Needless to say that Riot Games’ Durability update has shaken the opinions, tier lists, and judgments of many builds, Champions, and drafts. Now many of us have all seen the clips of many figures in the League of Legends scene get hyped for the biggest winners of the durability patch (I swear the joyous screams of Malphite mains could be heard worldwide).

However, that is not what we are here to discuss today. No, today we are going to highlight some of the lesser-known winners of the durability patch. These picks are not the cover page winners, but picks that have seen some benefit from the patch and as a result may be worth picking up on the down-low in your pursuit of ranked gains. In this piece, we will highlight some of these picks for you to potentially enjoy.

Fiora Top

Fiora in recent seasons has been a Champion that has been, at best, a fringe pick in her home of the top lane as the spotlight there has been dominated by Champions such as Jayce, Gnar, and even Aatrox at times. So why is Fiora here, it is mainly due to one thing, percentage bonus true damage.

With every Champion getting a touch-up in their total health pool the value of percentage damage has gone up (not to mention with Fiora it being true damage but we will highlight that later, don’t you all worry). As a result, now dealers of this class of damage, such as Fiora’s passive, are seeing greater returns for effective use of such abilities. There we have it, a Champion in the top lane who may be worth adding to your pool post durability patch.

Viego Jungle

Unlike Fiora, this entry of the list has never seen a time period where they have not been meta, so their place here is just adding mass onto the raging inferno. So why is Viego on this list? The answer is simple, and this time like Fiora it is rooted in the Champion passive (Sovereign’s Domination). One part of Viego’s passive is that he can possess the body of a Champion he recently at least assisted in taking down, healing himself for a percentage of that Champion's maximum health, and there it is, the proxy buff from the durability changes.

With every potential possession target now having higher maximum health Viego gets that little bit more HP every time and as I’m sure we have all seen in LoL veterancy, 1hp can and will be the difference between life and death. There we have it, a Champion in the jungle who may be worth adding to your pool post durability patch (not that Viego needs any more reasons as he’s still broken).

Ahri Mid

Ahri is seeing her return to the spotlight as a top-tier pick after her mini rework and has seen herself in the mix recently, however, like Viego she also saw a proxy buff (or less of a nerf compared to other Champions with similar classification).

So why is Ahri here, well she is an assassin that has true damage in her kit - the true damage coming from the second half of Orb of Deception. The durability patch hit assassins hard as every target now has more health and higher resistances, meaning getting kills is harder.

However, thanks to the true damage, the resistance buff hits a little less hard for her. Therefore, if you are an assassin player, Ahri now has another reason (on top of her very effective mini-rework) to be at the top of your tier list and worth adding to your pool.

Jinx Bot

Jinx is a Champion whom many would not have thought would have been enjoying the durability update. She has not enjoyed the changes as much as Champions such as Vayne, Kog’Maw, and Kai’sa. So why is Jinx mentioned here, it’s the fact that the durability patch didn’t affect her strengths but slightly helped her biggest weakness.

Jinx’s primary loss condition comes in scenarios where she gets blown up in the early stages of a fight before she can pop off with her passive: Get Excited. The durability update has provided Jinx with the potential to survive in a fight. After which she can then pop off and that can be enough to win an extended fight. So while Jinx may have not shut up tier lists like some other marksmen she may still be worth adding as one of the underrated winners of the durability patch.

Vel’Koz Support

So why is Vel’Koz here? The answer is access to true damage in the early to mid-game mixed with good base damages. One of the slightly less hyped parts of the durability patch has been the increase in resistances. Therefore, the ability to ignore some if not all these resistances when on a low econ budget cannot be undervalued. Now that every Champion has been given more armor and magic resist, true damage has more value by proxy and it is this fact that has pushed Vel’Koz to the forefront of AP Supports and may just be worthwhile for you to pick up.

Conclusion

So, there we have it! Five picks, one for each role that have benefited in lesser-seen ways or by proxy from the recent game-changing durability patch, and, as a result, may be worth adding to your Champion pool if you wish to win more games. Now as always, I remind you to learn a Champion before you take it into ranked, it's what the practice tool and normal games are for. To finish I wish you the following as always. GL, HF, and GG.