I haven't had too many Heimer problems with that deck. If sounds like you're running Ashe/Sej frostbite (which is super fun). You want to definitely look for culling strikes to deal with Heimer. He won't deal much damage early and if you can limit how hard he goes off your bodies are just too big to care about the elusives. When you're swinging in for 15 damage a turn he'll have to use them to block.
Mulligan for culling and have mana for it on turn 5.
My issue is that usually they wait until they have the counter spell as well. I actually tried culling Heimer before he leveled.
"I will write your name in the ruin of them. I will paint you across history in the color of their blood."
I haven't had too many Heimer problems with that deck. If sounds like you're running Ashe/Sej frostbite (which is super fun). You want to definitely look for culling strikes to deal with Heimer. He won't deal much damage early and if you can limit how hard he goes off your bodies are just too big to care about the elusives. When you're swinging in for 15 damage a turn he'll have to use them to block.
Mulligan for culling and have mana for it on turn 5.
My issue is that usually they wait until they have the counter spell as well. I actually tried culling Heimer before he leveled.
Playing Heimer before you can protect him is downright silly. A good player never puts him down without something available to keep him alive.
And if you've ever played against Heimer/Lux, you can run into Unyielding Heimer, which is brutal if they get the combo down.
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BrodyThe WatchThe First ShoreRegistered Userregular
I wish they would save match data. Like who played what when. It would be really nice to go back and look through.
"I will write your name in the ruin of them. I will paint you across history in the color of their blood."
I think Heimerdinger is fine, it’s the Elusive turrets that are the problem. Move the Elusive tag to the 5-cost turret and Quick Attack to the 3-cost turret.
There are just a lot good 3 and 4 cost spells, so putting Elusive at either spot is a bit too strong.
Man I still think he's unplayable if you do that. I think there aren't so many 4 costs, and the important things is which four costs. The free cycle with flash of brilliance into fliers I think is half the strength of the deck/combo.
I think you could swap the 3 and 4s and be fine. Fearsome would at least give him some evasion, but on turn 5 it's not unreasonable to have some high enough power blockers, so even if he gets the dream flash flash into disciplines, you're not gonna take 9 uncontested damage like you would with the elusives.
I also saw a proposal for flash of brilliance to refund 2 mana instead of 3. That also seems pretty backbreaking to Heimer but you could try it.
I haven't had too many Heimer problems with that deck. If sounds like you're running Ashe/Sej frostbite (which is super fun). You want to definitely look for culling strikes to deal with Heimer. He won't deal much damage early and if you can limit how hard he goes off your bodies are just too big to care about the elusives. When you're swinging in for 15 damage a turn he'll have to use them to block.
Mulligan for culling and have mana for it on turn 5.
My issue is that usually they wait until they have the counter spell as well. I actually tried culling Heimer before he leveled.
If they're waiting that long then they're really delaying their ability to go off, which is a huge win for you being able to push damage. The earliest they could do that on is turn 6. They also usually only run two deny so it's far from a given that they have it.
As far as match data, if you're on PC you can use this. I've been using it instead of the overwolf stuff and it's been nice. Will track matches by deck, and shows you your library and both graveyards while playing. If you don't want to use that, you can use my spreadsheet.
I'm sure we'll get a match history page at some point, but even then it probably won't be as detailed as 3rd party solutions.
I haven't had too many Heimer problems with that deck. If sounds like you're running Ashe/Sej frostbite (which is super fun). You want to definitely look for culling strikes to deal with Heimer. He won't deal much damage early and if you can limit how hard he goes off your bodies are just too big to care about the elusives. When you're swinging in for 15 damage a turn he'll have to use them to block.
Mulligan for culling and have mana for it on turn 5.
My issue is that usually they wait until they have the counter spell as well. I actually tried culling Heimer before he leveled.
Playing Heimer before you can protect him is downright silly. A good player never puts him down without something available to keep him alive.
And if you've ever played against Heimer/Lux, you can run into Unyielding Heimer, which is brutal if they get the combo down.
I will say if you can do three spells you can usually get sufficient value that it may not matter if you can't protect him. Like the above Flash/Flash/Twin Disciplines sometimes isn't enough to save him but 3 elusives do a lot of work.
I'm going to babyrage if they don't make solitary monk 4 mana next patch. Fuuuck that card
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ChaosHatHop, hop, hop, HA!Trick of the lightRegistered Userregular
The worst nerf is that the patch notes are tomorrow instead of today! So here are some speculative thoughts. I also have no idea what they'll do to buff a lot of the bad mythics.
Shit I would probably do:
Kallista: Level up condition from 3 to 4 allies die. It's too trivial with Blighted Caretaker and she's very tough to deal with after leveling. I could even see going up to five allies but you know, baby steps.
Neverglade Collector: Down to 3 health.
Atrocity: To 7 mana.
Quinn: Valor to 3/1. Quinn to 3/5. Right now she's the Greathoof's stats divided over two bodies, which isn't very strong. She wants to attack a lot, but she doesn't have the health to do it, and unlike MF she's not providing anything sitting on the back line.
Vanguard Bannerman: Increase mana cost to 5. This is maybe too harsh and would make it totally unplayable, I could see a stats tweak. My issue is that this card is so strong and incentivizes Demacia to build so linear and boring that you could rebalance their power budget elsewhere and have the faction be more interesting.
Braum: +1 attack. I could also see reducing his level up requirement to maybe 8.
Sejuani: If you're dead set on changing her, reducing her HP by 1 is probably fine. I think she's okay as is.
Anivia: I have no idea. Cut cost to 6 maybe.
Tryndamere: Cut cost by 1.
Jinx: +1 hp.
Lee Sin: Cut cost to 5. No way he should cost Karma mana.
Card theft: Stolen cards are revealed to both players.
I love Anivia. I’ve been trying to make her work forever. Making her a 6-cost card wouldn’t change too much about her, since you really don’t want to play her until 9/10. It would enable dropping her and Chronicler of Ruin on the same turn instead of having to wait.
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ChaosHatHop, hop, hop, HA!Trick of the lightRegistered Userregular
I love Anivia. I’ve been trying to make her work forever. Making her a 6-cost card wouldn’t change too much about her, since you really don’t want to play her until 9/10. It would enable dropping her and Chronicler of Ruin on the same turn instead of having to wait.
Yeah I think the actual problem with Anivia is the enlightened mechanic. If your end game is to win by pushing with Anivia, that's going to take a lot of turns and the only really viable option for that is going to be SI cheese.
Compared to say, Karma, who just wins the game if she gets enlightened, regardless of if you have the attack token or not, Anivia is crazy weak.
That's what inspired the Lee Sin buff. You're gonna look at me with a straight face and tell me at the same cost, same faction, Lee Sin and Karma are equally good? No way.
I know Lee Sin isn't meta but I don't think he needs a buff, he protects himself and the kick is ouchie ow ow
One fun thing with Lee Sin is if you give him Overwhelm, after he levels he will kick the enemy into the nexus, recall them, and then do full attack damage to the nexus on top of that.
He feels like he should be strong to me. I just think maybe the decks that would use him pick someone else instead.
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KasynI'm not saying I don't like our chances.She called me the master.Registered Userregular
I'm not sure how they nerf Collector or Caretaker without basically removing them from the game. Collector to 3 HP probably kills the card dead, may as well just run Prankster at that point. Caretaker to a 1/1 would be perfectly fine but also wouldn't change what's so strong about the card - it's maybe the only fat there is to trim since you're not messing with the statline of the saplings and summoning just 1 of them would be terrible. If they re-tune Kalista's level-up condition they don't need to tweak Caretaker, probably.
Atrocity is definitely the piece of the Endure list that needs attention. 7 mana would be a good start.
