and mid game teamfights, so other marksmen will have more opportunities to attack her early on.
Xin Zhao lands more Qs
It’s no secret that Xin Zhao has been slowly fading into obscurity. Well, looks like Riot isn’t willing to let him go just yet because his Three Talon Strike [Q] cooldown was reduced from 9/8/7/6/5 seconds to 7/6.5/6/5.5/5 seconds. And while that doesn’t sound like a big deal on paper, it will make Xin Zhao much more formidable in jungle fights and river skirmishes.
Zyra’s plants get stronger
Zyra has been in a weird spot ever since Riot nerfed her plants, but patch 9.10 is looking to set things right. Now, Zyra’s plants won’t take additional damage from auto attacks that don’t proc on-hit effects. With that, things like Miss Fortune’s Love Tap or Corki’s Hextech Munitions will no longer one-shot her plants, giving Zyra mains more breathing room in the bot lane.
Items, Runes, and Gameplay Changes
Essence Reaver Damage Buff
Essence Reaver gets 5 more attack damage! This patch 9.10 change makes it more competitive with other AD items like Infinity Edge and Stormrazor, so we fully expect to see more Essence Reavers on Summoner’s Rift. Combine that with the fact that certain ER users like Lucian, Sivir, and Xayah are already in a pretty good spot, and even something as minor as 5 attack damage might push them into the power pick territory.
Guinsoo’s Rageblade gets gutted
The phantom hit frequency was reduced from every 2 auto attack to every 3 auto attacks! This is a massive hit to Guinsoo’s Rageblade users like Vayne, Kog’Maw, and Master Yi, as they will deal less damage in prolonged fights. Granted, Riot tried to make up for the change by increasing the armor/magic penetration from 6% to 15%, but this is still a sizeable nerf to the Rageblade.
Runic Echoes becomes cheaper
The Runic Echoes cost was reduced from 2625 to 2500 gold! This might seem inconsequential on the surface, however, Karhus jungle is already quite dominant in the current meta. And making one of his core items cheaper will only give him a faster power spike.
Conqueror nerf
Everyone’s favorite keystone to hate—Conqueror—received a much-needed nerf! Now, the fully stacked rune will only convert 8% of damage dealt to champions to true damage and healing as opposed to 10% Of course, this won’t push it out of the meta, but it will definitely make it more manageable.
That’s it for the top changes of the League of Legends patch 9.10! You can check the complete patch notes here, and we’ll see you on the Summoner’s Rift!