New champions dominating League of Legends on release is nothing new to the game, especially in this day in age in which Riot are continuously looking to find new ways to bring something unique to Summoner's Rift.
That's where Zeri, the Spark of Zaun comes in. With her electrifying movement speed and damage, she has been dominating League of Legends since her release in patch 12.2, something that Riot has been keeping an eye on and continues to do so.
As a result, Zeri nerfs are inbound in LoL 12.6. Here's what we know so far.
LoL 12.6 Zeri Nerfs to help curb winrate
Ever since her release, Zeri's been an absolute ball of energy, zip zapping around as she takes down her targets. Her power as a champion has truly been electrifying as not only did she receive an emergency week-one hotfix but she also received a hefty nerf in LoL patch 12.4. But even then, the Spark of Zaun has still remained powerful.
Boasting a winrate of about 51% across all ranks according to u.gg, Zeri has been an absolute menace in ranked play. And not only hasn't she been terrific on the ladder, but she's also been the center of attention in pro play, specifically the Chinese professional league where she boasts a whopping 98% pick and ban rate.
A combination of both a high winrate in the ranked ladder and plenty of eyes in pro play now has given Zeri more nerfs in LoL patch 12.6.
These nerfs, according to developer Riot August, have a goal to “lower overall damage and mobility [and] shift damage out of base AD to decrease power with Sheen," when it comes to Zeri.
These changes target Zeri's entire kit from her Burst Fire (Q) to her ultimate, Lightning Crash (R), Zeri is getting hit hard. First, her Q base damage is being increased, but that comes at the cost of decreased base AD and decreased scaling on her right-click. This means that not only will Zeri be squishier but she will also come in with less armor and health. Thankfully for her, both her armor and health will scale with level.
READ MORE: LoL Patch 12.5: Release Date, Patch Notes, New Skins, Master Yi Nerfs & Latest News
Second, her E cooldown is being increased to a flat 23 seconds, making it so she can't zap around as often when it comes to late game fights as it'll scale worse. Additionally, it's getting a nerf to its passthrough damage that affects both her early game fighting and her movement around minions in lane.
Lastly, perhaps the biggest nerf, Zeri will receive less move speed per stack on her ultimate at early levels meaning that in order for her to zoom around she'll have to wait until level 6.
All of these changes come in League of Legends patch 12.6. As for if these nerfs will take down Zeri, only time will tell.
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