The game is balanced enough right now that you don't need to butcher everything that's strong. Some changes to the meta environment, like making some aggro lists a little more prominent, could be all that's needed to bring some of the slightly overperforming decks (Endure, Elusives) down to earth a bit.
Similarly, everything that's not used too often doesn't necessarily need buffs. I don't think Trynd actually needs buffs, for instance.
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ChaosHatHop, hop, hop, HA!Trick of the lightRegistered Userregular
You don't need to nerf caretaker, I just want the interaction with Kallista nerfed. She's too trivial to level anymore, so just increasing her level up requirement seems fair.
You would still see collector. Drain is significantly more powerful than the damage. Collector is just really sticky and difficult to remove and provides crazy value safely from the back line. I could see upping the mana cost but that seems more harsh.
I think Tryndamere definitely could use buffs because he's essentially overshadowed by TWE. I don't think there are so many nerfs in my proposed list, like I said I think Sejuani is mostly fine. I'd like to see more champs be useful, I'm pretty pro buff over pro nerf. I'd rather cards be good.
Karma and Lee Sin is a bit of a silly comparison because Karma is an OP aura and Lee is a unit that contests the board. Lee will win games because you don't die before you can play Karma, and if that isn't good enough then I think the problem is with pure stalling cards not Lee.
The problem is that swiping buffed Freljord card is literally the only thing you can do with yoink that actually involves any sort of tactical considerations. Outside that it's basically just pure randomness.
Freljord buffing is supposed to be slow, so you counter with tempo. A 1/1 that doesn’t do anything for possibly several turns is slow, and two mana do nothing or draw a card if plunder is slow.
The issue is more that Seer is a decent body so racking up buffs is a lot easier. Also this leads to Freljord leaning towards more narrow boards, so going wide is another decent idea. Avalanche is a risk though.
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KasynI'm not saying I don't like our chances.She called me the master.Registered Userregular
You don't need to nerf caretaker, I just want the interaction with Kallista nerfed. She's too trivial to level anymore, so just increasing her level up requirement seems fair.
You would still see collector. Drain is significantly more powerful than the damage. Collector is just really sticky and difficult to remove and provides crazy value safely from the back line. I could see upping the mana cost but that seems more harsh.
I think Tryndamere definitely could use buffs because he's essentially overshadowed by TWE. I don't think there are so many nerfs in my proposed list, like I said I think Sejuani is mostly fine. I'd like to see more champs be useful, I'm pretty pro buff over pro nerf. I'd rather cards be good.
I doubt very much you would see Collector still. 2 mana extra for a drain as opposed to damage is not worth it. At 3 HP you're playing a 5 drop that's almost certainly a blowout waiting to happen. Any 3 damage spell, Caretaker + Vile Feast, brings them into the reach of more challenger units, including Fiora.
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ChaosHatHop, hop, hop, HA!Trick of the lightRegistered Userregular
Collector is a tough card to balance. You can't really change its power meaningfully, the situations in which 1 vs 2 power will matter for it are pretty rare. You can't change its trigger to fractions of damage. Cost and health are all you've got, and a cost nerf seems more damaging than health.
4 health is a massive break point though like you said, but for a mid game unit that doesn't need to do anything or risk itself to provide value it seems a little strong. I don't think it's wildly op, I think it's maybe a 4 out of 5, but it's hard to do tiny nudges on the card.
You don't need to nerf caretaker, I just want the interaction with Kallista nerfed. She's too trivial to level anymore, so just increasing her level up requirement seems fair.
You would still see collector. Drain is significantly more powerful than the damage. Collector is just really sticky and difficult to remove and provides crazy value safely from the back line. I could see upping the mana cost but that seems more harsh.
I think Tryndamere definitely could use buffs because he's essentially overshadowed by TWE. I don't think there are so many nerfs in my proposed list, like I said I think Sejuani is mostly fine. I'd like to see more champs be useful, I'm pretty pro buff over pro nerf. I'd rather cards be good.
I doubt very much you would see Collector still. 2 mana extra for a drain as opposed to damage is not worth it. At 3 HP you're playing a 5 drop that's almost certainly a blowout waiting to happen. Any 3 damage spell, Caretaker + Vile Feast, brings them into the reach of more challenger units, including Fiora.
Yeah, 3 hp is one of the biggest breakpoints in the game. Collector needs that 4 hp to do it's thing. Just look at how fragile Miss Fortune is.
Also I'm not sure Kalista is actually a problem right now. She seems fine.
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KasynI'm not saying I don't like our chances.She called me the master.Registered Userregular
Kalista is fine. You don't need to nerf every strong part of every strong deck.
Lost a game 7 match with my janky Fizz/Elusives/Lee Sin spell heavy deck. The worst part wasn't that I lost, but that it was because of awful draws. Sure, my deck was basically 50/50 units/spells, but the curve was solid and it was never an issue in my prior games.
Sometimes, you just get some bad draws. Oh well, 6 wins got me another Rex and an Epic WC. I'll take it!
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Jinx: Rocket cost from 2 to 1
Jae Medarda: Changed from an 8 cost 6/6 Elusive to a 6 cost 4/4 non-Elusive, draw effect only triggers on survival now
Genevieve Elmheart: Attack and health from 4 to 5
Unyielding Spirit: Speed from burst to fast
Darius: Health from 5 to 6
Basilisk Rider: Health from 2 to 3
Captain Farron: Effect changed from converting your hand to Decimates to generating 3 Decimates
Anivia: Cost from 7 to 6
She Who Wanders: Added Regeneration
They Who Endure: Cost from 6 to 7
Braum: Cost from 3 to 4; Level 1 is a 1/5 (+1/+0), Level 2 is a 2/6 (+2/-1)
Aurora Porealis: Cost from 7 to 6
Poro Herder: Changed from a 4 cost 3/4 to a 2 cost 2/3, now draws only 1 Poro instead of 2
Ren Shadowblade: Total rework, now a 4 cost 3/3 with First Strike that generates Shadow Fiends on strike
Escaped Abomination: Health from 4 to 3
The Harrowing: Cost from 10 to 9
Dreg Dredgers: Attack from 2 to 1
Black Market Merchant: Health from 2 to 1
Petty Officer: Health from 1 to 2
Mind Meld: Cost from 8 to 7
The paragraph on steal cards is google translated so my reading might be a bit off.
Steal cards: Current steal cards will now use a keyword called 'Nab' which draws from the bottom of the deck. They will consider further revisions and another keyword that steals from the top.
ChaosHatHop, hop, hop, HA!Trick of the lightRegistered Userregular
The Genevieve change is great! She was a good card before, now she's even better. I love scouts, so this makes me happy.
Braum seems very good now. 1 damage is infinitely more than 0. Freljord all buffs and no change to Sej seems like a huge win for the faction.
I don't really have an opinion on the noxus changes but I hope they make the faction more interesting and playable.
Escaped abomination had it coming after the Grizzled Ranger and badgerbear nerfs.
The buff to petty officer is surprising because the card was still pretty decent, so I'll take it. Black market merchant change is fair, the dreg dredgers seems a bit random though.
Pretty happy with the patch overall. The change to nab does make me nervous we're about to see starlit seer and spoils for days.
ChaosHatHop, hop, hop, HA!Trick of the lightRegistered Userregular
edited June 2020
Sorry, buffs to archetypes I care about =P
But seriously that's basically a mono si deck.
Oh shit I just realized the Braum change is that the first time he survives damage at level 1 he summons a mighty poro. The +1 was good, the poro is NUTS.
I somehow (somehow!) managed to come back from this in the final round of my expedition.
I had to run out the scribe on turn three just to have something to contest the board with.
