Season 2 is around the corner, with a dev video highlighting new features and a brand new Champion, while we cover the three Patch Notes that each drop every fortnight for April in this month’s League of Legends. With Brawl being introduced, a new map thematic, gameplay adjustments and system side changes, League should have plenty for both OG and returning or new players to enjoy in Ionia. Item changes to Mages and boots should change how the game is played again for a fresh experience heading into Season Two.
Major Patch Note changes
The buffs and nerfs to champions have pushed some more frustrating or strong champions further into the meta, while the nerfs have aimed to down champions overperforming in specific subcategories. The item changes have thrust underused items back into the meta and aim to shift low-usage items back to relevancy. The Patch Notes saw Mages building differently due to item changes and nerfs haven’t drastically altered the landscape, while the buffs and adjustments have made some Champions rise into the OP tier.
Champion Buffs
The buffed Champions include:
- Annie
- Ashe
- Blitzcrank
- Brand
- Hwei
- Ivern
- K’Sante
- Leona
- Mel
- Morgana
- Olaf
- Orianna
- Renekton
- Shaco
- Shen
- Singed
- Sona
- Trundle
- Volibear
- Xerath
- Zeri
- Zoe
In terms of buffs, the big ones are probably the double buff that Brand received, along with making Hwei, Mel and Xerath more viable again, diversifying the Mid mage pool. Mel and Xerath seem like they could be good in niche situations more as a pocket pick than as a blind.
Hwei is probably very overtuned right now with his late game becoming more oppressive. He can de facto win most Mage matchups in Mid with the breadth of damage and CC he has access to, along with mana regen, making him strong in all facets of the game. He is only truly countered by his hard counters, while his more skill-dependent matchups should have him be seen as a favourite.
Shen and Singed should be stronger on the topside, and the buffs have especially seen Shen become much more viable in Pro play as his presence is starting to peek through. Shen has enough combat power to dominate lanes early while receiving buffs to his sidelaning, making it synchronise well with his Ultimate. With the latest Patch buffing him even further, he should become a blindable Top that gets early rotated in Pro and High Elo.
25.08 sees many Champions buffed to try and insert them into the meta.
Champion Nerfs
The nerfed Champions include:
- Darius
- Gwen
- Kalista
- Lillia
- Lulu
- Naafiri
- Tristana
- Yone
- Yorick
- Yuumi
The Lulu nerfs two patches in a row should have made her weaker comparatively, but she still shines in her role as an enchanter over other options in most cases and scales better into the late game compared to her enchanter counterparts on the whole. Gwen also received a triple nerf and has been toned down and tuned to scale rather than dominate early. Naafiri is also another champion that rose to relevance but is being nerfed across the board.
Tristana is strong despite her ‘nerfs’, but her ability to be good in certain teamcomps has probably pushed her away from Mid and into ADC, outside of the highest levels of play due to her lack of full burst and her inability to survive early against meta mages.
25.09 sees many of the S-Tier picks nerfed.
Adjusted Champions
The adjusted Champions include:
- Annie
- Ahri
- Singed
- Syndra
- Xerath
- Yone
- Yorick
The adjustments targeted the Rod of Ages buffs, incentivising mages such as Ahri and Syndra to build AP rather than RoA. Annie gets a Magic Pen buff and more power budget in her kit, but is squishier, and Tibbers is less reliable as a one-shot mechanic. Yorick is also still strong and is seeing a lot of play at all levels as he still retains his core identity as a stomper, which makes him good from low elo, but there is skill expression in his kit, which has made him popular in the Chinese Pro Circuit.
the path reveals itself to those who seek it🍃 prepare yourself for Act 1 on April 30 pic.twitter.com/abMsEFpIFM
— League of Legends (@LeagueOfLegends) April 29, 2025
Item Adjustments
The adjusted items are:
- Catalyst of Aeons
- Rod of Ages(buff to nerf)
- Umbral Glaive
- Boots of Swiftness
- Symbiotic Soles
It was RoA season again, with Catalyst and RoA in turn receiving buffs. The effect was instantaneous, with most of the Mid mages rushing RoA and pushing things like Seraph out of the first item slots. Catalyst is a good spike for Mages and makes them beefy enough to not get one-shot by enemies as much, and RoA gives good health and mana while assisting scaling. This has overall made Mages more durable and scale relatively better, having access to more spell rotations over a prolonged fight with their mana pool, while making them have less burst damage and haste, unless their identities stem from that sort of playstyle, such as Midlane assassins. The latest Patch Nerfs them quickly to make burst options more appealing and make Mages squishy again.
