Surrender at 20: Red Post Collection: Quick Gameplay Thoughts: 6/20, June Bundles, & More

Today's red post collection includes Meddler's quick gameplay thoughts for June 20th, including notes on the crit itemization balance update from 6/18, as well as June bundles, red comments from around the web, and more!

Continue reading for more information!

Quick Gameplay Thoughts: 6/20

Here's Meddler's quick gameplay thoughts for 6/20, including notes on the crit itemization balance update that went out on 6/18, as well as the 'funneling' strategy:

"Hi folks,

Usual Disclaimers

These posts will often contain talk about future work we're doing, or planning to do, that isn't yet guaranteed to ship. The nature of the work could change or, depending on what we discover, projects mentioned may get put delayed or even stopped. If you'd like to see a Tweet whenever a new one of these posts goes up: https://twitter.com/RiotMeddler

AD Item Micropatch

Earlier this week we put out a micro patch that buffed Stormrazor (AD and MS), IE (gold cost) and ER (more AS, though shorter duration). Goal there was to buff marksmen who use those items somewhat, with our goal still being to get marksmen back into a better spot without pushing other classes out of bot lane. We decided to go with a micro patch partway through 8.12 both because it helps address a clear need and because it gives us a chance to assess the impact of these item buffs while we're considering which champion buffs to put into 8.13. If the items add more or less power to individual champs than predicted means we can react to that for the upcoming patch, rather than needing to wait another two weeks.

In terms of the impact of the micro patch we've only seen a bit of play with the buffed items at time of writing. Looks like Xayah and Tristana have benefited noticeably, though not enormously. Other ADCs haven't changed much, some movement in how much they win but just within normal fluctuations.

Gold/XP funneling

After spending time assessing funneling strats last week we've come to the conclusion that, at least for now, the correct approach to dealing with them is to address a small subset of champions, rather than trying to make wider systemic changes. The systemic options we looked at all came with significant costs to other types of play we didn't want to affect (lane minion XP penalties with jungle items, return of over leveled jungle XP, limit of one support item per team etc). Looking at funneling play most of it's heavily concentrated on just a few champs who are also on the strong side and nerf candidates anyway.

Champ changes/rationale:

Master Yi - Removing bonus damage to minions so that he can't clear waves almost instantly. Reducing Q mana cost as well to reduce degree that hits lane/split push Yi.

Taric - Lowering E base damage and increasing Armor ratio so his effectiveness isn't as gold independent. Also increasing ult CD which is just a bit short for its power.

Nunu - Nerfing W AP bonus. He's got a VGU coming up moderately soon and AP boosting isn't on the revised kit. Hitting it as a result given Karthus/Nunu is the other big problem case apart from Taric/Yi."

When asked for thoughts on Udyr, Meddler commented:

"Quote:

I was wondering thoughts on Udyr? He's in a really good spot with his ability to take scuttle easily and great early game dueling power. Tiger outshines Phoenix by far currently. I know he was planned to eventually get reworked, but is it anytime soon since he does have an outdated kit?
No plans for an Udyr rework any time soon. I'd argue his kit, despite how stat checky it can be at times, does have some decent stuff going on, wouldn't consider it as outdated as a number of others. Agree that Phoenix being overshadowed so heavily isn't great though, would like to improve that at some point."

On ADC changes on the PBE, Meddler noted:

"Quote:

Meddler, last night some of the changes to ADCs were pulled from the PBE. Are they still going to happen or you will wait and see where the micropatch is going to put the crit ADCs.

I've read different statements around the internet so I feel like asking you - is the new Aatrox still coming next week or he will remain on the PBE for another patch?

edit for a third question: What is your opinion on Summon Aery? It feels like a win more rune for every champion that uses it.
Crit ADC changes - some are still happening, some are happening but being made small (e.g. Trist), some we're pulling at least for the coming patch (changing builds and impacts of item buffs).

Aatrox - Should be in the next patch, no plans for an extra PBE cycle."

When asked about Lissandra, Meddler replied:

"Quote:

Hey Meddler I have a Lissandra related question, not asking about when we'll get her new passive but curious as to why you're working on her personally since you seem busy with midseason as lead gameplay designer, who not pass it on to another designer
Two main things there. The first is that there's a lot of other stuff vying for the time of other possible designers too, whether it's midseason followup, other champion updates, balance or whatever. While Lissandra's passive isn't great, it's not as urgent an issue as a range of other things (Lissandra players will be sick of hearing that understandably, but it's still a trade off of what to work on).

The second reason is that the lack of a satisfying passive on Lissandra rests on me, given I put her existing one there during her original design. I'd like to be involved in cleaning up that past failure to deliver as a result if possible."

When asked about enchanters, Meddler replied:

"Quote:

How did the enchanter changes settle down? Are AP heavy builds more common/ more successfull now? How did shield enchanters perform compared to heal enchanters?
We've seen Janna and Lulu dip noticeably in power, with Karma and Ori also affected but less so. Haven't seen much impact on healing supports, suggesting the shield duration nerfs were the more significant part. Haven't seen much adaptation of builds yet, though very possible that even at the nerfed values heal/shield items are still consistently the correct choice over AP."

On Nunu, Meddler noted:

"Quote:

Now that you mentioned that revised Nunu won't have AP boosting in the new kit, could it be a possibility that Lulu can get it back on her W?
A long time ago she used to have it and I think it could make a good return with AP mages being played bot now.

