*NEW* TIER LIST for PATCH 25.21 - League of Legends

It's been a long time coming, but we

actually have some nerfs to Dorne Shield

and Second Wind on the way. Starting

items are being adjusted as well, along

with 13 champions receiving changes. So,

we'll have the complete rundown of

everything in today's video and an

update to the solo Q tier list for every

single role. But first, some hard truth.

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Cap today. So, if we start off the video

by looking at all the item changes,

Dorne's Blade is going to have its life

steal removed and instead will now heal

you for 2.5% of the damage you deal. So,

what this means is that you will now be

able to heal from abilities dealing

damage, which will benefit certain

champs more than others. Take Aatrox for

example. His trading pattern doesn't

involve weaving in a bunch of auto

attacks early on in lane, as he's

playing around his Q and never really

wants to sit there and just auto trade

with his opponent. So, with Dorne's

Blade now healing off abilities, Atrox

will come out of a trade ever so

slightly healthier in 25.21. We compared

the healing from 25.20 to 25.21, and

this is what we found with Atrox. We

just used a standard combo where we W

into all three Q's and then auto attack.

We made sure to start the combo at the

exact same health, which was 750, so

that once the combo was over, we could

see the healing difference. So in 25.20,

after using the combo, we came out of it

with 880 health. In 25.21, after using

the combo, we end up with 885 health. So

it's only a five health difference here,

which honestly isn't all that

significant. We'll have to wait for the

changes to hit live servers to get the

full picture, but from what we can tell

from testing, it looks like the change

will be quite power neutral. Dorne's

Ring is next in line for a few changes

with its mana regen per second going

from 1.25 to one. The mana regen will be

increased from 1 to two for 5 seconds

after damaging an enemy champion. So,

champions who have the ability to trade

more aggressively early on in lane will

be liking this the most. We have a

flatout nerf to Dorne's shield for this

patch with the heal going down from 45

to 40 for melee champs. For ranged, it's

going to stay the same though. On top of

this Dorne's nerf, second wind is having

its healing reduced as the base value of

three healing that you would get is

being removed. So champs who like to run

the combo of Dorne shield and second

wind will be hurting the most in 25.21.

Casante, Shen, Mundo, Tomkench, Yona,

Nasis, Akali, and Or are likely to be

affected most significantly. And then

we've got one more item change as

catalyst will have its health lowered

from 350 to 300. So, Rod of Ages users

will be hurting from this one as Rise,

Anivvia, Casipia, Twisted Fate, Castin,

Gragas, and Vagar will lose a bit of

strength for 25.21. So, with second wind

and Dor and Shield getting nerfed, Riot

has to be careful about range. Top lane

champs being too dominant. So, they are

getting ahead of things and nerfing

Quinn. Quinn's Q bonus AD ratio is going

down from 120 to 100% at max rank. Our

damage is being changed from a 70% total

AD ratio to now having a flat value and

a 35% bonus AD ratio. We went out to PvE

and did a few comparison tests to see

how the damage differs, and this is what

we found. At level six, your R damage

will be the exact same from 25.20 to

25.21. Once you have one item completed

and are level eight, the damage will be

25 lower in 25.21. What about on two

items? And if you were level 11, damage

will be 15 lower in 25.21. And then

lastly, how about for three items? And

if you were level 14, damage will be 51

lower in 25.21. So basically, damage is

just lower once you get to one item and

beyond. Pre6 Quinn doesn't get affected

at all though by these nerfs. And since

Second Wind and Dorne's shield are

becoming weaker early on, Quinn's bully

potential in lane does get better for

2521 despite the direct nerfs. So,

because these are scaling nerfs to

Quinn, we don't see her losing all that

much power, at least relative to all

other top lane champs, as we will be

dropping her out of the OP tier, but

only moving her into S. Riot's going to

be shifting some numbers around in

Mundo's kit for this patch, as he'll be

getting a bit tankier, but losing some

damage. Armor growth is being increased

from 3.7 to 4.5. So you'll now have an

extra 14 armor at level 18. E damage is

being reduced though with the active

bonus health ratio dropping from 7 to

5%. So we can probably expect for these

adjustments to land power neutral. And

because of that, we won't be moving

Mundo anywhere on the tier list as he'll

remain placed in a Gwen has been down in

the dumps as of late, hovering below a

47% win rate. So Riot's going to be

doing something I don't think we've ever

seen them do before. Riot will be

completely reverting Gwen back to her

25.5 version, which is kind of crazy

considering she's been changed in five

different patches since then. So Riot's

just wiping out five patches worth of

changes and putting Gwen back to where

she was earlier in the season, which

should land her in a much better spot.

