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League of Legends World Championship aka Worlds is the marquee event in the League of Legends esports calendar that pro players, teams, and ardent fans look out for each year. Excitement is through the roof since Worlds 2023 is just around the corner and is all set to kick off on 10th October, concluding only on 19th November.
Throughout the year, Riot Games has continuously made changes to the meta in both pubs and pro play. But this upcoming patch — LoL Patch 13.19 — will seal the deal for the next two months.
However, before the patch is rolled out worldwide, it will be taken to the public beta environment (PBE) for testing, where the final tweaks shall be done.
Having said all that, here's all we know about LoL Patch 13.19 at the moment.
LoL Patch 13.19 Preview: Buffs and Nerfs to Champions
On 18th September, Lead Designer: League Balance Team & Preseason Matt Leung-Harrison aka Riot Phroxzon wrote on Twitter, "13.19 is the Worlds patch. We're looking at a few more of the champs that are a bit weak overall and a few nerfs."
There are a total of thirteen champions receiving balance changes alongside two items. Of these thirteen champions, ten are getting buffed, with only three on the chopping blocks.
Buffs in LoL Patch 13.19
The champions that are getting buffed are as follows:
Galio
Gangplank
Jhin
Lee Sin
Lissandra
Nunu & Willump (Ability Power [AP] focused)
Pyke
Syndra
Twitch
Ziggs
Riot Phroxzon also explained the ideology and thought process behind these balance changes. The publisher is buffing Galio given that he is generally pretty weak and "is countered particularly hard by some of the mid-range mages in the meta."
While Riot Games is happy with how Gangplank's back on crit, he is still somewhat weak overall, noted the developer. For Jhin, Riot Games wants to give the champion a little bit of a boost and help translate his in-game leads into a victory in the late game.
Talking about Lee Sin, Phroxzon said, "Our buffs to him on 13.13 have been relatively ineffective and we overnerfed him quite a bit from his previous changes in 13.7."
Phroxzon also acknowledged that Pyke is a bit weak currently and that Riot Games wants to buff him in ways that don't increase his frustration significantly. However, he noted that with Pyke it's always a little difficult when it comes to balancing.
For Ziggs, the developer noted his winrates in mid lane are sad, despite him being a relatively easy to play champion for most players. "He also adds some flex value to the bot lane meta for Worlds," added Phroxzon.
Two items that are listed in this patch are Randuin's Omen and Seeker's Armguard and both of them are getting buffed.
Nerfs in LoL Patch 13.19
The champions who are getting nerfed in this Worlds 2023 patch are as follows:
Rek'Sai
Renekton
Zeri
Renekton has been one of the strongest top laners in the last few patches, noted Phroxzon and also added that the Gore buffs pushed him over. Likewise, Riot Games is also fine-tuning Rek'Sai in a similar vein since Stridebreaker was a big buff for her. Talking about the last nerf, the developer said, "A small tap down to Zeri as she's been climbing up as one of the higher presence champions."
If you follow the pro scene of League of Legends, you would have noticed how teams and players like to lean on certain champions even when they are not in meta. These staple picks always power international tournaments and Worlds 2023 will be no different.
Some of the pro play staples that have been adjusted since LoL Patch 13.15 are as follows:
Tristana nerf
Akali buff
Orianna buff
Gnar buff
Aatrox buff
Caitlyn buff
Kai'sa nerf
Rell nerf
Xayah nerf
Riot Games stated that it is not nerfing Kai'Sa in LoL Patch 13.19 or the Worlds 2023 patch since she received an indirect nerf via Statikk Shiv. "For Pro, she received a nerf on 13.15 that hasn't been played on widely yet and though her AD build is performant, there are also new entrants to the meta since then that can match her," noted the developer.
Notably, LoL Patch 13.19 will be rolled out on 27th September and here are the key timings of the patch roll out for all regions:
Oceania: 10 am AEST
North America: 3 am PT
Europe West: 5 am GMT
Europe Nordic and East: 3 am CET
South Korea: 8 am KR
The game will also be down for a while for maintenance before the patching begins.