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ChaosHatHop, hop, hop, HA!Trick of the lightRegistered Userregular
That doesn't actually look so bad for you. He's playing...something but unless it's burst into open attack, you can make a 4/4 and draw two cards and block two things, and you have the Neverglade which is a great defender and will net you a bit of hp to stabilize. After that it's kind of on the card draw, but after blocking that Scribe will likely die the next combat, letting you remove another enemy with black spear.
Pretty sad Vault (2 Dia, 1 Plat) this week, but unsurprising given the amount of cards I already own. 3 Commons (2 WC), 2 Rare (1 WC), 1 Champion WC, and 3k Shards in dupes.
Commons 565/594 95%
Rares 327/375 87%
Epics 171/171 100%
Champions 100/108 93%
65k Shards and 199/90/31/13 WCs means I effectively have a 100% card set if I want it. Bring on the next expansion!
Fun note: Of those 8 champs I'm missing, 3 of them are Yasuo. Like, how have I STILL not pulled one. :biggrin:
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ChaosHatHop, hop, hop, HA!Trick of the lightRegistered Userregular
You know given that we're getting a Cithria emote and she's on three cards is anyone else feeling a combined LoL/LoR champion release at some point?
Assuming this game will eventually have rotation, you could rotate out the old Cithrias, put in champ Cithria, maybe even let the champ version keep the Cithria the Bold ability...
They've said a number of cards will eventually be champions; the most likely being Cithria and Ledros, but there are a lot of named epics that would also work Corina and Tarkaz.
Shocked they didn’t lower the mana cost of US to compensate. Seems harsh.
I am as well but that kind of exacerbates the problem. Now it comes down earlier and sure you can respond to it but if you spend mana you could be totally hosed a turn earlier.
I think it might be less fun as fast because now you have to hold up mana because hey, now you might get blown out and you'll feel like an idiot. Before you just play and it's like well, nothing to be done. It has a higher chance of leading to game states where both players just keep passing back.
The Season of Fortune begins now. Patch 1.4 is packed with balance updates, new personalization items, ranked rewards and a new ranked season, improvements to Masters LP, and a new mode—the Gauntlet.
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Dev Notes: Card adjustments in 1.4
In addition to our normal commitment to game balance and metagame diversity, many of the card changes in this patch (particularly the rework-level ones) are part of more focused efforts to address issues or opportunities across several groups of cards—specifically Epics, Freljord, and steal-from-deck effects.
Epics in LoR are generally intended to be exciting cards with compelling, unique, and powerful effects. This can make for some really fun or game-changing options, but also leave some of them feeling overly expensive or unwieldy to use. For this patch, we’ve adjusted underutilized Epic cards from each region with the goal of reinvigorating them for all levels of play, and we hope you find homes for them in some of your decks!
Freljord as a region has seen a relatively low playrate for some time, particularly in higher ranked play. While it's seen a bit more play recently, it’s often splashed for a few specifically powerful cards (like Sejuani) rather than a general regional toolbox. We felt general champion viability and appeal was a particular culprit, and have made changes to Braum and Anivia to make them more attractive options for a wider variety of decks and help Freljord line up better with the other regions in usability.
Finally, we’ve adjusted Bilgewater’s steal-from-deck mechanic to work in a more healthy way by drawing cards from the bottom of the enemy deck, rather than the top. This kind of effect now also has a dedicated keyword, Nab, which reads “Draw a non-champion card from the bottom of the enemy deck.”
Thank you for your continued feedback on how we can continue to improve LoR’s gameplay. We hope you enjoy the changes I covered along with the other balance adjustments, and can’t wait to see how they inspire your deckbuilding!
- RubinZoo, Live Balance Lead
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New Mode: Gauntlet
Gauntlets are limited-time competitive modes with unique deckbuilding rules. The Gauntlet will open every Friday through Monday, with each weekend featuring a single format from the Gauntlet rotation.
The first Gauntlet begins June 26 and will use standard deckbuilding rules as we test-drive the underlying tech; a second type of Gauntlet, Singleton, joins the rotation on July 3, and will challenge you to build a deck using no more than one copy of each card.
In addition to XP based on your number of wins, everyone who takes on a particular Gauntlet format will receive a special icon, while those who make it to seven wins will earn the exclusive Gauntlet Conqueror icon. In the future, we plan to add more exclusive rewards and improve the Gauntlet mode overall, using the technology to build our way to full-scale in-game tournaments.
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Ranked Rewards + New Season
The Season of Plunder ranked season has now ended, and ranked reward icons (see below) will be distributed with this patch based on your performance.
Ranked will be disabled until 10 AM PT, June 24, when the Season of Fortune will begin!
Ranks will be partially reset for the new season:
Master accounts will drop 800LP (8 divisions).
Diamond and Platinum accounts will drop 750LP (7 divisions + 50LP).
Gold and Silver accounts will drop 675LP (6 divisions + 75LP).
Bronze and Iron accounts will reset to Iron IV.
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Masters LP update
Master tier now uses an LP system rather than one based on ladder position.
Up until now, Masters tier has been rank-ordered by player MMR, but we’ve realized this has some unfortunate downsides—mainly that it was unclear how much your rank could change in a single game, and losses could feel overly punishing.
Now, instead of displaying your rank order within Masters, you’ll see your current Masters LP, and upon first entering Masters, you’ll get an initial LP amount based on your MMR relative to other players in Masters. From there, your LP gains and losses will be determined by a combination of factors including your MMR, your opponent’s MMR, and how much LP you have compared to other players in Masters. These values are centered around 20 LP (the same amount of LP gained or lost in Platinum and Diamond) and can range from a maximum of 25 to a minimum of 15. At the end of each season, Masters players will be reset to Platinum 4, regardless of how much LP you have.
Our hope is that this brings much needed clarity to the ranking process while keeping Masters tier the apex of competitive play in LoR. Let us know how the new system feels, and good luck making it to the top!
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Card Updates
Champions
Darius (level 2)
DARIUS (LEVEL 2)
HEALTH: 5 → 6
We're increasing Darius’ health at Level 2 to make him more durable and consistent, increasing the payoff for meeting his level up condition and giving Noxus aggro decks a more appealing top-end option.
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Anivia
ANIVIA
COST: 7 → 6
When compared to other similar champions like Nautilus (same cost) or Karma (same level-up condition), Anivia's power level and kit weren’t quite matching up outside of very specific strategies. A cost adjustment should help her see more effective and widespread use.
Anivia (level 2)
ANIVIA (LEVEL 2)
COST: 7 → 6
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Braum
BRAUM
COST: 3 → 4
POWER: 0 → 1
ADDED TEXT: The first time I survive damage, summon a [Mighty Poro].
We're looking to preserve what players liked about Braum's old design while adjusting him to have healthier gameplay patterns that are also a better fit for more Freljord decks. While his cost has increased, his new baseline power and access to a Mighty Poro at level one should make him more widely usable. Similarly, adjusting his leveled-up stat boost to a more typical +1|+1 should improve his general power and ability to end games.
Braum (level 2)
BRAUM (LEVEL 2)
COST: 3 → 4
POWER: 0 → 2
HEALTH: 7 → 6
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Super Mega Death Rocket!
SUPER MEGA DEATH ROCKET!
Created by Jinx (level 2)
COST: 2 → 1
Jinx's Rocket offers a satisfying payoff but could use a bit more consistency, especially in Expeditions.
Genevieve has stiff competition at her cost and we'd like her to be a more generally appealing option, so she’s getting a straightforward stat boost to improve her impact.
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Unyielding Spirit
UNYIELDING SPIRIT
SPELL SPEED: Burst → Fast
We like the idea of Unyielding Spirit’s dream (making an immortal unit), but it’s definitely been contentious and was ultimately resulting in some toxic gameplay patterns.
