The ranked season in League of Legends is well underway, with players eagerly grinding through games to achieve higher ranks. However, the pursuit isn’t just for fame and glory; Riot Games rewards players who earn enough split points with exclusive skins.

These Victorious skins are highly anticipated among ranked players, who are always curious to see which champion will receive one each split.

Typically, the Victorious skin is awarded to a champion that has significantly impacted the game mode during that particular split. In the past, champions like Maokai, Aatrox, Graves, and Orianna have received these prestigious skins. Now, Sona will join the elite group of champions with a Victorious skin, as her new skin has been spotted in the PBE store.

SkinSpotlights, a well-known community source for in-game content, showcased that leaked Victorious Sona is available for testing on the PBE servers. Riot Games uses the PBE to test new content before its official release, so the skin is expected to be available on live servers soon.

While details about the leaked skin’s design are still scarce, the Victorious skin line usually features a consistent aesthetic. These skins are often shiny and incorporate shades of gold and other metals to accentuate the champions’ features.

However, the most recent Victorious skin for Kog’Maw deviated slightly from this theme, so Sona’s skin might also present a unique look.

For Sona players eager to obtain the skin once it goes live, there are specific requirements to meet. Players in Gold rank or higher need to earn at least 80 split points, while those in Silver rank or below must accumulate 1000 split points to unlock this new cosmetic.

This new patch is designed to make several important adjustments to the game, with a focus on melee assassins that will likely alter their power dynamics considerably.

In this patch, many melee assassins are undergoing significant changes. Champions like Zed, Yone, Yasuo, Irelia, and Akali are all receiving major updates that will impact their power levels in meaningful ways. These changes aim to balance their effectiveness and ensure a more equitable gameplay experience.

Additionally, boots items are being nerfed across the board. Many of these items will see increases in cost and reductions in their effective resistances and other stats. These adjustments are intended to balance the overall power of boots and their impact on gameplay.

League of Legends Patch 14.15 early notes

Champions

Akali

W: Twilight Shroud

• Cooldown reduced: 20 seconds flat >>> 20-16 seconds

R: Perfect Execution

• Cooldown increased: 100-60 seconds >>> 120 – 60 seconds
• R1 base damage changed: 80-360 >>> 110-330
• R2 base damage increased: 60-200 >>> 70-210

Cassiopeia

Base Stats

• Base mana increased: 350 >>> 400
• Mana growth reduced: 60 >>> 40

Q: Noxious Blast

• Mana cost reduced: 50-90 >>> 50-70
• AP ratio reduced: 90% >>> 80%

W: Miasma

• Mana cost reduced: 70-110 >>> 70-90

E: Twin Fang

• Mana cost reduced: 50-42 >>> 40 flat

Irelia

Base Stats

• Base health increased: 590 >>> 630
• Base health regen reduced: 8.5 >>> 6

Passive: Ionian Fervor

• Duration reduced: 6 seconds >>> 5 seconds

Skarner

Base Stats

• Health growth increased: 105 >>> 110
• Armor growth increased: 4.8 >>> 5

Q: Shattered Earth/ Upheaval

• Mana cost reduced: 50 >>> 40

E: Ixtal’s Impact

• Backwards kidnap removed
• Bug fix to stun more consistently

Sylas

Q: Chain Lash

• Cooldown reduced: 11-7 seconds >>> 10-6 seconds
• Explosion base damage reduced: 70-290 >>> 60-260
• Explosion AP ratio reduced: 90% >>> 80%

W: Kingslayer

• Heal now scales with 5% bonus HP
• Heal AP ratio reduced: 35% >>> 20%
• Damage AP ratio reduced: 80% >>> 70%

E: Abscond/ Abduct

• AP ratio reduced: 100% >>> 80%

Yasuo

E: Sweeping Blade

• Base damage increased: 60-100 >>> 70-130
• No longer scales with 20% bonus AD
• Bonus damage per stack increased: 15-25% (1-18) >>> 25% flat

