We're heading into League of Legends Patch 11.9, and we've got a preview of the changes.
A lot of them are nerfs to the Champions who were over-buffed last patch; especially for the Jungle role. This is also the patch which MSI will be played on, so the hope is to add more diversity to the pro meta.
Some nerfs are going to the movement speed based tank items, potentially part of the aim to reduce Hecarim's power.
Meanwhile item buffs are going to Sunfire Aegis, potentially to help validate tank Junglers again, as well as Wits End and Death's Dance who haven't seen much use.
Morgana is having her damage to Monsters reduced, and Diana is having some of her base stats nerfed to help deal with her prominence in the Jungle. Rumble and Dr Mundo are also receiving some reductions to base stats, to help bring them in line after the recent buffs to them.
The main nerf is to Hecarim, where they are trying to reduce base stats to encourage damage builds. His (Q) Rampage is having the base damage reduced, but will now scale with Base Attack Damage. Similarly, the healing from his (W) Spirit of Dread is being made to scale with his Base Attack Damage. Again, the base damage from his (E) Devastating Charge is being reduced, so players will have to build damage to do damage.
There are a host of small buffs going to multiple Champions, many of which we haven't seen in the professional scene for a while. Most are small changes to Mana Costs or Cooldowns, but most notably are the Sett and Shen changes.
Sett will now do more damage, as the (W) Haymaker scaling with his Bonus Attack Damage has been double, and the scaling on his Ultimate has been increased to 120%. This will likely mean more damage Sett builds coming in; I wouldn't expect this to mean Support Sett coming back unless with a fasting ADC like Senna.
Shen is also gaining a new scaling for his Ultimate. The (R) Stand United shield will now scale with his Base Health. This will likely be felt at early levels, especially since the base amount has been reduced, but it will mean larger shields as Shen gets tankier.
As always, these changes are all tentative and are part of a preview. Numbers might change, or never be deployed, and some bits can be added to the list. We never truly know until we have the official patch notes.
Patch 11.9 should be expected to go live on April 29.
The new Conqueror skin is getting a new look compared to its previous renditions.
