League of Legends Patch 9.21 Breakdown

by Petar Vukobrat in General | Oct, 24th 2019

Two weeks have passed since the last patch update, which means we have yet another set of balance changes to go over — this time, it’s League of Legends patch 9.21! Seeing how the off-season is just a couple of weeks away, Riot is opting for smaller patches in which they only adjust a handful of champions. Patch 9.21 is no exception. It consists of just three nerfs and six buffs — hardly anything worth mentioning.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t anything to break down, but rather that you’ll be disappointed if you’re looking for anything game-changing. Those updates are coming with patch 9.23, so stay tuned!

Also, if you’re into Halloween-themed, you’re in luck — Riot is releasing multiple exciting ones this patch!

With that out of the way, let’s take a closer look at League of Legends patch 9.21!

Nerfs

There are just three nerfs shipping this time around, but two of them are fairly important if you’re a solo queue regular, so read on carefully.

Garen

The recently released buffs to Garen took things overboard. To bring him down to earth a bit, Riot is nerfing his E “Judgment.” Going forward, it’ll do 4/8/12/16/20 base damage per spin instead of 8/12/16/20/24. Also, the damage ratio per spin will remain unchanged.

Pyke

Finally. Pyke nerfs are long overdue but better late than never. When ahead, Pyke is an absolute menace — one that’s hard to take down. The fact that he can go in for a kill, get the execute, get out and get back into the teamfight with full health (or near that, at least) is downright disgusting.

To counteract this, Riot is nerfing his base health growth from 100 to 90, and his passive “Gift of the Drowned Ones” will now provide 25-50% of the damage taken from enemy champions as grey health instead of 30-81%. Both percentages are based on level. This is a huge nerf, and it should balance things out. Whether it’s a big enough hit, however, remains to be seen.

Shaco

Much like with Garen and his recently released buffs, Riot took things a bit too far with Shaco. Because of this, they’re shipping a nerf to his W “Jack In the Box.” Going forward, each box will last for 40 seconds instead of 60.

Buffs

Kayn

We haven’t seen Kayn in a long while. To bring him back into the spotlight (at least ever so slightly), Riot is buffing his Q “Reaping Slash.” Its damage numbers are going up from 60/80/100/120/140 to 75/95/115/135/155, Rhaast’s damage modifier is now 0.55 of total AD (up from 0.5), and the ability itself will deal less bonus damage to monsters (from 55 to 40).

Kog’Maw

Kog’s base mana is going up from 322.22 to 325 along with his base mana regen (from 8.676 to 8.75). His Q “Caustic Spittle” will now deal more damage (from 80/130/180/230/280 to 90/140/190/240/290), and the same goes for his E “Void Ooze” — from 60/105/150/195/240 to 75/120/165/210/255.

Will this push him into viability? Probably not, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Lulu

What’s a Kog’Maw without proper protection? Riot wants to make Lulu’s transition into the mid-game a bit better. To achieve this, they’re buffing both aspects of her E “Help, Pix!” It’ll shield for more (from 80/115/150/185/220 to 80/120/160/200/240) and deal more damage as well (from 80/110/140/170/200 to 80/120/160/200/240).

Maokai

Riot wants to make Maokai at least somewhat viable because he’s quite frankly a complete non-factor across all levels of play. So it is only natural that they’re shipping two buffs.

His W “Twisted Advance” will now cost 60 mana at all levels (instead of 60/65/70/75/80), and will do 70/95/120/145/170 damage (instead of 50/75/100/125/150). Furthermore, his ultimate “Nature’s Grasp” will now root for 0.8-2.6 seconds instead of 0.6-2.4 seconds. Not a huge buff, but a good one nonetheless.

Viktor

Riot’s recent buffs to Viktor didn’t exactly pan out as expected. Right now, he’s good, but just not good enough. So they’re shipping another slew of changes.

His base health is going up (from 528.04 to 530) along with his base attack damage (from 52.04 to 53) and armor (from 22.72 to 23) and his Q “Siphon Power” will now deal more damage (from 50/65/80/95/110 to 60/75/90/105/120).

Warwick

Warwick isn’t exactly in a bad spot right now, but he could use a buff of two. Going forward, his Q “Jaws of the Beast” will deal 6/7/8/9/10% of the target’s maximum HP (instead of 6/6.5/7/7.5/8%) and his W “Blood Hunt” will grant 70/80/90/100/110% bonus attack speed upon attacking a marked target (or if the target is below 50% of their maximum HP) instead of 50/65/80/95/110%.

These buffs should enable both kinds of Warwick players — those who first max his Q as well as those who opt for W. By making both options perfectly viable, players will now be able to adapt on the fly and level what’s most needed depending on the state of the game.

Upcoming Skins & Chromas

As with every new patch, Riot is releasing multiple new skins — this time we’re getting Witch’s Brew Blitzcrank, Count Kassadin, Bewitching Miss Fortune, Bewitching Miss Fortune Prestige Edition along with Annie-Versary, the last of which is being rolled out in conjunction with League of Legends’ 10th anniversary.