Yone

Q: Mortal Steel

• Base damage increased: 20-100 >>> 20-120

R: Fate Sealed

• Cooldown increased: 120-60 seconds >>> 120-80 seconds

Zed

Q: Razor Shuriken

• Base damage increased: 80-220 >>> 80-240
• Bonus AD ratio reduced: 110% >>> 100%

E: Shadow Slash

• Base damage changed: 65-165 >>> 60-180
• Bonus AD ratio increased: 65% >>> 80%
• Cooldown changed: 5-3 seconds >>> 4 seconds flat
• Energy cost increased: 40 >>> 50

R: Death Mark

• Cooldown increased: 120-80 seconds >>> 120-100 seconds

Items

Abyssal Mask

• MR reduction increased: 20% >>> 30%
• Cost increased: 2300 >>> 2500
• Aura radius increased: 600 >>> 700

Wit’s End

• Dagger replaced by Recurve Bow in recipe
• On hit damage changed: 15-80 >>> 40-80(linear)

Null-Magic Mantle

• Cost reduced: 450 >>> 400
• MR reduced: 25 >>> 20

Mercury’s Treads

• Cost increased: 1100 >>> 1200
• MR reduced: 25 >>> 20

Plated Steelcaps

• Cost increased: 1000 >>> 1200

Ionian Boots of Lucidity

• Cost increased: 900 >>> 1000
• Summoner spell haste reduced: 12 >>> 10

Sorcerer’s Shoes

• Magic pen reduced: 18 >>> 15

Berserker’s Greaves

• Attack speed reduced: 35% >>> 30%

Boots of Swiftness

• Cost increased: 900 >>> 1000

Runes

Dark Harvest

• Cooldown reduced: 40 seconds >>> 35 seconds
• Takedown cooldown reduced: 1.5 seconds >>> 1.25 seconds

According to the patch schedule, League of Legends Patch 14.15 is expected to go live on July 31, 2024. Players can look forward to experiencing these changes and seeing how they affect the dynamics of the game.

New Aphelios changes coming soon to League

League of Legends boasts one of the largest rosters in the gaming world. The developers at Riot Games have worked hard to create champions with diverse playstyles.

One of the most popular roles in the MOBA is the AD carry, a position primarily focused on kiting and dealing damage from a distance through auto-attacks. The role requires a balance between dealing damage through auto attacks and abilities, which can vary based on the effectiveness of different items.

Currently, Aphelios is heavily focused on using abilities. However, the developers want to change this and have plans to significantly revamp the champion in an upcoming patch. In the patch 14.14 preview, Riot Phreak explained their vision for the champion.

“We actually aren’t huge fans of the fact that Aphelios is kind of a caster right now. His primary build is E max second, and rush Collector. We’d really rather he be more of an auto-attacker and less of a 5000 range burst mage.”

Aphelios has been a controversial champion since his release, particularly due to his ability to deal massive on-hit damage with his white Chakram gun. Since then, the developers have significantly nerfed Aphelios, leaving him less impactful compared to other champions.

Riot Phreak mentioned that he has some ideas for Aphelios. He suggested that it’s possible they might implement some patchwork changes in updates 14.15 or 14.16. These changes would aim to make Aphelios more of a traditional auto-attack carry and less focused on what can feel like overly powerful gun combos.

According to the League of Legends patch schedule, Patch 14.15 is set to be released on July 31, with Patch 14.16 following two weeks later on August 14. This means we may soon see many of these changes implemented.

Although different from League, Swarm has a ton of weapons you can unlock to make your fights with Primordians easier. Since all weapons are unique and powerful, combining them with champions doesn’t only guarantee you success but also fun wombos combos.

Weapons are equipment you use to fight Primordians in Swarm. Like you unlock champions and certain passives, you obtain these weapons through achievements and progress through the Swarm. Unlike League, as you unlock weapons and progress through the Swarm, you can upgrade and level up these weapons.

