Path of Champion Changes, Patch 4.8 – The Good, The Bad, and the Galio Buffs

Legend of Runeterra's Patch 4.8 just brought the most change that The Path of Champions might see in a while. Galio’s campaign got buffs across nearly all its encounters, our recent Path of Champions Tier List just got a shakeup with the nerfs to Gatebreaker and Galeforce, and it looks like some of the weaker options got enough buffs to begin trying to take their place in the newly-made power vacuum, while the old kings and queens try to hold their places on the throne.

In this article, we'll cover all the non-relic related buffs and nerfs that 4.8 has brought – we'll leave the relic changes for a later piece.

Path of Champions, Patch 4.8 - Changes to Champion Decks

Low-Impact Champ Buffs

Among the Champs that got a slight buff either to themselves or their decks, we've got:

The Poro King, although in all honesty, he was already A-tier in Path, without even having to level up.

Nidalee: Bristlehog was never a core part of Nidalee’s deck –  Nidalee remains a high-tier Champ in Path, with no real placement changes.

Gwen: Thread the Needle is rarely played, and mana is rarely ever an issue when it is.

Lux and Garen got buffs to 3 of the units that Remembrance can summon. Garen also gets a bonus buff because of Targon’s Brace on Laurent Bladekeeper.

Jinx: Amateur Aeronaut is now (less) useless now that Targon’s Brace is a Grant effect. He’s probably still getting cut from the deck as soon as we can, though.

Samira: Honestly, changing Arrel the Tracker by Captain Indari shouldn't make that big of a difference, because she's still going to be coming out on a late round, and still have to plunder her out for maximum value. But with the addition of the weapon, if you struggle to finish games you might be able to play extra cards later down the line with Samira.

Tahm Kench: Crusty Codger, a one-drop that at 3 stars comes down as a 4|4 with Quick Attack , just got buffed with the new Targon’s Brace. It’s the one-cost card that all the one-cost cards dream they could be.

Nasus: Ruin Runner, a card that never saw play in this deck, now grants with Targon’s Brace. No real difference. Cut Ruin Runner ASAP.

Ornn: Wyrding Stones now has one more health (but the Forge God is still D-tier in Path).

Flashbomb satchel now plants four Flashbomb Trap. It's going to make it more appealing, but it shouldn't make too much of a difference.

Medium-Impact Champ Nerfs

Vayne now has Fish Fight at three mana. It’s a big deal since it was one of her core removal tools – and she had already been suffering from mana issues since the nerf to Tumble.

Medium-Impact Champ Buffs

Jax and his weapon-wielding warriors no longer have to prove themselves in battle: they now only need to bulk up beforehand (with a bit more power than before). So what does this mean for Jax?

Three things:

• Jax is harder to level up than before. But while an extra 4 damage required to level up is a nerf, it’s very easy to achieve in Path of Champions thanks to the Star Powers that Jax has – his nerf will delay his level-up an attack or two at worse.
• Making up for this downside, Jax now gains his attack buff on level up, meaning he’ll be able to push that extra damage from his buff on that round, rather than having to wait for the next.
• Jax now pairs up dangerously well with Tempest Blade (a rare relic that reads: When I level up, stun all enemies). Because his level-up is on attack declaration and not on dealing damage, Jax and crew have a deadly combo when open-attacking, striking with one of the strongest aggressive Champions in Path while simultaneously forcing enemies to stop that force without being able to block with their units.

Overall, I think Jax has been buffed. Although our favorite Weaponmaster is going to be losing a powerful tool in Galeforce, he’s going to be fine thanks to the numerous synergies he has with the new epic relics being released.

Lee Sin: Now only needing 8 spells instead of 10 to level up, there’s a very good chance you’ll be able to flip him by the turn he hits the board, and then the enemy gets launched into the Nexus. Alongside Inspiring Mentor’s Targon’s Brace now Granting instead of Giving, the blind monk's early game is also made a little bit easier. The blind monk will probably rise in our Path of Champion's Tier List – Lee Sin is now a high-B tier Champ in Path, possibly even low-A tier.

