League of Legends Patch 12.1 Overview

Patch 12.1 Overview

The new season has finally arrived, and the first patch introduces a change to Teleport that will have a huge impact on the game; let’s break down the 12.1 changes.

Teleport

When used effectively, Teleport is one of the strongest summoner spells in the game as it provides you with the opportunity to make huge macro plays and single-handedly win a game. Consequently, it has been nerfed and reworked:

• Cooldown - 360 seconds at all levels
• Unleashed Teleport - Teleport can only be used on allied towers. When tower plates fall at 14 minutes, it transforms into Unleashed Teleport and can be used on allied towers, minions, wards and certain allied constructs
• Unleashed Teleport Cooldown - 240 seconds

Now that Teleport can be only be used on allied towers until 14 minutes have passed, this will drastically change how it is used in the early game as it won’t be possible to flank an overextending enemy or instantly join a skirmish; instead, you can only use it to teleport to a lane to farm. Teleport will still be an extremely powerful summoner spell once it has transformed into Unleashed Teleport considering it works in the same way as past seasons, but it is now drastically less useful in the early game. This may push certain top and mid laners to drop it in favour of other summoner spells (such as Ignite or Ghost), which could make fights during the laning phase more volatile and explosive. Bot laners will also be feeling much safer when pushing their lane, as they were the most susceptible to being ganked by a teleport during the laning phase.

Diana and Rek’Sai

Diana Jungle thrived during the middle of last season, but dropped off in popularity toward the end after a sequence of nerfs. With a new season on the horizon, she has received a noticeable buff:

• Passive - Moonsilver Blade - AP ratio increased to 50% (from 40%)
• Passive - Moonsilver Blade - Monster damage ratio increased to 300% (up from 250%)

This will increase the speed of her jungle clear and make her more of a threat once she has completed some of her core items. Meanwhile, Rek’Sai has been nerfed:

• E - Furious Bite - 55/60/65/70/75 (+85% bonus AD), down from 50/60/70/80/90
• E - Tunnel - 26/24/22/2018 second cooldown, up from 26/23/20/17/14

Rek’Sai hasn’t been a particularly dominant jungler over the last few patches, so these changes are somewhat surprising given there are more oppressive and popular junglers in the meta (looking at you Talon). Nevertheless, these changes will reduce Rek’Sai’s late game damage and limit her engage/disengage due to the increased cooldown on her tunnel.

Items

Immortal Shieldbow has been an incredibly effective Mythic since its introduction: it provides a great amount of sustainability, procs automatically, and can be built across multiple different roles. It has finally received a nerf:

• Attack Damage - 50 (down from 55)
• Lifeline Shield - 275-650 (based on level), down from 300-800

This will make users deal less damage and more vulnerable once the shield has been procced. After receiving some buffs alongside other lethality items in the Preseason patch, Eclipse has also been nerfed after being a little too strong on melee champions:

• Ever Rising Moon Cooldown (Melee) - 8 seconds, up from 6

Wit’s End has risen in popularity over the last few patches due to it being a cheap source of MR that still provides offensive stats. Consequently, its build path has been changed to provide less MR as it now builds from Null-Magic Mantle instead of Negatron Cloak:

• Build path - Hearthbound Axe + Null-Magic Mantle + Pickaxe + 675 gold
• Magic Resist - 40, down from 50

The final item to receive changes is Force of Nature, which has failed to make a meaningful impact ever since its Preseason changes; the passive stacks now last longer, and provide additional MR:

• Passive (Absorb) - duration - 7 seconds (up from 5)
• Passive (Dissipate) - Magic Resist - 25% (up from 20%)

Summary

The Teleport changes will have a huge influence on the early game, as top laners will be significantly less powerful while bot laners will be able to play much more aggressive without being worried about a TP flank. Time will tell how much influence the nerfs will have on the game, and whether TP will be dropped in favour of other summoner spells.