The Thing About Patches

Here's the thing about patches: they are about ideas, not numbers. Everyone is doing all the math for all the updates and armor changes, and that is fine and dandy, but do you not think Rito has thought about that? Or that if it is super op they will fix it while it is still on the PBE?

What matters more about the PBE is the idea behind what they do; that is what influences the game the most in the long run. Some things may be gutted or super buffed in a patch, but eventually they will come back around to be nerfed or buffed again. What matters more is where the changes take the game. Take the Mordekaiser changes, for example. Maybe taking him in place of an adc won't work. Maybe it will work too well. We'll have to see these next couple days. But what really matters is that they are giving alternatives to having a traditional adc, and that is what is going to be the biggest change overall. More botlane diversity.

Now look at the Garen and Darius changes. They used to be practically the same, now Darius is for snowballing and Garen is for shutting down snowballs essentially. They are taking two champs; one who came out later and just outclassed Garen, and making them both fill different roles and become viable again.

Then there is Skarner. The Skarner change (and also the Morde Dragon Ult change) show how many levers Rito are willing to pull to make something fun, exciting, and more viable. Now whether you think the Skarner change is fun, exiting, or more viable is up to you, but that is what Rito has been trying to accomplish in the rework.

Overall what they have been trying to do in this patch is give outclassed, unviable champions a new way to be viable and fun to play. The numbers will be fixed, either this patch or the next, if they are broken at all. What matters is the direction it is taking League, and I personally am really excited for other sorts of creative reworks that will come out.