As we know, the 12th season of League of Legends will officially begin in just a few days. After two major patches, 11.23 and 11.24, most League of Legends players have gotten accustomed to the new content of season 12, such as Elemental Dragons, new items, and the reworked runes. It has quickly become apparent that the “new” Death’s Dance for the 12th season is extremely powerful.
Even according to former professional player Doublelift, Death’s Dance is the most dominant rune ever for the Marksman role. He emphasized three champions: Caitlyn, Jinx, and Aphelios, stating that these characters benefit the most from this rune. The reason is that champions with long attack ranges, like the aforementioned names, become extremely powerful with additional range and are even safer with this rune.
Doublelift: “I think champions with long attack ranges benefit more from Death’s Dance compared to those with shorter ranges. It’s like the rich getting richer. The reason is that ranged champions can stack Death’s Dance very easily since they can hit their opponents from a distance already.”
Currently, this rune is extremely strong. In fact, it could be the strongest rune ever for the Marksman role due to the immense potential that Death’s Dance offers. An additional 75 attack range for Marksmen is something absolutely insane. I have played Caitlyn, Jinx, and Aphelios, and this rune proves to be incredibly strong, allowing players to maintain a safe position while dealing tremendous damage.”
Indeed, when it comes to the Marksman role, this rune is making many champions incredibly powerful. In solo queue, Vayne continues to top the meta with an exceptionally high win rate since the rework of Death’s Dance. Meanwhile, in the 2021 Demacia Cup, the three most picked Marksmen were the ones Doublelift mentioned earlier – Caitlyn, Aphelios, and Jinx, who utilize this rune exceptionally well.
Not only Marksmen, but even melee champions like Yasuo, Yone, Jax, etc., are also becoming too powerful with this rune. Of course, as melee champions, attack range stats don’t mean much to them. However, the massive attack speed boost that this rune provides makes these champions incredibly strong from early on. It’s not uncommon for a Yone or Yasuo to 1v2 or 1v3 at level 1 with fully stacked Death’s Dance.
Therefore, it is highly likely that Riot will nerf the additional attack speed (for ranged champions) and a bit of attack range (for melee champions) in the upcoming patch 12.1. This is a necessary move to bring this rune back to a balanced state in the new season.