Recently, Riot has released updates that will appear in the upcoming patch 13.19. This patch will be applied for the upcoming World Championship (CKTG) 2023. Therefore, the League of Legends (LMHT) community has shown particular interest in this version. Just a few days ago, the first information about the patch was announced, causing many viewers LMHT, especially fans of T1 to feel elated. This is because the champions being buffed are mostly favorites of T1 players (Jhin, Lee Sin…). Additionally, Zeri and Xayah – the extremely “dominant” duo in recent months will also be heavily nerfed.
Recently, a representative from Riot further announced details about another champion that will also be nerfed, namely LeBlanc – the highly favored Mid Lane champion in recent times. With the return of Statikk Shiv, LeBlanc with Statikk Shiv once dominated both solo queue and the professional scene, and now this champion can also combine Statikk Shiv and Trinity Force. Moreover, the elusive nature of LeBlanc, especially in the hands of players like Chovy or Faker, is truly terrifying.
According to Riot Phreak, LeBlanc will be nerfed by reducing the power of Statikk Shiv and Trinity Force. Specifically, Riot will reduce the effectiveness of Statikk Shiv (lowering the wave clearing ability of the item). At the same time, it will reduce LeBlanc’s basic attack damage (thus weakening interactions with Trinity Force significantly). Additionally, LeBlanc’s minor skills will see a slight increase in ability power. Riot hopes for an AP LeBlanc return at CKTG 2023.
If anyone finds these items familiar, it is precisely because LeBlanc with Statikk Shiv and Trinity Force is becoming the meta favored by many professional players. The VCS can indeed be seen as the first professional environment where a player dared to build both items simultaneously for LeBlanc. That player is Hiro02 in the match between Team Secret and CERBERUS Esports. This playstyle has even shocked the international community. Some comments even state: “If a non-professional player built items like this, they would immediately receive 4 reports.”
Of course, the overwhelming interaction of LeBlanc with these two items, which seemingly have no connection, is truly the reason why Riot is nerfing both the items and the champion. However, it is clear that VCS’s willingness to experiment and surprise the League of Legends community might also be a reason why this playstyle could disappear at the upcoming CKTG 2023.