The League of Legends GOAT, Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok, spoke in an interview at the Esports World Cup about the kind of changes he’d like to see in the game next season. In his view, "recently, the league has seen many patches that emphasize team movement and plays. If future patches focus more on individual skill, I think players would really like that."

Faker’s statement comes amid an ongoing debate on social media — one that has even reached Matt "Phroxzon" Leung-Harrison and the balance team — about the current state of the game. Many players feel that League has become too balanced, with no “broken” champions capable of solo-carrying games like in previous years. It’s a trend Phroxzon actually celebrated in a recent patch preview on his X account, noting that balancing the game remains one of the most difficult challenges.

Major changes ahead

During the 25.16 patch preview, Phroxzon described the current debate as “a great problem to have, but also a real indicator of some opportunities for us.” It’s in that context that the upcoming patch, set to release on August 13, could significantly shake up the meta — particularly in the jungle.

Several champions in this key role are getting buffs, including Brand, Nautilus, and Sylas, who will now deal more damage to monsters. Rek'Sai and Zyra are also being strengthened, while established meta picks like Jarvan IV, Nocturne, Trundle, and Xin Zhao are receiving nerfs. The experimental Hexplate item is also getting buffed and could start appearing more frequently in builds — effectively acting as an indirect buff to champions who make the best use of it.

In an interview with Ethan Cohen during the Mid-Season Invitational, Riot Phroxzon was asked whether it’s possible to reach a point where all champions are perfectly balanced. While he doesn’t believe it’s impossible, he explained that it would likely come at the cost of champion creativity: “Making the game perfectly balanced is not the goal of the development team — balance is just a tool to achieve satisfaction and create meta variety.”