Hey everyone and welcome to Skill-Capped's Tier List and Rundown for Patch 10.9.
Boy, there are some big changes this patch with some long standing overpowered champions
finally getting nerfs.
Along with some buffs that I can guarantee will at least send one champion into the OP
category for his role.
Not to mention a massive buff to an item no one was expecting which just may change the
top lane meta.
Speaking of the meta, is it just me or has the support meta consisted of the same 3 tanks:
Leona, Nautilus, Blitzcrank, for way too long now?
Do you enjoy this support meta or would prefer to see a different one?
Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
And while you're down there make sure to subscribe, like, and hit the bell icon to keep up to
date with the latest strategies and start taking your game to the next level.
Alright, let's jump straight into it starting with item changes.
Sanguine Blade is receiving a buff and it's quite a big one.
Its recipe cost is being reduced from 1100 to 1000 while the attack damage is being increased
from 50 to 55.
For those who can't remember what Sanguine Blade does, we don't blame you.
With these changes it will now have a total cost of 3000, give 55 attack damage, 15% lifesteal,
10 lethality.
But it's most known for its unique passive blood puirsuit, where as long as you're near
one or fewer visible enemy champions you gain 8 lethality and 20 to 80% bonus attack speed
based on level.
What this means, is that this item is extremely strong on split pushers top lane that can
take advantage of its passive.
The problem is though, that the stats it gives isn't that useful on melee champions since
it's all raw damage.
Instead, its ranged attack damage top laners that will benefit most from this buff.
Those are champions like Vayne, Quinn, and Graves.
So definitely be on the look out for these champions becoming stronger and picked more
in your games.
Hey everyone and welcome to Skill-Capped's Tier List and Rundown for Patch 10.9.
Boy, there are some big changes this patch with some long standing overpowered champions
finally getting nerfs.
Along with some buffs that I can guarantee will at least send one champion into the OP
category for his role.
Not to mention a massive buff to an item no one was expecting which just may change the
top lane meta.
Speaking of the meta, is it just me or has the support meta consisted of the same 3 tanks:
Leona, Nautilus, Blitzcrank, for way too long now?
Do you enjoy this support meta or would prefer to see a different one?
Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
And while you're down there make sure to subscribe, like, and hit the bell icon to keep up to
date with the latest strategies and start taking your game to the next level.
Alright, let's jump straight into it starting with item changes.
Sanguine Blade is receiving a buff and it's quite a big one.
Its recipe cost is being reduced from 1100 to 1000 while the attack damage is being increased
from 50 to 55.
For those who can't remember what Sanguine Blade does, we don't blame you.
With these changes it will now have a total cost of 3000, give 55 attack damage, 15% lifesteal,
10 lethality.
But it's most known for its unique passive blood puirsuit, where as long as you're near
one or fewer visible enemy champions you gain 8 lethality and 20 to 80% bonus attack speed
based on level.
What this means, is that this item is extremely strong on split pushers top lane that can
take advantage of its passive.
The problem is though, that the stats it gives isn't that useful on melee champions since
it's all raw damage.
Instead, its ranged attack damage top laners that will benefit most from this buff.
Those are champions like Vayne, Quinn, and Graves.
So definitely be on the look out for these champions becoming stronger and picked more
in your games.
Before we move onto the Tier List, I quickly want to mention that if you're not signed
up to Skill-Capped then you're missing out - big time!
We just hit over 800 guides on our website which are the best on the internet.
With challenger tailored courses we've spent hundreds of hours perfecting, you're sure
to improve.
We're so confident in this, that you can see what rank we think you'll hit before signing
up for the long-term plan.
If you don't hit that rank while actively using skill-capped, then you'll be eligible
to claim a full refund - so there's literally no risk!
Getting back into it, flying to the island that is Top Lane we have some big nerfs to
Wukong.
He will be having his armor reduced from 34 to 31.
His Q damage lowered from 30 to 130 to 20 to 120 And his clone damage from 40 to 60
to 35 to 55 percent.
Now, one thing to realize is that although Wukong is losing 3 base armor that his passive
stone skin can give him up to 30 armor at max stacks at level 1 so the 3 armor nerf
isn't as big as it would be on other champions.
It's really the damage being lowered on his Q and his clone that is the real nerf.
With that being said, Wukong currently has the highest win rate in top lane at 55%.
That's absolutely insane considering that he's also picked or banned in 40% of all games.
So yes, the damage nerf is significant, but when you have some of the most insane stats
on the patch we think those nerfs can't make him drop too far down.
That's why we think that it's safe to say that Wukong will still remain in the OP tier
and that speaks more to just how strong he was prior to these nerfs than the nerfs themselves.
Moving onto the buffs for top lane, Quinn is having her Q near sight duration increased
from 1.5 to 1.75.
