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Predicting the 10 Upcoming Nerfs in Patch 3.10

In this article, Raphterra tries to predict the 10 nerfs that are scheduled to come in Patch 3.10!

Introduction

Hello there, Raphterra here! The Worldwalker expansion has been successful so far, with all 4 champions released in the set finding a home in competitive decks. The meta has been diverse, with no decks going above the limit of Riot’s win rate metrics. However, Legends of Runeterra has always thrived with frequent balance changes, and Patch 3.10 for Legends of Runeterra will be coming shortly in the next days.

Steve Rubin, one of the game designers for LOR, has released some spicy information about the patch in his tweets. From what he has said so far, there are 40+ scheduled individual card changes coming to the game.

In another tweet, he mentioned that 10 of these changes will be nerfs to meta decks, mostly aimed to have a small or medium impact.

In this article, I will try to predict these scheduled nerfs for Patch 3.10. Please take note that these are only my predictions, but not necessarily my wish list of changes.

Honorable Mentions

Two honorable mentions that didn’t make my prediction list are Byrd, the Bellringer, The Winding Light. Although I feel that these two cards are slightly over-tuned, I’m not expecting Riot to nerf them immediately since they’ve just been released recently.

Disintegrate is another card that might be changed in terms of its interactions with Barrier and Tough. I will not include Disintegrate in my predictions as I think this change will require a rework and might not be addressed in Patch 3.10.

Zenith Blade

A few weeks ago, Steve Rubin has made some tweets suggesting that they are looking closely at Zenith Blade card as a potential target for a nerf.

Zenith Blade is a key component of Pantheon Yuumi, one of the meta kings prior to the Worldwalker expansion. The deck has been struggling lately due to it’s tough matchup against Noxus decks running Ravenous Flock. However, nothing has changed with Pantheon Yuumi in terms of its power level, and it’s very likely that it will find itself on top again with some slight meta shifts.

My prediction for Zenith Blade is that they will change the text of the card from “Daybreak: Draw a Zenith Blade” to “Daybreak: Draw a Zenith Blade if you behold another Daybreak Card”.

This change will have a huge impact on the deck’s ability to grant Overwhelm to multiple Fated units. If you are a Pantheon Yuumi player, you know that it’s very hard to close out games if you don’t equip your Fated followers with Overwhelm.

It’s also possible that we see a health reduction to Saga Seeker, but in my opinion this won’t be necessary, as the change to Zenith Blade is already a very impactful nerf.

This is one of my predictions that I personally hope won’t come true, because I myself love playing Pantheon Yuumi. I would love to be able to keep playing the deck at a high level.

Gleaming Lantern

Gleaming Lantern’s ability to swarm the board Faes proved to be very powerful as you can pair up the Fae package with almost any region and still have a deck that performs decently in ladder.

Fizz Riven and Fizz Aphelios are the two decks that stood out among all the Fae decks. The Fae swarm strategy went down in popularity due to the rise of Lissandra Thralls, a deck equipped with tools that can deal with swarm decks. With Thralls most likely getting hit by the nerf hammer, it’s likely that we will see Fae swarm strategies dominate the meta once again if they are left unchecked.

I predict a slight nerf to Gleaming Lantern with it’s health being reduced from 3 to 2. This will reduce the card’s ability to trade into smaller units, while also making it more vulnerable to removal spells like Mystic Shot and Piltover Peacemaker.

Papercraft Dragon

In my opinion, Papercraft Dragon exposes a fundamental imbalance in Fizz’s card design. Fizz is a cheap unit that can become an uninteractable powerhouse that quickly puts a clock on the Nexus health. Attaching Papercraft Dragon to Fizz can lead to games where opposing decks can do nothing to protect their Nexus.

I personally think that Riot would not address Fizz in Patch 3.10, as he probably would need a rework if he will be the target for a change. This is why I think that Papercraft Dragon will take the nerf hammer instead, and I’m predicting a reduction to it’s Power from 2 to 1. This change will significantly reduce the damage dealt by decks that revolve around the Fizz Papercraft Dragon combo.

