League of Legends Patch 25.11 is live, and it’s a buffet of changes. From balance brawls to behavior fixes, and a surprise skin touch-up for Black Rose stans, this one’s got something for everyone. Let’s dive into what’s cracked, what’s cooked, and what’s just plain cursed.
Garen Finally Hits the Gym
Let’s start with the biggest winner: Garen mains, rejoice—the Demacian spinster is finally being nudged (gently) away from meme-worthy crit builds and toward a real bruiser identity.
Key Garen Changes:
- E – Judgment has shorter cooldowns and scales better with AD.
- W – Courage now offers more flexible scaling, though it drops the post-quest resist buff.
- R – Demacian Justice lost some punch, but honestly, we’ve all been one-shot by it too many times already.
Verdict: This patch is a W for fighter Garen builds. Crit Garen? It’s been real, but it’s time to hit the showers.
Brawl Mode Gets a Big Ol’ Patch Slap
Brawl mode launched hot and unfiltered—but Riot finally put some gloves on. A ton of champion tweaks now aim to balance the chaos.
Highlights:
- Cooldown Buffs Galore: Champions like Rengar, Pantheon, and Ryze get huge R cooldown cuts.
- Damage Adjustments: Both nerfs and buffs depending on who you main (RIP Singed, hello Quinn).
- The Cheese Nerf: Killing minions from base is officially illegal now. Sorry, tower turtlers.
Also, surrender time is now just 15 minutes, which is a godsend if your team comp is five melee into poke hell.
Verdict: Brawl just got a lot less jank and a lot more viable.
Swiftplay Champ Select: Now 30% Less Confusing
Small change, big QoL gain: You can finally see your teammates’ keystone runes in Swiftplay. Plus, you can now sort champs by mastery or favorites, which is chef’s kiss for OTPs.
Verdict: Love it. No more pinging “runes??” like a lost soul.
Behavior Watch: The Tilt Patrol Arrives
Riot’s behavioral systems are getting another upgrade:
- LeaverBuster now punishes habitual leavers faster.
- Soft inting detection is more aggressive, especially for high-elo clowns who should know better.
Verdict: Riot’s drawing the line in the sand. Tilt if you must, but DC at your own peril.
Champion Balance Buffet
Buffs to Watch:
- Diana Jungle Clear gets a 35% monster damage buff. Fast jungle go brrr.
- Twisted Fate Q hits harder—finally, TF players can waveclear without tears.
- Twitch E gets an AP ratio bump. AP Twitch lives (barely).
- Sivir W hits harder early. Lane bully comeback?
Nerfs to Cry About:
- Lucian E cooldown goes up. Nerfing the dash makes sense, but it hurts.
- Cho’Gath, Smolder, Elise, Annie – all slapped with nerfs, either early durability or scaling.
- Samira W loses some AD scaling. Less bursty, more lifestealy.
Verdict: Balanced… enough? The buffs feel juicy, and most nerfs hit the right targets. (Sorry, Lucian OTPs.)
Sound FX Update: Kill with Style
New kill and takedown SFX now reward your inner kill-chaser. Want your own pentakill anthem? You got it.
Verdict: Pure dopamine.
Pride 2025: Rainbow Warpaint and Freebies
It’s Riot’s fifth year of Pride Month support, and this year’s freebie is the Rainbow Warpaint emote—claimable with one click, no mission grind. Play 3 games with friends to snag Battle Pass XP too.
Verdict: Free content and good vibes? Yes please.
Horizon Focus Buffs
- Cost dropped to 2800 gold
- AP increased to 115
It’s now more worth building—especially for artillery mages and poke lords.
Verdict: Still niche, but less of a trap.
Skin Reworks: Black Rose Glows Up
The Masque of the Black Rose skins (Vlad, Samira, Renata, Elise) got serious polish:
- Model/texture updates
- VFX overhaul
- Elise finally ditches base kit visuals
Verdict: These skins were a little underwhelming on launch—glad Riot circled back.
Final Thoughts: Worth the Wait?
Patch 25.11 may have dropped a day late, but it feels like Riot made the most of that delay. Garen’s update is a highlight, Brawl mode gets real support, and the behavioral updates show a willingness to make League feel a little less toxic (well, maybe).
Overall Patch Grade: B+
Some balance picks are still debatable (looking at you, Kassadin), but the volume and intention are solid. And the Garen buffs alone might just make this patch legendary…
What do you think? Garen’s time to shine or still just spin-to-lose?
