Riot planning Senna buffs after major LoL Season 12 changes hurt bot laner

Andrew Amos
Senna in League of Legends

Senna is set to be one of the champions most affected by the League of Legends Season 12 changes. While her winrate already sits on the low side, an overhaul to runes has the Redeemer struggling even more on the PBE, with Riot eyeing buffs in future updates.

League of Legends Season 12 is nearly here. The preseason changes, which include two new dragons, an overhaul to both runes and items, and new objective bounties, will go live on LoL patch 11.23 in mid-November.

No major champion updates are planned ⁠— but that doesn’t mean the changes won’t affect anyone.

In fact, one key change to Inspiration keystone Glacial Augment is likely to hurt bot laner Senna in a big way.

Project Senna in LoL
Senna’s primary keystone, Glacial Augment, is being reworked in Season 12 — and it won’t work as well on her.

Senna relies on Glacial Augment, taking it as her keystone in 78.9% of games as a support, and 61% of games as an AD carry, as of patch 11.21.

While she has other options, including Grasp of the Undying and Fleet Footwork, neither are as strong as the Inspiration keystone.

The changes to Glacial Augment in Season 12, activating only when you immobilize an enemy champion, is basically useless on Senna. Given she can only immobilize on her E, it’s not worth taking over other keystones.

It’s left the Redeemer in a sorry spot ahead of the update, and mains are concerned her winrate (sitting at 48.72% for support this patch) will plummet.

High Noon Senna in League of Legends
Senna’s win rate is already on the low side, and Season 12 changes might see it fall even further.

However, Riot are not pulling the trigger preemptively on any Senna changes come patch 11.22 ⁠— just before the preseason update goes live ⁠— but will look at buffs early in Season 12 if the Glacial Augment change proves to be too much.

“We’re wait-to-see on Senna,” developer ‘Phlox’ said on October 26.

“There’s a lot of shakeup in the new world so we’re gonna follow up if she ends up bad or whatever, but not do a bunch of stuff to anticipate that.”

While Riot will be wary of buffing Senna ⁠— she has been nerfed consistently since her Season 9 release in an attempt to stop unique “fasting” strategies ⁠— the Redeemer might need a hand to get redemption in Season 12.

About The Author

Hailing from Perth, Andrew was formerly Dexerto's Australian Managing Editor. They love telling stories across all games and esports, but they have a soft spot for League of Legends and Rainbow Six. Oh, and they're also fascinated by the rise of VTubers.