Where Riot says they posted a nerf/buff update but they actually don't and see how much of the meta and WR changes just due to the player's mentality that a champ is now garbage or OP despite no changes having been placed.
Then they post the results of the whole experiment prank.
ThePerson7622 votesThis is a good idea. Just a ton of fake patch notes?
Avienal38 votesThis is a good idea. Just a ton of fake patch notes?
I'd say a better april fools prank would be to actually do something like disable 
for a few days and use that also as a measure to just see how the reaction is and if the reaction results in something super effective like making alot of 'broken champions' end up becoming alot weaker or even early game snowball B.S. champions not work as well as much to where people have to actually replan strategies since they can't be using Flash anymore for EZ escape or EZ kill secures anymore, since people will have a 'norm slot' free to have more flexible options like 
to counter the divers, 
to actually make use of more often as a better 'long term chase/escape tool' or even have 
return especially if it can cleanse stuff like 
's mark, 
's mark, etc.
Seriously, i'd love to see how the pace of LoL would become if even got removed for just a day.
abdul56919 votesthis could be the 'dummy prank' so that people don't realise the actual intention.
LA Losty5 votesObviously this shouldnt be implemented in ranked, but i would love to see gamemodes where the gameplay is the same as normal, but restricted to a certain extend, such as disabling certain things forcing players to think for themselves and come up with new and interesting ideas and tactics. Just like you suggested, but maybe with even more than just flash, i think it would create a very interesting and unique experience.
LordSirChipmunk1 votesThe problem with this suggestion is that every champion with mobility would dominate even more than before. In other words, all of the "cancer" champions from before would get stronger. I like the idea though.
3TWarrior1 votesnot necessarily true as a lot of what makes mobility champions strong is a blink engage without delay or a blink disengage when losing.
if anything, it would have a neutral effect and tone down some of the over-generous plays that mobile champions can make
rtbf2256182411 votesinb4 remove Summoner Spells and every other normal spell is just a poro toss.
Demented Gag1 votesNo flash you say? 
abdul5691 votesnot fake, just delayed. If things go completely different cuz of the prank then don't actually do the patch and post results. If nothing happens then go ahead with the patch a few days late
starelementpoke1 votesSo what's happening right now then essentially?
Cheekynorth15 votesI vaguely remember seeing a Rioter post nerfs for Vlad but never put the files in game. The consensus was that he's trash, his playrate plummeted and somehow is winrate went down. All of this was without the nerfs even going through
My Heartshaker2 votesI believe that was Riot Scarizard who has sadly left riot now :(
Leetri4 votesIt was FeralPony originally, Scarizard only quoted him if I recall correctly. They also had the same situation when Riven was new, she was pretty weak and they put in some buffs for her and everyone said she felt much better. Thing is they forgot to actually put in the buffs so she was just as weak as before.
PePsiLemoNN9 votesThey already did that once by mistake ( don't remember what it was tho). And everyone said that thing was too strong or whatever.
abdul5698 votesOh i heard about this b4. was it relating to release riven? ppl said she too weak then riot said they hotfixing her but it didnt go through and suddenly riven OP threads came? I think riot should do a few of those and see whether it's community mentality and placebo or if something is genuinely OP.
1374342 votesNo, it was long after release Riven. It was season 5 I think. For some reason I want to say it was something relating to Swain or another Mage where they put adjustments in the patch notes but mistakenly did not push it in the patch.
50000000000000004 votesI think it was Vladimir, although I'm not sure what the change was exactly. He saw both changes in his pick rate (makes sense) and his win rate (?!)
abdul5692 votesdid the WR go up (which then means the meta sheeps leave and so the mains who have a higher WR anyway become more of a factor in overall WR) or did it go down (no idea why it would; placebo I guess that vlad is now trash)?
50000000000000001 votesI think it was a nerf, now that you say this. I don't see anything from the patch history though :(
AIIan6 votesdid the WR go up (which then means the meta sheeps leave and so the mains who have a higher WR anyway become more of a factor in overall WR) or did it go down (no idea why it would; placebo I guess that vlad is now trash)?
.
There was one time when I was pretty new at Rito where I submitted a Vladimir nerf (removing the bonus speed from his pool) but forgot to actually submit the files into the patch. As a result, the patch notes went out and sentiment was that we had killed the champion. Vladimir’s play rate plummeted and his win rate decreased a bit, even though the changes never actually went out.
We had a similar instance when Riven was released where she was viewed as very weak. We hotfixed in some buffs and shortly after posting it to the forums, her play rate spiked and feedback was very positive. Players happily reported how great the buffs felt, even though the hotfix hadn’t actually gone live yet.
Shae VizIa1 votesActually, it was Syndra last year, something with her E width. Patch 5.2 if i remember correctly.