I'd even find it ok if she can't self-boost own AP.

Could perhaps improve Lulu's current not as good state and enforce her position as an enchanter more, improving synergy with more champions than just merely ADCs.
Would be great to get an AP boost, or some sort of ally buff good on AP users, available to a support or supports, very with you there. Can see the argument for putting it on Lulu, given she did have it historically. Lulu's been a pretty consistently good pick though, including on teams that aren't ADC focused, so I'd be inclined to try it either as an opt in thing for a range of champs (item) or on a champion who needs a bit more of a niche."

Meddler continued:

"Quote:

Do you think an AP boost is actually a good spell on a champion? While the fantasy itself sounds alluring, I think an AP boost would be quite low on visibility and satisfaction...? kinda like a raw AD bonus, I honestly prefer something like Nami's E that gives autoattacks a visible and appreciable effect. What would be a good way to "buff AP" without just adding numbers? ^^
Yeah, straight AP's going to be fairly hard to make satisfying or even noticeable (hence 'or ally buff good on AP users' in the post above). With you that things like Nami E or Pix do a better job of buffing functionality in ways user and beneficiary enjoy for the same amount of power stats could be."

On the gold funneling strategy, Meddler replied:

"Quote:

With regards to gold funneling, would you reconsider systemic changes if other combinations rose in popularity in response to the nerfs of Karthus/Nunu and Yi/Taric? For instance, some friends and I had some success replicating the strategy by having Ornn mid and funneling gold into Udyr in the jungle. Would the appearance of other gold-funneling champ team compositions necessarily lead to systemic changes, or is it possible that certain gold funneling strats could end up being overall beneficial for League in the future(i.e. a potential hit to game health in exchange for strategic depth)?

[edit to clarify: I don't mind the nerfs to gold funneling you outlined in your original, we only tried the strat because we were playing as a five-stack and were curious about what other pairs could work.]
If gold funneling continues to be an issue with a broader range of champions then yeah, we'd need to make systemic changes instead (or as well). Our feeling was that a lot of its impact right now was due to a small number of champions being particularly good at it. Combine that with other consequences of systemic approaches and we concluded addressing individual champs first made sense. If that doesn't prove to be enough we'll go systemic (though depending on the solution that might be a preseason thing rather than a regular patch thing)."

On Sion, Meddler noted:

"Quote:

Thoughts on Sion?He feels weak
We think we probably hit him a bit hard in the last round of nerfs, especially with Banner being removed also affecting him more than most. Possible candidate for a small buff in 8.14 as a result, though can't make any promises yet."

As for Sejuani, Meddler replied:

"Quote:

Do you feel like Sejuani's buff landed her in a good place or that she's going to need more buffs?

I think when she got nerfed for pro play it hurt her a lot for non-pro, and the shortened game time has crippled her ability to be a late-game scaling tank
We were just talking about her yesterday. We're currently torn between 'those last buffs still left her a bit weak' and 'if we buff her a bit more she potentially jumps straight back to someone you should just pick all the time unless she's banned'. Going to hold off on doing anything for a bit, she is on our radar though."

On the recent changes to Essence Reaver, Meddler commented:

"Quote:

I dont think essence reaver was a (weak) problem item. In fact I think it was very strong on a few champions. I think something like Runnans need help and something like Rageblade need nerfs.
We were seeing ER pre micro patch being a really strong choice on some champs (those with AA resets primarily) and a poor choice on others who it should be good on (those able to ult early who like attack speed). We opted for a shorter duration with stronger AS to try and narrow that gap as a result, make it good on a wider range of champions. Not yet clear how much impact that has/hasn't had."

It’s time for June bundles!

Here's Riot Evaelin with the June bundles:

Grab these limited-time bundles now through June 28, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. PT. All bundles include champions as well as skins.

Bring Out The Big Guns Bundle - 50% off at 2772 RP (5019 RP if you need the champions)

Dark Star Varus

Arclight Vel'Koz

Battlecast Xerath

Battle Boss Ziggs

Debonair Jayce

Beefy Bundle - 50% off at 2057 RP (3489 RP if you need the champions)

Steel Legion Garen

Galactic Nasus

Lil' Slugger Trundle

Captain Volibear

Rageborn Mundo

Full Speed Ahead Bundle - 50% off at 2097 RP (3413 RP if you need the champions)

Glacial Malphite

Full Metal Rammus

Lumberjack Sion

Arcade Hecarim

Search and Destroy Bundle - 50% off at 2700 RP (4507 RP if you need the champions)

Mecha Kha'Zix

Mecha Rengar

PROJECT: Vi

Super Galaxy Elise"

Quick Hits

Riot Socrates noted that a way to see your ranked stats was on Riot's radar but did not have any details just yet:

"It does feel pretty weird to have to use third party sites to view your stats. When we migrated from the old client to the new one, we redeveloped most features from scratch in terms of the technology. That forced us to look at what features were actually accomplishing for players and evaluate how good of a job they were doing. Given the old implementation of stats was clunky and there were some great third party sites that were frankly doing a better job of presenting player stats in meaningful way, the position we took was that instead of building the same old clunky version, we should probably build something that did a better job of giving players performance feedback. It's taken us a while to prioritize this. I can't give specifics yet, but I can say we're not happy with the state of it."