A total of 19 champions were buffed, nerfed, and adjusted in League of Legends patch 11.2. The majority of changes are minor, except for one — the buffs to Soraka, The Starchild.
At the start of 2020, she was groundbreakingly played in the top lane by G2 top laner Martin “Wunder” Nordahl Hansen against Ornn. The idea was to match Ornn’s scaling, and add more value to the team once Soraka groups up for team fights.
Eventually, Riot gutted Soraka solo lane with nerfs in favor of support. Since then however, she has received a series of small buffs in late 2020 that has cumulated to this patch 11.2.
Q – Starcall
- Total rejuvenation heal increased from 50/60/70/80/90 to 50/65/80/95/110
W – Astral Infusion
- Heal increased from 80/115/150/185/220 to 90/125/160/195/230
- Heal ratio increased from 60% to 70% AP
Out of all her abilities, Starcall has been buffed the most incrementally overtime. In patch 10.6, Starcall’s total rejuvenation heal was increased by ten at all levels, with additional movement speed. In patch 10.8, its cost was decreased. In patch 10.10, Starcall’s base damage was increased by ten at all levels. Now in patch 11.2, its total rejuvenation heal has been upped further at later levels.
For Astral Infusion, it was most recently buffed on patch 10.10, costing less health at earlier levels. Now, its heal and heal ratio has been increased.
Besides these direct buffs to Soraka’s ability base stats, what’s really going to push her into the meta is the increasingly popular Moonstaff build. Described as “broken” by analyst and T1 content creator Nick “LS” De Cesare, supports, junglers, and even mid laners have started to buy Moonstone Renewer and Staff of Flowing Water as their core.
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Imperial Mandate made headlines during the 2021 preseason as it was considered the strongest Mythic support item for its offensive power. After AP mid laners like Aurelian Sol started to purchase Mandate as their core Mythic item combined with Rylai’s, Riot has since nerfed it. At the same time, they buffed Moonstone Renewer in patch 10.24 and 10.25.
Its cost went down to 2,500 gold while its heal power was increased. Even though we started to see Moonstone on Lillia jungle, it wasn’t until recently that GenG’s jungler Kim “Clid” Tae-min had also combined it with Staff of Flowing Water, showing its full power.
According to LS, the reasons for this is because the price of these two items at 4,800 gold is cheap, and gives a decent amount of 117 total AP. In combat, Moonstone continually procs, which in turn grants the entire team additional movement speed and ability power throughout the fight through Staff of Flowing Water, exponentially increasing both items’ value.
Some examples of champions that could use this build effectively include Taliyah, Karma, Lulu, Ivern and Senna, even in the solo lane.
Can you imagine how strong Soraka’s heals will be after this patch 11.2 buff, combined with the team-wide healing, utility, and AP from Moonstaff?
Click to read the full patch 11.2 patch notes.
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