Nemesis reacts to FULL WORLDS PATCH PREVIEW 26.20!

Storyline / Narrative

This video is a patch discussion rather than a story-driven game narrative. It focuses on upcoming balance changes in League of Legends (Patch 26.20), with specific attention to how those changes will affect champions at different skill levels and competitive play (including Worlds).

Gameplay Highlights (Key Patch Themes)

Item system changes

• Rocketbelt is a major talking point: its haste / laning-repeatability trade-off is being adjusted in a way many speakers expect to harm most users.
• Hurricane is being nerfed in a controlled way (net less power than the prior buff).
• Several other champions receive small item/kit-related number tweaks.

Champion balance: mixed directions

• Several champions receive targeted buffs (sometimes described as “stat-check” or power being shifted to specific gameplay loops).
• Several champions receive nerfs (some framed as “placebo nerfs,” others framed as meaningful gameplay impacts).
• Some champions are pulled entirely from the patch for later/bigger adjustments.

Competitive / skill bracket considerations

• Lillia changes are discussed as especially relevant to player-skill coordination: average players often get less sleep value, while high-skill players coordinate better.

Key Strategies / Practical Takeaways

Rocketbelt (major strategy implication)

• Expect worse performance from Rocketbelt broadly because the change shifts it toward less haste and less favorable trade-offs versus haste-centric alternatives (e.g., items like Cosmic Drive).
• Melee champions who rely on Rocketbelt are highlighted as potentially most affected. The discussion calls out champions such as Galio / Cho’Gath / Gragas / Zac / Nidalee (some names are listed as “sad,” i.e., lacking substitutes).
• Long-term: speakers imply Rocketbelt will likely need further buffs to function correctly for multiple champions.

Lillia (sleep coordination)

• The patch aims to improve Lillia’s effectiveness, but speakers strongly debate whether the buff direction truly helps the intended skill brackets (average vs high skill).
• A key concern: Lillia’s ultimate sleep duration can be extremely punishing without answers like Mikael’s or certain cleanse options.

Swain (ability priority and haste interaction)

• Swain is expected to benefit a lot from W-related buffs:
  • Increased W damage
  • Reduced W cooldown
• Strategic takeaway:
  • The new W power makes W maxing more mandatory/valuable.
  • With high-haste Swain builds, players may again be able to disrupt enemy recalls via frequent W usage (previously possible with extreme haste + recall-cancel behavior).

Smolder (R sustain scaling)

• Smolder’s R healing improves significantly late game, encouraging players to consider whether R ranks become more valuable than before.
• Speakers are unsure, but note that healing makes R maxing potentially more relevant.

Nil changes: routing / skillshot considerations

• Some champions are discussed as:
  • more stat-check-like (less skill-shot dependent), or
  • needing different tuning because they can’t be balanced between roles easily (notably Nico, as both solo and support).

Notable Patch Points Mentioned

Items

• Rocketbelt
  • Adjusted to be more about “go-in” behavior and less about haste/power budget.
  • Speakers expect it to be worse overall and likely needs buffs later.
• Hurricane
  • Net effect framed as “still buff, but less than before” / reduced nerf magnitude versus prior changes.
• Hexplate range modifier
  • Called out as effectively making the item poor on “ranged champs.”

Champion buffs / changes

• Diana
  • Diana jungle needs help; Diana mid/jungle described as mostly fine for mid, more “stat-check” for jungle.
  • Bonus health ratio is noted as increasing, with additional utility discussion.
• Kennen (and others)
  • Mentions of E slow duration + attack speed improvements; framed as substantial utility.
• Nico
  • Nico support described as weaker at higher play; balance tweaks discussed but later criticized as small.
• Lillia
  • Buffs to sleep-related effects/ultimate sleep duration emphasized as how long sleep can last.
• Smolder
  • Passive damage improvements and major late-game healing improvement via R changes.
• Swain
  • MR/armor adjustments plus a big W buff:
    • W damage up
    • W cooldown down at all ranks
• Vein (Varies)
  • Hextech-focused blade dispatch/hex-bait changes discussed as giving Vein/Vayne more bot-side power, with debate about her real lane placement.
• Yunara / Yara
  • Early game nerfs to on-hit/Q active effects and slow behavior bug fix.

Champion nerfs / pulls

• Ash
  • Nerf added.
  • Yara (unclear due to subtitle errors) also receives laning nerfs; speakers expect improvements for the scaling/bottle meta.
• Cassiopeia
  • Nerfed (health and early mana cost reduction mentioned).
• Kassadin? / “Cas”-like changes
  • Mana cost and damage reduction changes described as “placebo.”
• Varus + Sylas
  • Pulled from the patch (needed larger work; speakers suggest rework is needed or balance concerns remain).
• Additional champions pulled are mentioned, including Fiddlesticks (per subtitle).

Gamers / Sources Featured (Names Mentioned)

• Nemesis (referenced in the video title and as the reacting streamer)
• Riot (game developer making balance decisions)
• Bri (“Bri was saying yesterday…,” named as speaking earlier)
• Razak (called out by name regarding Rocketbelt speculation on Twitter)