Petricite Broadwing

Petricite Broadwing is arguably the strongest two-drop in the game. When combined with buffs, it can single-handedly win the early board by trading with multiple units on its own. This card has been a key component in most Demacia decks ever since its release. Prior to the Worldwalker Expansion, Petricite Broadwing helped Miss Fortune Scouts and Sivir Akshan become a significant part of the meta. Now, this unit is lending its wings to Bard Demacia decks as it can snowball hard when buffed up with Bard’s chimes.

The change that I’d like to see is to add a clause to Petricite Broadwing such that it only gains challenger for a turn when you summon another ally unit, similar to how Fleetfeather Tracker works. This would require Demacia decks to develop another unit before getting good trades with Petricite Broadwing.

However, I feel that this change would be a rework to the card. I think we are more likely to see a change to it’s numbers instead. I can see Riot changing Petricite Broadwing to become a 2-mana 0/2 or a 3-mana 0/3 unit.

Frozen Thrall

Lissandra Thralls is the most-played deck of the Worldwalker expansion. The two new support cards for Frozen Thralls ( Sands of Time and Harbinger of Thralls ) removed most of the consistency problems that the deck previously had. I can say confidently that if you’re unable to climb ranks with Lissandra Thralls, you’re probably playing the deck incorrectly.

The change I would expect is an increase to Frozen Thrall’s countdown from 8 turns to 10 turns. This would be similar to how they changed Mono Shurima by delaying their power spike by 2 turns.

Legion Deserter

Legion Deserter is a core piece of the third most-played deck of the expansion, Viego Noxus. When combined with Viego’s Encroaching Mists, Legion Deserter gets to a very high stat line with minimal effort.

It’s a problem when Legion Deserter at 5 mana is a better finisher than champions that cost 5 or more. Just compare him to other Overwhelm champions like Gangplank, Darius, Hecarim, and Tryndamere.

The change I would like to see for Legion Deserter is a keyword change from Overwhelm to Fearsome. I am aware that this change would significantly reduce the power level of the card by a lot, but I think the card at its current state is very unhealthy for the game. However, I’m expecting Riot to either lower its stats to 4/3 or increase its mana cost to 6 instead.

More changes?

In my opinion, the 6 changes I’ve predicted so far would already be enough to shake up the meta. However, there are 4 more nerfs scheduled in the patch. I believe these nerfs would be directed to decks that are not necessarily overpowered, but have been meta dominant for too long. Riot does these changes for the purpose of allowing other decks to have their time to shine in the spotlight.

Viego

Leading this category of nerfs is Viego. The ruined king found a home in several regions: Ionia, Shurima, and now Noxus. Even with an incoming nerf to Legion Deserter, the Shurima variant with Viego will still be a dominant meta deck.

I predict that Viego will receive a reduction to his Power from 5 to 4.

Aphelios

Aphelios has come a long way since his initial release. After a sequence of balance changes, Aphelios seems have to finally found a sweet spot due to Crescendum’s rework.

Nevertheless, Aphelios still does too much for a 3-cost card in terms of flexibility and card advantage. I predict he will receive a reduction to his health from 3 to 2. This is similar to a change they made to Draven, another powerful 3-cost card.

Ravenous Flock

Ravenous Flock has always been dealing too much damage for a 1-cost card. Even with its activation requirements, being able to deal 4 damage for 1 mana is too strong. For some perspective, compare Ravenous Flock to higher-cost spells like Black Spear, Rite of the Arcane, and Paddle Star.

I predict a damage reduction for Ravenous Flock from 4 to 3.

Ferros Financier

Manifest is a very powerful mechanic, and I’m expecting Ferros Financier to be nerfed sooner or later. I predict it will be joining Conchologist, Bandle City Mayor, and Loping Telescope to the list of Manifest cards that have been subject to the nerf hammer.

The change I’m predicting is a reduction in Ferros Financier’s health from 2 to 1.

Closing Words

That’s it for my predictions for the 10 cards that are scheduled to be nerfed in Patch 3.10. Do you agree with my list? Did I miss out on any card?

Hope you enjoyed reading this article! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me on YouTube, Discord, or Twitter!

Raphterra
Raphterra
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