Jhin and Yasuo are getting a cost cost reduction of one mana Yone, Windchaser. Both decks will end up with what is now a four-mana Yone (once they level up enough), which may help a good amount due to these Champs' stalling nature.

Big Champ Nerfs

Norra’s Tea went from Common to Rare, making it less likely to be seen. On top of that, it's now also limited to equipment, landmarks, and expensive 6+ cost units or spells, making what was until now one of the best stall tools in Path to be much more costly to pick up.

Big Champ Buffs

In Path, Nami got a direct buff, and she's now encouraged to get cheaper spells to machine-gun harder since you don’t need to focus on depleting your spell mana anymore.

This buff also removes a core weakness that Nami's deck had: lack of ways to protect her units. Now that she buffs her followers' health, her allies can brave the waves while dishing out tsunami-levels of damage. Abyssal Guard was also given Attune , making it a bit more of an appealing finisher option alongside the Nami buff.

Path of Champions, Patch 4.8 - Changes to AI Decks

Low-Impact AI Nerfs

Swain's Encounter: Swain level-up has been increased to dealing 16 damage – expect slightly easier Swain fights.

The Beast Below's Encounter and Nautiluss Encounter: Nautilus' adventure was already one of the easiest to finish for its difficulty, and now two of the three guaranteed fights got nerfed thanks to Thorny Toad only having 1 health. There are many, many ways for most Path characters to deal ping damage to a unit.

Low-Impact AI Buffs

Zed's Encounter: Windfarer Hatchling technically makes the fight harder, but Zed was already destroying you early enough that you probably didn’t know he even had the Hatchling in his deck. No significant changes, then.

Mageseeker Inciter's Encounter (in Zed's or Galio's Adventure): Three of the units summoned by Remembrance got quality buffs, but it shouldn’t make a huge difference.

Tahm Kench's Encounter (Monthly): Technically stronger because of the buff to Wish, but it was rarely played, or the increased mana cost didn’t make a difference.

Vekauran Vagabond's Encounters (in Viktor's and Kai'Sa's Adventures): Warlord's Palace and Warlord's Hoard got a slight buff by reducing their countdown from 9 to 8 – both encounters were always some of their respective adventure's easier fights, even before Warlord’s Hoard was had Countdown 9, so this shouldn't change things much.

Zoe's Encounter: Giddy Sparkleologist's buff means that an already tough early fight is only going to get harder. While just a +1|+1, she only costs 2 mana in this fight – for now, I’ve called this a low-impact buff, but only time will tell how significant this buff was for Zoe.

Rivershaper gets to play Scattered Pod sooner and burst speed Ritual of Renewal. Not a huge deal and generally won’t affect the player.

Jagged Butcher (Gangplank) and Abyssal Eye (Nautilus): Abyssal Guard got an Attune buff.

Thresh's Encounter: While Thresh is already good at removing low-health units, the buff to his deck (Withering Mist's going down from 5 to 4) doesn’t improve on any of his weaknesses.

Yasuo (Monthly): Yone is one mana cheaper.

Stalking Wolf's Encounter (Nautilus' Adventure and Thresh's Adventure): Despite having two changes in Wyrding Stones + Rimefang Wolf, both of these fights should still be pushovers.

Feral Mystic's Encounter (Nautilus' Adventure): the Wyrding Stones buff shouldn’t make any difference in this fight.

Dauntless Vanguard's Encounter and Battlesmith's Encounter (in Galio's Adventure): Swiftwing Lancer got buffed.

The encounters of Herald of Spring and Swole Squirrel (both in Lulu's Adventure, and the former in Ezreal's Adventure): Fuzzy Caretaker has one more health, but it should only matter in the Lulu fight due to your units being transformed into 1/1’s. Lulu also got a second buff since her Greenglade Lookout now holds a buffed Targon’s Brace (but it really shouldn’t make a huge difference.)

Brightsteel Protector's Encounter: Greathorn Companion got buffed.

Dawnspeakers's Encounter: Laurent Chevalier got buffed.

