League of Legends Patch 14.3: The Biggest Winners and Losers
| Tags: League of Legends
| Author Bence Loksa
Patch 14.3 dropped a few days ago, so now we have enough data to assess who are the biggest winners and losers of the update!
Every new patch of League of Legends changes quite a bit, and it’s no different with Patch 14.3. With 8 nerfs, 11 buffs, 4 adjustments and a bunch of item and system changes, 14.3 is almost as big as 14.1 – but not quite.
Now that the dust had a few days to settle, let’s take a look at which champions got the best and the worst out of all the changes in LoL!
League of Legends Patch 14.3: The Biggest Winners and Losers
The Winners
Aurelion Sol
The Star Dragon is clearly the biggest winner of the Patch, as even Riot Games admitted that they overshot his buffs. His Q and W received huge stacking and mana buffs, while his W also has a much shorter cooldown. While the balance team tried to issue some hotfix nerfs to his E, Aurelion Sol is still in a great spot right now, as his pick rate and win rate both increased, with the latter now sitting at 55% in the midlane according to stats site Lolalytics. Start banning this champ or drafting fast comps against him, otherwise, he’ll take over your games!
Nidalee
While Nidalee didn’t get any damage buffs in 14.3, she didn’t need those, as surivivability was her biggest issue. Thankfully, she had her MR Growth increased, as well as the Minimum Heal of her E buffed in both the flat amount and the scaling. It also gives more Attack Speed, which helps her clear.
This bumped the Vastayan jungler up to an almost 53% win rate, and while her ban rate also increased, players don’t really have to worry about not being able to pick her at 2.96%. Nidalee takes some practice though, so don’t start in Ranked!
Yorick
The Shepherd of Souls is one of the forgotten champions of League of Legends, but this time, at least the balance team remembered him. After struggling for a while, Riot gave him some healing and mana cost buffs to his Q, faster cast time for his E, while also buffing his Wife. His Ghouls now have a quality of life update that let’s them return to Yorick faster, which makes him smoother to play.
Yorick hovered around a 50% win rate for a few months now, but with these buffs, he jumped over 52%. While you can expect to see more of the gravedigger, you don’t have to be alarmed that he’ll take over your games, as Yorick still has a very niche playstyle.
The Losers
Trundle
Trundle top has been running rampant ever since the start of Season 14. While the Troll King is not the best toplaner, he could take over games incredibly easily as he could splitpush lanes lightning fast.
In Patch 14.3, his Base Health was decreased alongside the bonus damage of his Q. This means that his pushing should be a bit slower – and it’s reflected in his win rate. He fell down to a 53% WR in the toplane and 52% in the jungle, which is still high, but Riot Games at least tries to address the issue of the Troll King running rampant.
Corki
Poor Corki can’t catch a break. Even though he’s been listed as adjusted in the Patch notes, he fell down to a 47% win rate as pro players abused his new build. Malignance’s ability triggered Eclipse on one rocket, and only Corki could use these two items reliably due to his unique kit.
Sadly, this combo was a bit too strong, so Riot outright removed it from the game, as well as reducing the duration of his Package. While Valkyre was buffed to compensate, Corki didn’t get nearly enough help he needed to save him from plummeting. Sadly, he’s one of those champions that’s held back in SoloQ to keep proplay in check, and until he gets reworked, it will stay that way.
Lillia
Lillia has been one of the best junglers in SoloQ, and she made it into some pro matches as well, managing to take over eve coordinated games. The little faun has been a tad bit too strong, so Riot Games brought the hammer down on her: the AP scaling on both her Q and Passive has been nerfed, with a 20% cut in Blooming Blows AP Ratio.
This knocked Lillia down a whopping 4% in win rate, but she still sits above 50%. The nerfs were definitely warranted, but were a bit harsh, so hopefully Lillia gets some compensation if she doesn’t stop plummeting.
Brand
Brand also became a prominent jungler in both pro and casual play, even though his “big” jungle buffs happened years ago. But after some help from Riot Games and a sudden realization from the players, he finally found a new home in the forests of the Rift.
However, his clear was a bit too fast, so Blaze now has a max health damage cap, as well as reduced extra damage to monsters, while his Q also deals less damage. This shouldn’t push Brand out of the jungle, but his 52% win rate is a lot friendlier than the 55 he had before.
Patch 14.3 was mostly aimed at pro players with the biggest changes, but the casual base of League of Legends also got some help. Check back in a few days to see which champions are the best for each role in this cycle!