How to make sense of the Patch 8.7 rune changes

Thanks to Runes Reforged, rune changes are probably going to be a constant in patches for the rest of forever, and that’s definitely a good thing. The new runes are far more impactful than their predecessors and that means Riot is constantly going to have to make small adjustments to keep things in line and interesting. Patch 8.7 has plenty of adjustments.

Of the six runes that got changes this patch, the most immediately noticeable for most players will be Manaflow Band. Gone is the rune’s original effect, replaced by a new stacking system that will grant maximum mana ever time you hit an enemy champion up to 10. After 10 hits, Manaflow Band will restore one percent of your missing mana every five seconds. This should give the rune a slightly more active element rather than passively waiting to get a free spell.

Similarly reworked is Presence of Mind, which will now grant 20 percent of your maximum mana and refund 10 percent of your ultimate cooldown with every enemy champion takedown.

Among the smaller changes are runes like Legend: Tenacity, which received some across the board buffs, but it might not be enough to make the rune popular.

TENACITY 5% + 1.5% per stack ⇒ 5% + 2.5% per stack

MAX TENACITY 20% at 10 stacks ⇒ 30% at 10 stacks

Also buffed was Cut Down which should finally give tanks something to fear,

DAMAGE MULTIPLIER4-10% (at 150-2000 max health difference) ⇒ 4-12% (at 150-2000 max health difference)

The final buffed rune is Approach Velocity, which was taken by almost no one, and got a five percent increase in the movement speed it grants in hopes of making it a little more appealing, but only on very specific champions.

The lone rune to receive a flat nerf this patch is the ever troublesome Zombie Ward. The biggest problem with Zombie Ward is that it’s a tool built from the ground up for snowballing. You take away an enemies vision, something that puts them at a disadvantage, and you get a free ward too, it’s doubling down on your advantage. Riot definitely seems to like the idea of the rune because they are making another change to help make it a little more balanced and, hopefully, a little less powerful when it’s on the winning team.

ZOMBIE WARD DURATION60-180 seconds (at levels 1-18) ⇒ 30 seconds at levels 1-4; 36-120 seconds at levels 5-18

For a look at the full patch notes for Patch 8.7, you can check out our breakdown here.