League of Legends patch 14.8 preview: Azir out for MSI

Matthew “Riot Phroxzon” Leung-Harrison, the head gameplay designer, announced the preview for League of Legends patch 14.8. This patch will feature the MSI 2024, and some of the champions that will be nerfed are those often played professionally – their nerf could mean their downfall at the international event.

Riot Phroxzon on X gave an early glimpse at the patch and some information surrounding the changes. The patch is expected to be activated on April 17, 2024 local server time, and the MSI 2024 will be played on this patch.

The Voidgrubs will be boosted. They will do ~25% more damage to towers, and a squad can now summon one Voidgrub after 4 Grub kills.

Riot Phroxzon also mentioned that the appearance time of the Voidgrubs will be desynchronized from the Dragon timer, aiming to minimize trades and foster more map-wide contention.

Baron’s attacks appear too harmless,” states Riot Phroxzon. The team is treading cautiously regarding tweaking Baron Nashor’s attacks, as “increased Baron attacks may result in games getting stuck and squads being unable to take Baron.” Regardless, he believes there’s some scope to bolster the potency of Baron’s attacks.

No specific adjustments for Azir have been revealed yet. However, Riot Phroxzon did give some background context by stating “Azir has become too dominant since returning to the pro meta.” This points to Azir’s comeback from his global ban because of a buggy interaction.

Azir’s pro play might be influenced by factors such as the on-hit multiplier of his soldiers and his base stats. This focus on pro play could result in a considerable drop in Azir’s selection rate for MSI 2024.

Briar is experiencing the opposite of Azir – she’s too powerful in the lower grades. While the specific nerfs she’ll receive are still unknown, anticipate some tweaks to her cooldowns and scalings.

The biggest loser from his nerf will be Top Zac. This is meant to add some counterplay to his lane phase, which has been classified as “boring.” The adjustment aims to cement the jungle as Zac’s dominant role.

Zeri became overly potent following the recent changes to critical items. She’s up for a nerf because she’s just a smidgen too powerful currently.” Even so, Riot Phroxzon stated, “we’re now much more confident about her long-term balancing situation.”

Great news for Mordekaiser gamers: opponents will no longer be able to escape the Death Realm from his Ultimate using Quicksilver Sash. It’s unclear at this point whether this will affect Gangplank’s W – Remove Scurvy, but it’s likely.

“Permitting Mordekaiser R to be escaped through QSS was originally intended to prevent Mordekaiser from becoming a must-have in professional play,” Riot Phroxzon explained. However, they now see that he has an excess amount of counterplay, especially at the top levels. “You want this area of his toolkit to be functional when you’re picking [Mordekaiser].”

Skarner’s win rate and overall performance are on the rise as gamers invest more hours into him, says Riot Phroxzon. Anticipate nerfs to Skarner Top to bring it back in line with his Jungle performance. He will also undergo some refinements to tackle the awkwardness that players encounter when using Skarner.

Once again, the patch is set to go live on April 17, 2024 local server time, and the MSI 2024 will be played on this patch.