Xin Zhao and Tahm Kench are about to receive big nerfs

William Davis Published 28/07/2021

A recent preview of the next League of Legends patch 11.16 has been revealed and includes some much-needed nerfs to a few solo queue dominators while champions like Jarvan and Sivir might return to meta. 

With the new patch coming up, players can look forward to a potential shift in the meta where Xin Zhao won’t dominate the jungle and Tahm Kench won’t be an unkillable unit in the top lane. So far this patch, both have been top performers in their respective roles with a lot of popularity in solo queue. Tahm Kench especially seems to have found his place in the top lane rather than support, following the recent rework to some of his abilities. 

Xin Zhao and Tahm Kench get nerfs in next LoL patch

After a win rate of over 52% and a big ban rate in the top lane, Riot will be handling Tahm Kench by taking away some of the sustain that makes him almost unkillable in some cases. This is done by lowering the healing on Tongue Lash (Q) at all levels, which will hopefully make Tahm Kench a bit easier to deal with in clutch fights. 

Riot will also be reducing the damage from the An Acquired Taste passive. This passive damage is currently working as a pretty strong on-hit effect for Tahm Kench’s auto-attacks. As a primary tank, this damage alone has proven to be enough to take down some of the best bruisers and carries in the game. This has also been showcased on the professional stage, when Golden Guardians mid laner Nicholas “Ablazeolive” Abbott showed off how Tahm Kench can be played in the mid lane. 

The current strengths of Tahm Kench are simply too brought and Riot will be quick to handle that. Only time will tell if the adjustments are enough, but it looks like a decent start to balance the Kench. 

Another champion that has dominated the solo queue ladder is Xin Zhao, who will also receive a nerf this patch. His nerf might seem smaller than what most would have hoped for, as Riot will only reduce his base attack damage by three.

But even though this seems small, it will still have an impact on Xin Zhao’s early game dominance that has currently taken him to a 52.33% win rate in the jungle. Xin Zhao is currently a very good skirmisher in the early stages, which usually means that he can play the map just the way he wants. With a bit less attack damage in the bag, Xin Zhao players should think twice before taking a fight on patch 11.16.   

Sivir and Jarvan IV see buffs in patch 11.16

To compensate for the nerfs, Riot is obviously also giving some champions some love. In fact, seven champions will be nerfed this patch while seven will receive a buff. One of these is Jarvan IV, who might be looking at some time back in the meta. 

Riot is giving him a fairly big boost in strength by buffing his current health damage on the Martial Cadence passive to 10%. This will make Jarvan’s empowered attack much stronger, especially when the target is at full health. An even bigger buff will come to his signature spell Cataclysm (R), which will see a 30% increase in its attack-damage ratio. 

Overall, these buffs seem very good for Jarvan who might be able to go up against some of the heavy-damage junglers in the current meta. 

Another champion that is struggling to keep up with the meta in damage is Sivir, who has been very unpopular in the bot lane because of her need to scale. In these fast-paced times, Sivir has not been able to find a spot in the meta but might do soon as Riot will buff her attack-damage ratio on Ricochet (W). 

This will help empower the strength of Sivir’s wave clear but it might not be enough to give her the much-needed power in the early game. With hyper carries such as Vayne and Kog’Maw, it might still be a while before players will prioritize the Battle Mistress again.    

Unlike most other patches, patch 11.15 will last for three weeks. This means that players will have to wait a bit longer for patch 11.16 to hit the live servers but it will instead be available for testing on the PBE for a bit longer. The patch is scheduled to go live on Wednesday, August 11. 

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