As we know, in the recent 12.5b patch, a host of AD Carry champions underwent significant adjustments by Riot Games, particularly nerfs targeting Aphelios and Jinx. The reason is that these two champions were too powerful in the early stages of the 2022 season and frequently faced off against each other in professional matches. Therefore, to make the League of Legends meta more diverse, these two characters had to be nerfed to allow other champions to shine.
However, with this balance change, Riot Games inadvertently brought back an extremely strong champion, Lucian, in the Bot Lane, and even in Solo Lanes. Specifically, according to statistics from LeagueofGraph, Lucian’s win rate increased by 2.6% and his pick rate went up by 6.7% after the 12.5b patch was released. These numbers are among the highest in League of Legends and indicate that Lucian is currently a very powerful character. So what is the exact cause of this dominance of Lucian?
First, we need to mention the direct buff in the recent 12.5b patch, where the bonus AD per level was increased. This helps Lucian deal significantly more damage in the mid and late game when building towards critical hits. Moreover, using the Soul Reaver as a core item further enhances Lucian’s damage output.
Additionally, we can see in the statistics above that Kai’Sa suddenly has a strong pick rate increase in both the Mid and Bot Lanes thanks to the “Faker effect.” Kai’Sa is fundamentally still a weak champion in the early game, making her a direct counter to Lucian, who is extremely strong during this phase. The consequence is that whether you want to or not, you still need to use Lucian in the current meta to dominate the lane and prevent the opposing Kai’Sa from gaining power too quickly.
Even in Solo Lane positions, Lucian remains an extremely dominant choice right now due to the changes to the Teleport spell. Simply put, when Teleport can no longer be used early, strong lane champions or those who scale well later will rise in the Top Lane. And coincidentally, Lucian possesses both of these qualities, making him an excellent choice in the solo rank environment.
As for building Lucian, this champion still effectively utilizes the duo of items that provide significant mid-game damage, which are the Galeforce and the Soul Reaver. For the rune setup, Press the Attack remains a highly suitable and almost essential rune for Lucian. If you want to climb ranks effectively with Lucian, you should play alongside a Nami Support as this duo is extremely powerful in the mid lane for both offense and defense.
