LoL Patch 13.20 is going to be making huge changes to the jungle and some players believe the top lane will be even less important than before. Will we have another bot lane meta on our hands?
LoL Patch 13.20 is going to be pretty huge, with a lot of key adjustments being added to the jungle. Jungle monsters will be more durable and even give less gold, all in hopes of lowering the jungle role's agency on Summoner's Rift.
One of those changes has some players concerned though about the upcoming meta in League of Legends and well... it isn't looking too good for top laners out there who already feel like they're playing their very own mini-game of LoL, rather than a team game.
LoL Patch 13.20: Jungle Adjustments Could Create Pure Bot Lane Meta
The top lane is an island, how often have we heard that before? Well now some players are worried that the top lane will be even more forgotten once the jungle changes of LoL Patch 13.20 go live. One of the key monsters in the jungle, as well as other changes could lead to the bot lane being the prime lane to play through once more.
In LoL Patch 13.20, the Rift Herald will be worth 100 Gold less than previously, meaning that instead of 200 Gold, players will only receive 100 for killing the creature. That isn't the biggest of nerfs though. Along with the Gold nerf for the monster, Turret Plating has also been reduced. Instead of 175 Gold per plate players will now only receive 125 Gold to try and reduce Snowballing in the game.
Due to the change in Turret Plate Gold, fighting for Herald will likely become less impactful and teams will prioritize Drake over the Rift Herald in most cases. Sure, Drakes also got nerfed, but Riot did buff most of the Dragon Souls, which means stacking Drakes will become a priority – and make sure you win those smite fights with the right equipment .
Therefore, teams will be fighting for bot lane dominance to be able to get their hands on Dragons as soon as possible, leaving the Rift Herald and the top side of the map by the wayside. Junglers are going to prioritize the bot lane to have an advantage as well.
LoL Patch 13.20 will go live October 11, 2023 which is when these changes will go into effect. Then we will see whether the top lane will be ignored as many predict, or whether the nerfed Dragons also aren't of interest to most.