RageWizardX5 votesHow about instead of pretending to nerf, pretend to buff. Have the patch notes increase 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, and 
's power by a crazy OP amount. Lets see how much the pick rate goes up :)
58697132DEL13 votesThats happened before. Once Riot said in the patch notes they sent out a Nerf on a champ (I forget which but it was some basic number stuff) but the thing is due to a mixup, that never went live. I think it even had to be hotfixed in
Yet that whole week it wasnt up EVERYONE PLAYING TE CHAMP BITCHED THEY WERE USELESS! Despite no actual changes. This is probably (theory) due to the fact that 99% of the playerbase dont actually know shit about the game. Obvious stuff like a move changing how it works or cooldowns being longer sure, but most folks cant tell me any stats on even their fave champ (by stats i mean stuff like base attack, dmg growth, health growth, etc) so when thats all that gets changed the playerbase just goes "Oh that number is lower/higher so they must be bad/good now"
Of course over time some players feel the changes more, and obvious fact is obvious but the 1% that always can tell are high elo/pro players and developers alike because duh, but yeah for the most part league player brains just see a number and adjust their expectancy of the champ based on if it's being called a "Buff" or "Nerf" so really, this would be very easy to do.
PS - Personally since we can have URF anytime now, i think April Fools should just release the silly skins and have some kinda like IP party week thing, BUT you only get the bonus playing ARAM or Twisted Treeline! (modes under normal situations few people touch lol)
Sraeg20133 votesThis reminds me of that one time in Season 3 - I think - when Riot nerfed Hecarim because he was too strong.
The next day his pickrate doubled and winrate went up by ~5%.
boo9103 votesfor april fools
they should make only 
cause the so-Lucian to shaco stealth is vi-sion
winteriscoming971 votesSona?
Cheekynorth1 votesSo(na)Lucian
Cátarina3 votesAhh, the placebo effect.
Oelyk2 votesYou mean they say they nerfed Lee sin? Wait... no one would fall for that.
Decrit2 votesI think it would be too much on the bad side of jokes, yeah.
FilDaFunk1 votesI'd love that! (Should in-game tooltips also be changed along with that?)
Boop Daddy 1 votesWell. Now they can't actually do it :[
abdul5691 votesthis is a dummy thread. a rioter will come and say this won't happen and then it will.
Purpl3Jungl31 votesNow they wont do it
badooga1 votesNow they'll say they will do it... then what?
SpongebobIsLife1 votesThey "accidentally" did that with vlad awhile ago.
Purpl3Jungl31 votesPeople would know though. Like if they pretend to nerf a champ's cd, but they actually domt nerf it, people would realise the nerfs are fake
Cowseed1 votesWouldn't be something that obvious. Maybe like a change to a ratio. A champ can lose around 1 damage but I'm pretty sure people are going to go around saying "why did you gut x ?!"
LingLing231 votesLawl. God no. But, okay.
Cowseed1 votesYes. Just put a Yasuo buff in there or something. Or rather any circle jerk champion. Or better yet, just say all the buffs/nerfs since preseason were all a hoax and watch as players actually sit down and try to find out whats good for once by themselves.
Peng0d1 votesI remember one time with Vlad, where they put the stuff in the patch notes but the buffs/nerfs (idk which haha) didnt actually go through with the patch (accident), but his winrate dropped or went up even though no changes were made at all.
FatedSaviour1 votesis that what they did with exhaust in oce?
CryoChick1 voteshow about making another temp game mode that makes you be able to ban summoner spells
New Tool Album1 votes 
please get rid of for awhile, let me have some fun =D
Darf Rakki1 votesWhat if all the patch notes were already all fake and game balance was perfect this whole time
[zombie-brand-mindblown]
Wolftastic331 votesHow about switching physical and magic damage for ALL champions.
GigaPube1 votesThe patch notes are a formality, people can see everything thats changed or isnt and are able to cross-reference inconsistencies with the patch notes to see if things dont add up (which happens already sometimes anyway). if you're talking about making the numbers as-they-happen just be false, well then thats just not funny or silly, thats just annoying, my 1000 damage crit doesnt do 1000 damage? oh it does half that? well thats annoying, oh it only does 999? wow.....got me there, what a slight inconvenience.....
also, peoples "mentality" about champs/items/builds being OP or garbage already get frequently exaggerated. those mindless sheep are everywhere and its no laughing matter
CithriaC1 votesI don't know if many people remember, but something like this happened with vayne. Remember when vayne's stealth time was reduced on the pbe? It never went through. After that people stopped talking about her but the last time vayne was nerfed was back in in 6.24.
Magia Erebea1 votesThe best prank would obviously be to draw 20 champion names out of a hat and then flip a coin for each one. Heads, they get a buff. Tails, they get a nerf. Every game needs an annual Clown Patch.