When it comes to new content, we typically want to allow players time to solve for metagame problems with existing tools—hell, we think it’s a big part of the fun of card games. In this case, that played a part in us not initially changing Unyielding Spirit, but we ultimately feel the card is too prone to causing frustrating results and needs additional options to be countered.
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Basilisk Rider
BASILISK RIDER
HEALTH: 2 → 3
Basilisk Rider didn't quite incentivize Noxus allegiance strategies well enough. Similarly, many aggressive Noxus decks are ignoring more expensive Noxus units in favor of burn or utility cards from other regions, and we want to provide more tools for traditional Trifarian-based aggressive decks.
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Captain Farron
CAPTAIN FARRON
OLD TEXT: Play: Transform all cards in your hand into [Decimates].
NEW TEXT: When I'm summoned, create 3 [Decimates] in hand.
Ol' Captain Decimate is meant to be a late game finisher against slow decks, but discarding your hand (and requiring cards in hand to do anything) was a bit too high variance for that role, so we’ve adjusted his effect to simply create Decimates in hand.
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Aurora Porealis
AURORA POREALIS
COST: 7 → 6
Aurora Porealis had too steep a cost for no immediate impact, so we're moving it down in cost to allow it to be used without falling so far behind.
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Poro Herder
PORO HERDER
COST: 4 → 2
POWER: 3 → 2
HEALTH: 4 → 3
OLD TEXT: When I'm summoned, draw 2 Poros if you have a Poro ally.
NEW TEXT: When I'm summoned, draw a Poro if you have a Poro ally.
Accompanying our changes to Braum, we're adjusting Poro Herder to provide Poro decks a more appealing on-curve option.
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She Who Wanders
SHE WHO WANDERS
ADDED KEYWORD: [Regeneration]
One of the OG bombs in LoR back during beta, She Who Wanders has seen better days. We think she could use a boost when it comes to being a huge, gameshaking bomb for niche decks, so we’re adding Regeneration to help her close out games.
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They Who Endure
THEY WHO ENDURE
COST: 6 → 7
They Who Endure provides a massive payoff for decks that can kill many of their own units, but is a little too efficient and flexible. With this change, we want to preserve that payoff while allowing more time for opposing plans to develop.
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Ren Shadowblade
REN SHADOWBLADE
COST: 8 → 4
POWER: 6 → 3
HEALTH: 4 → 3
OLD TEXT: When the enemy summons a follower, grant it Ephemeral.
NEW TEXT: [Quick Attack] Strike: Create a [Shadow Fiend] in hand.
The strength of Ren's old effect warranted a sizable mana cost, which left the card tough to build around (and often not fun to play against). We've fully redesigned it with the goal of giving Ephemeral decks more options for units that can be played to set up future plays.
Shadow Fiend
SHADOW FIEND
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Jae Medarda
JAE MEDARDA
COST: 8 → 6
HEALTH: 6 → 4
POWER: 6 → 4
OLD TEXT: [Elusive] When I'm targeted, draw 1.
NEW TEXT: When I'm targeted and survive, draw 1.
Jae’s line of text is really exciting as a build-around possibility, but his cost and stat profile often made it feel like a trap to do so. We’re adjusting him across the board with the goal of making the dream (or parts of it) more consistently attainable.
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Escaped Abomination
ESCAPED ABOMINATION
Created by Cursed Keeper
HEALTH: 4 → 3
It can be extremely difficult to come back against aggressive Shadow Isles decks if they get off to a quick start and you fall behind early. We want Escaped Abomination to be a bit more answerable in the early game, especially in the context of Cursed Keeper + Blighted Caretaker curves that create a large board advantage while contributing to synergies.
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The Harrowing
THE HARROWING
COST: 10 → 9
The Harrowing is meant to be a splashy finisher for Shadow Isles decks, but it's struggled to find a home. We’re dropping its cost by one to help out more synergy-driven Shadow Isles strategies.
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Dreg Dredgers
DREG DREDGERS
POWER: 2 → 1
Deep decks have generally been in a good spot, but their tools for creating early game presence have been stronger than we want for a deck that can sink you in the late game. This adjustment should make sure Deep decks are playing from behind a bit more often.
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Mind Meld
MIND MELD
COST: 8 → 7
Mind Meld was simply too costly for its effect.
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Petty Officer
PETTY OFFICER
HEALTH: 1 → 2
We want to both give a boost to Barrel decks and provide a more effective option for aggressive Bilgewater decks—this buff should help push Petty Officer towards its intended role as a versatile option that allows more decks access to Barrels.
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Steal-from-deck cards
Drawing from the enemy deck has been a contentious mechanic in Rising Tides, and we’re making a change to address some of the frustrations players have experienced. First, let’s call the effect by its new keyworded name—Nab—which has the important difference (versus prior functionality) of drawing from the bottom of the enemy deck rather than the top.
Previously, these effects caused unintentionally sharp match-ups with any deck looking to manipulate the top of their deck (particularly Freljord deck buff strategies). We also understand that it can feel particularly frustrating to have the card you were about to draw used against you, regardless of there being no general statistical difference in drawing from the bottom.
As a minor note, this change will also prevent Nab effects from filtering your opponent closer to drawing their Champions—while this could be an interesting tradeoff, it wasn’t an explicit design goal for the mechanic and we think it’s worth losing in the name of overall improvement.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on the impact of these changes, and are open to making further adjustments as necessary.
Effects that draw from the enemy deck now draw from the bottom of the enemy deck (rather than the top).
New keyword implemented—Nab: Draw a non-champion card from the bottom of the enemy deck.
Black Market Merchant
BLACK MARKET MERCHANT
HEALTH: 2 → 1
We want to preserve the Merchant’s role as a lynchpin of Nab decks while making it easier for opponents to remove, and harder for players to protect and build up multiple copies in the backline.
Pilfered Goods
PILFERED GOODS
Yordle Grifter
YORDLE GRIFTER
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Card text consistency
Since launch, we’ve heard a lot of good feedback regarding card text consistency issues, and will continue to make improvements over time as needed. This patch, we’ve made a variety of consistency and clarity changes covering several issues, including:
Various usage consistency (“fleeting,” “I see,” “create,” “shuffle”).
Swapping “next round” to “next round start” to clarify exact timing.
“Enemies” vs. “the enemy Nexus” consistency.
Swapping written-out numbers to digits where possible.
Rules text on the following cards (both collectible and non-collectible) updated for clarity and/or consistency:
Arena Bookie | Avarosan Trapper | Back to Back | Bloodsworn Pledge | Brightsteel Formation | Brothers' Bond | Chief Mechanist Zevi | Chump Whump | Concerted Strike | Double Trouble | Final Spark | Jinx (level 2) | Lee Sin (both levels) | Lux (level 2) | Magnum Opus | Pick a Card | Plunder Poro | Pool Shark | Powder Keg | Sapling Toss | Sejuani (level 2) | Senna, Sentinel of Light | Shen (both levels) | Shen's Stand United | Stand United | Super Mega Death Rocket! | Tall Tales | The Leviathan | The Undying | Twisted Fate's Pick a Card | Twisted Fate (level 2) | Vi
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Personalization
Boards
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Lee Sin’s Iron Will
For legends who extend their senses and strike with skill.
Guardians
SFOR20_VonYip_01.gif
Von Yipp
Unrivaled genius in Zaun. Beloved companion in Piltover.
Personality: Devious
Hobby: Unregulated experimentation
Card Backs
3 new card backs available for purchase.
The Blind Monk
The Tidal Trickster
The Bounty Hunter
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Emotes
3 new emotes available for purchase.
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Bundles
The Lee Sin Bundle now available for 1332 Coins. Bundle includes:
Lee Sin's Iron Will (board)
The Blind Monk (card back)
An exclusive Lee Sin icon
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Train like a dragon.
