First Glance: League of Legends Patch 6.22

Following the end of 2016's ranked season, Riot has finally rolled out the latest update to League of Legends in the form of Patch 6.22, with the said version of the game being released in the Philippines a couple of days ago.

The purpose of this new patch is to introduce changes that will likely become staples to the game come 2017. These changes, as stated in the patch notes, affected the jungle, masteries, runes, assassins, wards and the build path of selected items.

As an avid LoL player, I was excited to try out this new patch so I visited the nearest computer rental shop (PC bang) as soon as I had the chance.

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After two days of playing, here are some of the things I noticed with Patch 6.22.

Disclaimer: Most of the observations below are made based on eye test and my feel of the game alone. They are, in no way, based on or backed up by concrete evidence or data.

1. Power Farmers Rule
I kicked off the Patch 6.22 experience with a Normal Blind Pick game. Being a jungler main, I picked my favorite champion, Xin Zhao, and scored a victory to go along with an 11-1-5 KDA.

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I was actually surprised with the outcome of the game because I thought we were behind for the most part. I had a little trouble doing my first clear now that the Gift of the Toadstool buff granted by smiting the Gromp is gone. Having said that, I was farming most of the game and decided to come to lanes after completing Bloodrazor.

The following match, I decided to go support to check out the changes in some support items.

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For this game, I think me and the rest of my teammates, save for our AD Carry, played decently. However, the opposing team's jungler, Master Yi, snowballed out of control and gave us quite a beating.

I do not remember that player ganking a lot so I thought a few lucky picks paired with some power farming turned that Yi into a beast.

The next game, I decided to go top with Dr. Mundo and won my lane. Again, there was a Master Yi on the other team that was left unchecked and to no surprise, we lost the game.

Just like in my Nautilus game, this player did not gank a lot but it felt like he was always stronger when he shows up, deleting people including my full tank Mundo with ease.

I was not ready to give up on Mundo just yet so when it was my turn to jungle, I picked him again and focused on farming just like I did with Xin Zhao. I only came to lanes to grab the kill on some low HP laner and it resulted into a victory.

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Looking at this small sample size, despite the changes in the respawn time of some jungle monsters, I think power farmers will thrive in this patch. The changes to Krug and Raptor camps seem to allow them to earn more gold and hit power spikes faster than before.

2. Plants Are An After Thought
Summoners are without a doubt still getting used to the newest member of the jungle - plants.

In my first two days of playing with this version of League of Legends, I saw a lot of champs being blown away by the Blast Cone to the wrong direction, Scryer's Bloom being used randomly and Honeyfruit being taken by laners instead of gardeners.

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Next year, I expect people to eventually understand the proper use of these plants, but at the moment, most players are simply denying them from the enemy team.

3. League of Tanks
Season 6 somehow favored top and jungle carries over meat shields with Kennen, Jayce, Rumble, Nidalee, Elise and Graves ousting the likes of Maokai, Gnar, Gragas and Reksai.

However, with the buffs and changes on some tank items, and the introduction of Fearless and Courage of the Colossus, expect these durable dudes (and dudettes like Illaoi and Rek'Sai) alongside their beefy brethren to return to the Rift.

I tried Fearless on Nautilus, Dr. Mundo and Malphite and they were tankier than ever. Pair that with Fresh Blood and/or Battle Trance and they are dealing more damage while receiving less.

With this in mind, I expect to encounter Leona and Sejuani users to pick up Courage of the Colossus and create similar havoc in the future.

And let us not forget that people who finished the 2016 season in Gold or higher are also excited to flaunt their Victorious Maokai skin so expect to see more of him because I did.

Victorious Maokai, fabulous AF.
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4. AD Carries Are Still Screwed
For the past two seasons, more and more summoners are getting better at ganking bot lane and diving AD carries and their supports under turret. If Patch 6.22 is any indication, things are not going to get any better for all the marksmen out there.

Aside from the buffs to tanks, remember that assassins like Talon, Katarina, Leblanc and Fizz received changes in their kit so more and more people will try them out. This is bad news for ADCs since these champs can take them out instantly.

In my handful of games, the AD carries were non-factors because they were either not dealing enough damage to the tanks coming straight at them or they were getting deleted instantly by Talon or Katarina.

Despite the introduction of lethality, I think ADCs will struggle in the current patch since they will have a hard time dealing not only with tanks but assassins as well. Further, I expect them to be outclassed by top and mid laners, and some junglers to a certain extent, in terms of carrying.

5. Control Ward Frenzy
Riot was really hyping up the changes to stealth champions leading up to the release of Patch 6.22 so a good number of summoners, including myself, were worried about them and the threat they pose. I think this somehow encouraged more players to give importance to vision.

During my matches, more players were buying Control Wards, which is a good thing in my opinion. Too bad it did not reveal stealth champions the way Stealth Wards did, but hey, vision is vision.

Vision Ward R.I.P. 2009-2016
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Although Control Wards can only mess with the stealth abilities of three champions, namely Evelynn, Rengar and Twitch, it is nice to know that a growing number of players are finally realizing that vision is important in League of Legends. I hope this will be a sign of improved gameplay and experience throughout all the divisions, from Bronze up to Challenger.