Golem-related Augments have been overperforming as a whole thanks to the punch this rocky pal packs.

Most of our traits have had somewhat viable comps to slot in, with a few exceptions.

We’re giving Faerie a significant buff for the Queenguard’s Armor (available at Faerie 6) with a much smaller buff which sees a bit more play mostly due to the powerful champions in the trait.

Preserver has proven consistently strong as a late-game flex board enabler. We’re happy with how the trait can be mixed and matched to make a few different outputs, but think it’s a bit too strong—especially as we nerf some of our overperforming meta-comps. The nerf we’re shipping here is intended to be a nerf to the healing, while the Mana gain aspect stays neutral as we fix an issue with the trait’s manalock.

Seraphine’s Sharp Note ability has been falling flat. By reducing her max mana she’ll up her BPM by casting faster.

2-costs were the big winner of our release patch, crowding out most other comps with a few exceptions. We’re taking a wide pass on the tier in general, giving substantial buffs to 2-costs that didn’t really succeed even when they were quite easy to hit (when multiple players are playing 2-costs strategies it makes it easier to find less popular 2-costs).

Ahri has been unable to find a place as a reroll carry even with her bonus AP passive. Upping her ratio just a tad should be a significant jump for an itemized Ahri.

Kassadin deals a copious amount of damage, absorbs just as much, and then sustains to full by the time his Bloodthirster shield pops. He’s providing far too much value on both fronts, so we're bringing down the power of both, but hitting his shield more to keep his damage-carry identity intact.

Okay, this Syndra section is going to get technical. Syndra was released far too strong, making the S-tier the Syndra tier. Her power remained high even after we nerfed her with an A-patch (done the day before the set goes live), with her most successful builds being purely attack speed focused (plus Spear of Shojin). Attack Speed is so strong on her because her current cast animation time takes 1.5 seconds, but she’s able to start attacking .3 seconds into the animation. We’re adjusting her attack lockout, so she’ll now have to wait 1 full second before resuming her basic attacks. This, alongside a nerf to her ability’s damage and the bonus damage of the additional rifts, should keep her power ceiling in check.

Katarina is our worst-performing and least-played (sorry Rayditz) 3-cost carry, so we’re giving her lots of love. You may also notice that we have buffs to the Faerie/Warrior verticals and be thinking, wow, that’s a lot of buffs, but keep in mind that those buffs are strictly for the 4+ trait breakpoints which are pretty hard to hit both of while 3 starring your Katarina. That being said, an extra Emblem could spell a faerly potent combo, so don’t sleep on these buffs!

Karma is our most successful 4-cost, she consistently does much more damage than expected, is able to apply Wounds/Burns with Red Buff or Morellonomicon to an entire team, and can heal her pals when an enemy dies. That’s a bit too much, so we’re removing her healing utility as she’s succeeding as a carry without it.

What looks to be a small buff is actually 10 times the power, as Ryze fires 10 bolts (more with Attack Speed).

Despite her traits and comps performing well, Briar’s been unable to carry fights like we’d want from a 5-cost with an ability titled Certain Death.

We’ve got a lot of Augment changes this time around, so we’re dividing this section up into four.

Arcane Conduit and Draconic Mastery were two trait-linked Augments that were just too difficult (and weak) to pull off. Even with considerable buffs they’d still require too specific of a setup to find success.

On The House was quite weak, but it’s not in a position where buffing the gold for starring a unit up would work, as it creates a play pattern where you just buy all the 1-costs to star them up over and over.

Ones Twos Three gives a bit more gold value than our framework for Silver Augments allows. We’re cutting down one 1-cost to prevent the Silver Augment space from power creeping at the cost of an aesthetic tooltip—sorry.

Restart Mission is far too risky for the payoff, so we’re adding another 2-star 2-cost to the restart!

We’ve reworked Endless Hunt—which wasn’t performing well as it was dependent on takedowns—to Hunting Frenzy, which will allow Hunters to do more hunting, making the Augment’s power floor much higher, while also giving it more flavor.

Fortune Favors the Bold was favoring even the not-so-bold, so we’re reducing the output for the 8-10 loss cashout while strengthening the even riskier cashouts.

For the rest of this list, expect the worst-performing Augments (shoutout to Clockwork Accelerator and High Horsepower) to get buffed, and the overperforming ones to be taken down

We’re making some adjustments to the buffs the Eldritch summon gets with School Mascot that will result in a net nerf for the Augment. Your summon will no longer be crowned with a Deathcap and will instead have slightly better stats. This should make Eldritch 3 stronger, while 5 and 7 should be net weaker.

We’re giving our worst performing Augment, What the Forge, a HUGE buff in an attempt to save one of our most fun Augments from being relegated to set removal.

With the power of reroll and our changes to make free rerolls persist between rounds, Prismatic Ticket has been too free a ticket to your desired 3-stars. We’re nerfing the freebies chance, but preventing it from being offered on 4-2, when it feels awkward as you’ve typically locked in your leveling/reroll strategy.

Dragon’s Claw is currently the strongest tank item, and it’s not just due to its position as a counter item to an AP meta. The item’s healing is currently so strong that it can become the sole sustain item for tanks, crowding out the likes of Redemption and treading dangerously close to Anima Visage. We want to retain the item’s value as a strong source of Magic Resistance to counter mage comps, while trimming the less visible and prolific power of its sustain.

In addition to introducing four new Charms, we’re also taking a pass on our existing Charms, ensuring that each one is worth the cost, and no Charm is unclickable, nor an instant click.

Copycat is an early-game Charm that can kickstart your econ if you position to maximize it, while Spawn Swarm is a late-game Charm that proves that scary bugs do lay eggs in your body that hatch upon death—but don’t worry, these bugs are friendly and fight for you (read: symbiotic not parasitic).

Ironclad Spirit and Mystic Spirit are callbacks to earlier sets' traits and provide temporary Armor or Magic Resistance, perfect for late-game scouts and quick reactions!

Gear Swap, which granted a temporary Magnetic Remover and a Reforger for 1 round was rarely useful. Best case scenario you could Reforge one of your components that didn’t fit your build—not that exciting. Tinker, which gives you a Reforger and a Remover to keep, on the other hand, was locked to only the late game. We’re unlocking Tinker, allowing it to appear from Stage 2 onward, and making it 0 gold to make the Charm more appealing and useful. Even if you don’t end up using it, at least it didn’t break the bank.

Lastly, we’ve opted to remove Desperate Plea, a Charm with the main use of cheating out just one extra placement. This has become a source of pain for players on the losing end of a round who didn’t hit the Charm. Additionally, the Charm has received largely negative feedback from our highest level of players, where the impact of one higher placement can make or break a tournament run. To my Challenger readers, we see you. To the lobby, I bought this during a round where three people got eliminated, sorry.

Small, like the impact we expect these changes to have on the meta.

Wukong has seen success in various Preserver comps, especially in specific regional metas, but he’s a bit weaker than we’d like as a super-flexible frontliner, so we’re giving him a light buff, only to his 1 and 2-star versions, which should make him an even better item holder.

To most players, this Bastion Crown change is a buff, but for the Sweet Tooth (Nunu Champion Augment) enjoyers amongst us, this is an attack.

Dummies and Golems have provided too much value in Hyper Roll, and even with our Golem in the systems changes, we’re making an extra adjustment here to meet the needs of the game mode.