League of Legends patch 14.8 preview: Azir out for MSI

Lead gameplay designer Matthew "Riot Phroxzon" Leung-Harrison revealed the League of Legends patch 14.8 preview. This is the patch where MSI 2024 will be played, and the champions receiving nerfs are some pro play staples that might spell their demise for the international event.

Riot Phroxzon took to X to show an early peek at the patch as well as some context behind the changes. He then followed up with a more detailed preview and context. This patch is slated to go live on April 17, 2024 local server time. MSI 2024 will be played on this patch.

The Voidgrubs are getting some buffs. Its damage to towers will increase by ~25% and a team can now spawn 1 Voidgrub at 4 Grub kills.

Riot Phroxzon added that the spawn time of the Voidgrubs will be separated from the Dragon timer. This change intends to lessen trades and introduce more conflict across the map.

"Baron attacks are a little too unthreatening," says Riot Phroxzon. It seems that the team is being careful with changes to Baron Nashor's attacks because "powerful Baron attacks can cause issues with games stalling out and teams being unable to take Baron." Despite this, he thinks that there's some room to make Baron's attacks stronger.

The intent is to aid non-mage picks in mid.

This is for more situational picks in the bot lane.

Galio is getting more buffs! "He's a relatively low mastery champion and we expect him to be able to live above 50% comfortably," wrote Riot Phroxzon.

Gwen was part of the buff list in the initial post, but is missing from the more detailed preview. It's currently unknown whether this means Gwen isn't getting buffs or not.

The LoL devs want to balance Hwei around professional play, and they're dismayed that his pick rate in pro declined rapidly. Hwei is valued as a unique non-hard carry mage despite being "contentious."

Jhin buffs are to have more AD Carry variance. One of the champions considered as his counter, Draven, is also being buffed.

This is for more bot lane variety.

Olaf is receiving some aid in the jungle to maintain the jungle champion pool after Rell's exit, the same with Jarvan IV and Graves.

Sylas is also re-entering the jungle pool to increase the presence of AP junglers.

Thresh is getting some love to indirectly buff some traditional marksmen. "Overall, we think it looks good with a variety of things that are viable from many classes," Riot Phroxzon said.

Riot Phroxzon offered a bit of context regarding Azir. "Azir has been too present after re-entering the pro meta," he said. This refers to Azir's return from the champion's global ban due to a bugged interaction.

The nerfs are "targeted at his ability to get through lane in tougher matchups to open up more [picks against Azir]. The focus on pro play may lead to a significant decrease in Azir's pick rate come MSI 2024.

Briar has the problem opposite to Azir's: she's too strong in the lower ranks.

Top Zac will be the biggest loser of his nerf. This intends to offer some counterplay to his "uninteresting" lane phase. The balance team intends to keep jungle as Zac's most powerful role.

Zeri got a little too strong after the recent critical item changes. She's getting nerfs because "she's just a bit too strong right now." Despite this, Riot Phroxzon said that they are "feeling a lot more confident about her long-term balance state."

Good news, Mordekaiser players: your enemies will no longer be able to use a Quicksilver Sash to escape the Death Realm from his Ultimate. It's currently unknown whether this affects Gangplank's W - Remove Scurvy, but there's a good chance it does.

"[Allowing Mordekaiser R to be escapable with QSS] was originally done to prevent Mordekaiser from becoming a [staple in professional play," said Riot Phroxzon. However, they now feel that he has way too much counterplay, especially in higher ranks. "If you're picking [Mordekaiser], you want this portion of his kit to be effective."

This Mordekaiser change contributes to the push for more variation in the top-lane meta.

According to Riot Phroxzon, Skarner's win rate and performance are improving as players invest more time in him. Players can expect nerfs to top-lane Skarner to bring it closer to his jungle performance. He is also getting some adjustments to address the clunkiness that players are experiencing when operating him.

Again, the patch is scheduled to go live on April 17, 2024 local server time. MSI 2024 will be played on this patch.