Most likely the last patch of this season, the amount of consequential changes coming to League of Legends this time around is minimal. Saving the big stuff for post/pre-season, there is still some unfinished business to contend with in the modern versions of some characters. Let’s get into it.
1. Nidalee, Nerfed
I cannot, in my near six years with League of Legends, remember a time when Nidalee was not considered a premier jungler. This is mostly because of how efficient she is. You don’t really “trade” with a jungler like you would a traditional lane opponent – by denying farm, poking, dueling, etc. Junglers have to be stopped by removing as many of their options as possible. That means taking their jungle camps, stuffing their gank attempts, keeping their health low enough that they can’t continue clearing mobs, etc. Most junglers are set back by any combination of these things. Nidalee not so much.
Her slipper mobility thanks to Pounce and Prowl, her heavy sustain from Primal Surge, and her super quick camp clears make her generally immune to counter-play. Even when making mistakes, Nidalee has the tools to keep her safe and on the level. This is why she’s routinely banned in pro play. Even when doing everything right against her, she’s always going to have a flawless feeling early game.
It’s almost a surprise to see that particular portion of her gameplay get nerfed. It’s been this way so long that we’ve just come to accept that this is just what she does. The nerf comes in two places. First, the cooldowns on all of her cougar abilities are going up to 6 seconds from 5 seconds, so the window of counter opportunity is just a little bigger. Second, the healing from Primal Surge is going down, from 45/85/125/165/205 to 25-50/45-90/65-130/85-170/105-210. The variance between the later sets of numbers is based on her missing health.
2. Ivern, Reloaded
Poor Ivern has had quite the nefarious debut. Debuting during patch 6.20, he had the lowest win rate I’d personally ever seen, according to Champion.gg. Even now, he’s still the losingest champion in his specialized positions, Support and Jungle. The tap dancing treeman was hotfixed during last patch cycle, increasing his base attack speed and magic resist stats, as well as raising the growth stats of his health and attack speed. The idea being these stats would help him take better advantage of his attack buffs from being in bushes, as well as help him scale into late game more easily.
This patch lowers the starting amount of health required to make groves via Friend of the Forest from 30% to 25%. Daisy, The Green Father’s golem accomplice and Tibbers analog, will now hit minions when there’s no champions to hit (due to her killing them). She can also attack enemies that can’t see her. What will this do for Ivern, long term? Who really knows? Part of the reason for his low performance may be the stats, but it’s also the absolutely strange way of playing that he demands. People still don’t really know what they’re doing, and until high level pros take legit cracks at him, he’ll probably remain a puzzle.