The second split of the 2023 Ranked Season kicks off with the release of LoL patch 13.14.
Due to a one-week Riot-wide holiday around July 4, there was a three-week break between 13.13 and the new LoL patch. But the new patch seems to be worth the wait as 13.14 is one of the bigger patches this season—without even counting the regular champion adjustments.
Starting off the patch, the previously announced Ranked reset for the 2023 Season will take effect this week. In the upcoming three days, July 19-21, each server will reset the players’ ranks and kick off Split 2. The ranked rewards from the first split of the season will start being distributed during patch 13.14, with the rest of the rewards distributed by the end of patch 13.15 on August 14th.
There is also the new Arena Game Mode’s live server launch in patch 13.14. Although the new game mode won’t launch with the patch itself, but it will drop on July 20 with the Summer Event, Soul Fighter. In the new game mode also known as 2v2v2v2, four teams comprising two players each will engage in thrilling combat rounds. After each round, they’ll receive distinctive Augments to enhance their abilities, and the last team standing will emerge victorious. The Arena will also have its own ranked ladder throughout Split 2.
The new Darkin mid laner, Naafiri
Naafiri is the newest champion added to League of Legends, one for all dog lovers out there. As she is a Darkin trapped in an assassin’s blade, it is no surprise Naafari herself is an AD assassin in the game. She is supposed to have a unique playstyle with her pets called Packmates but with a much simpler micro control needed to give newer or less experienced players a better assassin champion to get into the game with.
- We Are More [Passive]
- Naafiri summons a Packmate that fights alongside her.
- Darkin Daggers [Q]
- Naafiri hurls a dagger in the target direction that deals physical damage to enemies hit and inflicts them with a bleed for 5 seconds.
- Hounds’ Pursuit [W]
- Naafiri channels for 0.75 seconds to single out the target enemy champion. Upon completion, the target is revealed for 1.5 seconds and Naafiri and her Packmates dash to the target.
- Eviscerate [E]
- Naafiri dashes in the target direction and deals physical damage to enemies she passes through.
- The Call of the Pack [R]
- Naafiri prepares her grand hunt, immediately despawning all active Packmates then summoning the maximum number of new ones along with extra Packmates. Naafiri goes on the hunt for 15 seconds, during which she gains bonus attack damage, increases the maximum health of all her Packmates by 25%, and reduces the total cooldown of We Are More by 50%. Her first basic attack or ability hit against a champion will grant her a shield for 3 seconds.
- Naafiri’s first champion takedown within the duration refreshes all effects of The Call of the Pack.
Not a lot of pro play changes in 13.14
When it comes to the usual champion or item nerf and buffs, 13.14 isn’t exactly special. Although the patch might be the playoffs patch for many of the major region regions, there aren’t too many changes in it that will affect the pro play meta. Jax and Rell are two big champions on this patch who are seeing a significant amount of play in patch 13.13, with some Kindred popping up here and there. And while the nerfs aren’t nothing, they aren’t major enough to remove these champs from pro meta.
For the solo queue side of things, the aforementioned champions are all overperforming in solo queue as well, so it should help bring them more in line. Nerfs to champions like Rek’Sai and Karthus, who have been seeing a lot of flexing to other roles, and Rengar who benefitted from the latest item changes. But if you are playing these champions to climb in the recent patches you don’t have to start worrying just yet as Riot is not necessarily kneecapping them in 13.14.
When it comes to buffs, four champions especially stick out—Aatrox, Lissandra, Xerath and Zyra. None of these champions are top tier in the current meta, but they aren’t struggling too much either. These buffs might be enough to make them great choices to start your Split 2 climb or bring them back into the pro play in the cases of Aatrox and Lissandra.
When does LoL patch 13.14 go live?
LoL patch 13.14 will go live on July 18. The first region that the patch will drop is the Oceania servers at 10 AM AEDT. The rest of the servers will follow suit in the morning hours of their respective regions. Here are the timings for most servers:
- 3 AM PT (NA)
- 5 AM GMT (EUW)
- 3 AM CET (EUNE)
- 8 AM KST (Korea)
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