The maximum level of each weapon is 5, and while every weapon has an evolved form, you can also stack one weapon by selecting it multiple times, which improves its passive. Although every champion has a starting weapon, there are currently 20 other weapons you can collect as you play the Swarm mode.

League of Legends Swarm: All weapons

Ani-Mines

• Evolution: Jinx’s Tri-Namite
• Passive: Area Size
• Function: Drops time explosive projectiles.

Anti-Shark Sea Mine

• Evolution: Neverending Mobstomper
• Passive: Damage
• Function: Fires explosives that bounce between opponents.

Battle Bunny Crossbow

• Evolution: Bunny Prime Ballista
• Passive: Critical Chance
• Function: Fires projectiles that pierce on critical strike.

Blade-o-rang

• Evolution: Quad-o-rang
• Passive: Move Speed
• Function: Fires returning projectiles.

Bunny Mega-Blast

• Evolution: Rabid Rabbit Raindown
• Passive: Critical Chance
• Function: Fires orbital strikes that scale with critical chance.

Cyclonic Slicers

• Evolution: Unceasing Cyclone
• Passive: Health Regen
• Function: Orbital strikes that knock back enemies.

Echoing Batblades

• Evolution: Vayne’s Chromablades
• Passive: Projectile Count
• Function: Fires piercing projectiles that bounce off terrain.

Final City Transit

• Evolution: FC Limited Express
• Passive: Damage
• Function: Trains drive through opponents.

Gatling Bunny-Guns

• Evolution: Double Bun-Bun Barrage
• Passive: Duration
• Function: Deals big AoE damage.

Iceblast Armor

• Evolution: Deep Freeze
• Passive: Armor
• Function: Blocks damage and freezes opponents.

Lioness’s Lament

• Evolution: Enveloping Light
• Passive: Ability Haste
• Function: Fires crescent-shaped projectiles.

Paw Print Poisoner

• Evolution: Bearfoot Chem-Dispenser
• Passive: Move Speed
• Function: Creates a poisoning cloud that deals damage.

Radiant Field

• Evolution: Explosive Embrace
• Passive: Max Health
• Function: Scales with Max Health and damages opponents.

Searing Shortbow

• Evolution: Evolved Embershot
• Passive: Area Size
• Function: Projectiles deal lingering fire damage.

Statikk Sword

• Evolution: Prumbis’s Electrocarver
• Passive: Max Health
• Function: Lightning shock bounces between opponents and deals damage.

T.I.B.B.E.R.S.

• Evolution: T.I.B.B.E.R.S. (B.E.E.G. Edition)
• Passive: Duration
• Function: Summons Robo-Tibbers that focuses opponents with the biggest health.

The Annihilator

• Evolution: Animapocalypse
• Passive: EXP
• Function: Deals massive AoE damage that instantly kills normal opponents.

UwU Blaster

• Evolution: OwO Blaster
• Passive: Ability Haste
• Function: Fires rapid lasers at the nearest opponent.

Vortex Glove

• Evolution: Tempest’s Gauntlet
• Passive: Health Regen
• Function: Fires rotating projectiles that deal damage.

YuumiBot

• Evolution: YumiBot_Final_FINAL
• Passive: Pickup Radius
• Function: Summons a Yummi AI drone that knocks up opponents and collects EXP Orbs.

This project would have brought the thrilling world of platform fighting to Runeterra. According to reporter Mikhail Klimentov, Riot was developing a game called Pool Party, which was inspired by the popular Super Smash Bros. series. This game would have featured champions from League of Legends in a classic platform-based fighting system.

The development of Pool Party was quite significant, with about 70 to 80 employees working on it before the project was closed in May. The idea behind Pool Party was to create a game similar to Super Smash Bros but with characters from League of Legends.

Additionally, Riot planned to support the game’s esports scene, leveraging their extensive experience with successful games like League of Legends, VALORANT, and Teamfight Tactics.

