As we hurtle towards spring, Riot’s got another hefty batch of card changes, updates, tweaks, and reworks headed to its flagship CCG, Legends of Runeterra. In addition to a handful of key Champion changes, there are plenty of follower and spell adjustments to check out this round, as well some change-ups for Expeditions Archetypes, the card game’s pacing and feel, and more. Read on to see what’s in store for Legends of Runeterra patch 0.9.2.
First up, in the set of Champ changes Hecarim’s got some pretty important tweaks, with Riot looking to make him “less of a powerful finisher in any deck and more of a specialised Ephemeral deck bomb.” The studio’s looking to “shift Hecarim’s power deeper into his Ephemeral synergy while leaving him a viable, but weaker, option for Shadow Isles decks in general.”
Kalista also gets some important updates, with her “fragility” having been “a key issue” of late. She was the least played Champ last patch, so the studio’s looking to rework her “to much better fit into decks that are interested in killing or reviving their own units”.
Check out the LoR patch 0.9.2 notes in full below (via Riot):
Legends of Runeterra patch 0.9.2 card updates
Champion changes
Hecarim
Level 1
Health 6 → 5
Level up: You’ve attacked with 8+ [Ephemeral] units. → You’ve attacked with 7+ [Ephemeral] units.
Level 2
Health: 7 → 6
Old text: Attack: Summon 2 attacking [Spectral Rider]. [Ephemeral] allies have +2 |+0.
New text: Attack: Summon 2 attacking [Spectral Rider]. [Ephemeral] Allies have +3 |+0.
Onslaught of Shadows/Hecarim’s Onslaught of Shadows
Cost: 3 → 2
Spectral Rider
Power: 3 → 2
Kalista
Level 1
Health: 2 → 3
Old text: [Fearsome] Play: Bond with an ally. Grant it +2 | +0 while we are bonded. Level Up: I’ve seen 3+ allies die.
New text: [Fearsome] Level up: 4 allies die
Level 2
Health: 3 → 4
Old text: [Fearsome] Play: Bond with an ally. Grant it +2 | +0 while we are bonded. Attack: Revive that ally attacking and reforge our bond. Level Up: I’ve seen 4+ allies die.
New text: [Fearsome] The first time I attack each round, revive an attacking [Ephemeral] copy of the [Strongest] dead allied follower. This round, we’re bonded and it takes damage for me.
Black Spear / Kalista’s Black Spear
Cost: 2 → 3
Spells and Follower changes
Border Lookout → Vanguard Lookout
Elite: Yes
Mageseeker Inciter
Power: 1 → 4
Health: 4 → 3
Text: Play: Discard a spell to grant me Power equal to its cost.
New text: Grant me 2|+2 once you’ve cast a 6 cost spell this game.
Mageseeker Investigator
Old text: Play: If you cast a spell this round, remove all text and keywords from an enemy follower.
New Text: Create a {Detain} once you’ve cast a 6+ cost spell this game.
Mageseeker Persuader
Cost: 6 → 2
Power: 4 → 3
Health: 1 → 2
Old text: [Challenger] Play: Discard a spell to grant me Health equal to its cost.
New text: Grant me 1|+1 and [Challenger] once you’ve cast a 6 cost spell this game.
Crowd Favorite
Health: 2 → 1
Iceborn Legacy
Cost: 3 → 5
Old text: [Burst] Grant an ally and all allied copies of it EVERYWHERE +1|+1.
New text: [Slow] Grant an ally and all allied copies of it EVERYWHERE +2|+2.
Pack Mentality
Old text: Give an ally and other allies of its group +3|+3 and [Overwhelm] this round.
New text: Give allies +2|+2 and Overwhelm.
Poro Snax
Cost: 4 → 3
Troop of Elnuks
Old text: Play: Summon each Elnuk in the top 10 cards of your deck.
New text: Play: For the top 6 cards in your deck, summon each Elnuk and shuffle the rest into your deck.
Navori Conspirator
Power: 3 → 2
Chump Whump
Health: 4 → 3
Flash of Brilliance
Old Text: Create a random spell in hand. Refill your spell mana.
New Text: Create a random spell that costs 6+ in hand. Refill your spell mana.
Rummage
Old text: To play, discard 2. Draw 2.
New text: To play, discard 2. Draw 2. If you have exactly 1 other card in hand, discard 1 to draw 1.
Unstable Voltician
Old text: When I’m summoned, grant me 4|+0 and [Quick Attack] if you’ve cast a 6 cost spell this game.
New text: Grant me 4|+0 and [Quick Attack] once you’ve cast a 6 cost spell this game.
Brood Awakening
Cost: 6 → 5
Mark of the Isles
Old text: Grant an ally +3 | +3 and [Ephemeral].
