K’Sante: one of League of Legends‘ most divisive champions. The Pride of Nazumah has been on the Rift for less than a year, but has undergone some huge changes in order to help him stand out amid the top lane crowd. Following a huge rework in patch 13.20, and more changes in 13.21, the champion is currently sitting at the top end of the LoL top lane tier list – and his win rate proves it.
In League of Legends patch 13.20, K’Sante saw some huge changes to his kit, slowing down his Path Maker (W), but boosting his stuns and damage – especially in his All Out ultimate ability. Following the latest round of League of Legends patch notes, he saw yet another damage buff, as Riot claimed that he’s still not quite where it wants him to be.
As a result, he’s shot to the top of the MOBA‘s top lane tier list. According to OP.gg, at Platinum rank and above his win rate sits above 50%, with a pick rate ranging between 8% at Plat to a whopping 20.1% at Grandmaster, and 17.13% at Challenger. The champion also remains a popular choice at the current League of Legends World Tournament, with Games of Legends noting he sits at 17 picks and seven bans at the time of writing.
To put that into perspective, he’s S tier at pretty much every high rank, leading to pro players like Team Heretics’ Marcin ‘Jankos’ Jankowski to simply tweet out “????” with a screenshot of K’Sante’s current win rate (note that the tweet uses Mobalytics instead of OP.gg).
As a result, some have claimed that the champion has been buffed to make the new Heartsteel skins (LoL’s newest boyband, of which K’Sante is a member) feel more appealing.
In response, lead gameplay designer David ‘Phreak’ Turley has replied “Legit didn’t even know he was in Heartsteel until after we locked the patch. I intentionally don’t go looking for what skins are upcoming and 100% no one told me.”
It does feel like K’Sante has had an awful lot of changes when compared to the likes of Skarner, though, whose rework, despite being highly-anticipated, has been in the works for what feels like an age. There are other champions like Singed or Illaoi who could really use an upgrade, but Riot has clearly placed more focus on K’Sante, and, in the bot lane, newer champions like Seraphine and Rell (well, I guess she’s a jungler now, right?).
Unfortunately it means some older champions will continue to lag at the bottom end of the LoL tier list while K’Sante continues his reign of terror. He’s not the only one who has received some huge changes, though, so check out our rundown of League of Legends patch 13.21 to see who else you’ll want to look out for.