It seems like the Half-Dragon’s roar proved stronger than what Riot had anticipated. Just hours after hitting the
League of Legends live servers in
Patch 26.6, Riot quickly moved to tone down the
newly reworked Shyvana. While it is common for reworked champions to see their win rates rise as players learn their mechanics, a launch win rate of 57% across all ranks, per Riot Games, signaled that the champion was performing well above expectations, prompting an immediate round of hotfix nerfs. The rapid response highlights how significantly Shyvana’s updated kit was overperforming, particularly in environments where players were still optimizing builds and gameplay patterns.
Shyvana’s Hotfix Nerfs
Scalemail – Passive
Armor per stack: 0.4 → 0.3
Magic Resist per stack: 0.4 → 0.3
Emberstrike – Q
On-hit cooldown reduction: 1.25 → 1 second
Passive max health damage: 1% + 1.7% per 100 bonus AD + 1.3% per 100 AP → 1% + 1.1% per 100 bonus AD + 1.1% per 100 AP
Inferno Aegis – (R)W
Dragon form heal: 100–250 + 10% bonus AD + 5% AP (doubled based on missing health) → 75–200 + 10% bonus AD + 5% AP (doubled based on missing health)
Molten Burst – E
Damage: 80 + 40 per rank + 50% bonus AD + 70% AP → 80 + 30 per rank + 35% bonus AD + 70% AP
Slow efficacy: 30% + 5% per rank → 20% + 5% per rank
Dragon’s Descent – R
Fear duration: 1 → 0.75 seconds
Early Reactions to the Hotfix
Although it remains too early to fully evaluate the long-term impact of these nerfs, Riot may still issue follow-up adjustments—either buffs to compensate for the initial reductions or additional nerfs if the champion continues to overperform relative to expectations. Early data from
League of Legends Analytics suggests that the hotfix resulted in a 5.37% drop in win rate, bringing Shyvana below the 50% mark, which could indicate that the initial nerfs have already begun to significantly curb her power.
Community reactions have been divided. On Twitter, fans
criticized the speed of the hotfix, arguing that making such sweeping balance changes only hours after release was premature and that Riot should have allowed more time for the meta to stabilize before intervening. This
prompted a response from lead designer August, who defended the decision by pointing to the unusually high playrate and available data:
“It’s enough time when the champ in question has the highest playrate in the game. Means we have a lot of data, even after 1 day. For perspective, the highest winrate jungler tends to sit around 53%. Shy was 4% stronger (and likely to go higher when optimized).”
On Reddit, sentiment has skewed more pessimistic.
Some users have gone as far as comparing Shyvana to “Skarner 2.0,” referencing a controversial rework from two years ago which, by many accounts, left the former Crystal Vanguard feeling like a shell of his former self—without significantly improving his playrate, while disappointing long-time fans by transforming an agile, fast champion into a slower juggernaut.
Others have taken
a more pragmatic but critical stance, suggesting that the champion may struggle in higher ranks due to her susceptibility to being kited and her lack of clear strengths post-nerf. These players argue that while she may remain playable in lower MMR brackets, her effectiveness could diminish significantly as players become more adept at punishing her limitations.
“It's sad to say, but this is the first time I've ever confidently said about a champion post-release / rework that she will be a sub 1% pick rate champ within a month or two, especially if she gets another nerf because she is dominating silvers,” the user added.
