Kai’Sa buff, Ornn and Sett nerf, and Sona revert in patch 10.5
Riot Games unveiled some significant changes are set to be introduced to Sona Ornn, Sett, and Kai'sa in the upcoming 10.5 League patch, with plans to revert Sona changes, while buffing the Daughter of the Void, in a bid to improve her dismissal win rate and nerfing both Ornn and Sett, who have proven to be a bit too strong in the current meta.
Sona
Just as quickly as top lane Sona meta started to emerge, Riot Games acted quickly to prevent it from going out of hands by introducing significant nerfs to Sona in League of Legends Patch 10.4, However, it seems like Riot just might have hit Sona too hard.
Since 10.4, Sona is only a shadow of her former self, considering how Maven of the Strings is sitting at only 47.74% win rate in Platinum rank and above. Fortunately for the beloved harp-playing support, however, Riot Games will revert a few changes in a bid to give Sona back some of her strength.
Looking back at Patch 10.2, Riot Games buffed Sona's Song of Celerity (E), thus increasing her bonus movement speed by a significant amount in a bid to make her a bit stronger in the bottom lane, however, the plans turned sour as it not only made her a significantly stronger support but also a deadly top laner – with a 57.34% win rate. Her E ability was later nerfed I 10.4 and is now set to be fully reverted, increasing its bonus movement speed from 10/11/12/13/14% back to 20% at all ranks.
However, to stop Sona from becoming a top-lane menace again, Riot Games will implement some changes to Spellthief's Edge, which will only grant benefits if Sona will be "near an ally", meaning players will be ultimately forced to play in the bot lane or not buy Spellthief's Edge – which was her bread and butter item in the top lane.
Kai'sa
Once the most dominant ADC champion in the game, Kai'sa has slowly fallen out of favour, as she failed to keep up with all the new ADC releases, who ultimately proved to be a better marksman on the Rift than her. All the nerfs to her kit also played a part in Kai'sa's fall from grace, as she is currently holding onto a poor 45.63% win rate in Platinum rank and up – by far the lowest WR% out of all ADCs.
In a bid to help Kai'sa become competitive once more, Riot Games will introduce a couple of changes in Patch 10.5, hoping to compensate for her slow scaling in this fast-paced metagame LoL is currently in. To do so, Riot Games will target her Q ability Void’s Icanthian Rain and W ability Void Seeker evolves by adding greater trade-off between the two abilities.
As revealed, Kai'Sa's AP ratios on her Q will be reduced from 0.4 to 0.3, while the number of evolved missiles will be increased by two (from 10 to 12). This, in turn, means an AP build will be hit with a nerf, while it will serve as a buff for the AD build, given the two added missiles.
As for Kai'Sa's W ability, Riot Games will implement changes to its damage and its evolved CD refund. From Patch 10.5 onwards, the damage of Void Seeker will be changed from 20-120 (0.6 AP)(+1.5 Total AD) to 30-130 (+0.7 AP)(+1.3 Total AD), while its evolved CD will go from 50 to 70%. Unlike the changes to Void’s Icanthian Rain, which will nerf the AP build, Void Seeker will have its AP ratios buffed, while also punishing everyone who builds a hybrid spec.
Ornn and Sett nerfs, Ammumu and Rammus reverts
It's been a long time coming and it's finally here – Ornn and Sett are set to receive nerfs to their kits in order to bring some balance to the Rift.
Ornn has proven to be an incredibly strong top-laner in the current Patch, holding onto a respectable 52.4% win rate, which was a clear sign he is due to find himself on the chopping block. As a champion which was designed as a pure tank, Ornn has become a powerful damage dealer with incredibly high survivability to go with it. Add that to his strong CC, and you had an unkillable tank, with a lot of CC, which could kill enemies in a split second.
Another champion, who has proven to be a bit too strong for the current meta is Sett, who has turned to be a pick-ban champion since its release. Although Sett has already been nerfed in Patch 10.4, it was revealed more nerfs will come his way in the upcoming patch, as it seems like Riot Games believes the newly released bruiser is still a bit too strong.
Adding to Sett and Ornn, Riot Games also unveiled Amumu and Rammus will receive some nerfs in the upcoming patch with a buff revert. In Patch 10.4, Amumu's Bandage Toss (Q) and Curse of the Sad Mummy (R) were both buffed and it seems like Riot Games realised the buffs were a bit too strong, while Rammus might get his attack speed and AS ratios reduced, given that those were two stats that received buffs in 10.4.
ALL CHANGES IN PATCH 10.5:
Nerfs: Ornn, Sett, Rammus (partial revert), Amumu (partial revert), Blitzcrank, Bard
Buffs: Kayn, Graves, Lissandra, Neeko, Twisted Fate, Sivir, Kaisa, Alistar, Sona (10.4 revert)
League of Legends Patch 10.5 is slated to release on Wednesday, March 4.
