Riot kills Pantheon support, nerfs new champion Samira again

William Davis Published 07/10/2020

While the 2020 World Championship is booming in Shanghai, Riot Games still has to keep the game fresh and exciting. Lead gameplay designer Mark “Scuffy” Yetter recently presented a look at the upcoming patch 10.21 and what it has in store for players.

10.21 Patch Preview with changes. Not 100% locked down but almost finalized. pic.twitter.com/5GkNJE36jW
— Mark Yetter (@MarkYetter) October 6, 2020

The patch will not affect the 2020 World Championship, but will still be very important for all players who are currently grinding the last few weeks of Season 10. The patch will be nerfing a lot of strong junglers as well as the newest champion, Samira, while some overlooked champions will get a much-needed buff.

Newest LoL champion Samira nerfed in patch 10.21

E – Wild Rush, Cooldown 15-11 >> 20-12 seconds
E – Wild Rush, Attack speed 30-50% >> 20-40%

Samira has had a turbulent debut to the game, being hotfixed just one day after her release because of her overtuned damage output on Inferno Trigger (R). The hotfix was enough to tone down Samira for a bit. But as players are getting better accustomed to playing her, she is now considered overpowered once again.

Riot will tackle the problem by nerfing her Wild Rush. Both the cooldown and attack speed of the spell will be toned down, but it will still be a great ability for repositioning.

Samira has been sitting at a ban rate in solo queue at up towards 75%, which is uncommon even for a newly released champion. The nerfs will hopefully put her into a healthier spot so more players will finally get the chance to play her in solo queue.

Pantheon support receives nerfs in patch 10.21

Q – Comet Spear, Damage 75-215 (+100% bAD) >> 70-190 (+115% bAD)
Q – Comet Spear, Mortal Will bonus damage scaling 100 >> 115% bAD

Pantheon has been getting a lot of play time in the support position recently, both in solo queue and professional play. Pantheon is usually known as a solo mid or top laner, but has slowly been shifting towards an aggressive support.

Riot is looking to change this by nerfing Pantheon on his Comet Spear’s base damage. The base damage is what makes Pantheon a scary support in the early game, since no support or marksman can compete with his damage output in the first few levels.

Instead, Pantheon will receive some better scaling on his Q and will therefore likely be more suitable for a solo lane going forward.

Trundle and Corki gets buffs in patch 10.21

Trundle

P – King’s Tribute, Healing 2/3/4/5/6% at lvl 1/5/9/12/15 >> 2-7% smooth scaling by level
W – Frozen Domain, Cooldown 15 >> 15-11 seconds

Trundle is rarely seen roaming around the jungle these days because of the aggressive jungle meta. Champions such as Nidalee, Hecarim, and Graves have taken over, but Riot is looking to make other options more viable.

Trundle will get a healing buff on his passive, making him better able to sustain when clearing the jungle or even when playing in a lane. His Frozen Domain will also get a lower cooldown as the game goes on, making him better at skirmishing in the late game.

The buffs are not looking big enough for Trundle to become a top-tier pick again, even though many meta junglers are being nerfed in this patch, but it is a step in the right direction.

Corki

Q – Phosphorus Bomb, Bonus AD ratio 50% >> 70%

Corki is getting a pretty big boost for his Phosphorus Bomb scaling. Going from 50 to 70% will make his Q scale way better on attack damage and might make Corki a viable pick for either mid or bot lane again.

The patch is expected to hit the live servers on Wednesday, October 14.

William Davis

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