Looking back at our 25.5 tier list, we

had Gwen rated in the top lane A tier.

So at the very least, we can expect Gwen

to be in a better spot for this next

patch than she's been as of recent. For

now, we're going to bump Gwen up into

the A tier, but we may have to circle

back for mid patch depending on how

everything plays out when the changes

hit live servers. So, for the top lane

tier list in 25.21, we're going to be

moving Casio back up into the OP tier.

Cass top has already been overperforming

in recent patches, and with Doran's

shield and second wind being nerfed,

it's just going to make her bully power

in lane that much better. The majority

of top lane champs that will be laning

into Cass are going to take Doran's

shield. So, the nerf is great for her.

The fact Doran's ring now gives more

mana back when dealing damage is also

really nice for Cass, as you'll have

more mana regen when fighting, which in

certain cases could end up with you

being able to throw in an extra E before

going out of mana. range top lane champs

in general are going to be ones to keep

a close eye on for this patch as Teemo,

Kenan, Vain, Varys, Vlad, Jace, and Nar

should all see an uptick in power. How

much power exactly is hard to say

though. And then as we mentioned when

covering the item changes, Casante,

Shen, Mundo, Tomk, Kench, Yona, Nasis,

Akali, and Or are going to be losing

some power due to those Dorne, shield,

and second wind nerfs. Will the nerfs be

enough to actually move the needle in

regards to their tier list placements?

They definitely could, but for now,

we're not going to jump the gun and move

any of them down the tier list as we'll

have to see the exact severity of the

nerfs when they go live. The most OP

jungler from the past patch is being

nerfed in 25.21 as Diana will have her

passive monster damage lowered from 300

to 280%. So, when Diana was originally

buffed back in 25.19, passive monster

damage went from 260 to 300%. So, with

it going down to 280%, they are

reverting half of that buff. Since the

original buff saw Diana's win rate

increased by 1%, we can expect for this

nerf to lead to around a 0.5% drop in

win rate, which would still leave Diana

in a great spot. So, we'll only be

moving Diana down one tier for this

patch as she's going from OP into S.

Graves will be receiving an interesting

adjustment for this patch with his base

magic resist going down from 32 scaling

to 67 to 30 scaling to 52. However, E

will now provide two scaling to eight

magic resist per stack. So Riot's really

looking to push Graves away from

lethality and onto Bruiser with the

changes they've issued in the last two

patches. Last patch, Riot nerfed the

bonus AD ratio, but buffed the base

damage of Graves Q. And then with you

now being able to stack magic resist

from E, it really incentivizes building

him like a bruiser. Our challenger

jungler, Skillshot, is a big Graves

player, and he's actually already been

testing a Sununded Sky Rush on Graves,

and he's got a new full game commentary

where he showcases the build that is up

on our website. So definitely look into

Sunder Sky with Black Cleaver as a

potential two item core for Graves

moving forward. The fact that you gain

magic resist for stacking E means that

you need to be in the fight for a more

extended duration to really get the most

out of it, which favors bruiser builds

over lethality. No movement in regards

to Graves tier list placement for now as

we'll be keeping him in A. So, we've got

a couple of changes to the jungle tier

list for this patch as Volibear and Jax

will be slotting into the OP tier with

Diana dropping out. Volibear has been

completely unfazed by his recent nerfs

because there's a new build popping up

where he rushes Trinity Force instead of

Cosmic Drive. So, the fact Riot has

nerfed his AP ratios literally doesn't

matter at all if you're going Trinity.

We'll have to see if the build catches

on more for this patch to get a more

clear picture as to whether Trinity is

just flatout better than Cosmic Drive.

