League of Legends Patch 12.16 is finally here! This update nerfs a few champions that have been picked a lot in the current meta. Here, we will focus on the nerfs for the two bot lane champions, Draven and Zeri.
Draven
Draven is an early game champion that can dominate his lane, thanks to his Spinning Axe. This champion got even scarier after the buffs in Update 12.10 and his pick rate in pro play showed how strong he is. To balance things out, developers reduced the base damage of his Spinning Axe (Q), which is key in his early-lane dominance.
Spinning Axe (Q)
The base damage is reduced by five across every level, which should make him slightly weaker. But don’t underestimate that and allow him to kill you because he can still snowball if he gets even a single champion kill.
- Base Damage: From 45/50/55/60/65 to 40/45/50/55/60.
Zeri
Zeri has been hit over and over again across multiple patches and the developers are still figuring out how to completely balance the champion. In the past few updates, her Ultrashock Laser (W) was dealing way too much damage whether against enemies or objectives like Drakes and Baron Nashor.
In this update, they nerfed her Burst Fire (Q) and Ultrashock Laser (W), which should reduce the chances of her being busted.
Burst Fire (Q)
Zeri’s Burst Fire ability received small AD scaling nerfs in this update. The base damage is the same, but when she starts building items, the AD ratio is not as painful as before.
- Damage: From 8/11/14/17/20 (+ 105/110/115/120/125% AD) (+60% AP) to 8/11/14/17/20 (+ 100/105/110/115/120% AD) (+60% AP).
Ultrashock Laser (W)
Zeri’s Ultrashock Laser is finally nerfed in this patch. Both AD and AP scaling dropped by a massive margin, which should prevent her from bursting enemies quickly.
- Damage 20/55/90/125/160 (+ 130% AD) (+ 60% AP) > 20/55/90/125/160 (+ 100% AD) (+ 40% AP).
Similarly, Poppy and Yuumi have also received nerfs, and you can read more about them here.
