Individual champion nerfs? Typically no.

Where we do work with pro players is on broader systemic changes or major changes that will specifically impact pro play. The two best examples are Runes Reforged and the 10 ban system. We playtested Runes Reforged with pro players from the LCS and LCK almost half a year before the changes actually shipped. During these playtests we had a Keystone called “Reap” that would execute an enemy champion if you got them below a certain threshold of health (the pros played with the very over-tuned 20% version). Huhi (CLG) and Froggen (then on Echo Fox) both played Karthus in a mirror-match mid, and would R on cooldown and watch as everyone else became a pawn in their game of quadra/penta kills. There’s a reason this rune never saw the light of day…

For the 10 ban system, we sent a paper-prototype of the proposed system to pro orgs around the world. We also had the NA LCS teams come to the Riot campus over the weekend after their matches to run “mock drafts” against each other and discuss the format. Huni (then on Immortals) was especially engaged and insightful to listen to as he mapped out mock drafts in the system based on different metas with different power-picks.

We don’t typically ask for pro input on smaller patch-to-patch changes. However when making changes to address pro play in particular, we sometimes send out a changelist to pro organizations globally. We’re planning on working with the orgs more in the future, but one of the challenges is that pro players are constantly practicing and focussing on the current state of the game and it’s hard for them to take time and think about upcoming changes (some that might not even make it to Live). We’re looking to expand our feedback loop to coaches, analysts, and support staff of the pro orgs in the future, and working with the pros is always a valuable (and growing) opportunity for us.