UPDATE 10/20: Mark "RiotScruffy" Yetter has Tweeted changes coming to League of Legends in Patch 10.22 that he claims are 'not 100% locked but pretty close. In addition, it was confirmed in another Tweet that a bug affecting Kindred's Mark of the Kindred passive would be fixed in 10.22.

Riot developer, Mark Yetter, has announced the last patch of the season before they move into the pre-season mid-November to bring on the new item updates and other seasonal changes. Since current updates have no effect on pro play whatsoever, Riot is making solo queue changes only, to help provide as much stability and as many options to players in their end-of-season grind as possible. 

Riot has a few nerfs and buffs planned for the final patch, as well as a couple of champion kit adjustments.  For the nerfs, Riot plans to hit Lulu in the top lane specifically (with hopes to preserve her support strength), Karthus in the jungle and mid lane, Samira (again), and finally, Zed.

Karthus has an incredible win rate especially in high elo, but is strong across multiple tiers of play - an overall menace. Lulu top is strong overall regardless of tier, but like Karthus, Lulu top is especially strong in higher elos. Her support role is also strong, so likely Riot's top-intended nerf will help balance her there as well without gutting that role specifically. Samira and Zed both sit at above 50% across most elos, but they jump up considerably in high elo as well. Additionally, each of these champions has a really high ban rate compared to most (especially Samira), which shows that they're not only strong, but also players would enjoy playing against them less often. 

Riot is buffing a few champions as well to help give them a bit more power and opportunity as the season closes. So far, they've got buffs planned for Xayah, LeBlanc, Sejuani, Nasus, and Brand, with specific details on the last two. Nasus is getting extra bonus resistances when ulting from the very start, rather than gaining bonuses throughout the ult's timespan. Brand will have decreased passive explosion base damage, but an increased AP ratio, the E will always spread (with slightly reduced range) but will receive a new Blaze effect that doubles the spread range, greatly increasing it compared to its previous spread. Finally, Brand's ult can now bounce to himself, making it extremely strong in a 1v1 situation with no nearby minions or monsters. 

For context, each of the champions receiving buffs has a win rate close to 50% through most elos, but an incredibly low play rate, around 5% or less. The buffs they receive should help them feel better and maybe in turn they'll get more action in these last few weeks of the season.

The final changes are for Annie, Ashe, and Jinx, and aren't specified as a buff or nerf. Annie's E is changing and will now be an actual shield and is castable on allies rather than a short period of damage reduction on herself only. Ashe will have a different amount of arrows fired in her W, from a standard 9 per level to a scaling 7-11 depending on skill level. Finally, Jinx's E traps deal full damage immediately instead of slowly over 1.5 seconds (which reads like a straight buff). 

Get ready to see changes in your solo queue games! And prepare yourself for the abundant changes coming to the game starting mid-November with the pre-season update! 

All images by: Riot Games

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