But in over 12,000 games throughout

25.20, Trinity did have a higher win

rate than Cosmic Drive as a rush. So,

it's Trinity Force into flicker blades

and then situationally tanky as the

build you want to try on Voli Barrett

for 25.21. So, Riots decided to toss in

a Yona buff for this patch because they

feel like with the Doran shield and

second wind nerfs coming through that

Yona will be negatively impacted the

most. Base AD will be increased from 60

to 62. And in terms of an analytical

standpoint, this buff should be more

than enough to outweigh the Dorne and

shield and second wind nerfs. So, we

won't be moving Yona anywhere on the

tier list for the time being as he'll

remain in the B tier. Morgana is going

to be nerfed for this patch, but not in

the way we were expecting as her base

armor is going down from 5 to 4.2. We

kind of thought that if Riot were to

nerf Morg, they would nerf her ability

to one-shot the range minions at level

five with a single W usage, but they're

taking a different approach. It is a 14

armor loss at level 18, so it's

definitely not insignificant. We do have

to keep in mind that it's only 14 if you

actually reach level 18 though, which

you won't in the majority of games. So,

you'll more so be looking at a max loss

of 10 or 12 armor for most games. So,

the severity of this nerf is going to

depend a lot on who you're playing

against. Just use your ban on Zed, who's

the most played AD mid laner, and then

it's much less likely you'll even be

going up against a physical damage

champion, as there isn't any being

played in meta at nearly the same rate

as Zed. We definitely think there's a

chance Morana loses enough power to push

her out of OP, but it's definitely not

super clear, so we'll be leaving her in

OP for now. Kiana is being tagged with

two nerfs as her Q bonus AD ratio is

being lowered from 90 to 85%. So not

something that really affects her early

game at all, but three items onwards,

you will be losing a bit of damage

there. Health growth is going down as

well from 124 to 121. So definitely

nothing over the top with these nerfs

and we won't be dropping Kiana further

down the tier list. So for mid lane in

2521, here's what we're working with. We

will continue to have Morgana, Diana,

and Leblanc in the OP tier. And Leblanc

should in theory get even better for

this patch. More mana back out of

Doran's ring when trading is really nice

for Leblanc as she wants to be

aggressive in lane and then less sustain

out of Dorne's shield and second wind

will result in her poke being more

meaningful. Artillery mages should get a

bit better for this patch too because

their poke damage won't be healed up as

quickly as before leading to more kill

opportunities in lane. Cassadin and

Akali are two mid laners who may see a

bit of a drop off for this patch because

they do like to run Doran Shield and

Second Wind in harder matchups. with

Catalyst nerfed as well. Cassadin may

actually be the biggest loser of the

patch as he's being indirectly nerfed in

three different ways. So, we're going to

drop him into the A tier. For ADC this

patch, we have a few struggling champs

receiving buffs as Ezreal will have his

AD growth increased from 2.75 to 3.25.

When Ash got this buff a few patches

ago, it led to her win rate increasing

by a bit over 1%. So, Ezreal should see

something similar. Even then, we don't

think that will be enough to move Ezreal

up into a good spot because he's been

down around a 47% win rate in recent

patches. So, we'll be leaving him in the

B tier. Kalista is the second ADC who

will receive an AD growth buff as it's

going from 4.25 to 4.75. It's pretty

much the exact same outlook as we had

for Ezreal with Kalista being a terrible

pick in recent patches. So, even though

this buff likely adds over 1% win rate,

it won't be enough to move Kalista into

a good spot. So, she's going to remain

down in C tier. These Yinara changes are

pretty confusing to look at. So, to make

things easier on everyone, let's just

compare the damage output from 25.20 to

25.21. So, W damage is being changed.

And if we have a Doran's Blade and are

level three, the difference in damage

from 25.20 to 25.21 is non-existent as

it will be the exact same. What about on

one item though with Kraken Slayer

completed? Damage will be 11 higher for

25.21. How about on two items with

Kraken and Hurricane completed? It's

actually got a lot lower for this next

patch, going from 147 to 128. This does

make sense though because the W ratio is

being changed from a total AD ratio to a

bonus AD ratio. And when you purchase

hurricane, you get no bonus AD at all.

What about when you get to three items

then and have Infinity Edge completed,

which will provide a ton of bonus AD?

