I think the PBE galio changes are actually beneficial for galio, Heres why:
(Currently on PBE:
Winds of War (Q) mana cost lowered from 70/85/100/115/130 to 70/75/80/85/90 damage increased from 50/80/110/140/170 to 70/105/140/175/210 windblast damage changed from [30/40/50/60/70 (+60% AP) + (+3% per 100 AP) of enemies max health] to [6% (+3% per 100 AP) of enemies max health]
and
Hero's Entrance (R) [Changed Effect] No longer knocks up enemies in the centre for a longer duration. All enemies hit by Hero's Entrance are knocked up for .75 seconds
from http://www.surrenderat20.net/2018/11/116-pbe-update-eclipse-leona-cven.html)
So the galio changes look like nerfs, at first glance yes. But It's actually a power shift, that will end up being an overall buff for galio.
When I initially saw the changes, I was pissed. I felt like the fun AP galio build (also the most popular in solo que) was getting gutted. Galio wasn't in an amazing spot to begin with: a low playrate, winrate, enormous cd on his ult, enormous mana cost on his Q.
But the more I think about it, the more I feel this will make galio more fun, playable, without losing too much of his unique power. So let me try to show you, why I think the changes are not bad.
So for starters, the Q changes are a straight up buff to his early game and mid game. The lowered mana cost is HEAVILY appreciated. 130 mana cost was actually DISABLING after you put a few points in it. This basically means, instead of casting 2 Q's for 260 mana, he can cast 3 q's for 270 mana.This additional Q ends up being 8-10 extra Q's in the laning phase, and 20+ extra Q's in the late game. (good for trading and waveclear)
The increased base damage is also a welcome change. If you've ever played galio, you know the difference in power your Q has before and after you buy a blasting wand. At rank 4, current galio does **~200 **base damage+0%max hp. After buying a blasting wand, it does ~256 damage+~1% max hp. This 50 damage jump is huge. It enables galio to begin one shotting the backline minions with a Q+empowered auto. It massively increases his kill potential in lane, especially in melee matchups. You are able to get your whole Q off, and just getting 2 of is 100 extra damage. Heres what sucks about this though, If you don't get your blasting wand, because of bad matchup/early back/death, you are SCREWED. You will be EXTREMELY weak, and a sitting duck for the enemy.
With the new changes, galio is not punished AS hard for itemizing differently (rushing brambles vest, for example.) or backing early in lane, because of the** 35** bonus base damage. The 6% max hp runs even with the base damage of galio Q for the most part, unless if the enemy is building health, in which case even this damage would be increased. So even if galio decides to skip that early blasting wand, he will only be behind ~15 damage per Q early game.( as compared to the **50(( damage he would loser per Q on live)
TLDR version: He has better waveclear, trading, buildpaths early. And is not punished as hard as before.
now let's talk about the bad You probably noticed, the extra base damage received on galio Q is nice and all, but wheres that 0.6 AP RATIO? Some of the most fun moments i had playing ap galio was being somewhat tanky with damage reduction from W + hp from items(RoA, liandaries, etc) + aftershock late game, and still being able to WHAM into the ad carry if they overstepped and one shot them. The playstyle felt like it matched Galio's theme, and was extremely satisfying. But if I'm being honest, that playstyle is still present. He is still more than capable of charging into a squishy, or a group of people, doing decent AOE damage, and CCing them. It's not easy to land all the ticks on Q late game either, so that 0.6 ap ratio might just end up being a 0.2 ap ratio. His snowballing is definitely nerfed. He will no longer be able to insta one shot ADC's while being ahead (do note: it was balanced because it was not easy for galio to get ahead in the first place, and he had to build a lich bane to do it).
They also touched the knockup duration on the centre of his ult.I see no reason why the balance team made this change. Its not problematic at all. I don't see it having a significant impact, beacuse hitting a centre ult is extremely rare impossible, and with the follow up CC galio has in his taunt and dash, its probably going to go unnoticed.
conclusion They took some power away from galios snowball and late game potential, but they re-invested this power into other parts of galio's kit, which makes him much more viable, and less frustrating to play.
