Riot's Balance team is trolling us :Zoe Edition

Okay. you guys know I'm generally a defender of Zoe by now, and that I generally have a complicated view of the 8.4 Nerf/Rebalance. I must stress: i do not play Zoe, but I have played her and generally know both her shortcomings and how to beat her.

Last patch in a nutshell: Buffed More Sparkles, Buffed W, and nerfed Q into the ground, and took away one of its More Sparkles Procs.

Now..... here's what's on the PBE right now:

Zoe Attack range increased from 525 to 550

Paddle Star (Q) - (damage changed, now gains damage based on Zoe's level, Q first hit no longer applies passive's damage, AoE lowered to 80% for those not directly hit.) Damage increased from 45/60/75/90/105 (+20% AP) to 50/75/100/125/150 (60% AP) No longer also deals More Sparkles! damage to the first target hit Now also gains base damage based on Zoe's level 7/8/10/12/14/16/18/20/22/24/26/29/32/35/38/42/46/50 Now deals 20% reduced damage to enemies not directly hit.

Spell Thief (W) Bubble acquisition range increased from 525 to 550 Damage increased from 70/115/160/205/250 (+60% AP) to 75/120/165/210/255 (+75% AP)

Now.... just so we have safe comparisons, I'm going to show you what Q did in 8.3:

Paddle Star:

Base damage : 45 / 75 / 105 / 135 / 165. Could More Sparkles Twice. 66% AP ratio Increased by 0-150% depending on range

So.... let's plug in some Math:

At level 11 (a general game impacting level) with 250 AP:

8.6 Will do the following on a max hit: (150 + 150 + 26) X 2.5 (100% + 150%) = 815 damage. if hitting a E'd target, that's an additional 240 damage and 1 proc of more sparkles = 160.25 damage.

That's a 1,055 damage Q in the upcoming patch at level 11 with only 250 AP.

Now: 8.3 was this:

(165 + 165) X 2.5 = 825 Damage. If hitting an E'd target, that's 1065 Damage Q.

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In other words, what Riot just shipped to the PBE results in 10 less damage on the outright Q than the pre nerf damage Q.

However.... several things.

-8.4 Buffed More Sparkles -8.4 Buffed W's Move speed and damage. -8.6 Buffed W's damage even MORE.

So basically, what Riot's doing with 8.6 so far: They are reverting her Q damage, but buffing her passives, while keeping the E nerfs (Cooldown reduction removed, cleansable on all parts of the ability).

I'm not particularly against the old Q damage. It added a mini game for opponents to try to figure out how not to die to her, and it was extremely rewarding to kill her.

But at the same time as buffing all her mid game auto attack attributes? I don't know.

She'll be punished for missing E, but if she never misses E, her in lane ability to kill you is going to be stronger than ever.

If she takes unbound spellbook, she can pretty much ram new summoner's at you every time she recalls from mid lane, in addition to minion and champ dropped ones for a HUGE damage boost.

At which point.... all she has to do is R over a minion wave, E you at point blank, and then use her auto attack kit to deal More Sparkles and W damage.

Sure.... E will now be on cooldown if her opponent survives that, but I don't know if it's going to justify the buff her her overall damage.

I do agree with Riot that moving her damage to her auto attacks is the right move: auto attacks are mid/early game viable to correct champs who have horrible early game performance and win rates (Zoe's win rates based duration of game has always been dismal before 35 minute games. her primary role is a late game closer)

But, doing so while keeping intact her Q is a scary idea.

I guess we'll find out whether or not all that needed nerfed was her E. But I guarantee her LCS level play if this patch goes through is going to mean that Zoe stays banned and when she isn't, she's going to win more than just 49%.