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Expeditions Archetypes
As usual, the primary goal of these changes is to help out some struggling archetypes (e.g., Fishbones, Scrapheap, and Spell Slingers) while reducing the potency of others that have been overperforming (e.g., Afterlife, Disruption, and Noxian Might).
We’ve also made a tweak to improve the consistency of tri-region drafting by reducing the chances you’ll see Wild Pick options from archetypes that aren’t confined to those regions. For example, if you’re drafting Demacia, Freljord, and Noxus, you’ll now see more packs from archetypes that only contain cards from those three regions (such as Suit Up or Battle Scars), and fewer packs from archetypes that include other regions (such as Retribution or Raiding Party). We’ll be watching the results of this change closely and may adjust further in a future patch.
While drafting a tri-region deck, significantly reduced how frequently you’ll be offered Wild Pick options from archetypes that include cards from other regions on their roster.
Afterlife
Added: Mark of the Isles, Phantom Prankster, Splinter Soul
Removed: Glimpse Beyond, Neverglade Collector
Battle Scars
Added: Avarosan Marksman
Removed: Stalking Wolf
Death’s Door
Added: Double Up, Pilfered Goods, Pool Shark, Salvage, Spirit’s Refuge
Removed: Jailbreak, Rivershaper, Rush, Sleight of Hand, Will of Ionia
Total Recall
Added: Recall
Removed: Zephyr Sage
Wild Pick Bonus Chance increased to High (from Medium)
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Vault cap + bot account bans
While we’re always working to protect players from botting and similar activity, we generally won’t share specifics. However, this patch we’re making a minor change to the Vault as part of these efforts, and would like to provide some context.
Recently, we saw a spike in botting attempts associated with the infinite bonus capsules offered past level 13 of the Vault. As part of our ongoing efforts to combat this kind of activity, we’re capping bonus capsules at 25—still functionally infinite for humans without offering the same level of botting incentive. We’ve also issued an associated wave of account bans (Riot account-wide), and are adding automated elements with this patch. As always, thank you for your reports on suspicious account behavior
Vault bonus capsules now capped at 25.
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Miscellaneous
Teemo level-up effects polished.
Players will no longer always act first in Play vs AI matches.
Added some under-the-hood safety measures so players can creatively format decknames without potentially causing crashes.
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Bugfixes
Fixed an issue where Arena Battlecaster would sometimes become invisible when attacking.
Fixed an issue where Vi would sometimes not have appropriate buffs when copied by Dusk and Dawn.
Fixed an issue where a cardback could become stuck over the center of the board and block player actions.
Fixed an issue where Stand Alone wasn’t displaying a gold highlight when its requirement was met.
Fixed an issue where players would sometimes be unable to target certain units or interact with specific game elements.
Fixed an issue where the Play options on Petty Officer would sometimes display rarity gems.
Fixed an issue where Boosted XP rewards would display incorrectly when completing multiple quests and earning a daily PVP bonus after a single match.
On iOS, fixed an issue with excessive iCloud usage.
Fixed an issue where Expeditions pick options could sometimes go missing.
Need a voice actor? Hire me at bengrayVO.com
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051 Steam ID Twitch Page
Also Black Market Merchant never felt like a problem to me and now he's kinda useless as a body, which makes decks that use him far less powerful imo.
By god you'd never know it looking on reddit. I've seen takes that it wouldn't matter if he was an 0/1. Nevermind how vulnerable he is to basically any removal now and therefore hard to get long term value.
Do you even play BMM on a turn if you don't have the pilfered to follow up right away now? I'm not certain. Before you could be reasonably certain he'd live so it's okay but now Vile Feast, Make it Rain, Parley, all kinds of stuff just nukes him for free.
Also Black Market Merchant never felt like a problem to me and now he's kinda useless as a body, which makes decks that use him far less powerful imo.
By god you'd never know it looking on reddit. I've seen takes that it wouldn't matter if he was an 0/1. Nevermind how vulnerable he is to basically any removal now and therefore hard to get long term value.
Do you even play BMM on a turn if you don't have the pilfered to follow up right away now? I'm not certain. Before you could be reasonably certain he'd live so it's okay but now Vile Feast, Make it Rain, Parley, all kinds of stuff just nukes him for free.
And BMM is the lynchpin of yoink (or I guess now, Nab) gameplay. It's the card that makes it not generally a loss in tempo and probably barely worth it at best. The ability to get a decent body on the board and reduce the cost of the random junk you will put in your hand is what makes it work.
Posts
My issue is that usually they wait until they have the counter spell as well. I actually tried culling Heimer before he leveled.
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
Playing Heimer before you can protect him is downright silly. A good player never puts him down without something available to keep him alive.
And if you've ever played against Heimer/Lux, you can run into Unyielding Heimer, which is brutal if they get the combo down.
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
Man I still think he's unplayable if you do that. I think there aren't so many 4 costs, and the important things is which four costs. The free cycle with flash of brilliance into fliers I think is half the strength of the deck/combo.
I think you could swap the 3 and 4s and be fine. Fearsome would at least give him some evasion, but on turn 5 it's not unreasonable to have some high enough power blockers, so even if he gets the dream flash flash into disciplines, you're not gonna take 9 uncontested damage like you would with the elusives.
I also saw a proposal for flash of brilliance to refund 2 mana instead of 3. That also seems pretty backbreaking to Heimer but you could try it.
If they're waiting that long then they're really delaying their ability to go off, which is a huge win for you being able to push damage. The earliest they could do that on is turn 6. They also usually only run two deny so it's far from a given that they have it.
As far as match data, if you're on PC you can use this. I've been using it instead of the overwolf stuff and it's been nice. Will track matches by deck, and shows you your library and both graveyards while playing. If you don't want to use that, you can use my spreadsheet.
I'm sure we'll get a match history page at some point, but even then it probably won't be as detailed as 3rd party solutions.
I will say if you can do three spells you can usually get sufficient value that it may not matter if you can't protect him. Like the above Flash/Flash/Twin Disciplines sometimes isn't enough to save him but 3 elusives do a lot of work.
Shit I would probably do:
Neverglade Collector: Down to 3 health.
Atrocity: To 7 mana.
Quinn: Valor to 3/1. Quinn to 3/5. Right now she's the Greathoof's stats divided over two bodies, which isn't very strong. She wants to attack a lot, but she doesn't have the health to do it, and unlike MF she's not providing anything sitting on the back line.
Vanguard Bannerman: Increase mana cost to 5. This is maybe too harsh and would make it totally unplayable, I could see a stats tweak. My issue is that this card is so strong and incentivizes Demacia to build so linear and boring that you could rebalance their power budget elsewhere and have the faction be more interesting.
Braum: +1 attack. I could also see reducing his level up requirement to maybe 8.
Sejuani: If you're dead set on changing her, reducing her HP by 1 is probably fine. I think she's okay as is.
Anivia: I have no idea. Cut cost to 6 maybe.
Tryndamere: Cut cost by 1.
Jinx: +1 hp.
Lee Sin: Cut cost to 5. No way he should cost Karma mana.
Card theft: Stolen cards are revealed to both players.
Black Market Merchant: +1 cost.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
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Yeah I think the actual problem with Anivia is the enlightened mechanic. If your end game is to win by pushing with Anivia, that's going to take a lot of turns and the only really viable option for that is going to be SI cheese.
Compared to say, Karma, who just wins the game if she gets enlightened, regardless of if you have the attack token or not, Anivia is crazy weak.
That's what inspired the Lee Sin buff. You're gonna look at me with a straight face and tell me at the same cost, same faction, Lee Sin and Karma are equally good? No way.
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
One fun thing with Lee Sin is if you give him Overwhelm, after he levels he will kick the enemy into the nexus, recall them, and then do full attack damage to the nexus on top of that.
He feels like he should be strong to me. I just think maybe the decks that would use him pick someone else instead.
