TL:DR
- Rebels are meta with Jinx in the middle instead of Aurelion Sol.
- Bang Bros is dead.
- Mech Infil is probably dead.
- There's no longer any level with a 40 percent chance to hit two or three-cost champions.
- Egirls is probably dead.
- There have been a bunch of trait and champion changes that focus on the early game. Basically, play more aggressive.
- Build Trap Claw over Quicksilver on ranged units.
Game Changing
- Levels three through seven have a decreased chance of getting two and three-costs, but an increased chance for one-costs. This may enable certain Eggroll comps like Hyper Roll Xayah, or Pikachu, but it's uncertain. Also, this severely hurts comps like Mechs as there's no level with a 40 percent chance to get a two or three-cost champion.
- Two new Galaxies have been released: a Galaxy where every monster drops loot orbs and another where all one, two and three-cost champions on carousel are level two. Both should open up more aggressive options which I'm all for.
- The normal Galaxy only has a 35 percent chance of spawning, and the special Galaxies all have between a 7.5 and a 12.5 percent chance of spawning. Of course, the new Galaxies have the highest chance.
- Six Cybernetics give 6.7 percent less health, attack damage and ability power. I think this puts Cybers in a niche position where you either get insane champions or you can't play Darkstars for some reason.
- Dark Star gives 20 and 16.7 percent less attack damage and ability power at three and six. This shouldn't kill Dark Star, but they shouldn't be the best comp anymore.
- Six Star Guardians give 16.7 percent less mana. This probably kills Egirls unless you highroll.
- Aurelion Sol requires one less second to ult for the first time, and ults 25 percent faster all subsequent ults. Rebels are back boiiii!
- Two Vanguard gives a bunch more armor. I'm not doing the math, but it probably puts them on par with two Brawlers which is huge.
- Gangplank requires 25 percent less mana to ult for the first time. Rebels booooiiiiiii!!!!
- Xerath's ultimate does 14.3 and 11.1 percent less damage at levels one and two. Also, his splash damage has been reduced by 50 percent. This is a huge hit to Dark Stars as getting an early Xerath isn't an instant win. This also makes the comp less forceable. Also, there was a bug where he could ult while reviving in GA, meaning he could just kill everyone for free while being untargetable. That's been fixed.
- Pilots no longer receive mana after the Mech dies. Also, the Mech's base health is 16.7 percent lower and gets 10 percent less health from it's pilots. I think Mech Infil is finally dead, but I said that twice before, sooooo.... ¯_(ツ)_/¯
- Ziggs does 20 and 23 percent more ultimate damage at levels one and two. Remember when I was talking so much about Ziggs? Well, this pretty much reverts the nerfs to his mana, so temporarily using him as your AP holder is lit.
- Yasuo no longer targets the champion with the most items. Bang Bros is dead!
- Quicksilver lasts for 33.3 percent less time. Trap Claw is probably strictly better now.
Major
- Four Blasters hit one less champion. However, the buff to Jinx should offset this nerf.
- Two Brawlers have 16.7 percent more health, but four have 7.1 percent less health. This is excellent for splashing Malphite, Blitzcrank in the early game and the extra strength should offset the late-game nerf. Also, transitioning out of Brawlers is completely viable.
- Two Protectors heal for 25 percent more. Space Jam is lit!
- The threshold for Valkyrie to crit is 20 percent higher.
- The bonus attacks from Blademasters are faster. I've been told this is a significant change, but have no information on it other than word-of-mouth.
- Chrono has been reworked, so give me a second to elaborate. Firstly, all levels only give 15 percent attack speed. Secondly, two Chronos make the bonus proc every eight seconds and four make it proc every four seconds. Finally, the Chrono buff procs immediately instead of after four seconds. So, at two Chronos, after eight seconds, it's exactly the same, but the buff at the start probably makes two Chronos strictly better. At four, after four seconds, you get 14.3 percent less attack speed. So, in the early game it's probably strictly a buff, in the mid game it's probably a slight nerf, and in the late game, it's probably a massive buff to help things like your Kayle and Jinx kill their initial targets faster.