Despite the promising concept, Pool Party was ultimately canceled. One of the main reasons for its cancellation was the hesitation from Riot’s higher-ups. They were concerned about releasing a game that might not succeed, especially after seeing the perceived failure of MultiVersus.

MultiVersus, a game developed by Warner Bros., featured characters from various universes within the company’s portfolio. Its performance made Riot executives cautious about entering the competitive fighting game market.

After reassessing the market, Riot executives concluded that there wasn’t much room for a new competitor to the long-standing and highly popular Super Smash Bros. series. Even though the series has been around for over two decades, it remains incredibly popular among its dedicated fans. No other game has managed to take its place as the top platform fighter in the gaming scene.

While Pool Party may have been canceled, Riot Games is still moving forward with 2XKO. They are planning to launch the first online play test for this upcoming fighting game in August. The League of Legends community remains excited for what Riot has in store with 2XKO.

Marine biologists found a new crab species in the coral reefs of the South China Sea and decided to name it after Teemo, one of League of Legends’ most infamous champions. The crab, now officially called Gothus teemo, was given this name due to its appearance. This crab from the Xanthidae family is described as small with a “densely covered short setae” and has a brown-striped coloration.

The discovery was published in the journal Zoosystematics and Evolution. It was made during an expedition to the coral reefs of the South China Sea by marine biologists Zi-Ming Yuan, Wei Jiang, and Zhong-Li Sha.

During scuba diving expeditions, they carefully photographed and collected a few specimens of the crab, which are now housed at the Marine Biological Museum in the city of Qingdao.

Teemo is a fluffy, brown, and white-colored champion in League of Legends, known for his small size. His cute appearance has made him popular, resulting in various plushies and figurines. However, in the game, he is often disliked due to his frustrating spells that poison other players.

The Gothus teemo crab has a small, fluffy appearance similar to the Swift Scout. Its key features include a “dense coat of short setae” and brown-striped coloration, which reminded scientists of Teemo’s furry coat and his camouflage abilities.

This is the first time an animal has been named after a League of Legends character, though it’s not the first instance of a video game inspiring a scientific name. Gothus teemo joins a list of species named after characters from popular media like video games, including names from The Legend of Zelda, Street Fighter, and even Pokémon.

On July 8, Pu Liu, the Game Director for League of Legends, made an announcement on social media about Riot’s plans to improve the detection and punishment of “soft inting,” a significant issue in the game.

Soft inting involves players making deliberate mistakes during a match without being obvious enough to be penalized for offenses like trolling or helping the enemy team.

Liu explained that with the help of Vanguard, Riot can now issue hardware bans, meaning they can suspend a player’s computer, not just their accounts. He then asked the LoL community for their opinions on how quickly Riot should start applying hardware bans for soft inting. Many players responded, with a majority favoring a more lenient approach.

Spideraxe, a popular League account, suggested a lenient stance, stating that hardware bans should only be used for repeat offenders. He believes that Riot could explore more creative punishments before resorting to hardware bans, such as limiting the players to bot matches.

However, some community members expressed concerns that Riot might end up hardware banning players who are simply having a bad game rather than intentionally sabotaging matches to annoy their teammates.

On the game’s subreddit, players generally supported immediate hardware bans and even called for stricter measures. One Reddit user suggested not only immediate hardware bans but also punishing the main accounts of players who engage in such behavior on their alternate accounts.

As of now, Liu has not publicly responded to any of the community’s feedback, leaving players to wait and see how quickly Riot will move from suspending accounts to implementing hardware bans.

Riot Games has been actively addressing problematic and toxic behavior across its major titles. The company has taken a strong stance against harassment in Valorant and cheating in League of Legends. This new focus on tackling soft inting is part of Riot’s ongoing effort to create a better gaming experience for its players.

