Jarvan IV nerfed in TFT Patch 10.14 hotfix as Protectors dominate meta

First it was Syndra, and now it’s Jarvan IV. Riot have been forced to hotfix the Dark Star-Protector halfway through TFT Patch 10.14, as the one-cost champion’s shields have been deemed too powerful.

Jarvan IV, Protectors, and Dark Stars have dominated the TFT Patch 10.14 meta. After the nerfs to Syndra in an earlier hotfix after the July 8 update, the one-cost Dark Star-Protector has been a menace to deal with.

It’s on multiple fronts. First, his ability gives allies more attack speed. While this isn’t bad isolated, in conjunction with Protector shields based off spell casts, and the effects of Dark Star, it makes Jarvan and his allies unkillable on the battlefield.

With him being a one-cost too, there’s plenty of him in the pool. It’s not uncommon to see every player in the lobby gun for Protectors at the start, and the person who high rolls the most Jarvan’s winning.

• Read more: TFT Patch 10.14 notes

Riot are looking to put a stop to that immediately though. They’ve shipped an urgent “B Patch” hotfix on July 13, looking to end the Exemplar of Demacia’s reign over the Galaxies.

The change is a small one targeting Jarvan’s mana pool. His maximum mana has been increased from 80 to 100. His starting mana has also been increased from 40 to 60, keeping the mana to first cast at 40.

“We nerfed Jarvan’s ability to continually cast his spell during fights by increasing his maximum mana. This should reduce how tanky he is as less casting equals less shields, making him mortal like the rest of us,” TFT developer ‘GreenTeej’ said on Twitter.

Those aren’t the only changes Riot has in store for Jarvan. On the Patch 10.15 PBE cycle, Jarvan is also getting another nerf, this time targeting his ability’s attack speed. It’s been culled by 15% at all ranks, down from 75/85/95% to 60/70/80%.

With less attack speed, Jarvan and his allies shouldn’t be able to regain mana as quickly, thus having less abilities off cooldown to keep their Protector shields up.

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The Jarvan hotfix is live now, so be mindful of it if you want to keep running Protectors. The next big update, Patch 10.15, is teed up for July 22. As always, we will keep you updated with the big changes to expect.