League of Legends patch 9.16 nerfs Corki and Azir on PBE

Riot Games has previewed patch 9.16 for League of Legends, and with it will come much-needed nerfs to a pair of problematic mid laners. The changes are now being tested on the Public Beta Environment.

Corki and Azir are among the notable champions receiving nerfs. These champions have dominated the mid lane meta thanks to their power and safety in the early game. Sejuani and Sylas have been a bit too popular in the jungle, so they’ll also take hits. Others getting downgraded include Ezreal, Yuumi, Sivir, Tahm Kench, and Riven.

The list of champions getting buffed is even bigger. Dr. Mundo, Sion, Fiora, Shen, Singed, Jax, Nocturne, Syndra, LeBlanc, Kassadin, Ekko, Lux, and Ziggs are the champions that will get stronger in League of Legends patch 9.16.

Many of the changes target attack damage, mana counts, cooldowns, and other important stat values.

A two-second increase in cooldown on the final level of Azir’s Q or an extra 10% damage scaling on Syndra’s Q don’t seem big on paper, but these small adjustments can have a considerable impact, positive or negative, on the viability of a character.

League of Legends 9.16 is also expected to bring in the Pantheon rework that Riot has already previewed. Pantheon will work much the same way he did before, but he’ll gain more versatility in both the laning and team fighting phases of the game. He’s also getting a new look to match his rewritten lore.

Otherwise, Riot has mostly held true to its promise that there won’t be any significant changes introduced ahead of the League of Legends World Championship in October.

This news will no doubt delight scores of players who are feeling “League fatigue” from seeing the same champions dominate their respective roles repeatedly. It makes the game not only less interesting to play, but also to watch.

Balance is something that Riot needs to keep a constant handle on, and it’s nice to know the developer isn’t afraid to shake things up just a couple of months before its biggest annual tournament.