- Graves's Smokescreen lasts 25 percent less time at level one. More Graves nerfs please.
- Lucian will now target another champion if his target dies while he's ulting. 'They're making it easier to winstreak with Lucian?' Elhak or Yukimura said.
- Master Yi heals for 50 and 25 percent more at levels one and two, but 20 percent less at level three. Bang Bros is dead, so it's just a Rebels buff.
- Jinx's Rockets do 25 and 14.3 percent more damage. Rebels buff Pog.
Minor
- Four Celestials heal for 12.5 percent less health. This is offset by the Chrono changes for Chrono Valk, but a slight nerf to Space Jam.
- Four Infiltrators give 6.2 percent less attack speed, but refresh attack speed at all levels. More early-game focus Pog.
- Six Rebels give 6.7 percent less shielding. The buffs to the individual champions VASTLY offset this change.
- Four and six Sorcerers give 11.1 and 6.2 percent less ability power.
- Faster Impact causes Gangplank's ult to hit 70 percent faster. It's now not useless, but probably still skippable. I'm not sure about this one though.
- Kha'Zix does 14.3 and 10 percent more ultimate damage at levels one and two. I rarely play Kha'Zix in the early game, but it'll be nice when I do :).
- Sona only cleanses stuns, but heals for 50, 33.3 and 50 percent more at levels one, two and three. This should be a slight buff for Rebels and a solid nerf to Protector Mystics, but that comp is dead.
- Rumble does 40, 20 and 20 percent more ultimate damage at levels one, two and three. However, I'm pretty sure Mech Infil is dead, so the level-one buff is probably the only relevant change.
Insignificant
- Items should be impossible to delete. I don't think I've ever run into this, but neat.
- Six Blademasters have an 8.3 percent lower chance of activating. I've seen six Blademasters once in probably the last month.
- Annie has 16.7 percent more health. Still the worst two-cost in the game.
- They changed Rakan's ultimate again. I didn't understand it last time, and I'm not going to bother trying to understand it this time.
Compositions
There are a few compositions I'm uncertain about, and I have no idea about the order of strength. It's probably Rebels, Brawler Blaster, Space Jam, Dark Stars and the other comps, but take these comps with a grain of salt.
Rebels
It's back lads! Stack AP on Ziggs and get good items for Jinx. The only change from the previous iteration is Jinx is now the main carry instead of Aurelion Sol. Also reminder that you can put AP on Kayle if you're getting pressured.
Brawler Blaster
The suboptimal version of Rebels. I'm going to make a bold prediction and say two Vanguard and two Brawler is best, but four Brawler may still be better. I haven't tested it at all, but I feel like Wukong, Jayce is better than Vi, Malphite, but I'm not sure.
Other than that, AD on Jinx and AP on Miss Fortune. Use Lucian as your item holder.
Dark Stars
This comp is still nuts. AD on Jhin, AP on probably Shaco until you get Xerath, then shield Xerath instead of Jhin.
You may be wondering what the hell this positioning is. This is the patented protect Jhin comp™. Since Jhin has Trap Claw, you can corner him and Xerath is better with the shield, because as Sushin says: "Jhin already does enough damage." Thanks coach!
Space Jam
I literally have no idea what this comp is. Probably roll a bit at five and then roll hard at six. Play it if you get a lot of tank items I think?
Chrono Valk
This comp feels pretty weak to me, even if I get perfect items. That probably just means I'm doing something wrong, but I'm not sure. Use Kai'Sa as your item holder until you get MF and put an RFC on Kayle.
Cybernetics
Think of this as an Irelia comp. If you're winstreaking, have Red Buff and a bunch of B.F. Swords and can't go Blasters for some reason, this is probably the comp for you. If you aren't streaking, please never go this comp.
Also, I'm legally obligated to tell you a second IE is better than GA.
Pikachu
I saw a Reddit post and it looked cool. Hyper roll for Xayah and some Vanguards and you're good to go hopefully.
