Recent changes have revitalized Sivir, bringing life to both her in-game strength and her player base. And with even more changes on the horizon, things might just continue to get better.
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Sivir and the 14.5 Buffs
Sivir’s most recent changes come from the 14.5 Patch last week. She received a direct buff, and her game statistics have improved as a result.
The Changes
Sivir’s base armor was increased from 26 to 30. According to the patch notes, this is because she had been looking weak for a while, and the team wanted her to have a more interactive laning phase.
This extra armor will certainly give her an extra boost to her early survivability. In particular, Riot Riru mentions that Sivir will be able to participate in more early skirmishes and trades. Alongside this comes an easier time farming and maintaining a stronger presence in lane. This is crucial for income, especially for ADCs, so the buff will help Sivir out on many levels.
Additionally, this stronger early game will also allow her to scale smoothly into the late game with her increased items and experience. Because of these changes, Sivir is more powerful throughout the entire match, and she will emerge victorious.
The Results
So far, it looks like the armor changes are working as intended: Sivir’s win rate is +1.2% since the last patch, according to League of Graphs. Interestingly, she has also gained a +1.2% boost in popularity since 14.4. So, not only has her game play improved, but so has players’ interest in trying her out.
However, ADC has been in a rather precarious position lately, with players such as Tim “Nemesis” Lipovšek and Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng feeling that the role has lost its identity as late-game scalers. While Sivir’s early game armor buffs don’t address this directly, they do give her a greater opportunity to scale into her late game and fulfill her role meaningfully. But the changes don’t end there.
Sivir and the 14.6 Infinity Edge
When Patch 14.6 releases on March 20th, Infinity Edge is expected to receive changes to critical bonus damage.
The Changes
As shown in Remus’s video above, Infinity Edge’s bonus critical damage will increase from 40% to 50%.
This has a great chance of improving Sivir games, but only for those who build Infinity Edge. According to the Unbeatable Crit Sivir Guide by Amberdragon, Sivir usually builds Navori Quickblades, but players can opt for Infinity Edge in its place if they prefer extra damage over Quickblades’ utility. With the Infinity Edge changes, this is even more true than ever, and Sivir players will have to decide between the still-strong Quickblades and the newly improved IE. Those that decide to build Infinity Edge, though, will find themselves with stronger late game scaling than they could ever attain with the item before, adding to Sivir’s already strong late game.
Combined with her armor buff, this means that not only will Sivir have an easier time making it to her late game, but also improved power once she gets there. Once again, this is a welcome change amidst discussion of ADCs’ poor scaling and loss of identity. Hopefully, Sivir players will feel a bit more autonomous and able to fulfill their role after these changes, even if ADC as a whole still needs improvement.
It is still too soon to say whether players will switch over to IE permanently, but the bonus damage is certainly significant enough to try out. At a minimum, this provides a nice variety in build options for players to experiment with. However, this is admittedly insignificant in comparison to the need for ADC balance overall. Perhaps Sivir will join the ranks of ADCs played in Top and Mid Lane. This would provide a way for her player base to take advantage of the new changes without feeling limited by the ADC role.
Overall
Sivir’s changes are a win, and seem to be working out so far. While they’re not the biggest changes ever, they are certainly enough to improve the experience of playing Sivir, and draw people in to try something new. Hopefully, large-scale balance changes to all roles will follow, so that players can fully appreciate playing Sivir ADC.
Featured Image from League of Legends Wiki
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