Two weeks have passed which means we have yet another patch on our hands to break down — this time it’s League of Legends patch 9.7! Let’s take a closer look at the various balance changes and updates that are shipping this week.

Concrete Champion Changes

There are only two noticeable nerfs shipping with patch 9.7, and they’re aimed at bringing Kayle and Urgot down to earth — finally.

Kayle

Kayle’s early game wasn’t nearly as weak as many anticipated. As a result, she became a late-game powerhouse almost by default. To counteract this, Riot is shipping a couple of nerfs that should make her strength dependent on her doing well, rather than just getting raw power with each level.

Her base stats are getting hit — health regen per level (from 6 to 5), along with armor growth (from 3.5 to 3).

Her Q “Radiant Blast” will have a higher mana cost (from 60/65/60/75/80 to 70/75/80/85/90 mana), her W “Celestial Blessing” will grant less movement speed (from 26/32/38/44/50% to 24/28/32/36/40%) and it’ll also require more mana — from 70/75/80/85/90 to 60/70/80/90/100 mana.

Finally, her E “Starfire Spellblade” will deal less bonus magic damage — from 10/12.5/15/17.5/20% to 8/10/12/14/16 (+1% per 100 Ability Power) of target’s missing health.

Urgot

The grotesque Noxian dreadnought is finally getting nerfed. In short, Riot is reverting some of the buffs they shipped with patch 9.6.

First of all, his passive will now deal less damage — from 2/3/4/6/8% of target’s max health to 2/3/4/5/6%. His E “Disdain” will have a longer cooldown (from 14 seconds at ranks to 16/15.5/15/14.5/14) and will require more mana — from 50/60/70/80/90 to 60/70/80/90/100 mana.

Last but not least, his ultimate “Fear Beyond Death” will deal less damage — from 125/250/375 to 100/225/350.

Simple Champion Changes

There’s a significant number of simple changes shipping this time around, and a good portion of them are pretty impactful. They’re not earth-shattering by any means, but they could push these champion into (or out of) the spotlight.

Buffs

Azir

Riot is trying to strengthen Azir without making him a competitive mainstay.

They’re buffing his base health regen growth (from 0.55 to 0.75) along with the damage numbers on his Q “Conquering Sands” — from 60/80/100/120/140 to 70/90/110/130/150.

Cho’Gath

The cooldown on Cho’s Q “Rupture” is going down — from 9 to 7 seconds. This isn’t exactly the biggest buff in the world, but it will be noticeable. We could be seeing a lot more Cho’Gath in competitive play over the next couple of months.

When you factor in a boatload of cooldown reduction, his knock-up will have a three to four-second cooldown. That’s downright insane.

Dr. Mundo

This is a huge buff. Mundo’s Q “Infected Cleaver” will now deal even more damage — from 15/17.5/20/22.5/25% of target’s current health to 20/22.5/25/27.5/30%.

If that wasn’t enough, his E “Masochism” is getting a damage buff as well. Its minimum bonus AD will go up from 30/45/60/75/90 to 40/55/70/86/100, along with its maximum bonus AD — from 60/90/120/150/180 to 80/110/140/170/200.

Those are some big, worrying numbers. These changes could very well push Mundo into viability.

Garen

Riot is kind of buffing Garen’s W “Courage.”

It’ll be stronger early on, but a bit weaker as the game progresses. Garen will now be gaining more resistances per stack (from 0.25 per stack up to 40 to 0.33 per stack up to 50), his W will have a lower cooldown (from 24/23/22/21/20 to 23/21/19/17/15 seconds), but its duration won’t be as long — from 2/3/4/5/6 to 2/2.75/3.5/4.25/5 seconds.

Leona

Leona’s E “Zenith Blade” is getting a lower cooldown — from 13/12/11/10/9 to 12/10.5/9/7.5/6 seconds.

This is a huge change overall and will allow Leona to engage more frequently. That’s a 50% lower cooldown when maxed out, and when those prolonged five-on-five team fights start breaking out, Leona will have a more significant impact.

This could also propel her into the competitive spotlight — either as a mainstay or as a niche pocket pick.

Pyke

Pyke’s getting an additional batch of “all-in” power. Why, however, is anyone’s guess seeing how he’s far from underpowered. His Q “Bone Skewer” will have a lower cooldown (from 16/14/12/10/8 to 14/12.5/11/9.5/8 seconds. Furthermore, the stun duration on his E “Phantom Undertow” is getting increased from 1.1 to 1.25 seconds.

