In 2023, Riot released 3 new champions, namely Millio, Naafiri, and Briar. Previously, in 2022, Zeri, Renata Glasc, Bel’Veth, Nilah, and K’Sante were introduced. Thus, within just 2 years, Riot has launched 8 new champions. Notably, all 8 of these new names have caused numerous issues for Riot. From design, skills, to lore, they have left many problems in their wake.
While Zeri and K’Sante have become notorious for being overpowered and continue to receive complaints about their strength, Bel’Veth and Nilah only saw limited play before completely disappearing. Renata Glasc and Millio are two rare champions that can be considered relatively balanced and are often used in the Support role. Meanwhile, Naafiri’s lore has been deemed a failure by the community, and Briar, upon release, had a record low win rate (below 30%).
Recently, BeryL – the Support considered a genius in the League of Legends scene and possessing extensive game knowledge, has spoken out against Riot’s current game design and operations. BeryL bluntly stated: “Riot, please do not release any more new champions. It is clear that champion balancing is not being executed well, while many champions need to be reworked. Over 20 champions have outdated mechanics and need urgent reworking.”
BeryL also cited the example of Garen, whose skill set is extremely outdated and could benefit from a jump mechanic when using his ultimate ability. Additionally, the DRX Support referenced the game Genshin Impact, noting that even with many new champions released, players generally only try them out a few times before returning to their familiar favorites. Thus, reworking outdated champions is a task that needs to be prioritized as soon as possible.
However, reworking a champion will still depend on Riot and the recent cases. To date, nearly 100% of reworks (Volibear, Fiddlestick, Udyr, Dr. Mundo) have, to some extent, failed. Perhaps that is why Riot is currently not very eager to rework champions that have been part of League of Legends since its early days.