Although in version 11.12, the champion Aphelios received attention and buffs from Riot, it ended up facing much criticism from the gaming community, as they compared this power increase to: “Buffed but not really buffed” which was not worthy at all. Previously, this champion had suffered a series of consecutive nerfs that made this marksman seemingly disappear from the Summoner’s Rift.
Therefore, to meet the expectations of the gamer community and restore the “fairness” for the once-super marksman Aphelios, Riot has buffed his strength in the upcoming version 11.13, aiming to bring this champion back to ranked play and further into the upcoming summer tournaments. It is a fact that Aphelios once had a ban rate in the professional arena reach up to 97.7% or a 223% ban rate in the Korean Challenger rank according to Fow.kr statistics.
Clearly, the higher the ban rate, the greater the strength and influence of that champion in the match. It’s not hard to understand that at one time, Aphelios could easily wipe out an enemy team with just one skill, so balancing this marksman is extremely necessary for the game developers at Riot.
But perhaps they have been too harsh, as they continuously nerfed him in many updates, causing this marksman to seemingly vanish from the game. From the healing ability of Severnum to the area damage on minions from the Flamethrower gun, they all visibly weakened. This led to marksman players showing less interest in choosing Aphelios for the bot lane as before.
However, perhaps after a long period of heavy nerfs, in the upcoming update version, Riot has made adjustments targeting Aphelios’s Q skill and passive power. The additional attack power has been increased from 4/8/12/16/20/24 (Q rank 1-5) to 5/10/15/20/25/30 (Q rank 1-5), while lethality has been increased from 3.5/7/10.5/14/17.5/21 (E level 1-5) to 5/9/13.5/18/22.5/27 (E level 1-5). This significantly improves this champion’s laning phase in terms of lane sustainability, skill trade exchanges, area damage potential in team fights, and especially burst damage capabilities. Moreover, this buff for Aphelios will make him a viable and counter pick option against current hot pick marksmen like Kai’Sa and Lucian.
It can be seen that this buff has somewhat helped Aphelios regain his former “overpowering” strength. Regarding lane pushing capabilities, thanks to the buff to his passive, combined with the increased power of his guns, it has made controlling and clearing minion waves for this champion much more stable and easier. Consequently, it limits the enemy team’s ability to tower dive, creating space for movements and assisting other lanes, while also increasing the rate of securing major objectives in matches.
Furthermore, thanks to this passive buff, Aphelios’s damage contribution in team fights has become significantly more dangerous, still featuring ultimate skills combined with the Flamethrower that deal tons of area damage, affecting multiple targets and completely changing the combat situation with just one press of R. A prime example is in the LPL tournament between Suning Esports and Top Esports during the fifth week.
The match took place over 3 rounds, with Aphelios featured in all 3 games in the bot lane. Analyzing Aphelios’s impact on gameplay in these 3 matches, it can be seen from round 1 that not only was Aphelios in the hands of TES.JackeyLove significantly behind SNhuanfeng’s Varus, but the entire TES team seemed to snowball and be in a disadvantage against SN in the early game.
But just after a combat at minute 41, the tremendous damage from fully-equipped Aphelios combined with his ultimate and the Twin Blossoms gun made Varus evaporate instantly, simultaneously causing SN to lose a large amount of health before being swept clean by TES and making a spectacular comeback to end the game. However, in game 2, Sofm’s secret weapon Kha’Zix locked down JackeyLove’s Aphelios, making him vulnerable during combat and seemingly completely harmless against SN. Also, in the final game, in the hands of SNhuanfeng, this time expectations were met, as the marksman was given ample resources and carefully supported by SN.ON’s Alistar.
SN’s marksman easily dominated the enemy’s bot lane, and also contributed to the entire team’s gameplay through combat, leading SN to a dramatic 2-1 victory against TES. From this match, it can be seen that Aphelios is gradually regaining his rightful place and being trusted by players in matches. The strength after this buff for Aphelios is undeniable, but there are still some flaws that are not hard to recognize.
Firstly, it is easily noticeable in the champion’s mechanics that there is a lack of mobility, which is a familiar aspect for those who have played Aphelios. This was evident in game 2 of the match between SN and TES when Aphelios had to face a bruiser jungler like Kha’Zix, which left Aphelios with little space or position to deal damage. Therefore, the second factor is that Aphelios players must be skilled in positioning or choosing appropriate summoner spells for each match. For instance, using Cleanse instead of Heal like other standard ADs to avoid being locked down. A typical example is JackeyLove having to choose Cleanse in game 1 when facing Leona and Varus.
Another approach is that support players need to choose champions that are more protective like Thresh or Alistar to create space for Aphelios to deal damage. Third, understanding the skill set, how to combine and choose the appropriate guns before and during combat to maximize the potential of each weapon is essential. Finally, Aphelios needs to be cared for and share resources appropriately. Aphelios is only truly strong when he has 2 items or more, so getting kills and major buffs is extremely necessary. The power threshold of Aphelios usually only occurs in the mid to late game.