Yorick has been the strongest top lane champion for the last 5 patches

For at least the last 5 patches, Yorick has maintained his position at the top of Iron’s standings in the top lane. As of this writing, Yorick boasts an astounding 55.23% win rate in Patch 14.13, according to the League stats site U.GG.

Not only does Yorick have an impressive win rate, but he also has a notable pick rate. He has been selected in 6.3% of Iron matches. Additionally, Yorick is frequently banned, appearing in the ban list for 11.2% of games. This indicates that players recognize his power and are wary of facing him.

While Yorick may not be the best champion to pick for high-ranked or competitive players due to his easy counterability, this has not hindered his dominance in the lowest rank.

Yorick’s success in low ranks is likely attributed to his unique abilities, which allow players to overwhelm their opponent in the top lane with his ghouls. When low-ranked top laners are forced to handle not only Yorick but also his ghouls, minions, and potential jungle pressure, they often struggle to survive the laning phase. If Yorick gains an early advantage, he can quickly become an unstoppable bruiser.

For those struggling against Yorick, it is recommended to choose champions like Tryndamere, Urgot, or Trundle. These champions can make trading with Yorick more manageable, and with proper play, you should be able to counter and defeat him in one-on-one situations.

Arena to receive major updates in upcoming patches

This was announced by Riot’s lead gameplay designer, Matt “Phroxzon” Leung-Harrison, on Twitter. He outlined the changes coming in Patch 14.14, specifying which champions and items would receive buffs or nerfs.

Notably, Phenomenal Evil and Urf’s Champion are among the Augments that will be significantly strengthened in the next patch, while Duskblade and Prowler’s Claw are slated for nerfs. Champions that have been particularly dominant in Arena, such as Garen, Naafiri, Pyke, Zed, and Master Yi, will also be targeted for nerfs.

Looking ahead to Patch 14.15, Riot designers Riot Rogue Fool and Riot Twin Enso have been teasing new Augments over the past week. Some of the new additions include Fire Sale, which allows players to sell all of their non-quest items for 100% of their worth, and Ultimate Roulette, which replaces the “Flee” summoner spell with a random Ultimate spell.

Another new Augment, Fruits of your Labor, enhances the healing effect of flowers. Although only a few Augments have been revealed so far, there is still a long way to go until their release on July 31 as part of League Patch 14.15.

Riot has been making continuous efforts to improve the Arena game mode and potentially make it a permanent fixture, providing an alternative to the regular 5vs5 Summoner’s Rift. Currently, only ARAM has maintained its place as a permanent game mode, while other alternative modes like Twisted Treeline and Dominion have been either replaced or removed.

With these ongoing updates and improvements, Riot aims to keep the Arena mode fresh and engaging for players, ensuring it remains a popular and exciting option within the League of Legends ecosystem.

Patch 14.14 is set to introduce a variety of brand-new Anima Squad skins, available at standard RP prices of around 1,350 RP. This is a refreshing change compared to the more expensive Faker’s Hall of Legends skins and bundles.

According to Riot Phroxzon, this patch will also bring numerous balance changes across champions, items, and summoner spells. One notable focus will be additional tweaks to the Teleport, aiming to make the gameplay more exciting as the 2024 World Championship approaches.

Moreover, this update will see the debut of Aurora, the Witch Between Worlds. She is expected to bring powerful magic and abilities that can rival those of any mage in the game.

League of Legends Patch 14.14 early notes

Champions buffs

• Aphelios
• Cho’Gath
• Hecarim
• Jayce
• Sion
• Zed

Champions nerfs

• Bel’Veth
• Brand
• Corki
• Jax
• Kindred
• Lillia
• Nidalee
• Rumble
• Tristana
• Zyra

Champions adjustments

• Aurelion Sol
• Irelia
• Milio

System nerfs

• Absorb Life
• Warmog’s

League Patch 14.14 is scheduled to go live on July 17, aligning with the 2024 schedule. This update promises to bring significant changes and fresh content, enhancing the overall player experience in the upcoming season.