We're not going lie this is an extremely small buff, but you have to keep in mind that the
Sanguine Blade buffs we went over earlier will massively benefit Quinn top.
And it's mainly due to these item buffs that we're increasing Quinn into the A Tier from
the B Tier.
Cho'Gath will also receiving a buff with his E damage being increased from 22 to 70 to
22 to 84.
Now, at first this may seem like a small buff, but if you max E first you'll be getting around
an extra 40 damage per cast.
We'll be keeping Cho'Gath in the B Tier, but putting him at the top of it.
Moving on, Gnar is having his Mega Q cd refund increased from 60 to 70% and his Mega E damage
increased by a whopping flat 30 at all levels.
However, since these buffs only apply to his Mega Gnar form it does make them slightly
weaker than they appear.
Currently Gnar is sitting at a low win rate of 49% and we just don't see how these specific
buffs will give him the boost he needs.
For these reasons we'll be keeping him at the top of the C tier for now.
Alright, now for the Tier List.
In the OP tier you'll find Kled, Fiora, and Wukong.
Kled and Fiora are the strongest champions that make use of the new buffed items such
as blade of the ruined king, death's dance, and the two upgrades for tiamat: titanic Hydra
and Ravenous Hydra.
However, it's really Kled that is shining above the rest.
He has the second highest win rate in top lane at 54% and with the Wukong nerfs he might
just take the top spot now.
What's insane about this though is how he's only banned in 3% of games.
So he's definitely a sleeper OP champion that the rest of the server still hasn't caught
on to yet.
The other champions you want to be on the lookout for this patch are the ranged attack
damage champions like Vayne, Quinn, and Graves.
With so many nerfs going down these past few months to all of the top tier melee champions
like Sett, Darius, and Garen, that's already an indirect buff to other champions that were
left untouched.
When you combine that with the massive buff to Sanguine Blade, and we may just see a bigger
rise in ranged top laners than most players expect.
For low elo picks this patch, that's for Gold and below, we recommend Tryndamere, Jax, and
Mordekaiser.
Split pushing is really the most effective way to 1v9 and carry yourself out of low elo
and Tryndamere and Jax are the best picks for that playstyle right now.
While Mordekaiser is the simpler to play more traditional stat checking top laner.
For Bans we recommend Wukong, Mordekaiser, Maokai, and Darius.
These are all champions with around a 10% or higher pick rate, so you'll see them most
often, while all 4 being S tier champions or stronger.
Sweeping into the Jungle we have one of the biggest buffs we've ever seen to Kayn.
His Q cooldown is being reduced by a flat second.
And his W slow being increased from 70 to 90%, that is insane.
On top of this his Q bonus damage now applies to minions, so hey, maybe we'll even be seeing
Kayn in the solo lanes.
To get an idea of why these buffs are so crazy is that the jungle changes last patch massively
buffed farming junglers, in fact, they're kind of the meta now.
Kayn, specifically in his Red form, was already a super strong farming jungler in his own
right, being an S tier jungler.
We think that these buffs will be enough to actually push him into the OP bracket.
Fiddlesticks is also receiving a buff with his E damage being increased from 70 to 190
to 70 to 210.
Now, Riot is labeling these buffs as being directed towards support fiddlesticks, but
with support Fiddlesticks having a 47% win rate and 1% pick rate, we don't really think
this buff is going to do anything there.
Compare that to the jungle where he has a 52% win rate and 5% pick rate.
The reason why these are classified as buffs to support Fiddlesticks is that it only increases
his E damage at max rank and when played in the jungle, Fiddlesticks maxes his W into
Q, with his E last.
So yeah these buffs will only really kick in at level 18 when in the jungle, but that's
actually when Fiddlesticks is the strongest statistically.
Overall, Fiddlesticks is looking to be in a good spot anyways after the buffs on previous
patches and so will be increased from the B tier to the A tier for now.
We have another strange change in the jungle with Karthus finally receiving a nerf, but
to his movement speed.
It's being lowered from 335 to 325.
For those of you who have been living under a rock, Karthus has been considered an OP
pick in high elo for over a year and a half.
Most players were excited to hear he was finally getting a nerf, but hitting his movement speed
definitely came as a surprise, with most expecting a nerf to his damage to jungle monsters.
On one hand, the lower movement speed will slightly inhibit his ability to clear as he's
moving slower from camp to camp, but with him clearing so fast that's not really a big
deal.
The real issue is how it impacts his ability to gank and teamfight since with 325 base
movement speed, that now makes him slower than Yuumi.
We have to be honest, we're not that big of a fan of this change, as any mid lane karthus
mains will now be even weaker, and karthus will likely still be an OP pick, just even
more unsatisfying to play.
What do you guys think?
