If you are a long-time League of Legends player, you are surely familiar with the meme “Champion A is too strong, just nerf Akali.” This meme originated from Riot Games continuously weakening Akali, regardless of the meta or her win rate being extremely low. The reason is that Akali has a skill set that combines high mobility with significant damage output, making her nearly uncounterable in the hands of skilled players.
After a period of abandoning the habit of nerfing Akali, it seems that Riot Games has found their next victim, Zeri. If you didn’t know, just a few hours ago, representatives from the League of Legends champion development team announced the latest changes they will apply in the upcoming patch 12.12. And it is not surprising that Zeri continues to be on the nerf list as this character is considered to have gained too many advantages from the previous tank upgrade.
Having been released in patch 12.2, Zeri has only been in League of Legends for less than 5 months. However, in this short period, Zeri has been comprehensively nerfed, from base stats, skill damage to interactions between her ultimate and the Rune Cannon. If we include the nerf in the upcoming patch 12.12, this character has been weakened a total of 8 times in a very short time.
What is causing Zeri to follow in Akali’s footsteps is similar to this character, as the Zaun Lightning possesses extremely high mobility while still dealing massive damage. Just considering the E skill – Lightning Dash, it allows Zeri to dash, jump over walls, and deal damage to multiple enemies. Additionally, Zeri is a mixed damage champion, making it difficult for opponents to build items to completely counter her.
Given her powerful nature, when the tank update was released and marksman champions clearly became stronger, Zeri became even more “unstoppable.” Even after being nerfed in the June 9 patch, Zeri still remains among the highest-rated marksman champions. It seems that with such a strong skill set, Zeri will continue to face numerous nerfs in the future.
