5 things to know about League of Legends patch 9.12

League of Legends patch 9.12 is here and it’s bringing new (or mostly new) kits for a couple of champions.

The biggest changes in this patch are coming to Mordekaiser and Ryze. Mordekaiser is getting a full rework, which he sorely needed, that totally changes the way his kit works. He’s still got a shield and a frontal AOE damage ability, but almost everything else is different. Meanwhile, Ryze is getting a kind of soft rework which should help make him a little easier to balance.

As for the other changes coming this patch, there is a slight nerf to Yuumi on the way that will allow enemies to stun and CC her while she’s on her way to an ally. There are also some small nerfs coming to Aatrox, Irelia, and Nautilus, while Zac, Caitlyn, and Ashe all got buffs.

For a look at all of the changes coming to League of Legends with patch 9.12 you can see the full patch notes.

Mordekaiser’s new rework is here

Both Mordekaiser fans and non-fans alike have been begging for him to get a champion update for years — since the last one was full of bugs, glitches, and tiny problems. Riot has finally obliged and brought players a brand new Mordekaiser. This time around his abilities are almost entirely different including an ability that pulls enemies toward him and an ultimate that teleports one single opponent into the “Death Realm” to face off against Mordekaiser in a 1v1 duel. If Mordekaiser wins, he keeps a portion of the enemies stats until they respawn making him even more powerful in fights.

Riot Games

Ryze got a small update

Ryze is one of League’s most notoriously pesky champions when it comes to balance. So it’s no surprise that he’s getting another light kit update here. Riot’s taking away the shield from his Q, and more importantly the root from his W. Instead, the W will slow and the root will be saved for if the target is affected by Flux. It’s not clear if this will be enough to balance Ryze in both pro play and solo queue, so we’ll just have to wait and see how these latest updates turn out.

Yuumi players are getting better so Yuumi’s getting nerfed

According to Riot, Yuumi players are starting to get the hang of the cat-support champion and that means that she’s starting to feel a little too strong in the hands of good players. So this patch she’s getting a few changes to help redistribute her power a little bit. Yuumi’s allies now get slightly less adaptive force when Yuumi is attached to them and Yuumi’s dash can now be interrupted by any CC. This means that Yuumi won’t be able to get out of danger as easily, but she should still be able to help out her allies easily.

Riot Games

There’s VFX updates for Ziggs, Lulu, Tryndamere, and Amumu

Sometimes if it’s been a while since a champion’s last rework, or even since their release, their kit can be mostly fine, but their visuals will lag behind, and that’s exactly where these champions were at. Thankfully in this patch, Riot is going back to polish up the visual effects for Ziggs, Lulu, Tryndamere, and Amumu. The new effects are splashy and fun, but they don’t stray too far from the originals. Each one should do a better job of communicating the ability, without being distracting.

Dark Star skins return

The Dark Star skin line is one of League of Legends’ coolest and most mysterious. The newest addition to the line are arriving this patch as Jhin, Karma, and Shaco all get Dark Star skins. While Karma and Jhin both get skins every now and then, this is the first new skin for Shaco since Wild Card Shaco which came out in May of 2015.