Heya everyone! With Patch 4.11 around the corner, we're expecting some card changes that will impact both the Standard and Eternal metas. The Standard meta has been dominated by decks like Janna Nilah, Miss Fortune Quinn, and various mid-range archetypes. Despite players' efforts to counter Janna
Nilah
, it remains a solid choice for the ranked ladder and had a popular presence in the Runeterra Open.
In the Eternal meta, decks like Akshan
Samira
, Jax
Vi
, and Targon Invoke decks reigned supreme during the Patch 4.8 meta. Samira has already received a nerf, which should weaken decks like Akshan Samira and Zoe
Samira.
Let's dive into the nerfs I'd like to see for both the Standard and Eternal Ladders.
Standard Meta
1- Nilah
Nilah has proven to be a strong champion due to her Brash keyword and the resource value she generates with Slipstream
. I enjoy her unique playstyle, so I'd prefer a minor nerf.
Specifically, I suggest adjusting her Slipstream ability to create a Slipstream in the top 8 cards of the deck instead of the top 6. This change should delay the resource generation and the ability to reduce the cost of cards like Divine Whirlwind
, Exalted Cloudwinder
, and Windborne Mariner
.
2- Divine Whirlwind
Surprisingly, neither Divine Whirlwind nor Howling Gale
were addressed in the previous Patch 4.10. Divine Whirlwind is a potent removal and Nexus burn spell with a condition that's easy to fulfill.
To balance this, I propose reducing the burn damage from 2 to 1, ensuring that Divine Whirlwind is more of a removal-oriented spell than a burn tool that can become a burn win condition if Wizened Helmsman
creates more copies of it.
3- Howling Gale
Decks that utilize Howling Gale can easily play three cards to meet its five damage condition. Changing the limit to 4 damage should help keep the strength of Howling Gale in check. Another nerf would be increasing its cost up to 4, making it more of a challenge to play those 3 cards before you get to cast Howling Gale.
4- Glacial Saurian
Glacial Saurian has been a Tier-A card, mostly for its card draw ability and Overwhelm keyword. This card found success in decks like Warden of the Tribes
and Gnar
Darius
. I want to keep that Overwhelm strength and stat buff, but I want to make its card draw condition more difficult to achieve.
Changing Glacial Saurian to require two different subtypes on the board to draw a card should encourage players to include it in archetypes that run different subtypes and are capable of keeping two of them on the board.
5- Champions' Strength
It seems Champions' Strength keeps finding itself in decks capable of taking advantage of the Rally and creating a powerful turn despite the multiple nerfs the card received.
Decks like Miss Fortune
Quinn
, Janna Teemo
, and Galio
Jarvan IV
have been taking advantage of Champions' Strength to set up one powerful attack to either close out the game or force the opponent into unfavorable blocks and take over the board presence.
An increase to 9 mana will delay Champions' Strength, giving the opposing player more time to set up their counterplay.
6- Yuumi
I dislike having to nerf Yuumi to keep the Teemo Yuumi elusive deck in check, but it has proven problematic if they manage to buff up one of their Elusive units on turn 3.
Yuumi's Power can be dropped to 1, lowering the aggressiveness of the elusive unit while keeping the defensive health active.
7- Durand Sculpture
Formidable decks have been performing exceptionally well in both Standard and Eternal metas. They can put a lot of pressure if Durand Sculptor isn't killed immediately. The additional health on Formidable units threatens more Nexus damage and can be a challenge to kill.
Dropping Durand Sculptor's health to 1 should make it vulnerable to pings like Pokey Stick
, Pie Toss
, Vile Feast
, and Group Shot
.
Eternal Meta
1- Cosmic Call
A nerf to Cosmic Call would affect both the Standard and Eternal metas, but this card has had a more significant presence in the Eternal meta. Casting it by turn 5 can lead to incredibly powerful future turns, especially if you find a Living Legends
. Targon decks like Zoe Samira and Zoe Aphelios
Viktor
have been popular choices in Eternal meta.
To balance Cosmic Call, I suggest increasing its mana cost to 9. This nerf should delay the powerful turn and give the opponent more time to win the game before the big Celestial units come into play.
2- Living Legends
If the Cosmic Call nerf isn't the way to go, directly nerfing Living Legends should be enough to keep Cosmic Call in check. The issue with Cosmic Call is its ability to find Living Legends, providing you access to a mana refill and a full hand of Celestial cards.
With the Cosmic Call's cost reduction effect, you'll be able to play multiple Celestial cards and set up that powerful turn. Nerfing Living Legends to only give back mana equal to its cost should limit the number of Celestial cards that can be played in a single turn.
3- Concurrent Timelines
This is a tough one, but I'm sure we need to nerf Concurrent Timelines as it has enabled the top-tier deck Jax Vi, which we've seen in many different Eternal metas.
At this point, increasing the cost of Concurrent Timelines to 3 mana would simply remove it from the meta completely, which might be justifiable in this case since it shined in enough metas.
Another approach is to limit the number of rounds it is active on. For example, we could keep it active for 4 rounds, and after that, your units will not transform anymore unless you cast another Concurrent Timelines.
Closing Words
Numerous other cards could potentially be candidates for a nerf, including Windborne Mariner. However, my preference leans towards minor nerfs to maintain the playability of these archetypes. Buffing other cards can also push new archetypes into the meta without relying only on nerfing the top performers.