Atrocity is definitely the piece of the Endure list that needs attention. 7 mana would be a good start.
The game is balanced enough right now that you don't need to butcher everything that's strong. Some changes to the meta environment, like making some aggro lists a little more prominent, could be all that's needed to bring some of the slightly overperforming decks (Endure, Elusives) down to earth a bit.
Similarly, everything that's not used too often doesn't necessarily need buffs. I don't think Trynd actually needs buffs, for instance.
You would still see collector. Drain is significantly more powerful than the damage. Collector is just really sticky and difficult to remove and provides crazy value safely from the back line. I could see upping the mana cost but that seems more harsh.
I think Tryndamere definitely could use buffs because he's essentially overshadowed by TWE. I don't think there are so many nerfs in my proposed list, like I said I think Sejuani is mostly fine. I'd like to see more champs be useful, I'm pretty pro buff over pro nerf. I'd rather cards be good.
The issue is more that Seer is a decent body so racking up buffs is a lot easier. Also this leads to Freljord leaning towards more narrow boards, so going wide is another decent idea. Avalanche is a risk though.
I doubt very much you would see Collector still. 2 mana extra for a drain as opposed to damage is not worth it. At 3 HP you're playing a 5 drop that's almost certainly a blowout waiting to happen. Any 3 damage spell, Caretaker + Vile Feast, brings them into the reach of more challenger units, including Fiora.
4 health is a massive break point though like you said, but for a mid game unit that doesn't need to do anything or risk itself to provide value it seems a little strong. I don't think it's wildly op, I think it's maybe a 4 out of 5, but it's hard to do tiny nudges on the card.
Yeah, 3 hp is one of the biggest breakpoints in the game. Collector needs that 4 hp to do it's thing. Just look at how fragile Miss Fortune is.
Also I'm not sure Kalista is actually a problem right now. She seems fine.
Sometimes, you just get some bad draws. Oh well, 6 wins got me another Rex and an Epic WC. I'll take it!
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
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Jinx: Rocket cost from 2 to 1
Jae Medarda: Changed from an 8 cost 6/6 Elusive to a 6 cost 4/4 non-Elusive, draw effect only triggers on survival now
Genevieve Elmheart: Attack and health from 4 to 5
Unyielding Spirit: Speed from burst to fast
Darius: Health from 5 to 6
Basilisk Rider: Health from 2 to 3
Captain Farron: Effect changed from converting your hand to Decimates to generating 3 Decimates
Anivia: Cost from 7 to 6
She Who Wanders: Added Regeneration
They Who Endure: Cost from 6 to 7
Braum: Cost from 3 to 4; Level 1 is a 1/5 (+1/+0), Level 2 is a 2/6 (+2/-1)
Aurora Porealis: Cost from 7 to 6
Poro Herder: Changed from a 4 cost 3/4 to a 2 cost 2/3, now draws only 1 Poro instead of 2
Ren Shadowblade: Total rework, now a 4 cost 3/3 with First Strike that generates Shadow Fiends on strike
Escaped Abomination: Health from 4 to 3
The Harrowing: Cost from 10 to 9
Dreg Dredgers: Attack from 2 to 1
Black Market Merchant: Health from 2 to 1
Petty Officer: Health from 1 to 2
Mind Meld: Cost from 8 to 7
The paragraph on steal cards is google translated so my reading might be a bit off.
Steal cards: Current steal cards will now use a keyword called 'Nab' which draws from the bottom of the deck. They will consider further revisions and another keyword that steals from the top.
E: Reddit guy did up a picture comparison:
Braum seems very good now. 1 damage is infinitely more than 0. Freljord all buffs and no change to Sej seems like a huge win for the faction.
I don't really have an opinion on the noxus changes but I hope they make the faction more interesting and playable.
Escaped abomination had it coming after the Grizzled Ranger and badgerbear nerfs.
The buff to petty officer is surprising because the card was still pretty decent, so I'll take it. Black market merchant change is fair, the dreg dredgers seems a bit random though.
Pretty happy with the patch overall. The change to nab does make me nervous we're about to see starlit seer and spoils for days.
But seriously that's basically a mono si deck.
Oh shit I just realized the Braum change is that the first time he survives damage at level 1 he summons a mighty poro. The +1 was good, the poro is NUTS.
I had to run out the scribe on turn three just to have something to contest the board with.
65k Shards and 199/90/31/13 WCs means I effectively have a 100% card set if I want it. Bring on the next expansion!
Fun note: Of those 8 champs I'm missing, 3 of them are Yasuo. Like, how have I STILL not pulled one. :biggrin:
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
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Assuming this game will eventually have rotation, you could rotate out the old Cithrias, put in champ Cithria, maybe even let the champ version keep the Cithria the Bold ability...
I am as well but that kind of exacerbates the problem. Now it comes down earlier and sure you can respond to it but if you spend mana you could be totally hosed a turn earlier.
I think it might be less fun as fast because now you have to hold up mana because hey, now you might get blown out and you'll feel like an idiot. Before you just play and it's like well, nothing to be done. It has a higher chance of leading to game states where both players just keep passing back.
Full text dump:
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Dev Notes: Card adjustments in 1.4
In addition to our normal commitment to game balance and metagame diversity, many of the card changes in this patch (particularly the rework-level ones) are part of more focused efforts to address issues or opportunities across several groups of cards—specifically Epics, Freljord, and steal-from-deck effects.
Epics in LoR are generally intended to be exciting cards with compelling, unique, and powerful effects. This can make for some really fun or game-changing options, but also leave some of them feeling overly expensive or unwieldy to use. For this patch, we’ve adjusted underutilized Epic cards from each region with the goal of reinvigorating them for all levels of play, and we hope you find homes for them in some of your decks!
Freljord as a region has seen a relatively low playrate for some time, particularly in higher ranked play. While it's seen a bit more play recently, it’s often splashed for a few specifically powerful cards (like Sejuani) rather than a general regional toolbox. We felt general champion viability and appeal was a particular culprit, and have made changes to Braum and Anivia to make them more attractive options for a wider variety of decks and help Freljord line up better with the other regions in usability.
Finally, we’ve adjusted Bilgewater’s steal-from-deck mechanic to work in a more healthy way by drawing cards from the bottom of the enemy deck, rather than the top. This kind of effect now also has a dedicated keyword, Nab, which reads “Draw a non-champion card from the bottom of the enemy deck.”
Thank you for your continued feedback on how we can continue to improve LoR’s gameplay. We hope you enjoy the changes I covered along with the other balance adjustments, and can’t wait to see how they inspire your deckbuilding!
- RubinZoo, Live Balance Lead
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New Mode: Gauntlet
Gauntlets are limited-time competitive modes with unique deckbuilding rules. The Gauntlet will open every Friday through Monday, with each weekend featuring a single format from the Gauntlet rotation.
The first Gauntlet begins June 26 and will use standard deckbuilding rules as we test-drive the underlying tech; a second type of Gauntlet, Singleton, joins the rotation on July 3, and will challenge you to build a deck using no more than one copy of each card.
In addition to XP based on your number of wins, everyone who takes on a particular Gauntlet format will receive a special icon, while those who make it to seven wins will earn the exclusive Gauntlet Conqueror icon. In the future, we plan to add more exclusive rewards and improve the Gauntlet mode overall, using the technology to build our way to full-scale in-game tournaments.
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Ranked Rewards + New Season
The Season of Plunder ranked season has now ended, and ranked reward icons (see below) will be distributed with this patch based on your performance.
Ranked will be disabled until 10 AM PT, June 24, when the Season of Fortune will begin!
Ranks will be partially reset for the new season:
Master accounts will drop 800LP (8 divisions).
Diamond and Platinum accounts will drop 750LP (7 divisions + 50LP).
