League of Legends: Why Zeri keeps getting nerfed
Zeri, the Spark of Zaun, was the first new champion to be released by Riot Games for League of Legends (LoL) this year.
She’s caused quite the stir among the community from the time her teaser came out. Inspired by Filipino culture and even voiced by Filipina voice actress Vanille Velasquez, Zeri showed a lot of promise.
After her debut in LoL, however, it seems like players now have a love-hate relationship with her. Zeri started her first week slow, with only a 40% win rate, but she has grown to be an absolute menace on the Rift since then.
The sparky champion was nerfed in almost every patch (including the Public Beta Environment), as she electrified the Summoner Rift with her overpowered kit.
So what makes Zeri so formidable and why do the developers keep nerfing her?
Because of her mobility and speed, Zeri is able to inflict heavy burst damage in a short period of time. The Spark of Zaun has progressively become one of the most popular AD carriers because of her distinctive play style.
As Riot promised, Zeri’s attack and movement speed make it so hard for other champions to pin her down, especially with her ability to jump over walls. On top of that, the slow in her passive makes enemies struggle against her.
Currently, she sits as the number 1 pick in the bottom lane, according to popular in-game LoL statistics app op.gg, with a pick rate of 15.9% and ban rate of 64.9%. Her win rate is also pretty high, sitting at 53.3%.
Apart from being very popular in solo queue, Zeri has also been dominating the LoL esports scene since she was enabled for pro play in February.
Here’s how the Spark of Zaun has been doing in the major regions:
LCS (North America)
In the Legends Championship Series (LCS) in North America, Zeri was present in all drafts with a 100% pick/ban rate — of which she was picked 55 times and banned 49 times — and with a win rate of 50%
Kyle “Danny” Sakamaki of Evil Geniuses debuted the champion, showing off her insane mobility and notably getting his first-ever pentakill in a game against TSM in the group stage last month.
LEC (Europe)
Zeri’s presence in the League of Legends European Championship (LEC) is a little more one-sided at 61%, with 9 games and 46 bans, and a win rate of 66.7%.
Victor "Flakked" Lirola from G2 Esports mentioned in an interview with esports.com that he thought Zeri was "for sure a bit overtuned right now”.
Flakked also mentioned that it depended on how Zeri was used by the player and the draft, adding that in some scenarios, she looked "really broken" but in others, she looked "really bad”.
Recently in a game between Rogue Esports and G2 Esports, Flakked's Tristana was faced against Markos "Comp" Stamkopoulos's Zeri. While Comp did not get any quadrakills, he showed that Zeri's mobility and ability kit can easily overpower the Yordle gunner, and win in team fights.
LPL (China)
The Tencent League of Legends Pro League (LPL) players in China have been spamming Zeri since her arrival, with a pick/ban rate of 62.5% and being played in only 44 games, while being banned a whopping 136 times.
In a game between Fun Plus Phoenix and Ultra Prime, Lin "Lwx" Wei-Xiang’s Zeri pick was instrumental in driving the game’s pace with her quick map rotation. Lwx’s Zeri ended up killing four Ultra Prime champions in a skirmish at the bot lane.
LNG Esports had an interesting take on the Spark of Zaun, with Kim “Doinb” Tae-sang choosing the champion for the mid lane instead, in a match against Anyone’s Legend.
Despite Anyone’s Legend taking the first kill, Doinb effortlessly dominated with Zeri in the mid lane, ending with an 11/0/4 record and a quadrakill to secure the game two victory.
The Zaunite marksman was once again included in the third game, with LNG’s Wang "Light” Guang-Yu dominating the bot lane, after mitigating an early lead from Anyone’s Legend.
LNG took the series 2-1, with both Doinb and Light taking the MVP honours in games two and three.
LCK (South Korea)
Zeri’s presence can also be felt in the LCK, where she has a 58.2% pick/ban rate with 21 games played and 86 games banned, and a win rate of 52.4%.
Hanwa Life Esports was the first team to debut Zeri in a match that nearly ended T1’s historic win streak.
Lee "SamD" Jae-hoon’s Zeri was instrumental in denying T1 a comeback in a teamfight that ended in a quadrakill. The Spark of Zaun was promptly banned in the next two games, which ended with T1 taking a 2-1 reverse sweep.
In another game between DRX and Hanwa Life Esports, Kim "Deft" Hyuk-kyu demonstrated Zeri’s power after demolishing the members of HLE in a team fight.
It looks like Zeri is here to stay, but are there ways for players to get around her and counter her abilities and strengths?
Despite the most recent nerf, we’ll probably see the Zaunite marksman more often on the Summoner’s Rift and in the LoL esports arena, so brace yourselves and prepare to outplay the Spark of Zaun.
For more esports news updates, visit https://yhoo.it/YahooEsportsSEA and check out Yahoo Esports Southeast Asia’s Facebook page and Twitter, as well as our Gaming channel on YouTube.
Anna is a freelance writer and photographer. She is a gamer who loves RPGs and platformers, and is a League of Legends geek. She's also a food enthusiast who loves a good cup of black coffee.
