Finally!
LoL Patch 13.7: Much Anticipated Champion Nerf Part Of Patch
Riot Games brings out new patches every two weeks, but there is one champion, that since her release, has been on the nerf list for almost 90% of them. She is the bane of everyone's existence and while she seems unplayable in solo queue, she is way too OP in pro play.
Recently, players have complained about Zeri once more and her presence in professional play. She has become the go-to pick no matter the meta and people are sick and tired of it. After not nerfing her for a while, it seems that Riot is finally going to do it in LoL Patch 13.7.
LoL Patch 13.7: Zeri Nerfs Finally Hitting Live Servers
Zeri and Lulu are a staple in the bot lane. No matter the meta, how strong tank supports or other bot laners are, if some of the top picks are banned, then players will simply fall back to this duo. The same goes for Nami and Lucian, but viewers are bored of these two bot lanes.
In a recent Reddit post, Riot Phreak, former LCS caster turned Riot game balancer, explained his reason for not nerfing Zeri sooner. He explained that in the recent few patches, the bot lane meta has been more diverse than ever before, with more champions than ever getting picked.
Now this is a bot lane we hope to never see in pro play:
Outside of specific bot lane champions, there haven't been any bot laners over 80% presence. That's really good. Compared to some previous tournaments, we have about as many bot laners (ADCs) with 10%+ presence on every single patch as Worlds had last year.
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He goes on to explain that no ADC had a pick/ban of 100% (that honour is only for our dear friend Annie, I guess) and that this also makes the meta more diverse in comparison to just one year ago ahead of MSI 2022.
Therefore, even though Zeri has had a high priority and players saw her often in-game, it was simply, players picking a safe bot laner when some of the more OP picks are banned away or already taken. Zeri is a very safe champion with insane mobility, making her quite popular. She's also one of the best late game ADC's, especially with a champion like Yuumi or Lulu by her side.
Phreak also added that while Zeri has been incredibly popular, other champions like Varus also fall into the same category of being great picks when others are taken and yet no one has complained about him. Had they nerfed Zeri, then Varus would have been the 100% pick/ban champion of pro play in the bot lane.
With Zeri reaching an 80% presence rate though, even amidst nerfs to some of her core items, it's time to nerf her, which is why Riot is finally going to tone her down a bit. Does this mean we will get another international tournament without having to see her?