Why 5.16 is a Bigger Deal Than You Think it is

EDIT: Nevermind, looks like worlds will be on 5.18. Nothing to see here, move along.

Let me start this off with two links. First, we have the patch notes for patch 4.14 - http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/news/game-updates/patch/patch-414-notes Next, the announcement that patch 4.14 will be the worlds patch - http://na.lolesports.com/articles/414-world-championship-patch

I'd like to point out two parts of the patch notes from 4.14. First, the date - the patch came out on August 20th. Second, I'm going to quote a sentence from the foreword:

As 4.14 is potentially the patch we'll be playing the World Championship on, we're deliberately playing safe in terms of disruptive changes.

Now for some quick math. 5.14 came out on about July 22nd (not sure on the exact date). 5.15 came out yesterday (the 5th). That's 2 weeks in between patches. Guess what day is two weeks from today - August 20th.

That's right, patch 5.16 should come out when the worlds patch came out last year. And, it seems that this year they will not stick to their policy of playing things safe leading into worlds. Now, it is possible that rito plays worlds on the patch after 5.16 (aka 5.17). For season 3, patch 3.11 (worlds patch) was released in early September. Two weeks after the 20th is early September. However, this leaves rito with two options that are both pretty flawed in my opinion.

Their first option would be to play worlds on 5.16. As I said earlier, this is far from a "safe" patch. There is the juggernaut rework as well as the defensive item overhaul. I trust rito to do their internal testing and all, but when all of the defensive items are tweaked (and some more than tweaked), lots of changes are going to happen in the meta, which isn't what you want right before worlds. The teams going to worlds will be the teams that are strongest in the 5.14/5.15 meta, and they may not be as strong after whatever changes occur in 5.16. Regardless of each teams' strengths and weaknesses, all teams will have to adapt quickly, which makes it hard for teams to perfect their playstyle heading into worlds.

Their second option would be to fix whatever is wrong with 5.16 in a "safe" 5.17 (because when you make this many changes, bad things happen. for example: morde solo baron with pet dragon). However, 5.17 would be released in early September - only a month before Worlds on October 1st. Even if 5.17 is a "safe" patch, I don't think that is enough time for teams in the current age of League. With the way everything is analyzed now, teams will want as much time as possible to theorycraft the best comps and strats for worlds, and then practice and perfect those playstyles.

I really don't mind patch 5.16; if it was a midseason patch I would be pretty happy with it. Sure, there might be some mistakes being made, but mistakes are great learning opportunities. However, this many changes right before Worlds just doesn't seem like its going to lead to each team playing at the highest possible level - which should be Riot's main goal here.

TL;DR: Patch 5.16 is potentially the patch worlds is played on which is bad because a) too many changes and b) too close to Worlds.