The new champion Akshan was introduced with the Sentinel of Light event and was previously described as quite “overpowered” due to his mobile skill set, good damage output, and especially his W – Comeback Vengeance which can revive teammates. However, contrary to all predictions, Akshan had an unsuccessful debut with an extremely low win rate, not exceeding 35% in both the Bot Lane and Mid Lane, despite Riot’s “emergency adjustments.”
Afterwards, Akshan received another piece of disappointing news when, despite having been around for a while and having “proven” that he is not really a “200-year champion,” he was still banned by Riot from playoff matches.
But the situation didn’t stop there. It was thought that the Marksman Sentinel would only disappear from the playoffs but still had a chance to participate in Worlds (which is still quite some time away), but recently, Riot made another announcement: Akshan will officially be banned from Worlds 2021 to be held in China.
At the same time, Riot’s MAXtheX also provided an explanation right below: “The decisions were made entirely based on the teams’ gameplay. And if a champion hardly ever appears in the professional arena, that name makes it very difficult for us to balance. That is the reason we had to do so.”
Riot’s official “ban” of Akshan at Worlds 2021 effectively ends any chance of this new champion debuting in the professional arena this year. And before Akshan, both Gwen and Viego had to wait a long time before being allowed to be used in the professional arena, indicating that Riot is struggling to create new champions and even when they are launched, numerous issues still exist that make both Riot and the teams headache.