Do you think this is a good change and if not, what change do you think Karthus needs
to become balanced?
Trundle is also receiving a nerf with his ultimate cooldown being increased from 100
to 60 to 120 to 80.
This nerf is mainly aimed at pro play where he's a highly contested pick.
Even so, it's a relatively minor nerf, and we expect Trundle to stay in the A tier for
solo queue.
Moving on to the Jungle Tier List the farming jungler meta is in full swing.
You'll notice that Zac, Graves, Karthus, and Kayn are in the OP tier with all 4 of them
being the strongest scaling farming junglers at the moment.
Olaf is the only remnant of the aggro meta left and that's simply due to his insane 1v1
potential and clear speed despite being so stong early.
However, one interesting thing we want to draw your attention to is how with the decline
in aggressive junglers and rise in farming junglers, we've also seen a rise in assassin
junglers, most notably Rengar and Shaco.
The rise in Rengar actually makes a lot of sense.
The rise in farming junglers means he has more time to farm to level 6 in the early
game.
Along with the fact that he rushes Tiamat and has great clear speed.
So don't be surprised if you spot a few more Rengar players than usual in your games.
For the low elo picks this patch, that's Gold and below, we recommend Warwick, Kayn, and
Master Yi.
We're adding Kayn to our low elo recommendations as we think his power levels are getting to
crazy heights while being a very forgiving champion to play due to his healing.
Just make sure you are playing him in his Red Form.
For Bans we recommend Wukong, Graves, and Ekko.
Wukong is busted and is played in several different roles so he has to be banned.
Graves has the second highest pick rate, found in 13% of all games, while being in the OP
bracket.
And Ekko also has a high pick rate of 11% while also being in the OP bracket.
Roaming into the mid lane changes.
Lissandra is having her Q cooldown reduced from 10 to 4 seconds to 8 to 4 seconds.
This is actually much bigger than people realize.
Once upon a time, Lissandra was actually a top pick in mid lane.
One of the biggest contributors to her downfall was when Riot nerfed her Q cooldown on patch
9.7, increasing it to 10 seconds from 6 at level 1.
Since that nerf, Riot has given Lissandra a ton of other buffs, increasing the AP ratio
on literally every single one of her abilities.
With Riot now semi-reverting this Q cooldown nerf after all of these buffs, we could very
well see Lissandra form a glacial path back into the meta.
This is definitely enough to put Lissandra at the top of the A tier, but we wouldn't
be surprised if she ends up at the bottom of the S tier.
Jumping into the Tier List not that much has changed since last patch.
In the OP bracket we still have the regulars Kassadin, Diana, Ekko, Fizz, and Katarina.
However, we've now added Talon back in it.
It's actually crazy when you think about it.
Talon got a massive nerf on patch 10.7 and yet it didn't even impact his win rate at
all.
When you combine that with shared kill exp and the new homeguard on death helping combat
roaming playstyles in mid lane, you'd think Talon would be declining in power, and yet
the numbers don't lie, he's still one of the strongest picks.
For low elo picks, that's gold and below, we recommend Kassadin, Fizz, Annie, and Talon.
Pick Kassadin if you want scaling and the ability to 1v9 carry.
Pick Fizz if you want to snowball through killing your lane opponent.
Pick Annie if you're just learning the basics and want to keep things simple.
And pick Talon if you want to execute a push into roaming playstyle.
For Bans we recommend Kassadin, Diana, and Ekko.
Kassadin and Diana have some of the highest pick rates in mid lane at around 9%.
Whereas Ekko is played in both mid and jungle so by banning him you'll remove him from both
roles at once.
Kiting straight into the ADC Tier List this patch as there aren't any nerfs or buffs likely
due to the fact that there was so many meta changes last patch.
But that doesn't mean there aren't changes to the Tier List itself as we're still seeing
the effects of the fallout from the previous patch.
Firstly, we want to mention that Miss Fortune is pretty much God Tier at this point in the
ADC position.
She has one of the highest average win rates at 53%, the highest win rate for players that
master her at 60%, and an insane pick rate of 18%.
Miss fortune is essentially at 100% pick ban status at this point.
This is mainly the result of so many nerfs on previous patches going to the old top tier
picks like Senna and Aphelios.
Another side effect of this meta shift is that Vayne has seen a massive rise in strength
now being placed in the S tier.
She also has some nutty stats, a 52% average win rate, 60% win rate for players that master
her, and 14% pick rate.
If you're going to play Vayne though, you need to ban out Caitlyn who is still an S
tier champion and is her main counter pick at the moment.
Another interesting change is Kalista who has dropped all the way down to the C tier.
It's looking like those nerfs to her Rend slow and base armor was too much for her to
handle.
You should also be on the lookout for the rise of non-standard ADC picks.
