Two weeks have passed, which means we have yet another set of balance changes to go over — this time it’s League of Legends patch 9.11! Now, this patch is pretty similar to 9.10 in the sense that it doesn’t bring anything earth-shattering, but it will affect a solid number of champions. Some of them are more meta than others, but this patch could end up affecting both professional as well as casual play.

There are a couple of competitive mainstays that are getting hit, most notably Akali, Galio, and Jayce. Whether or not this will impact the current meta still remains to be seen.

With that out of the way, let’s jump right into our League of Legends patch 9.11 breakdown!

Champions Balance Changes

Akali

Akali is getting yet another set of nerfs. This time around, Riot is targeting her passive “Assassin’s Mark” and its ability to deal sustained damage. Going forward, it’ll refund less energy (from 10/20/30 to 10/15/20), and its damage ratio is also going down from 0.9 bonus AD and 0.7 AP to 0.6 bonus AD and 0.5 AP.

This is a concrete change for sure, and it should bring her down to earth quite a bit. Balancing Akali is like a double-edged sword, and it’s a layered process. Hopefully, this nerf will tone her strengths down, while also maintaining her viability.

Amumu

Riot is hitting Amumu’s passive “Cursed Touch.” Going forward, it will deal less bonus true damage on cursed targets (from 13% to 10%). They want to decrease the power his passive has over the rest of his ability kit, but this certainly doesn’t feel like a step in the right direction, especially for the few Amumu mains who are scattered across the globe.

Ekko

Riot is shipping a smaller quality of life change to Ekko’s E “Phase Dive.” Ekko will now be able to consistently use his basic attack after using the ability.

Galio

This is an interesting one. Ever since Galio became a competitive mainstay (primarily in the mid lane), Riot has been trying to balance him but haven’t been able to find much success, if any. After nerfing mid lane Galio, professional players decided to take him for a spin in a support role. Balancing Galio is a nightmarish endeavor, that’s for sure.

Starting with League of Legends patch 9.11, he should be a bit more viable as a mid lane mage, at least in theory. Riot is nerfing the damage numbers on his E “Justice Punch” (from 100/135/170/205/260 to 80/120/160/200/240), but they’re buffing his W “Shield of Durand” in order to balance things out.

His W will now deal less minimum damage (from 20/30/40/50/60 to 10/20/30/40/50) but will have a higher AP ratio (from +0.2 AP to +0.3). The maximum damage amount is also getting adjusted — less base damage (from 60/90/120/150/180 to 30/60/90/120/150) but a much higher AP ratio (from +0.6 AP to +0.9 AP).

Gragas

Gragas is getting a couple of basic buffs this time around. His health is going up (from 583.5 to 600), along with his base health growth (from 89 to 95) and base attack damage (from 61.4 to 64). These are smaller buffs, but they could push him towards competitive viability.

Janna

Janna is currently more of a poke early game mage rather than a protective, utility support champion. To counteract this, Riot is shipping a couple of changes. First of all, her W “Zephyr” will now have a lower cooldown (from 8 seconds to 8/7.5/7/6.5/6), but it’ll deal less damage when maxed out (from 55/100/145/190/235 to 55/90/125/160/195).

Her E “Eye of the Storm” is also getting changed. It’s getting a new passive that will lower its cooldown by 20% if you land your Q or ultimate. Its cooldown is also getting lowered (from 18/16/14/12/10 seconds to 16/15/14/13/12) and its shield amount is going up (from 70/105/140/175/210 to 80/115/150/185/220).

What they’re trying to do here is to make players think twice before leveling Janna’s W. Going forward, her E will be quite a bit more useful if you’re actually playing Janna the way it was originally intended.

Jayce

Jayce is currently too strong of a pick in professional play. To balance things out, Riot is nerfing his Q “Shock Blast.” Going forward, it will deal less base damage (from 70/120/170/220/270/320 to 70/115/160/205/250/295) and its damage ratio is also going down (from 1.2 bonus AD to 1.0).

Karthus

Riot wants to hit Karthus’ ability to impact team fights by nerfing his ultimate. This is definitely the right approach, and even though he’s still going to have a very potent jungle clear, he’ll be a bit less of a must-pick. Going forward, his ultimate “Requiem” will deal less damage — from 250/400/550 (+0.75 AP) to 200/350/500 (+0.65 AP).

Master Yi

Riot released a very interesting (and highly unnecessary) adjustment to Master Yi in 9.10. What was intended to ship as a nerf eventually turned out to be a massive buff. To balance things out, Riot is lowering the damage amount on his Q “Alpha Strike” (from 25% AD per additional strike to 15%).

Master Yi will also no longer receive an 8% bonus attack speed at level one as a base stat.

Rammus

Starting with League of Legends patch 9.11, Rammus’ team fight damage is going to be a lot less potent. His passive “Spiked Shell” will be providing less bonus damage (from 8-20 damage based on level to 10 at all levels), and his ultimate “Tremors” will also be dealing less damage per second (from 40/80/120 to 30/60/90).

Warwick

Riot is shipping a noticeable buff to Warwick’s Q “Jaws of the Beast“. Going forward, it will heal for 30/45/60/75/90% of damage dealt instead of 30/40/50/60/70%.

Yuumi

Yuumi’s learning curve is quite high (don’t let her friendly appearance fool you) which meant a lot of players couldn’t fully grasp her potential immediately after her release. Riot wants to shrink the gap between the “good and bad Yuumi players” without increasing her power.

Going forward, the range indicator on her Q “Prowling Projectile” will now be much brighter when the ability is first cast, and it’ll fade down over its duration. Her W “You and Me!” will now give assists on champion takedowns when she first attaches to a friendly champion. Finally, the movement speed decay has been flattened to herself and her ally based on ability power.

Zac

This is a confusing one, although there is some logic behind the decision. In short, Riot is reverting the changes to Zac’s W “Unstable Matter” and ultimate “Let’s Bounce!” After his rework in 2017, he became less of a damage dealer and more of a CC-heavy tank that would simply dive the back line and try to knock enemies around. They want to give him a bit of his damage back, so they’re making ample changes.

His Q “Stretching Strikes” will now slow for less (from 60% to 40%) but it’ll have a lower cooldown (from 13/12/11/10/9 seconds to 13/11.5/10/8.5/7). His W will now deal 2% of target’s maximum health per 100 AP, and his ultimate will no longer slow and capture enemies. Instead, we’re getting the old Zac ultimate where he bounces four times, with a short delay between each cast. Each bounce will deal 140/210/280 (+0.4 AP) and knock enemies up for 1 second. Zac can also move freely while using his ultimate and will gain ramping movement speed over the ultimate’s duration, up to 50%.

Challenger Recall

The Challenger recall is a pretty old meme at this point, mainly because Riot first teased it in what feels like a lifetime ago. But good things come to those who wait… and to those who are ranked Challenger. Either way, Riot is finally shipping this long-awaited change. Going forward, Challenger players will now see a special recall animation whenever they recall in-game (only applies to unranked queues).

Upcoming Skins & Chromas

As with every new patch, Riot is releasing new cosmetic items. This time, however, there’s only a single skin — Little Demon Tristana, along with her accompanying chromas.

Tristana’s new chromas.

Tristana’s new skin.

That’s it for our League of Legends patch 9.11 breakdown! If you want to go over the patch in a more official manner, you can click here to take a look at Riot’s official patch website.

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