League of Legends Patch 12.9 seems like the calm before the storm, especially with the huge durability update Riot is working on for League of Legends Patch 12.10. So, yes we are getting challenges, as well as mid-scope updates to multiple champions.
So with all these changes happening in such a short period of time, let's try to summarize what might impact your game the most in League of Legends Patch 12.9.
Challenges Coming To League of Legends
Ranking up in League of Legends is fun, right? Well, now you can rank up in multiple aspects of the game. Even if you prefer to play ARAM or normals, you'll still be able to show off your skill with challenges and tokens. This is a whole new feature, and it has launched with 300 challenges for players.
You can customize your banner, gain a special title depending on how good you are at certain aspects of the game. Even if you're a support main, you can get scores for specific challenges, like having the highest crowd control score. So, why are you not playing right now to get those tokens?
Mid-Scope Updates in Patch 12.9
We have mentioned it over-and-over already, but both Taliyah and Olaf are receiving mid-scope updates this patch. Both champions have had low play rates, which is why Riot is giving them these updates to hopefully make it out of the dumps.
Olaf Mid-Scope Update Stats
Abilities
Changes
Base Stats
AD Growth: 3.5 --> 4.7
AD at level 18: 127.5 --> 148
Health Growth: 100 --> 105
Mana Growth: 42 --> 50
Passive - Berserker Rage
Mac Attack Speed Granted 99% ⇒ 40-100% (levels 1-18)
[NEW] Fight On: Berserker’s Rage now provides 10-30% life steal (levels 1-18), based on Olaf’s missing health
[UPDATED] Mad Math: Bonuses max out at 0% Health ⇒ 30% Health
Q - Undertow
Cooldown: 7 seconds ⇒ 9 seconds
Damage: 80/125/170/215/260 ⇒ 60/110/160/210/260
Min Range: 300 ⇒ 425 units
Mana Cost: 60 at all ranks ⇒ 40/45/50/55/60
[NEW] Beatdown City, Population: You: Q - Undertow now shreds 20/22.5/25/27.5/30% armor for 4 seconds upon hitting an enemy champion. (Note: Subsequent axes will refresh the debuff duration.)
[UPDATED] Pro Axe Juggler: Picking up axes now fully refunds Q - Undertow's cooldown, but axes can only be thrown a maximum of once every 3 seconds. (Note: The 3 second limit scales with Ability Haste.)
[UPDATED] Coming Through: Included a quality of life buff to Olaf’s Q - Undertow so that it now grants ghosting more consistently to jungle monsters who he hits or are near him when Q is cast
W - Tough it Out
[UPDATED]Name Change: Vicious Strikes ⇒ Tough It Out
Cooldown: 16 seconds at all ranks ⇒ 16/14.5/13/11.5/10 seconds
Attack Speed: 50/60/70/80/90% ⇒ 40/50/60/70/80%
Ability Duration 6 seconds ⇒ 4 seconds
[NEW] Just: W now resets Olaf’s basic attack timer
[NEW] Tough: On activation Olaf now gains a 10/45/80/115/150 (+25% missing health, capped at 30% of his current HP) shield for 2.5 seconds
[REMOVED] It: No longer grants Life Steal
[REMOVED] Out: No longer amplifies Olaf’s healing based on missing health
[REMOVED] I am Untethered: R - Ragnarok's passive bonus resistances are no longer lost for the duration of the ability
[NEW] My Rage Knows no Bounds: Hitting a champion with a basic attack or E - Reckless Swing extends the duration of Ragnarok to 2.5 seconds. Olaf can refresh Ragnarok indefinitely.