Yasuo, Cassiopeia, Syndra, and Veigar have all seen a rise in their win rates after the
ADC changes and are all strong picks at the moment.
For Low elo, that's gold and below, we recommend Miss Fortune, Caitlyn, and Ashe.
Miss Fortune is so broken and is still straight forward to play so can be very powerful for
lower elo players.
Caitlyn and Ashe are the safer picks with their high auto-attack range allowing you
to learn and improve your fundamentals instead of having to focus on mastering the champion.
For bans we recommend Miss Fortune, Vayne, and Caitlyn.
These 3 picks are by far the most popular while being some of the most powerful.
There really is no comparison at the moment, these are the 3 champions that you'll get
the most bang for your buck spending your bans on.
Engaging into the support changes we have some pretty significant nerfs.
Starting with Bard, he's having his W movement speed reduced from 50 to 30% and the cooldown
is being increased by 2 seconds.
His E ability, which is his tunnel, is also having the cooldown increased from 18 to 14
to 22 to 16.
Bard was actually in the OP tier for awhile, up until a big nerf to his damage on patch
10.5.
That did see his win rate initially drop, but it has been steadily increasing to the
top position ever since.
Currently sporting a 54% win rate, Bard is definitely deserving of a nerf, the question
is did these nerfs go too far?
The nerfs to his W are no joke, especially losing the flat 20% movement speed, almost
cutting its power in half.
And losing 4 seconds on his E cooldown at level 1 will definitely impact his ability
to escape more engage orientated supports, which are still the meta right now.
We think this will prevent him from being in the OP tier, and result in being in the
S tier for now.
Nami is also receiving a nerf, she's having her Base health slightly lowered, along with
her base mana.
Additionally, her passive movement speed is being lowered from 60 to 45.
Now, Riot is saying this is mainly due to the fact that Nami is too strong in the lower
elo brackets, which makes sense as she does have the highest win rate for any support
at 54% in Gold and Below.
Here's the good news for you Nami mains out there.
These nerfs aren't hitting what makes her so strong.
None of her healing, damage, or crowd control duration is being lowered.
The base stat reduction is pretty minor, it's really the movement speed nerf that is the
biggest nerf.
Keep in mind, the movement speed from her passive is actually doubled when touched by
her ultimate.
So that 15 less movement speed turns into 30 less movement speed.
For now, we'll be placing her at the bottom of the S tier.
Alright, moving into the Tier List, where we find Leona, Blitzcrank, and Nautilus still
standing strong in the OP bracket.
However, one of the newest additions is support Sett jumping into the S tier.
Support Sett is something relatively new that has popped up and if you were to only look
at its average win rate, which is 48%, you'd think it's pretty weak.
Appearances are deceiving though, for players that Master support Sett, they average a win
rate of 60%, one of the highest for the roles.
This is definitely one of those high elo picks that the rest of the player base has yet to
catch on to.
Don't worry though, we here at skill-capped have you covered, as we actually created a
guide teaching how to play Sett Support on our site, link in the description below.
For low elo, that's Gold and below, we recommend Blitzcrank, Bard, and Janna.
Blitzcrank can take advantage of the poor positioning in low elo to pick up kills.
Despite the Bard nerfs, he's a fantastic carry support, letting you roam the map and generate
your own scaling damage through his passive.
And Janna is our more traditional support recommendation as she can be relatively simple
to play, counters the engage meta, and is still an S tier champion.
For bans we recommend Nautilus, Leona, Blitzcrank, and Yuumi.
The 3 engage tanks are still a priority ban due to their power and high pick rate.
Yuumi on the other hand is an extremely annoying champion to lane against that has a lot of
strong hyper scaling combos with late game champions.
With the third highest pick rate in the support position at 12%, she is worth a ban if you
don't like facing her.
Now for the section we've really all been waiting for, skins.
The winners of the 2019 World Championship, FPX, are having their skin line released this
patch, each costing 1350 RP.
These consist of FPX Gangplank for Top FPX Lee Sin for Jungle
FPX Malphite for Mid Lane FPX Vayne for AD Carry
And FPX Thresh for Support Each one will also come with their own respective
Elite Chroma.
Which skin do you like the most?
I think I have to go with FPX Vayne has she has some cool looking wings when she uses
her ultimate.
Alright, that's going to do it for Skill-capped's Patch 10.9 Tier List.
We would love to hear your guys' feedback.
What about the tier list did you love, what do you want to see more of, and what do you
think we could have done better.
If you have any questions, leave a comment below, and as always, good luck, and have
fun on summoner's rift.
Alright, we here at skill-capped put a ton of work into our new tier list and the best
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If you're serious about improving and want to rank up, there's no better time than now
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And as always, good luck, and have fun, on summoner's rift.