Astute Academic's and Intrepid Mariner's Encounter (in Ezreal's Adventure) and T-Hex's Encounter (in Viktor's Adventure): Academy Prodigy got buffed.

Avarosan Outriders got buffed in Ashe's Encounter (Monthly/ASol) and in Kindly Tavernkeeper's (in Thresh's Adventure).

Medium-Impact AI Nerfs

Mistwraith's Encounter (in Galio's Adventure): Grasp changed from +2 damage to -2 cost means that Mistwraiths are now lacking in spell-based, single-target removal (and healing), making them much more vulnerable to units that can avoid being blocked by the enemy units.

Medium-Impact AI buffs

Ezreal (Targon): Rocket Barrage now dealing four is a buff to one of the hardest encounters in the game. He’s now an even more terrifying obstacle if you want to earn your weekly rewards, and for the brave who challenge the monthlies. (Especially considering he shows up TWICE the week patch 4.8 drops.)

Swiftwing Flight's Encounter (in Galio's Adventure): Targon’s Brace on constantly summoning Fleetfeather Tracker may assist the enemy in getting their board out of control faster, and make it harder to stop now that they’re Granting stats instead of Giving.

The Messenger's Encounter (in Galio's Adventure): A one-mana Startipped Peak and a beefier Mountain Scryer mean that The Messenger is a lot more likely to activate their power, Space Doggos (which reads: Round Start: The Foe summons The Messenger. If the Foe has 3+ The Messengers, create a Fleeting Starbone in the Foe’s hand). It will also be able to swarm the board without losing any momentum in its hand size.

Galio's Encounter (Senna variation): Dawning Shadow's cost reduction means that one of this fight's most disgusting removal options is now Fast speed, and in this fight will cost a mere 4 mana.

Aurelion Sol's Encounter (on Aurelion Sol's Adventure): Startipped Peak now only costing one mana means that the big ol' Dragon will have many more early-game options. This used to be his only weakness, and with this buff that weakness slips away just that little bit. Mountain climbers, be aware.

High-Impact AI Nerfs

Yeti Yearling's Encounter (in Thresh's Adventure): Enraged Yeti losing Nab to instead provide an extra mana gem is a huge nerf to this fight: the extra mana means little, and the lack of Nab means that it’s much easier than before to run the enemy out of resources.

High-Impact AI Buffs

Arbiter of the Peak's Encounter (in Galio's Adventure): With four of their cards getting buffed, Arbiter is going to be considerably stronger.

•  The Fangs now heals and deals more damage than before.
• Startipped Peak can be played earlier, meaning that Arbiter will empty their hand soon for Targon's Peak to discount their more expensive cards.
• Mountain Scryer is tougher to kill, thus allowing to discount Celestials for longer,
• The Arbiter of the Peak themselves got buffed, and are now a 7|7 unit with Overwhelm and Spellshield . 

Viego's Encounter (in Galio's Adventure): Dawning Shadow going from 7 to 6 mana means that Viego is going to start shuffling one-cost kill spells into his deck one mana earlier. And Withering Mist is now cheaper, too – Viego is looking like he'll become a control monster.

Galio's Encounter (Shyvana variation): Strafing Strike, Confront, Molten Breath, and Stalking Broodmother all got buffed. In particular, Strafing Strike healing Dragons for 5 is going to be insane when their units are constantly getting +0|+1 on round start, on top of Shyvana's Confront providing draw. If you give Galio/Shyvana the chance to level up or to build up health on their units, or either of them to level up, it’ll be more challenging than before to deal with their stronger tools.

Wrapping Up

Well, if you were struggling with Galio before, it sure as heck isn’t going to get any easier. (I think I counted nine different Galio encounters getting buffed… yikes)

Thanks for reading all the way here! More Path-related content will be on the way on my YouTube channel where I’ll be trying to upload more discussion about Path and LoR in general (especially the drama that is the Emporium). 

If you have any ideas or requests for future topics on Path, ask away on Reddit or ask me directly on Discord @YouuXun.

Shoutout to the Path community for providing so much documentation, info, and discussion to help push the mode forward!