League of Legends’ 7.19 patch arrives today

Riot’s latest batch of changes will roll out to League of Legends today with the arrival of the MOBA’s 7.19 patch.

Champions Azir, Xin Zhao and Vayne all undergo reworks, which will hopefully see them return to popularity having fallen out of favour with most players. There are also nerfs to Janna and the Ardent Censer item, as well as a few client tweaks.

These are probably the final set of big changes before preseason begins next month.

Perhaps the most notable alterations made by 7.19 are to Azir, who Riot has traditionally found quite tricky to balance. This time out he’s been given a bit more mobility, although his range has been reduced a little. Older champion Xin Zhao, on the other hand, has been more radically altered and now should be potentially more fun to play.

Ardent Censer, meanwhile, loses its heal buff, but in return the item will now boost the support’s attack speed and on-hit damage when they shield and heal allies, rather than just the target ally.

Vayne gets a new look and alterations to the bonus damage given by her Q, and her ultimate will get a boost for every champion she kills. Ornn has also seen the mana cost of his Q and E reduced and his base mana increased. Malphite sees his armour bonus on his Brutal Strikes changed to boost a percent of his total armour rather than a flat amount of armour, and this boost is now be tripled as long as Granite Shield is active. A lot of the recent nerfs to Caitlyn, meanwhile, are being reverted, and she gains the ability to headshot turrets. 

Users will also gain the ability to sort Champions in the pre-game lobby, either by stats or by a selected favourites list. Oh, and Yorick will get a new skin, some six years after his last one.

The full patch notes can be seen here.