An unintentional Kayn nerf from patch 7.15 is already getting reverted

Kayn has had his fair share of bugs since his release a few weeks ago. In patch 7.15, we saw a ton of bug fixes related to Kayn. This isn’t entirely abnormal for new champions and we should expect to see a similarly pesticide filled patch for Urgot in 7.16. However, as reddit user TheSkrubHunter pointed out in their /r/leagueoflegends post, one bug seemed a little off.

In the post entitled “Kayn not being able to ult a shielded champion seems like a nerf, and not a bugfix,” players gathered to lament and argue the validity of this change.

The specific change from the patch notes is:

Fixed a bug where Kayn could cast R - Umbral Trespass on an enemy he attempted to damage when all of the damage was absorbed by a shield

Eventually, some Rioters showed up to clarify, namely Kayn lead champion designer Daniel “ZenontheStoic” Klein. Klein, infamous for his long-form, detailed responses to people, explained the change in full while also apologizing for it.

If you don’t want to read the whole thing, here is a quick summary of the post:

• Klein wanted to create parody between Kayn’s ult and Rek’Sai’s new ult, as they both require damaging an enemy to activate.
• Klein changed his to be more like Rek’Sai in the same patch that Rek’Sai’s ult became more like Kayn: Rek’Sai can now ult targets who she has only damaged the shield on and Kayn can no longer do that.
• Why? A lack of communication. It happens. As Klein puts it “Ships in the night, man.”
• Both teams agree that Rek’Sai and Kayn have to put themselves at risk to use the ult (being melee champs), so you should be able to use the ult even on targets with shields.
• Kayn will be able to ult shielded targets again in 7.16 and he and Rek’Sai will finally have parody.

Stay strong Kayn fans, only another week to go.