Top 10 Best Champion Buffs in the History of LoR

Balancing dictates the meta in any card game, and in LoR it wouldn't be any different. Throughout the game's three years, we've had lots of nerfs and buffs, but this article will focus on the buffs which surprised everyone and made some champions go from water to wine.

Can you guess the Top 3? Do you remember some of these buffs? Come with me to find out!

This is one of the cases in which the buff is indirect, and the champion gets very strong without being directly buffed.

Zilean is up to today the exact same champion it was when he was released in the 2.7 update, but his champion spell (That 7 mana one which no one remembers what it was called) was replaced in the 3.13 update to Careful Preparation, and it was enough to make Zilean a lot stronger in his deck with Ekko and even make viable a deck with only Zilean, focused on his Time Bombs.

Viktor barely appeared in the meta, and he even got a buff to his level-up condition, which changed from playing 8+ created cards to 7+ created cards. However, it was in the 3.4 update that Viktor got a relevant buff that made this champion stabilize in the meta.

The spell he creates, Hex Core Upgrade, had its cost reduced from 1 to 0. That made Viktor a lot better, and it impacts the meta a lot with Aphelios, Karma and more recently with Seraphine.

Taliyah needed a little push to become viable. At the beginning, she was just a 2/4 who in her evolved form needed to have a landmark on board to deal the damage of the ability Threaded Volley two more times (if you didn't have one, the ability only happened once).

In the 2.9 update this champion got a buff in her status, becoming a 3/5, and in patch 2.11 they removed the condition of having a landmark on board to deal 2 damage 3 times to your blocker or the nexus. With that, Taliyah became a constant figure in the meta, be it with Lissandra or Ziggs.

The Sun Disc deck that focuses on Ascendant champions was quite weak at first, but the game's devs apparently really wanted this deck to be meta, so they started buffing both Buried Sun Disc and the champions who played in this deck.

First, in the same patch, Sun Disc started being summoned on board automatically at game start and Xerath got one extra health point, becoming a 3/4 unit.

Afterward, in patch 3.4, Azir, besides units, started including landmarks in his level up count, so he and Xerath started having more synergy, level up superfast and well, I don't need to remind you of the chaos it was when Sun Disc was dominating the meta, right?

Here we have another case in which the champion didn't get a buff or alteration, but they got a card that served as a great enhancement. I'm speaking of Windswept Hillock, the landmark which made Yasuo viable and quite present in the meta.

And not only Yasuo, right? Because Katarina fits the landmark due to the plenty of rallies which keep stunning more enemies and making Yasuo shine even brighter!

I hope in the future there are more "buffs" like these ones. It would be interesting if champions like Evelynn, who doesn't show up in the meta a lot, got more landmarks or followers that make them stronger.

Lee Sin has already had a lot of changes and if I were to choose one, the strongest certainly was his cost reduction (from 6 to 4), but Riot soon saw that they overdid it, and they decided to put Lee Sin's cost at 5.

Among other changes, one that was really good and remains until this day was the alteration of his champion spell, which was Dragon's Rage, and in patch 1.10 it was changed to Sonic Wave. That was enough for Lee Sin to get extremely strong and dominate the meta for a long time.

In update 3.16, Swain got one extra power point in his two levels and the addition of the keyword Overwhelm at level 2. With that, the champion returned to the top of the meta, both with a list focused on control such as with Twisted Fate, as in an aggressive list accompanied by Miss Fortune.

The balancing team soon went back on their decision and removed the power point they had added, but they kept Overwhelm, which still makes Swain even stronger than before.

Leona went through a rework in patch 3.16 and had changes to her cost (increased from 4 to 5), her champion spell (Morning Light got nerfed in its effect, but its cost lowered from 5 to 3, so it ended up stronger) and mostly her mechanic, which got a lot better.

Before, Leona didn't have any keywords at level 1 and had a shy Overwhelm at level 2. Now, she has Challenger in both levels and as she activates Daybreak, besides stuns, which remained, the champion gets Barrier.

These buffs were very relevant, and they made Leona appear in an infinity of decks, of which the ones that stand out the most are Diana's and Katarina's.

Sometimes the buff doesn't need to be big to make a champion better, and that was Jinx's case, which barely showed up before her 3.19 update buff and now dominates the meta with Lulu and Ekko.

The buff in question? Oh, quite simple: at the moment Jinx levels up, she creates a Super Mega Death Rocket! in hand. I don't know if you remember, but before when she leveled up, she didn't create the spell, but it was necessary to wait to the beginning of the next round, so it was quite weird to play Jinx because the opponent could remove her, and you couldn't explore her potential.

Now, even if she is removed, she already creates value in your hand, which in many moments, can be what's necessary to win matches.

Katarina was for a long time a joke in the LoR community. Many players joked around and asked themselves when would this champion be released in the game because her presence was so abysmal, it was as if she didn't exist.

In patch 3.6, Katarina finally got a buff, which wasn't even that big, but made the champion a lot better. Before, at level 2, when she was summoned, she only rallied. Now, every time she goes into the board she creates in hand a Blade's Edge costing 1 or 0 depending on her level. This buff made Katarina viable in many types of decks with aggressive strategies and with the arrival of Gwen and her followers, Katarina really stabilized in the meta in Red Gwen, which is currently the best deck in the meta.

Besides that, as I mentioned previously, Katarina also shines with Yasuo and has also appeared in a very strong deck with Leona, which proves the efficiency of buffs to her and the champions listed.

So, did you like my ranking? Do you agree with it? Keep in mind this is only my personal opinion, and it shouldn't be considered a supreme absolute truth.

You can disagree and even share your own lists in the comment section. I'll love reading them!