League of Legends: Patch 13.8 Buffs Some Underused Champions Before MSI

The League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) begins May 2. However, Riot Games has made last-minute adjustments in Patch 13.8, particularly to underused champions like Leona and Lillia to make them a bit more viable.

Lillia has a respectable win rate of 49% but she’s not as popular as other junglers in League of Legends, such as Jarvan IV and Kayn. To make her a bit more appealing to use, the company buffed her passive, Dream-laden Bough.

The monster damage cap of Dream-laden Bough has been raised from 50 to 70 at first level, which translates to 40% more damage against monsters with over 1,328 HP. Furthermore, the healing that she receives when fighting against monsters has increased from 24-75 (based on level) (+5.4% AP) to 39-54 (based on level) (+15% AP). The healing she gets from hitting champions has also been rebalanced from 6-120 (based on level) (+18% AP) to 6-90 (based on level) (+30% AP).

With these adjustments, Lillia can benefit a lot more from AP items, so those who intend to use her can now truly invest in those items.

Another underutilized champion that Riot buffed in Patch 13.8 is Leona. The bonus armor granted by her Eclipse ability is buffed to 20/25/30/35/40 (+20% Bonus Armor), up from 15/20/25/30/35 (+20% Bonus Armor). Besides that, the magic damage this ability deals has increased from 45/80/115/150/185 (+40% AP) to 55/90/125/160/195 (+40% AP).

Here are the other notable champion adjustments in this update:

• Zephyr
  • Magic Damage: 70/100/130/160/190 (+50% AP) > 80/110/140/170/200 (+60% AP)
• Eye of the Storm
  • Shield Decay Timer: 1.25 seconds > 2.5 seconds

• Attack Damage Growth: 3.4 > 3
• Dragon Strike
  • Physical Damage: 90/130/170/210/250 (+140% bonus AD) > 80/120/160/200/240 (+140% bonus AD)

• Shadow Step
  • Shadow Assassin - Bonus Move Speed: 80% > 70%
  • Shadow Assassin - Cooldown: 8 seconds > 10 seconds

• Taste Their Fear
  • Physical Damage: 60/85/110/135/160 (+115% bonus AD) > 70/95/120/145/170 (+ 115% bonus AD)

• Passive: Icathian Surprise
  • Run Kog, Run!: Kog’Maw is now Ghosted while in his passive form
  • True Damage: 125-550 (based on level) > 140-650 (based on level)
• Caustic Spittle
  • Cooldown: 8 seconds > 7 seconds
• Void Ooze
  • Mana Cost: 60/70/80/90/100 > 40/55/70/85/100
  • Slow: 20/28/36/44/52% > 30/35/40/45/50%

• Thunderclap
  • Empowered Attack Damage: 30/45/60/75/90 (+20% AP)(+15% Armor) > 30/40/50/60/70 (+20% AP)(+15% Armor)
  • Cleave Physical Damage: 15/25/35/45/55 (+ 30% AP) (+ 20% armor) > 15/25/35/45/55 (+ 30% AP) (+ 15% armor)

Are the recent buffs for Lillia and Leona enough to make them playable in MSI?