League of Legends patch 14.8 preview: Akali buffs, Zeri nerfs, Skarner adjustments, and more

The League of Legends preview for patch 14.8 is now live, and there are a significant number of balance changes that will be hitting the MSI patch. Some of the biggest changes in 14.8 will be the buffs affecting Akali, Draven, LeBlanc, Sylas, and Yone, which are bound to help these picks make their way back to the competitive meta.

Nerfs will hit Azir, Briar, and Zeri. These units have been quite dominant in their respective roles, and Riot will be looking to tone down their effectiveness to a degree. Additionally, adjustments will be introduced for Mordekaiser and Skarner after the latter recently received a rework.

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League of Legends patch 14.8 preview

Before moving on to the list of proposed changes, it’s important to note that Riot will first be testing these alterations out in the League of Legends PBE. So they may not be entirely reflected in the official update next week.

1) Champion Buffs:

• Akali
• Draven
• Galio
• Graves
• Gwen
• Hwei
• Jarvan IV
• Kai’Sa
• LeBlanc
• Olaf
• Ryze
• Sylas
• Thresh
• Viego
• Yone

When talking about the upcoming Zeri nerfs, Riot stated:

“After all the Crit item changes have shaken out, Zeri has emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of these changes. We're tapping her down and her regular performance is still pretty healthy. We're feeling a lot more confident about her long term balance state after all the changes, but she's just a bit too strong right now.”

2) Champion Nerfs

• Azir
• Briar
• Zeri

3) Champion Adjustments

• Mordekaiser
• Skarner

When talking about the Skarner changes, Riot stated:

“Skarner is doing a lot better as players play him, gaining a decent amount of performance day over day. We're targeting some nerfs to bring his Top and Jungle closer in line. We're looking to make some adjustments to make him smoother to play while trying to keep the impactful feeling of the boulder.”

League of Legends patch 14.8 is expected to go live next week and will be dropping on the Rift on April 17, 2024. This is the patch version on which the 2024 MSI will be played.