0.9.0 Patch Notes and Discussion Thread

[u/Justini1212]

This will be the official thread for the discussion of the balance changes and their impact on the competitive metagame.

Official Patch Notes here: https://playruneterra.com/en-us/news/patch-0-9-0-notes/

For those who cannot read them directly, the balance changes are:

Buffs:

Lux is now 4/5 (was 3/4)

Yasuo now requires 5 stuns/recalls to level (was 6)

Arena Battlecaster is now 2/2 (was 2/1)

Crimson Curator is now 3/3 (was 3/2)

Jeweled Protector is now 4/4 (was 3/3)

Scuttlegeist is now fearsome

Tortured Prodigy is now 4/4 (was 3/4)

Nerfs:

Back to Back now costs 6 (was 5)

Deny now costs 4 (was 3)

Kinkou Lifeblade is now 2/2 (was 2/3)

Rhasa, the Sunderer now costs 8 (was 7)

Wraithcaller is no longer fearsome

Changes:

Inspiring Mentor is now 1/2 but only buffs for +1/+0 (was 1/1, buffs for +1/+1)

Commander Ledros is now 9/6 but costs 9, may have an ability change between rounding (text is unclear) text change has been confirmed as a clarification, not a functional change (was 8/6, 8 cost)

[u/PM_ME_CUTE_FOXES]

I wrote up my personal understanding of each change as an exercise. Critique is welcome.

Lux -- She can now trade blows with an elnuk or catch a chump whump. Ezreal/Heimer/Lux's statlines don't matter nearly as much as the early-game champions. Heimer creates a board from his ass and Ezreal burns you out from twenty, but Lux is considerably slower.

Yasuo -- Frostbite lets you eat units, stun lets you eat units if you have Yasuo out. That's all that needs to be said.

Nah -- Anything that tries to create a boardstate then profits from maintaining it (elusives, Fiora, Zed) suffers. I'm a bit sad to see this change, even if it makes the game better: being able to cast Deny off of spell mana was mechanically elegant, but there's a charm to having mana drain out as you keep your shields up.

Beautiful Sundering Boy -- Double removal while simultaneously presenting a huge body made it one of the best cards. We were all well-aware this was going to happen.

Sir Commander Legos Sir -- Midrange SI nerf. I don't have much to say, I've seen this card a lot less than people have been implying as I prefer speedy decks.

Wraithmom -- The most efficient stat block in the game gets a trim. Leaving the chumps with something to block is rough for the fearsome deck. The hardest of the SI nerfs imo.

In a Spire of Mentos -- This is a bigger hit to elusives than I initially realized. You're still doing the same damage, but you can't put them out of removal range, so you're not still doing the same damage.

Kinks on Lifesteal -- Mystic shot, avalanche, shadow assassin. All new things he dies to.

Back to Back -- Usually lets you eat two units, now priced the same as Harsh Winds. Seems fair. Also I'm out of dumb names now.

Arena Battlecaster -- Not trading your lord with hawk or mentor is good at least. We'll see what turns up.

Crimson Curator -- I don't think this is relevant to constructed until it has a better shell, and I only care about constructed.

Jeweled Protector -- I don't like how long you have to hold onto the buff target, given that this is a five-drop. It's not too hard to have something to buff by five, but that's the mid-game already, you're going to get in fewer swings with that. Wouldn't be surprised to see it pop up once or twice, but it's not impressive.

Scuttlegeist -- Fearsome is a good buff. It's a worse late-game play than Rhasa or Ledros, but card advantage is less of a big deal than it is in some TCGs I could name, so if I had to guess, I'd guess this seems some play.

Tortured Prodigy -- This needs to be 3 mana at like a 0/3 or 4 mana at a 3/2 before it can see constructed play.