Aurora with Unbelievable Numbers at Worlds 2024
Watching Worlds 2024, fans could easily notice the dominance of Aurora right from the pick/ban phase as this champion was frequently banned by the Red team. Statistics from the Swiss round reveal that Aurora was the most banned champion with a staggering 65 bans and had the highest pick rate at Worlds 2024 (96.3%). Even a champion considered extremely strong – Yone, couldn’t compare to Aurora in these metrics.
The reason behind this dominance of Aurora is that this champion is incredibly powerful and versatile in both the Top and Mid lanes. With high damage output, great mobility, and especially an “imba” ultimate, Aurora proves to be strong in almost every phase of the game. In fact, this champion can cause massive game-changing plays with her ultimate, helping her team pull off unbelievable comebacks. Clearly, most teams at Worlds 2024 did not want to face such an imbalanced character, leading to Aurora’s exceptionally high ban rate.
Aurora Receives a “Death Sentence” from Riot Games
With such an outstanding performance, it was inevitable that Aurora would be heavily nerfed after Worlds 2024. However, League of Legends players were not expecting that Riot Games would roll out a complete rework for Aurora (essentially a nerf) just weeks after Worlds 2024 ended. Moreover, the ability to lock enemy champions within the range of the ultimate Between Two Worlds has been completely removed. Details of Aurora’s update include:
Passive – Soul Purification: Activating the passive will no longer increase movement speed.
Q – Spirit Charm: The reactivation will now be automatic, slightly increasing the cooldown.
W – Beyond the Veil: No longer has an immediate cooldown upon securing kills, but will provide movement speed when used.
R – Between Two Worlds: No longer enhances movement speed for Aurora. The skill no longer has the effect of locking enemy champions in the affected area.
The aforementioned nerfs have stripped away a significant amount of Aurora’s power, especially in terms of mobility and “stealth” during team fights. The W skill’s invisibility effect no longer having an immediate cooldown will make Aurora much easier to counter. Furthermore, this champion’s ultimate can now no longer prevent opponents from escaping with dashes, teleports, or simply Flash.
According to Riot Squad5 (the developer who adjusted Aurora), the goal of the rework is to prevent this champion from being abused by professional teams. Essentially, Aurora after the adjustments will require players to precisely handle her abilities to deal the highest damage possible. Hopefully, this rework will help Aurora find a balanced state instead of becoming a “nightmare” for players as she was during the recent Worlds 2024.