Swifties and Symbiotics were preferred boots due to the Gold inefficiency of the other boots and movement speed, allowing laners to cheat tempo, especially with Symbiotic Soles and Homeguards. These changes should help combat this, and this makes it so all boots are fairly Gold inefficient… maybe it is time to sell boots on more Champions in the late game?
Umbral Glaive is interesting because, outside of Pyke, no one had use for the item, and it remains niche even now, but makes it more Gold efficient and cheaper on the whole while fulfilling its niche. While the item itself is strong, it will probably not be mainstream, but I did see a Poppy rushing this item to great effect in a recent game, so what do I know?
Season 2: Spirit Blossom Beyond
Yunara is set to be the new champion released in Season 2, Act 2 and was featured in a League of Legends cinematic. Gameplay changes, Griefing detection and the Brawl Gamemode are set to facelift Season 2 of League. The new Game Mode looks exciting and different from the traditional League formula while maintaining its identity, and Gameplay Changes should give players fresh Maps and make the game feel more fair and rewarding.
Gameplay Changes
Objectives
Atakhan being consolidated into Thronbound Atakhan and not having multiple forms makes it less confusing for players and stops the fluctuation of objective priority based on the form of Atakhan. The team that slays Atakhan gets all remaining Roses on the map with increased effect. The Spiritual Purification Buff also allows the Atakhan slaying team to slow and damage other enemies, plus granting their team a Spirit Petal on takedown. The effects already seem overpowered, but better than having a Guardian Angel after an objective takedown, so it can be considered a win.
The Objective Changes to the Void side of the objective map are to delay Grub spawns and reduce their spawn to only one instance, where capturing 3 Grubs caps to one Void Mite. Rift Herald also should be a shorter but more dangerous encounter, with it being whittled down more easily but at the cost of higher damage, making it more contestable but less time-consuming as an encounter. League of Legends has been optimised with a better player base pushing the game through objectives, and this may alleviate some of the pacing issues in the early game.
Brawl is the new game mode set to be introduced.
QOL Changes
The update to the Bounty System, to make sure no additional Gold bounty is placed on players unless they are on the winning team and with bounty drivers(kills, EXP, etc.), is a welcome addition. It makes performing on a losing team feel less punishing, and gives individuals performing well not to be hamstrung by a losing team. It also makes comebacks more feasible and correctly doesn’t make winning players in losing teams a priority dive target for Gold.
The Role-Swapping and Position Binding, Anti-Lane Swap, Death Screen and Kill Streak are all quality of life changes that will allow for less griefing and more information and cool moments for players. Making the game harder to grief and reward performance, including information gathering, is a major plus.
The griefing detection system and Honour System Revamp are also another update that encourages good community engagement in historically one of the most toxic videogame playerbases, and should allow for newer players and existing players to not feel scared or distressed every time they play.
ICYMI ‼️ here’s some key takeaways from the Brawl Dev Reddit AMA pic.twitter.com/gDWzkhrSdl
— League of Legends (@LeagueOfLegends) April 18, 2025
Brawl
The Dev Article about Brawl introduces the game mode as a more casual way for players to play with friends, irrespective of skill level, outside of Summoner’s Rift and ARAM. It is much like ARAM in that it is a 5v5 perma teamfight mode, but it rewards CS, kills and pushing minions into the enemy base for points. The wider arena in comparison to ARAM houses buffs on the side and makes potential skirmishes happen in more than one area, with fights for buffs likely, while champions good at clearing waves probably sit in the middle to make sure minions do not push into each other’s bases.
Additionally, the game mode isn’t snowball heavy and has comeback mechanics, which makes it accessible to all skill levels and is different to traditional League, which is built around snowballing. It feels like a fun warmup to play with friends before hopping on a ranked grind, and could be a new place for ARAM enjoyers to spread their wings.
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