Riot will buff 18 champions in patch 11.18 including Zed, Draven

The initial Worlds-focused update for the 2021 League of Legends championship cycle arrives on the Public Beta Environment, introducing substantial power increases across numerous champion selections.

Riot Games lead designer Jeevun Sidhu’s recent preview outlines 18 champions receiving direct enhancements versus only 10 facing reductions, supplemented by five additional champions undergoing various modifications. While this distribution appears imbalanced, the strategic intent prioritizes creating an engaging tournament viewing experience by elevating typically underutilized competitive picks. This approach means champions like Zed and Draven—historically rare in professional drafts—will suddenly become viable options through targeted improvements.

Zed and Draven getting buffed for Worlds 2021

Transitioning into the premier Worlds update creates renewed potential for Draven and Zed appearances on the professional circuit. These champions typically represent specialized selections reserved for elite specialists in competitive environments. Both carry inherent risk factors but boast legendary competitive performances that remain iconic in League history.

Riot’s design team explicitly acknowledges this legacy and aims to motivate elite competitors to embrace these high-skill-capacity champions during the championship. This objective will be achieved through enhancing Draven’s Whirling Death (R) capability, previously hinted in Sidhu’s communications.

This modification differs significantly from conventional power increases, as Whirling Death will now instantly eliminate opponents whose health drops below the threshold matching Draven’s accumulated League of Draven stacks. This innovation could empower Draven to execute spectacular cross-map maneuvers, particularly when maintaining substantial stack reserves.

For players seeking advanced Draven mechanics, optimal stack management becomes crucial—aim to maintain at least 150+ stacks before attempting cross-map ultimate executions for maximum impact.

Beyond this aggressive snowball champion, Riot extends developmental attention to Zed. The Shadow Master appears sporadically throughout professional seasons but might emerge at Worlds for highlight-reel outplays. The legendary Zed duel between T1’s Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok and Ryu “Ryu” Sang-wook remains arguably the most iconic competitive moment involving the champion.

Hoping to generate comparable memorable plays during this year’s championship, Riot enhances Zed through an unexpected avenue. To incentivize player adoption, Zed’s passive Contempt for the Weak now inflicts 100% additional damage against jungle monsters. Theoretically, this could facilitate Zed’s transition into jungle positioning.

The strategic vision focuses on providing Zed enhanced draft versatility, though players should note his jungle clear speed remains slower than dedicated junglers until level 6.

To further diversify the jungle landscape, Riot additionally strengthens Qiyana and Talon specifically for jungle functionality. This could transform the jungle meta toward heightened aggression compared to summer split patterns, positioning world-class junglers as primary carry threats.

Common mistake: Attempting to force these assassin junglers into early skirmishes without proper vision control often leads to disastrous invades.

Advanced players should prioritize tracking enemy jungle movement during initial clears to maximize these champions’ early game snowball potential.

Renekton hit by big nerf in LoL patch 11.18

Alongside numerous enhancements arrives corresponding champion reductions. The most substantial adjustment in patch 11.18 targets Renekton, who receives a devastating nerf to his Ruthless Predator (W). Riot reduces the empowered stun duration from 1.5 seconds down to merely 1 second. This significantly diminishes Renekton’s combo effectiveness, as Ruthless Predator typically initiates his entire damage sequence by immobilizing targets.

While implementing this reduction, Riot shortens the W animation duration to improve fluidity and responsiveness. However, this remains a substantial nerf likely to profoundly affect Renekton’s competitive viability and solo queue performance.

Professional players should anticipate approximately 15-20% reduced kill pressure during lane phase and teamfight engagements.

Optimization tip: Renekton mains can compensate by maxing Q first for better waveclear and trading patterns.

Patch 11.18 becomes available for evaluation on the PBE over the coming weeks before deploying to live servers on Thursday, September 9. While considerable time remains before Worlds 2021 commences, this update establishes the competitive foundation for the play-in stage.

Teams typically require 2-3 weeks of scrimmage practice to fully adapt to meta shifts of this magnitude.

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