Patch 6.19: What the Changes Mean
Patch 6.19, irrelevant to the competitive scene until the next season begins, contains very few changes, but perhaps one quality-of-life improvement that will improve player experience for years to come.
Now when you load into the game, you’re unable to immediately use summoner spells. No longer can opponents immediately bait you into accidentally expending your most important cooldown; just press “D” to dance right?
Of course, after your champion is able to move again and the pre-lane phase begins, you’re subject to wasting your Flash all the same. Let’s be real here – you were just going to waste it trying to chase a dream of a kill anyway.
Moving onto the 2 biggest changes this patch, to two of the most archaically designed champions…
Kog’Maw reverted to pre-update kit
If you’ve somehow managed to see Kog’Maw in the last year (a little less) you’ve probably noticed his 5.0 attack speed. You’ve probably also seen his 15 deaths in that game, unless he was being played by a Korean scripter. Riot described this form of Kog’Maw as a feast-or-famine character. In reality, it was probably closer to feed-and-“f you up” combination.
From a balance perspective, he caused all kinds of problems not only because of his inherently volatile strength. Items needed to be balanced around him alone, even when they might have been okay for others (such as Rageblade, Wit’s End, Sated Devourer). Moving him back to his prior state not only makes him fun to play as a skilled kiter, but also just a reasonable character with reasonable limits.
You May Like
For the most part, his kit remains the same as it was pre-update. While we may see the return of ‘juggermaw’, it’s likely the last time we’ll see scripters hold such a massive competitive advantage.
Soraka sustain sacked
The only change Soraka received was to her single target heal. At max rank, it’s functionality is still the same. However, at level 1, the cooldown is double what it used to be. Especially in the current metagame where Soraka players max out their Q first, this change might completely neuter her early game.
Sure, later on she’ll still be an operationally excellent ambulance, but you know what they say – in the long run we are all dead. The early game decides much of a champion’s viability, and it looks like the GOAT healer is going to be removed from the meta once again.