Rumble

Yet another buff that no one saw coming. Rumble’s W “Scrap Shield” is getting a huge movement speed increase (from 10/15/20/25/30% to 20/25/30/35/40%) and the cooldown of his ultimate “The Equalizer” is getting decreased — from 110/100/90 to 100/85/70 seconds.

With these two changes, Rumble will surely become a highly contested pick in competitive play. There’s no doubt about it.

Nerfs

There are only three nerfs shipping with patch 9.7, but all three are mainly aimed at competitive play and should, as a result, noticeably impact the meta.

Lissandra

Riot wants to hit Lissandra’s waveclear, so they’re increasing the cooldown of her Q “Ice Shard” — from 6/5.25/4.5/3.75/3 seconds to 10/8.5/7/5.5/4 seconds.

Morgana

Riot wants to trim a bit of Morgana’s excess power, so they’re hitting two aspects of her kit. Her base health regen growth is going down (from 0.6 to 0.4), along with the damage numbers on her W “Tormented Shadow.”

Its minimum total damage ratio is doing down (from 0.8 Ability Power to 0.7), along with its maximum ratio (from 2.16 Ability Power to 1.89).

Sylas

The latest addition to the ever-growing champion pool is proving to be a tough nut to crack balance-wise. Riot is decreasing Sylas’ base health regen (from 9.5 to 7.5), but they’re also nerfing his W “Kingslayer” and E “Abscond / Abduct.”

His W will now deal less base damage (from 60/90/120/150/180 to 50/75/100/125/150), but also less empowered damage (from 90/135/180/225/270 to 75/112.5/150/187.5/225). Finally, his E will now have a longer cooldown early on — from 12/11.5/11/10.5/10 seconds to 18/16/14/12/10 seconds. This nerf, in particular, should make him a lot less dangerous early on and will limit the number of times he can go all-in.

Item Changes

Enchantment: Cinderhulk

Riot wants to help tank junglers attain a more noticeable power spike upon completing their jungle item. To do so, they’re increasing the amount of bonus magic damage Cinderhulk deals to minions and monsters — from 200% to 300%. A big change that could, in theory, heavily impact the competitive meta.

The Dark Seal

Riot is decreasing the amount of Ability Power it grants (from 15 to 10), but also its sell back value — from 245 to 140 gold.

Wit’s End

Riot is shipping a considerable change to Wit’s End with patch 9.7. As it stands, this iteration of the item could become a must-buy for champions like Jax and Irelia. Less of a niche pick, and more of a meta commodity.

Rune Changes

Eyeball Collection

Eyeball Collection will now offer 10 stacks of adaptive force (instead of 20), and it’ll give just one stack per champion takedown (kill or assist). It will no longer grant stacks for killing wards, making it the right rune to go for when you’re set on killing people — not denying vision. The +10 bonus adaptive force bonus is still present when you reach max stacks.

Ghost Poro

Ghost Poro is also getting a noticeable change.

Zombie Ward

Zombie Ward will no longer grant on-hit bonus damage after clearing a ward, but will instead grant stacks of adaptive force (2 per ward clear). When you reach the maximum number of stacks (10) you’ll gain additional adaptive force (+10, to a maximum number of 30) as a bonus.

Cut Down

Cut Down will now deal more damage — from 5-12% to 5-15%.

Demolish

Demolish will now deal more damage to enemy turrets — from 100 (+30% max health) to 100 (+35% max health).

Overgrowth

Overgrowth will now give a bigger completion bonus — from 2.5% max health increase to 3.5%.

Ultimate Hunter

Ultimate Hunter will now provide more ultimate cooldown reduction — from 5 (+2% per stack to a maximum of 15%) to 5 (+3% per stack to a maximum of 20%).

ARAM Changes

There are plenty of ARAM changes coming with League of Legends patch 9.7. These adjustments should make ARAM games more enjoyable, but also shorter. You can take a look at the screenshot below for more in-depth information.

Upcoming Skins & Chromas

As with every new patch, Riot is shipping two exceptional skins, this time it’s Dunkmaster Ivern and Hextech Jarvan IV — the latter of which is only attainable through Hextech crafting!

Dunkmaster Ivern

Hextech Jarvan IV

That’s it for our League of Legends patch 9.7 breakdown! If you want to go over the patch more officially, you can click here and head over to Riot Games’ official website.