Gold and Silver accounts will drop 675LP (6 divisions + 75LP).
Bronze and Iron accounts will reset to Iron IV.
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Masters LP update
Master tier now uses an LP system rather than one based on ladder position.
Up until now, Masters tier has been rank-ordered by player MMR, but we’ve realized this has some unfortunate downsides—mainly that it was unclear how much your rank could change in a single game, and losses could feel overly punishing.
Now, instead of displaying your rank order within Masters, you’ll see your current Masters LP, and upon first entering Masters, you’ll get an initial LP amount based on your MMR relative to other players in Masters. From there, your LP gains and losses will be determined by a combination of factors including your MMR, your opponent’s MMR, and how much LP you have compared to other players in Masters. These values are centered around 20 LP (the same amount of LP gained or lost in Platinum and Diamond) and can range from a maximum of 25 to a minimum of 15. At the end of each season, Masters players will be reset to Platinum 4, regardless of how much LP you have.
Our hope is that this brings much needed clarity to the ranking process while keeping Masters tier the apex of competitive play in LoR. Let us know how the new system feels, and good luck making it to the top!
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Card Updates
Champions
Darius (level 2)
DARIUS (LEVEL 2)
HEALTH: 5 → 6
We're increasing Darius’ health at Level 2 to make him more durable and consistent, increasing the payoff for meeting his level up condition and giving Noxus aggro decks a more appealing top-end option.
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Anivia
ANIVIA
COST: 7 → 6
When compared to other similar champions like Nautilus (same cost) or Karma (same level-up condition), Anivia's power level and kit weren’t quite matching up outside of very specific strategies. A cost adjustment should help her see more effective and widespread use.
Anivia (level 2)
ANIVIA (LEVEL 2)
COST: 7 → 6
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Braum
BRAUM
COST: 3 → 4
POWER: 0 → 1
ADDED TEXT: The first time I survive damage, summon a [Mighty Poro].
We're looking to preserve what players liked about Braum's old design while adjusting him to have healthier gameplay patterns that are also a better fit for more Freljord decks. While his cost has increased, his new baseline power and access to a Mighty Poro at level one should make him more widely usable. Similarly, adjusting his leveled-up stat boost to a more typical +1|+1 should improve his general power and ability to end games.
Braum (level 2)
BRAUM (LEVEL 2)
COST: 3 → 4
POWER: 0 → 2
HEALTH: 7 → 6
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Super Mega Death Rocket!
SUPER MEGA DEATH ROCKET!
Created by Jinx (level 2)
COST: 2 → 1
Jinx's Rocket offers a satisfying payoff but could use a bit more consistency, especially in Expeditions.
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Followers & spells
Genevieve Elmheart
GENEVIEVE ELMHEART
POWER: 4 → 5
HEALTH: 4 → 5
Genevieve has stiff competition at her cost and we'd like her to be a more generally appealing option, so she’s getting a straightforward stat boost to improve her impact.
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Unyielding Spirit
UNYIELDING SPIRIT
SPELL SPEED: Burst → Fast
We like the idea of Unyielding Spirit’s dream (making an immortal unit), but it’s definitely been contentious and was ultimately resulting in some toxic gameplay patterns.
When it comes to new content, we typically want to allow players time to solve for metagame problems with existing tools—hell, we think it’s a big part of the fun of card games. In this case, that played a part in us not initially changing Unyielding Spirit, but we ultimately feel the card is too prone to causing frustrating results and needs additional options to be countered.
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Basilisk Rider
BASILISK RIDER
HEALTH: 2 → 3
Basilisk Rider didn't quite incentivize Noxus allegiance strategies well enough. Similarly, many aggressive Noxus decks are ignoring more expensive Noxus units in favor of burn or utility cards from other regions, and we want to provide more tools for traditional Trifarian-based aggressive decks.
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Captain Farron
CAPTAIN FARRON
OLD TEXT: Play: Transform all cards in your hand into [Decimates].
NEW TEXT: When I'm summoned, create 3 [Decimates] in hand.
Ol' Captain Decimate is meant to be a late game finisher against slow decks, but discarding your hand (and requiring cards in hand to do anything) was a bit too high variance for that role, so we’ve adjusted his effect to simply create Decimates in hand.
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Aurora Porealis
AURORA POREALIS
COST: 7 → 6
Aurora Porealis had too steep a cost for no immediate impact, so we're moving it down in cost to allow it to be used without falling so far behind.
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Poro Herder
PORO HERDER
COST: 4 → 2
POWER: 3 → 2
HEALTH: 4 → 3
OLD TEXT: When I'm summoned, draw 2 Poros if you have a Poro ally.
NEW TEXT: When I'm summoned, draw a Poro if you have a Poro ally.
Accompanying our changes to Braum, we're adjusting Poro Herder to provide Poro decks a more appealing on-curve option.
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She Who Wanders
SHE WHO WANDERS
ADDED KEYWORD: [Regeneration]
One of the OG bombs in LoR back during beta, She Who Wanders has seen better days. We think she could use a boost when it comes to being a huge, gameshaking bomb for niche decks, so we’re adding Regeneration to help her close out games.
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They Who Endure
THEY WHO ENDURE
COST: 6 → 7
They Who Endure provides a massive payoff for decks that can kill many of their own units, but is a little too efficient and flexible. With this change, we want to preserve that payoff while allowing more time for opposing plans to develop.
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Ren Shadowblade
REN SHADOWBLADE
COST: 8 → 4
POWER: 6 → 3
HEALTH: 4 → 3
OLD TEXT: When the enemy summons a follower, grant it Ephemeral.
NEW TEXT: [Quick Attack] Strike: Create a [Shadow Fiend] in hand.
The strength of Ren's old effect warranted a sizable mana cost, which left the card tough to build around (and often not fun to play against). We've fully redesigned it with the goal of giving Ephemeral decks more options for units that can be played to set up future plays.
Shadow Fiend
SHADOW FIEND
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Jae Medarda
JAE MEDARDA
COST: 8 → 6
HEALTH: 6 → 4
POWER: 6 → 4
OLD TEXT: [Elusive] When I'm targeted, draw 1.
NEW TEXT: When I'm targeted and survive, draw 1.
Jae’s line of text is really exciting as a build-around possibility, but his cost and stat profile often made it feel like a trap to do so. We’re adjusting him across the board with the goal of making the dream (or parts of it) more consistently attainable.
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Escaped Abomination
ESCAPED ABOMINATION
Created by Cursed Keeper
HEALTH: 4 → 3
It can be extremely difficult to come back against aggressive Shadow Isles decks if they get off to a quick start and you fall behind early. We want Escaped Abomination to be a bit more answerable in the early game, especially in the context of Cursed Keeper + Blighted Caretaker curves that create a large board advantage while contributing to synergies.
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The Harrowing
THE HARROWING
COST: 10 → 9
The Harrowing is meant to be a splashy finisher for Shadow Isles decks, but it's struggled to find a home. We’re dropping its cost by one to help out more synergy-driven Shadow Isles strategies.
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Dreg Dredgers
DREG DREDGERS
POWER: 2 → 1
Deep decks have generally been in a good spot, but their tools for creating early game presence have been stronger than we want for a deck that can sink you in the late game. This adjustment should make sure Deep decks are playing from behind a bit more often.
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Mind Meld
MIND MELD
COST: 8 → 7
Mind Meld was simply too costly for its effect.
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Petty Officer
PETTY OFFICER
HEALTH: 1 → 2
We want to both give a boost to Barrel decks and provide a more effective option for aggressive Bilgewater decks—this buff should help push Petty Officer towards its intended role as a versatile option that allows more decks access to Barrels.
