Only two weeks since the last patch and we have yet another batch of balance changes to League of Legends. While the World Championship is currently using patch 8.19, the rest of us have moved on to patch 8.21.

Patch 8.21 brings some lighter changes just in time for the preseason. Riot doesn’t want a big meta shift right before the next season, but they have given us some maintenance.

Notably absent are changes to Urgot, Akali, and Aatrox. A pretty negligible nerf to Irelia just isn’t what the player base was expecting. Multiple champions are running rampant not just in competitive but in solo queue as well. The lack of expected nerfs are sure to frustrate until the next patch.

So without any further ado, let’s focus on the changes!

Buffs

Patch 8.21 buffs aren’t exactly earth-shattering changes for competitive play. However, you might see a couple of these champions creep up in your average solo queue games, so keep an eye out!

Ashe

Ashe is getting a pretty unexpected quality-of-life change. First off, was a buff on the slow of her passive “Frost Shot” (10% – 20% ⇒ 15% – 30%). Additionally, Ashe’s “Hawkshot” ability will automatically ping discovered enemies on the map. This might seem like a negligible change, but it’s going to save you and your allies on more than one occasion.

Ezreal

The reworked Ezreal isn’t doing so hot in solo queue right now. He’s still one of the most played champions in his role, but his ~47% win rate with players in Platinum and above is nothing to be too happy about.

He’s a skillshot-based champion which obviously heavily impacts his success rate, so Riot is focusing on his “Essence Flux”.

To give him a bit more power in the later stages of the game, they’re increasing base damage by 20 at level five. It’s not much, but it’ll surely help out when you’re rocking a full build.

Ivern

A pretty unexpected buff overall, but a highly welcomed one. We haven’t seen Ivern that much over the year, especially since the Ardent meta went out of fashion. To push him back into the limelight as a viable jungle pick, Riot has buffed his base movement speed by 5 (now 330). Additionally, his active shield “Trigerseed” now protects against slightly more damage. (75/110/145/180/215 ⇒ 80/115/150/185/220). Finally, his “Brushmaker” will deal a bit more on-hit damage at early levels.

These aren’t huge changes, but they should remind everyone that Ivern is still a viable pick, albeit a pretty complex one that could easily backfire if not played correctly.

Karma

It’s been a while since we’ve seen Karma in any kind of competitive play. She’s basically a niche pick at this point, so Riot is buffing her “Focused Resolve”.

Its root duration is noticeably longer at early levels (1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 seconds ⇒ 1.4/1.55/1.7/1.85/2) and its empowered duration bonus will go up by 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 seconds ⇒ 1.4/1.55/1.7/1.85/2 at Mantra ranks 1-4.

Basically, this is a big change that should push her back into play, especially in the bottom lane once the meta shifts toward mages in the supporting role.

Karthus

One of the more random buffs on the list for sure. Karthus was rarely a viable pick overall and needed some serious balance. If you know how to play him, he brings a unique set of challenges and threats to the table. That said, he’s never been strong in the meta. These new buffs might change that.

His “Wall of Pain” has a shorter cooldown (15 seconds instead of 18), and costs 30% less mana (70 instead of 100).

Furthermore, his most iconic ultimate “Requiem” now costs just 100 mana at all ranks.

These changes won’t exactly push him into viability, but he’ll be a more threatening pick overall. “Wall of Pain” is an integral part of his kit and is essential for trading in lane, so he’ll have an easier time going blow-for-blow in hard matchups.

Zac

The jungling gelatinous pile of goo is getting a smaller buff to his “Stretching Strikes”. While this won’t make his ganks any more dangerous, it’ll speed up his clear by a noticeable amount. Zac already has one of the weakest clears amongst popular jungling champions and giving him a better arsenal early on will surely improve his success rate.

Zoe

This buff in patch 8.21 might be going too far. The current Zoe is a far cry from her golden days, but it’s better to have an underpowered Zoe than an OP one.

In order to push her back into play, Riot is upping Zoe’s base damage on her “Paddle Star” when maxed out, but they’re also lowering the cooldown of her “Sleepy Trouble Bubble” at max levels.

These aren’t huge buffs per se, but they might make her a serious threat.

Like CertainlyT’s other champions, Zoe is incredibly volatile. She has a high skill ceiling, and giving her too much power makes top-tier players unstoppable.

Only time will tell whether these changes are a step in the right direction.

Nerfs

Alistar

One of the most picked supports over the last couple of months. Alistair’s innate tankiness, fantastic crowd control, and split-second engagements make him one of the most important picks in any competitive team comp, if he gets through the ban phase.

Riot is nerfing his base health from 613 to 573. It’s not a lot, but it’ll make him less durable in the early stages of the game.

Still, this isn’t enough to phase him out of the meta. Expect to see lots of Alistar in the future.

Irelia

An insanely impactful champion in her own right, patch 8.21 hit Irelia with a pretty laughable nerf. A -5 movement debuff isn’t going to make the least bit of impact when she’s already in the lead.

Kai’Sa

The latest AD carry has been too strong for too long. Kai’Sa versatility and flexible build path make her a mainstay in the current meta.

To balance things out, Riot is nerfing the proc damage of her passive “Second Skin.” It’s now set at 15% (+2.5% per 100 ability power) of the target’s missing health. This should tone down some of AP Kai’Sa’s tank shredding prowess.

Finally, the shield duration of her ultimate “Killer Instinct” has been decreased from three seconds to two which should be a noticeable change going forward.

Item Changes

As with every patch, Riot is releasing a couple of smaller tweaks to existing items.

Edge of Night

You don’t really see many Edge of Night builds these days. Riot is decreasing the active veil channel time (from 1.5s to 1s), and decreasing the cost by 100G.

Essence Reaver

Essence Reaver now costs 200 less gold. This won’t necessarily make it more popular, but it will help certain champions (Sivir and Lucian) reach their power spike a little sooner.

Upcoming Skins

Coming with patch 8.21, we have a ton of exciting new skins – seven, to be more exact!

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