League of Legends patch 4.2 nerfs Kayle, Ziggs & Yasuo; reworks pick order system

Riot Games has detailed League of Legends' patch 4.2. This update's biggest victims are Kayle, Ziggs, and Yasuo — all of which I think we expected. In addition to champion reworks, nerfs, and fixes, the patch also introduces a few new changes, particularly to the pick order in ranked games.

In an attempt to make pick order more consistent in ranked play, all players will have an equal (random) chance of being first pick. Normally pick order is determined by your hidden MMR with the "best" player getting ban selection, and first choice in role selection and champ pick.

"In most cases the skill gap between players on a team is not significant enough to justify granting the top player first pick. Basing pick order on a behind-the-scenes number isn’t a great experience – not to mention there are some odd side effects for duo queue players – so we’re taking a different approach," Riot Games explained.

"For players in a duo, if either player is chosen as first pick, the team captain will be assigned first pick and the other member of the duo will get whatever position the captain received from the randomizer."

The patch will also upgrade the League of Legends ticker to deliver information faster and more clearly, update the layout of game invites, and remove the Journal of Justice link from the client.

Now onto the champion changes. There are plenty of tweaks happening in patch 4.2, but below are a few of the key ones.

Kayle is getting the AP ratio of Reckoning lowered from 1.- to .6 in an attempt to lower her burst damage.  However, the AP ratio of Divine Blessing's heal will be increased (.35 to .45); also, the skill's movement speed bonus now scales with ability power.

Thresh's basic attack range is lowered from 475 to 450.

Riot has realized how strong Yasuo can be when played to "maximum effectiveness" and has looked to see how they can reduce some of the power without messing with his core playstyle. To that end, Sweeping Blade's Flow has received a slight nerf and the range of his ult, Last Breath, has been lowered from 1300 to 1200.

Riot admits that patch 3.13 turned Ziggs "into a monster when it comes to pushing and counterpushing" so they are implementin ga small nerf to Zigg's early game harass. The ratio for Short Fuse now scales with each level; instead of .35 at all levels, it'll now reach that at levels 13-18. Also, Hexplosive Minefield no longer does 100% minion damage from all mines; instead, minions will receive 40% damage for each mine they hit beyond the first.

The missile width of Dr. Mundo's Infected Cleaver has been reduced from 80 to 60.

Xerath and Skarner both received champion reworks.

Patch 4.2 also contains "minor changes and bug fixes" to a number of other champions and items, so check out the full notes here.