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Steal-from-deck cards
Drawing from the enemy deck has been a contentious mechanic in Rising Tides, and we’re making a change to address some of the frustrations players have experienced. First, let’s call the effect by its new keyworded name—Nab—which has the important difference (versus prior functionality) of drawing from the bottom of the enemy deck rather than the top.
Previously, these effects caused unintentionally sharp match-ups with any deck looking to manipulate the top of their deck (particularly Freljord deck buff strategies). We also understand that it can feel particularly frustrating to have the card you were about to draw used against you, regardless of there being no general statistical difference in drawing from the bottom.
As a minor note, this change will also prevent Nab effects from filtering your opponent closer to drawing their Champions—while this could be an interesting tradeoff, it wasn’t an explicit design goal for the mechanic and we think it’s worth losing in the name of overall improvement.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on the impact of these changes, and are open to making further adjustments as necessary.
Effects that draw from the enemy deck now draw from the bottom of the enemy deck (rather than the top).
New keyword implemented—Nab: Draw a non-champion card from the bottom of the enemy deck.
Black Market Merchant
BLACK MARKET MERCHANT
HEALTH: 2 → 1
We want to preserve the Merchant’s role as a lynchpin of Nab decks while making it easier for opponents to remove, and harder for players to protect and build up multiple copies in the backline.
Pilfered Goods
PILFERED GOODS
Yordle Grifter
YORDLE GRIFTER
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Card text consistency
Since launch, we’ve heard a lot of good feedback regarding card text consistency issues, and will continue to make improvements over time as needed. This patch, we’ve made a variety of consistency and clarity changes covering several issues, including:
Various usage consistency (“fleeting,” “I see,” “create,” “shuffle”).
Swapping “next round” to “next round start” to clarify exact timing.
“Enemies” vs. “the enemy Nexus” consistency.
Swapping written-out numbers to digits where possible.
Rules text on the following cards (both collectible and non-collectible) updated for clarity and/or consistency:
Arena Bookie | Avarosan Trapper | Back to Back | Bloodsworn Pledge | Brightsteel Formation | Brothers' Bond | Chief Mechanist Zevi | Chump Whump | Concerted Strike | Double Trouble | Final Spark | Jinx (level 2) | Lee Sin (both levels) | Lux (level 2) | Magnum Opus | Pick a Card | Plunder Poro | Pool Shark | Powder Keg | Sapling Toss | Sejuani (level 2) | Senna, Sentinel of Light | Shen (both levels) | Shen's Stand United | Stand United | Super Mega Death Rocket! | Tall Tales | The Leviathan | The Undying | Twisted Fate's Pick a Card | Twisted Fate (level 2) | Vi
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Personalization
Boards
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Lee Sin’s Iron Will
For legends who extend their senses and strike with skill.
Guardians
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Von Yipp
Unrivaled genius in Zaun. Beloved companion in Piltover.
Personality: Devious
Hobby: Unregulated experimentation
Card Backs
3 new card backs available for purchase.
The Blind Monk
The Tidal Trickster
The Bounty Hunter
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Emotes
3 new emotes available for purchase.
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Bundles
The Lee Sin Bundle now available for 1332 Coins. Bundle includes:
Lee Sin's Iron Will (board)
The Blind Monk (card back)
An exclusive Lee Sin icon
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Train like a dragon.
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Expeditions Archetypes
As usual, the primary goal of these changes is to help out some struggling archetypes (e.g., Fishbones, Scrapheap, and Spell Slingers) while reducing the potency of others that have been overperforming (e.g., Afterlife, Disruption, and Noxian Might).
We’ve also made a tweak to improve the consistency of tri-region drafting by reducing the chances you’ll see Wild Pick options from archetypes that aren’t confined to those regions. For example, if you’re drafting Demacia, Freljord, and Noxus, you’ll now see more packs from archetypes that only contain cards from those three regions (such as Suit Up or Battle Scars), and fewer packs from archetypes that include other regions (such as Retribution or Raiding Party). We’ll be watching the results of this change closely and may adjust further in a future patch.
While drafting a tri-region deck, significantly reduced how frequently you’ll be offered Wild Pick options from archetypes that include cards from other regions on their roster.
Afterlife
Added: Mark of the Isles, Phantom Prankster, Splinter Soul
Removed: Glimpse Beyond, Neverglade Collector
Battle Scars
Added: Avarosan Marksman
Removed: Stalking Wolf
Death’s Door
Added: Vengeance
Disruption
Added: Blade’s Edge, Shadowshift
Fishbones
Added: Chum the Waters, Rising Spell Force, Scrapdash Assembly
Removed: Coral Creatures, Daring Poro, Hired Gun
Noxian Might
Added: Culling Strike, Shunpo
Relentless
Added: Armored Tuskrider
Removed: Mobilize, Savage Reckoner
Scrapheap
Added: Crimson Disciple, Imperial Demolitionist, Savage Reckoner, Used Cask Salesman
Removed: Armored Tuskrider, Clump of Whumps, Rummage, Zaunite Urchin
Shadows and Dust
Added: Glimpse Beyond, Shadow Fiend, Warden’s Prey
Removed: Sapling Toss, Vengeance
Spell Slingers
Added: Double Up, Pilfered Goods, Pool Shark, Salvage, Spirit’s Refuge
Removed: Jailbreak, Rivershaper, Rush, Sleight of Hand, Will of Ionia
Total Recall
Added: Recall
Removed: Zephyr Sage
Wild Pick Bonus Chance increased to High (from Medium)
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Vault cap + bot account bans
While we’re always working to protect players from botting and similar activity, we generally won’t share specifics. However, this patch we’re making a minor change to the Vault as part of these efforts, and would like to provide some context.
Recently, we saw a spike in botting attempts associated with the infinite bonus capsules offered past level 13 of the Vault. As part of our ongoing efforts to combat this kind of activity, we’re capping bonus capsules at 25—still functionally infinite for humans without offering the same level of botting incentive. We’ve also issued an associated wave of account bans (Riot account-wide), and are adding automated elements with this patch. As always, thank you for your reports on suspicious account behavior
Vault bonus capsules now capped at 25.
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Miscellaneous
Teemo level-up effects polished.
Players will no longer always act first in Play vs AI matches.
Added some under-the-hood safety measures so players can creatively format decknames without potentially causing crashes.
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Bugfixes
Fixed an issue where Arena Battlecaster would sometimes become invisible when attacking.
Fixed an issue where Vi would sometimes not have appropriate buffs when copied by Dusk and Dawn.
Fixed an issue where a cardback could become stuck over the center of the board and block player actions.
Fixed an issue where Stand Alone wasn’t displaying a gold highlight when its requirement was met.
Fixed an issue where players would sometimes be unable to target certain units or interact with specific game elements.
Fixed an issue where the Play options on Petty Officer would sometimes display rarity gems.
Fixed an issue where Boosted XP rewards would display incorrectly when completing multiple quests and earning a daily PVP bonus after a single match.
On iOS, fixed an issue with excessive iCloud usage.
Fixed an issue where Expeditions pick options could sometimes go missing.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
Steam ID
Twitch Page
I actually got to use him a couple of times in expeditions and it's hilarious how much he can shut down an enemy who has no way to remove him.
By god you'd never know it looking on reddit. I've seen takes that it wouldn't matter if he was an 0/1. Nevermind how vulnerable he is to basically any removal now and therefore hard to get long term value.
Do you even play BMM on a turn if you don't have the pilfered to follow up right away now? I'm not certain. Before you could be reasonably certain he'd live so it's okay but now Vile Feast, Make it Rain, Parley, all kinds of stuff just nukes him for free.
And BMM is the lynchpin of yoink (or I guess now, Nab) gameplay. It's the card that makes it not generally a loss in tempo and probably barely worth it at best. The ability to get a decent body on the board and reduce the cost of the random junk you will put in your hand is what makes it work.