Zeri was slow out the gates in League of Legends, but now the Spark of Zaun is truly commanding the AD carry meta. Sitting with a ban rate of more than 40% at all ranks, spiking at high elo, Riot are handing down significant nerfs in League patch 12.4.
Zeri dashed and zapped her way onto the Rift in League of Legends patch 12.2, and it took a while for players to get a handle of the Q-spamming AD carry. However, once they did, her win rate skyrocketed.
Zeri currently boasts a 51.21% win rate across all ranks in League patch 12.3, according to LoLalytics. However, that climbs to above 55% once you look at high elo games, with her ban rate currently sitting at more than 65%.
Based on the numbers, it’s clear the Spark of Zaun is overtuned — even after hotfix nerfs. So Riot are pulling in the AD carry with some major nerfs in League of Legends patch 12.4.
No part of Zeri’s kit is being left untouched.
The overall emphasis on the changes though is to bring her back to a more crit-centric AD carry build, rather than some of the more bruiser-style or even full AP Zeri builds that have been popular. Her late-game scaling is also being reduced.
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Her right-click attacks will slow for less and deal less damage, while her Q autos will get weaker as the game goes on. Zeri’s W has a higher cooldown earlier, as well as a reduced slow — a change that was not flagged in Riot’s initial list but instead went into testing on the PBE.
Not only that, but her mobility is being reduced with her E cooldown being increased significantly.
Hello hello!
12.4 with content is here, some spicy changes for sure.
To note, these are some quicker changes to pull down the support item top meta. I don't expect these to be the last of the changes in the space, but any larger ones need more time to validate. pic.twitter.com/mkuhtHtHVl
— Phlox (@RiotPhlox) February 8, 2022
All the changes are geared at bringing that top level win rate (and ban rate down), while still leaving the door open for casuals to wrap their heads around the new champion.
The Zeri nerfs will go live on February 16 as part of League of Legends patch 12.4, alongside the release of Renata Glasc.