Buzz
Frostbite Enhancement, after its makeover, proves to be compatible with many Supports like Leona, Nautilus, Thresh.
If you're a support main, you're likely familiar with the Excess Shock rune on champions such as Nautilus, Leona... Providing a significant boost in defensive stats after immobilizing opponents, this rune seems ideal for the mentioned champions when they can easily trigger it. However, in the Pre-Season 2022, this dominance is shaking as Frostbite Enhancement gets a revamp.
Not far from sight, in the recent Demacia Cup 2021 matches, Frostbite Enhancement has gained more popularity over Excess Shock. Both Support players using this rune on Thresh, Leona, and to some extent Nautilus is becoming commonplace. So, what's causing Excess Shock to be gradually replaced? Let's find out.
The first reason lies within Excess Shock itself as its effectiveness has significantly diminished over the years. Following a major adjustment in the Pre-Season 2020, the defensive stats it provides at the start of the game have drastically decreased. It demands champions to build more armor/Magic Resist items to enhance the bonus stats after immobilizing opponents.
Despite its decline over the years, players still use Excess Shock because it's the only rune suitable for tank Supports. Thus, immediately after Frostbite Enhancement's revamp with a similar activation method, Excess Shock's position has been greatly diminished. While this rune may not provide defensive stats like Excess Shock, it brings immense versatility and exceptional teammate support in controlling opponents.
Fundamentally, with its revamp, champions like Leona, Nautilus, Thresh... will create a significant slowing zone after immobilizing targets using Frostbite Enhancement. This makes securing kills in 2v2 skirmishes in the Bot Lane much easier. Additionally, this slowing zone facilitates your teammates to unleash precise area-of-effect abilities during skirmishes.
Clearly, in terms of versatility, Frostbite Enhancement proves to be much better than Excess Shock. Remember, as a Support, you possess very little economy, so the bonus stats based on armor/Magic Resist provided by Excess Shock are now less suitable. While using Frostbite Enhancement may cost you some defensive stats, it exchanges for the opportunity to deal more damage and secure higher kills for your teammates.
In summary, with its significantly higher versatility, Frostbite Enhancement is demonstrating its superiority over Excess Shock. It's highly likely that in the upcoming 2022 season, this rune will be closely associated with tank Supports like Leona, Thresh, Nautilus...
