League of Legends: Riot Games details Kayle nerfs coming in Patch 9.7
Riot Games have announced upcoming nerfs for Kayle that should take effect in the League of Legends 9.7 patch.
Kayle got a rework as part of the 9.5 patch in February, and will once again be getting tweaked soon.
The champion has already been criticized by many for being too weak, but it seems Riot doesn’t agree, and will be nerfing the champion even more.
What are the nerfs?
Senior Champion designer at Riot August Browning detailed the changes coming to Kayne in the next update.
“Despite assertions that Kayle was “Getting nerfed cause Rito lost to her in a silver game,” her winrate went up this patch by 1-2 percent, due to the W and E buffs we put in,” Browning wrote on Twitter. “Likely too strong in all MMR’s.”
Both Celestial Blessing (W) and Starfire Spellblade (E) will both be getting nerfed in 9.7, in an effort to make Kayle “more item dependent”, according to Browning.
Despite assertions that Kayle was "Getting nerfed cause Rito lost to her in a silver game," her winrate went up this patch by 1-2% (high MMR went up more) due to the W and E buffs we put in.
Likely too strong in all MMR's. Prepping nerfs for 8.7 that make her more item dependent pic.twitter.com/kQoNF8XH6m
— August Browning (@RiotAugust) March 22, 2019
Due to the rework, Kayle has not been available for professional matches in the Spring of 2019, and there’s no set time for when she’ll be available, as Riot is clearly still tweaking her.
The nerfs also aim to make her less unstoppable later on in the game, but some, like League of Legends streamer Nick ‘LS’ De Cesare don’t agree with the changes.
Timestamp at 1:05 for mobile viewers.
“This is atrocious, this champion cannot lane. absolutely cannot lane at the highest levels,” LS said on stream. “And then Riot’s response to all of this is to hit her? It’s a meme, in the Korean community right now, ‘Just pick Kayle.'”
Exactly when patch 9.7 will happen remains unknown, but with developers already sharing changes, it’s probably not too far off.