Sylas getting even more changes in League of Legends Patch 9.13

Joe O'Brien

Riot Games have detailed more of the changes coming in League of Legends Patch 9.13, with buffs planned for Sylas after his win rate took a significant hit with Patch 9.12.

Sylas has fluctuated back and forth since his release, with Riot seemingly struggling to find a middle ground that they’re happy with. He’s often been a popular pick at the professional level, but so far attempts to tone down his power in pro play have hurt his online ranked win rate more than Riot are clearly hoping for.

The latest update, Patch 9.12, attempted to curb some of the more powerful elements of his kit for pro play without being too harmful for the majority of the player base, but on the latter point at least they seem to have failed,  with Sylas dropping to just a 41% win rate.

Sylas has proven awkward to balance between the pro level and the rest of the player base.

For 9.13, Riot will be taking another pass at finding the sweet spot for Sylas with some more adjustments. The damage nerfs on his Chain Lash (Q) are set to be reverted entirely, while the hit to minion damage on his passive is being softened from a 70% reduction to a 50% reduction.

His E ability, Abscond/Abduct, is getting a more significant change, with the shield removed entirely but a variety of other adjustments to help make up for it. His ultimate is also seeing some nerfs.

Sylas isn’t the only champion in line for changes in Patch 9.13. Lead gameplay designer Mark ‘Riot Scruffy’ Yetter also revealed that several other champions and items are due for adjustments in the next patch.

Champion Buffs

  • Sylas
  • Syndra
  • Ornn
  • Tristana
  • Leona

Champion Nerfs

  • Sejuani
  • Karma
  • Sivir
  • Sona

Item changes

  • Randuin’s Omen – Buff
  • Essence Reaver – Nerf

Patch 9.13 is looking set to be a fairly major one for balance, with Riot already detailing significant changes to Akali, as well as Tahm Kench and Swain, that are expected for the update.

The next patch is also expected to introduce new champion Qiyana, who is currently in testing on the Public Beta Environment (PBE) to the live servers, so players can likely expect a notable meta shift when the update arrives.

It is worth noting, however, that nothing is final until the patch goes live, so any changes detailed so far could be subject to change.