League of Legends analyst Nick ‘LS’ De Cesare hit out at Riot over a “laughably pathetic” Amumu nerf in the recent 9.11 patch.
As always, in the wake of the new update LS did a rundown of the patch notes on his stream to give his reactions and predictions about what the changes could mean, and one change in particular stood out to him.
The 9.11 update included a number of champion balance changes – and one of those was a nerf to Amumu that left LS nearly speechless.
Amumu
Passive bonus true damage decreased.
We’re reverting Amumu’s passive buff from 9.8. Choosing this line specifically because too much of his strength is tied up in his passive and we want to keep the rest of his abilities feeling strong.
Passive – Cursed Touch
BONUS TRUE DAMAGE ON CURSED TARGETS 13% ⇒ 10%
Amumu is hardly a top pick in the upper tiers of League of Legends, and entirely absent from professional play, so LS was stunned to see Riot revert a buff that the champion received previously in Patch 9.8.
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LS also offered some advice to whichever Riot developer pushed the Amumu change, under the assumption that the nerf comes as a result of said developer losing to the champion in a low-ranked game. Fans of LS will be familiar with his go-to suggestion for low-ranked players, which is simply to play Annie.
“I don’t know who it was that lost to this champion down there in the depths, but I’ve got some advice for you, alright. You’re gonna play Annie. You play Annie, we wouldn’t be having Amumu nerfed on 9.11 here. Mother of god, what am I fucking reading? What is going on here? I actually just don’t even have words, this is such a laughably pathetic fucking change. I’m actually angry, this is so stupid.”
While Amumu may not be a top champion in the higher tiers of play, however, Riot do have to try to balance at all tiers, and in the lower tiers he has proven quite strong. The champion currently boasts over a 53% win-rate, putting him on the higher end of champions statistically.
Nevertheless, as this change itself demonstrates, Riot do continuously monitor and update champion balance, so it’s possible Amumu could get another buff to compensate in a future patch if this change proves too harmful to his success rate.