Damage now goes back up from 232 last

patch to 254 in 25.21. So, this is a

pretty weird change where you will have

more damage early game and on your one

item spike. But in the mid game, while

you're sitting on hurricane, the damage

is going to dip until you can start

building towards Infinity Edge. RW

damage is being changed in a similar

fashion with the total AD ratio being

swapped for a bonus AD ratio. So, let's

see if this is a buff or nerf. If you

are a level six and are sitting on a

hearthbound axe, the damage from last

patch is at 174 and this next patch will

be at 176. So, a very slight increase.

If you have your Kraken Slayer

completed, the damage in 25.20 was

coming in at 200, while the damage in

25.21 will be lower at 191. With

hurricane completed, damage in 25.20 is

at 283, while in 25.21, it's at 280. So,

a very small drop off. And then, if you

have your three item core finished, the

damage in 25.20 sits at 344, while in

25.21, 21. It's lower at 323. So, it's

looking like prior to your one item

spike is where this adjustment is a

buff, but after one item, it turns into

a nerf. All in all, though, the RW

damage drop off is pretty small. And

with W damage going out for the majority

of the game, these adjustments to W

likely is net positive, but they don't

seem overly impactful. E is going to be

changed so that the cooldown is going

from 7.5 to 9 seconds. However, E

movement speed will no longer decay. And

then there's a bug fix to E so that it

now properly loses its enhanced movement

speed when turning away from enemies. So

overall, Riot has these changes under

the buff category, but we really don't

see them increasing Yinara's power by

much at all. E cooldown is nerfed and W

damage isn't going up by a crazy amount.

So we could be wrong here, but Yinara

likely remains one of the weaker ADCs,

so we won't be moving her out of the C

tier. Kog'ma is the only ADC who will be

flatout nerfed for this patch as his Q

passive attack speed is going down by 5%

at all ranks. Nothing major here by any

means, and we'll be keeping Kog'Maw in

the ADC S tier. So despite ADC receiving

a bunch of changes, we don't see the

meta actually changing at all. Jinx and

Ash have been the two best ADCs over the

past few patches, and because they won't

be nerfed, there's no reason to stop

prioritizing them the most. We'll have

to see how the Doran's blade changes

influence the role, but initial

expectations are that the changes won't

matter enough to sway the power level of

any champion significantly since you can

heal off abilities. Now, some ADCs will

benefit from that more than others, as

Jyn, for instance, will be able to heal

from using his Q. For any bot lane Yasuo

players out there, he will become a bit

weaker for this patch because taking

second wind is pretty vital when playing

him down bot. Dorne's blade already does

have a better win rate and play rate

than Dorne's shield on bot lane Yasuo

though, so he really shouldn't be

affected by the shield nerf. So, since

it's only the second wind nerf that will

hurt him, we're inclined to think his

power won't drop off that much and we'll

be keeping him in the ADC S tier. Riot's

looking to give bard players more of a

reason to build AP on him for this patch

as his W heal AP ratio is going up by

10% at all ranks and W movement speed to

AP ratio is up from 5 to 6%. So, all

this does for solo Qbard is solidify

Leandre as his best second purchase.

There may be a world where rushing

Echoes of Helia becomes good now, but

the fact it's just a 10% heal buff has

us thinking Dead Man's will just remain

as the best rush item for Bard. So, we

really don't expect for Bard to actually

gain much win rate at all from these

buffs. Because if he continues to rush

Dead Man's, then you don't even feel the

changes until much later in the game. As

a result, Bard will remain placed in the

support A tier. So, it's just Bard and

Morgana as the support champions change

for this patch, which means another

pretty uneventful patch for the role and

no big meta shifts will be occurring.

The Morgana nerf doesn't impact her

nearly as much for support as it will

for mid lane because you don't get

access to as much experience when

playing support and therefore scaling

changes are never as significant. So for

now, we will be leaving Morgana in the

support S tier. We were really hoping

that Riot would do something to shake up

the upper echelon of the support role,

but it's just going to be another patch

of Mio and Nami in the OP tier. Shortly,

Riot makes some sort of change soon

because it has been quite some time that

both picks have had super high play

rates and win rates. All right, guys,

one last thing. Our rankup guarantee is

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difference. So, that's going to wrap

everything up for our 2521 tier list.

Thank you all so much for watching.

We'll see you in the next one.