Galio in Season 9 was truly a monster, with Riot nerfing its damage multiple times yet it remained strong. If the damage wasn’t enough for mid-lane, playing Galio as Support was still viable; this champion remained powerful until Riot Games decided to remove the W – Durand’s Shield and Flash combo in patch 9.14, causing the Colossal Guardian to officially lose its standing in both the professional League of Legends scene and solo queue.
After that critical nerf, Galio’s win rate and pick rate plummeted rapidly, and even in tournament matches, this champion was no longer seen. Riot gradually realized they had been too harsh, so they have been continuously buffing Galio’s damage recently; however, it’s still not enough to compensate for the once-surprising engage capability.
Therefore, Riot Games is experimenting with new features for Galio to bring this champion back into the meta, at least to the point where he is “playable” and no longer feels as weak as he currently does.
Riot Mark Yetter: “We have a few changes that the Riot captain is testing for patch 10.7”
R – Hero’s Entrance: Allied champions in Galio’s landing area will receive a shield that absorbs magic damage from Galio’s W – Durand’s Shield for 4 seconds.
The previous changes related to the Flash – W combo affected this champion too much, so we might bring back tools to save allies in the ultimate. The goal is to prevent this champion from becoming a major issue in the hands of professional players.”
With this update for Galio, this champion can directly impact team fights while still casting his abilities rather than only when landing and knocking up enemies. Moreover, the amount of magic damage-absorbing shields Galio provides will have a significant impact in the early and mid-game, when magic damage champions are strong. Hopefully, with this update, Galio will have the chance to compete with other champions in both the mid-lane and Support roles.