Taliyah Mid-Scope Update Stats
Abilities
Changes
Base Stats
Base Health 531 ⇒ 500
Base Health Regen 7 ⇒ 6.5
Health Regen Growth 0.7 ⇒ 0.65
Base Mana 425 ⇒ 470
Base Mana Regen 9.34 ⇒ 8
Mana Regen Growth 0.85 ⇒ 0.8
Base Armor 20 ⇒ 18
Move Speed 335 ⇒ 330
Passive - Rock Surfing
Out of Combar Bonus Move Speed: 20-45% (levels 1-18) ⇒ 10/20/35/55% (levels 1/9/12/15)
Passive Fall off Time when not near Terrain: 1 second ⇒ 2.5 seconds
Damage Reduction From Subsequent Steone Shards Against Monsters: 25% ⇒ 60%
[NEW] Super Effective: Each Stone Shard now deals an additional 30 (+10% AP) damage against monsters
[NEW] SCattered Stones: Stone Shards now deal damage in a 175 radius area of effect (approximately 1.6 Teemos)
[NEW] Rock Solid: Q - Threaded Volley will now continue to cast while Taliyah is in Stasis
[NEW] Not Just a Rock: Casting Q - Threaded Volley on Worked Ground now consumes the Worked Ground to fire a single Boulder that deals double damage [76/122/168/214/260 (+100% AP)] and slows all targets hit in a 225 AoE radius by 30/35/40/45/50% for 2 seconds
Mana Cost on Worked Ground: 1 ⇒ 20
Min Cooldown on Worked Ground: 1 second ⇒ 0.75 seconds
Worked Ground Duration: 25 seconds ⇒ 30 seconds
Worked Ground Radius: 300 ⇒ 400
Updated Level Grounds: The size of Worked Ground on Howling Abyss now matches Summoner’s Rift
[NEW] Skipping Stones: Q - Threaded Volley casts on Worked Ground now has new VFX, SFX, animation, and icon!
Delay between Casting adn Spawning First Row of Boulders: 0.1 seconds ⇒ 0 seconds
Delay between Spawning Rows of Boulders After the First Row: 0.1 seconds ⇒ 0.17 seconds
[UPDATED] Textonis Shifts: E - Unraveled Earth now spawns 6 rows of boulders extending outwards from Taliyah with 4 boulders per row (previously spawned 4 rows of boulders with 6 boulders per row)
[NEW] A Rock and a Hard Place: Boulders now stun enemies that dash through them for the duration of the dash + 0.6/0.7/0.8/0.9/1 seconds. (Note: the max stun duration is 2 seconds and monsters are always stunned for the max duration).
[REMOVED] It's Just a Boulder: E - Unraveled Earth no longer detonates to deal additional damage after 4 seconds
R - Weaver's Wall
Range: 3000/4500/6000 ⇒ 2500/4500/6500
Dash Range When Jumping Off Wall: 400 ⇒ 700
Dash Speed When Jumping Off Wall: 1000 ⇒ 1200
[UPDATED] Skipping Rocks: Moving Taliyah while she is riding the Weaver’s Wall now causes Taliyah to dash to the location clicked, up to the maximum dash range instead of dropping her perpendicular to the wall.
[UPDATED] Surfs Up: Dashing when jumping off of the wall is now more forgiving when trying to dash through terrain
[NEW] Not So Fast Little Sparrow: Damage from enemy champions or structures now prevents Taliyah from casting R - Weaver’s Wall for 3 seconds
[REMOVED] The Pioneers Used to Ride These For Miles: Taking damage no longer knocks Taliyah off her wall
Those are a lot of changes, but hopefully, these two champions will see an increase in their play rate after this. What do you guys think of these champion updates?
Pyke Mid Nerfs in Patch 12.9
Thankfully, Riot only implemented these changes in Patch 12.9. This means we still have a chance to see Pyke in the mid lane during the 2022 Mid-Season Invitational. But what exactly has Riot done? Well, Pyke will gain more gray health with his passive, and he's got some added mana refund, but the biggest change is his ultimate.
The reason why Pyke mid was so viable and strong was because of 'Your Cut' and receiving extra gold upon takedowns. This has been removed from his ultimate. His allies will still receive a cut though, which seems kind of unfair, since Pyke is the one doing all the work, no?
Now, we have to talk about the upcoming cosmetics as well. The first part of the High Noon skins will be released in Patch 12.9. Five champions are getting skins, with Talon even receiving a High Noon Prestige skin.
There are five more skins getting released in this patch as well. The 2021 World Champions, EDward Gaming will have their skins released this patch as well for these champions:
EDG Yuumi
EDG Aphelios
EDG Zoe
EDG Viego
EDG Graves
Those are all the skins available this patch. We're getting fed good in this week in terms of cosmetics, eh? But what we're excited for is more information Bel'Veth and when she is finally going to make it to the rift. Oh, and who else is after her?