New text: Grant an ally +2 | +2 and [Ephemeral].
The Rekindler
Cost: 6 → 7
Legends of Runeterra patch 0.9.2 game pacing and feel changes
- Continued general improvements, including smoother blocking and clearer action cues as you play units and spells.
- A variety of Poison Puffcap animations take less time and can overlap with one another, for beautiful rolling waves of mushrooms.
- Draven’s Spinning Axes take less time when both created and cast.
- Level 2 Hecarim’s buff visuals are significantly faster, especially across many Ephemeral allies.
- Eager Apprentice, Inspiring Mentor, and Tortured Prodigy now take a more appropriately short amount of time for their simple effects.
- The discard animation is now faster and clearer, and opponent discards now properly reveal the card before disintegrating.
Turn timer improvements:
- Casting a burst spell now puts some time back on your turn timer.
- You’ll now get some extra time on your turn after your opponent casts spells on theirs (to guard against a bunch of your opponent’s end-of-turn Burst spells eating away your turn).
Legends of Runeterra patch 0.9.2 Expeditions Archetypes changes
Demacian Steel has continued to be one of the strongest archetypes, so we’re removing a solid card that fits in another archetype and replacing it with something more situational.
Added: Mobilize
Removed: Back to Back
Noxian Might has proven too reliable at taking huge chunks of the enemy’s Nexus with cheap, aggressive units backed by similar spells, so we’re removing an efficient burst spell in favor of one that will give the opponent an opportunity to react.
Added: Guile
Removed: Elixir of Wrath
Shroom and Boom is an archetype that can be very strong when everything comes together, but it’s still a little inconsistent overall. We’re removing a slower Elusive unit in favor of a spell that synergizes with cards like Eager Apprentice and Assembly Bot while providing blockers to buy time for the shrooms to work their magic.
Added: Scrapdash Assembly
Removed: Amateur Aeronaut
Spellbound more directly revolves around casting spells that cost at least 6 mana due to the new Mageseeker changes, so we’re replacing a spell that’s just a little too cheap with one that fits the bill.
Added: Back to Back
Removed: Detain
Relentless has been helmed by Garen on the Demacia side, which has helped him become the most played champion in Expeditions. To mix things up, we’re replacing him with Lucian, who has a Rally effect on both his champion spell and his Level 2 form. We’re also replacing a unit that saves your other units with one that makes them easier to trade to better support Lucian’s level up.
Added: Lucian, Laurent Duelist
Removed: Garen, Brightsteel Protector
Battle Scars has still been underperforming, so we’re removing some of the more inconsistent utility cards in favor of ones that are more directly powerful. (Note: The first two swaps were communicated in the 0.9.0 patch notes but didn’t make it in until now.)
Added: Might, Alpha Wildclaw, Avarosan Marksman, Battle Fury
Removed: Blood for Blood, Bull Elnuk, Kindly Tavernkeeper, Starlit Seer
Shadows and Dust is simply more dependent than most archetypes on having a solid, cohesive deck since Ephemeral units get stronger the more you’re able to commit to them.
Increased the chance that Shadows and Dust will appear in Wild Picks when it’s your primary archetype.
Total Recall has been struggling to find enough consistent damage sources that can finish off an opponent, so we’re removing one of its weaker cards in favor of an additional Elusive unit.
Added: Amateur Aeronaut
Removed: Golden Crushbot
Arachnophilia could use a little more flexibility in how its spiders clash with much larger enemy units.
Added: Elixir of Wrath
Legends of Runeterra patch 0.9.2 Expeditions Archetypes changes
- Players should now be able to edit/save decks even if they’re at the deck maximum.
- Players should no longer occasionally get stuck in full art view when receiving a friend challenge.
- Plaza Guardian and Scuttlegeist no longer revert to their full mana cost after being summoned.
- The Rekindler is now highlighted in hand when it will successfully revive a champion.
- Black Spear and Shunpo can now target allies.
- Dawn and Dusk should no longer occasionally cause pink streaks when cast.
- Accelerated Purrsuit’s resolution animation should now play correctly.
- Spinning Axe VFX cleaned up.
- ‘I survived’ effects on units should no longer activate when units are dealt 0 base damage.
- Miscellaneous crash fixes.
- Miscellaneous card font fixes.
That’s all we’ve got for Legends of Runeterra patch 0.9.2, but if you’re a fan be sure to take a look at our Legends of Runeterra cards, Legends of Runeterra Champions, and Legends of Runeterra decks guides, which you might find handy.
You should also get a look at the LoL patch 10.6 notes ahead of the update’s arrival in LoR sister MOBA game later this week, as well our LoL tier list to find out the best League of Legends Champions to play. There’s also a LoL Champions and skins sale on right now, in case you’re looking for a bargain.