As the S15 World Championship nears, numerous LPL viewers are paying attention to the patch changes, knowing that every version creates new champions. Many understand that mastering the patch early is key to gaining an edge at Worlds. This aligns with TheShy's insight from his interview, where he said T1 is a team that learns quickly and grows stronger over time. Hence, IG sees the S15 play-in stage as their prime chance to knock out T1.

Recently, Riot officially announced the patch changes for the S15 World Championship. There are two major patch updates before the playoffs: versions 15.19 and 15.20. In patch 15.19, many champions favored by ROOKIE received buffs, including Ahri, LeBlanc, and Syndra, all of whom saw stat improvements. Many fans are eager to see ROOKIE's performance in the play-in stage, especially since he has expressed his determination to prove his strength at Worlds.

Besides ROOKIE’s signature champions being strengthened, many LPL fans feel this patch is favorable for the region because two of FAKER’s main champions, mid-lane Azir and Orianna, are heavily nerfed in patch 15.20. FAKER has been known to dominate with these two picks during Worlds, but many LPL mid laners still haven’t mastered them. Therefore, the nerfs to Azir and Orianna have brought joy to many LPL viewers.

In particular, Azir’s W ability has been significantly weakened by the designers. Previously, at level 11, Azir’s W dealt 75% damage to secondary targets, but in the Worlds patch, this damage is reduced to only 44%, effectively almost halving the hero’s damage output. Orianna’s W base damage has also been lowered. Although Orianna’s ability power scaling is increased, according to netizens’ calculations, Orianna needs to reach over 400 AP to surpass her previous damage levels.

BLG Becomes the Biggest Winner

Following the release of the Worlds patch notes, many BLG fans popped champagne in celebration, as many believe this patch is essentially tailored for BLG. BLG’s mid laner, LeftHand, excels with both Ahri and Syndra, and top laner BIN’s two signature champions have also been buffed in the Worlds patch. For example, top lane Renekton’s ultimate now grants 20 more armor at level 1, and BIN’s top lane Camille’s W ability damage has been increased as well.

In addition to buffs for the mid and bot lane carries’ champion pools, AD carry ELK’s flawless playoff pick, Caitlyn, has also received a significant boost. Caitlyn gains 2 additional attack damage in the Worlds patch. Notably, Caitlyn has the longest range at level 1 in the entire league, and with this extra 2 AD, she now boasts 62 base attack damage at level 1, making her the AD with the highest base attack damage at that level in the league. (Of course, some viewers argue that ELK’s Caitlyn’s high win rate owes a lot to support ON’s spider pick, and without ON’s assistance, ELK’s Caitlyn wouldn’t be as strong.)

Conclusion

It seems this year’s Worlds patch is truly beneficial for BLG, as none of their signature champions were nerfed—in fact, they were all buffed. Even TES’s AD carry JKL’s signature Draven received buffs during Worlds. Many LPL fans are eagerly anticipating the performance of LPL teams at this Worlds. What do you think—can LPL claim the championship this year?