With the League of Legends meta constantly changing, keeping up with every update like new Karthus buffs that are on the dev-log can be tricky.
Luckily, here at FragMeta, we’re all ears. And we’re here to help you stay in the know on what’s coming!
Today we’re looking at Karthus, The Deathsinger. If you haven’t heard about it yet, the dev team has been planning some serious changes to this champion. And recently, there were buffs accidentally leaked on the PBE server change-logs. These Karthus buffs closely follow public plans to give the champion a more competitive edge going into LoL Patch 10.14.
Why Is The Deathslinger Being Updated?
Let’s face it – when we think of today’s meta picks, it’s not hard to pinpoint the fact that Karthus has been struggling to have a major impact over the last few seasons. Being a mostly niche pick in the jungle, Riot is looking to add some versatility to the time-worn deathslinger in the coming Patch 10.14 update with a series of experimental updates and skill-bumps.
Luckily for us, the buffs appeared early on the PBE on June 24th, before Riot was ready to reveal them. The PBE site Surrenderat20 spotted the leaks quickly after the change-logs hit the test server environment.
What Are The Karthus Buffs Coming?
So far, the main changes are centered on Karthus’ (W) – Wall of Pain. Firstly, it now interrupts dashes and grounds enemies. This also surprisingly includes the summoner spell Flash.
On top of this, Karthus’ W will also provide a 15% magic resist debuff, as well as a 40% slow. The wall itself will also now last 5 seconds instead of the 4 that’s currently seen on the live play-environment.
These leaked changes would look to help Karthus return to the mid-game meta as a relatively viable pick. Having gone the last few seasons being stuck in the jungle, despite being aided by the recent jungle experience changes – it’s looking as though Riot is eagerly looking to take Karthus back to his roots as a solo midlaner.
How Bad Is The Whole Jungle-Only Situation Really?
Currently, under LoL Patch 10.13 – 87.44% of Karthus games see him being played in the jungle. And with an average win rate of only 49.10%, these changes will hopefully help bump Karthus into a more viable solo lane playstyle.
Riot designer Phlox recently tweeted: “Trying to dig into Karthus in my spare time. Hoping to give him a little love in mid lane. We want to make him a bit better for people who aren’t top of the ladder.” And unsurprisingly, the changes were leaked from the PBE servers shortly after this.
However, Phlox did state after the leak that these changes are “very much not guaranteed” at the moment. While it’s set in stone that Karthus will see some sort of changes in the next coming patches, the Riot Dev added that this ‘wasn’t the full change list.”
This means we could potentially be seeing more on Karthus buffs in the coming weeks. And the changes that will eventually go live may be totally different from anything mentioned in the leak, or anything being debated by the active player community. We’re just hoping that they don’t follow the sudden reversal that we all saw with the Edge of Night LoL nerf that practically demolished the popular item into the ground.
At the moment, the most likely change that Riot is experimenting with is a change to the damage his Q (Lay Waste) does to jungle creeps. And with the leaked buffs targeting mid lane performance, it would make sense for Riot to balance his roaming damage.
Closing Thoughts
When it comes to iconic champions in League of Legends, ever since his release back in 2009, Karthus has stood out tall and proud among the wealth of champions the game has to offer.
But much like many of the other “old school champs,” recently Karthus has been slowly fading into the backdrop.
As such, we’re pretty excited to hear that the Riot Games developer team is actively working on finding ways to bring him back into the metagame.
Overall, while not necessarily set in stone, the Karthus changes leaked for LoL Patch 10.14 are very exciting. Hopefully, the changes that roll out in the coming weeks can revitalize Karthus, The Deathsinger back into the mid lane.
We’re excited to see him skyrocket back into being one of the best midlane champions to climb the ranked ladder with. And as always, we’ll keep you posted on any additional updates on this story.
