Recently, Riot Games provided the latest information on the champion development roadmap for League of Legends during the late 2021 to early 2022 period. One piece of news that the gaming community might find a bit disappointing is that from now until the end of the year (the end of Q4), League of Legends will not be launching any new champions or reworked champions.
Everything left for 2021 will only be a visual update (for one or more champions with outdated designs). In return, at the beginning of 2022, Riot promises to bring the gaming community incredibly new experiences, with the rework of Udyr alongside two new champions.
Marksman with a New Basic Attack Mechanic and “Pay-to-Win” Support
One of the two champions set to debut at the beginning of 2022 is rumored to have been revealed in the trailer for Riot’s Arcane series, nicknamed “The Lightning Rider.” According to the description from the creators of League of Legends, this will be a marksman champion with novel mechanics in their basic attacks, similar to the cases of Graves or Jhin.
Additionally, a new support champion will appear after the aforementioned marksman, with a theme related to… money. Riot has not disclosed specific gameplay details for this champion, but the theme indicates that this support champion has the ability to manipulate everything using money, leading the community to speculate about a bold theory that they could even exchange earned money to turn an enemy champion into… an ally for a limited time.
Udyr Rework
The rework process for Udyr continues to be updated by Riot Games, and it seems that this champion will only be able to don a new look next year. One of the latest pieces of information revealed is about Udyr’s in-game model and the theme of his skill set.
The most notable change is that he will now be given a pair of impressive horns (despite not having a partner), which is considered the biggest highlight in Udyr’s design and will become a defining feature of this character.
However, with his muscular build, disheveled hair, scruffy beard, and the massive horns, Udyr’s new design actually makes many League of Legends fans immediately think of the Yonko Kaido from One Piece, as both share many similarities in appearance and themes (Kaido possesses beast-related powers, while Udyr also draws strength from the beast forms of Freljord’s demi-gods).
Regarding his skill set, Udyr’s old mechanics will likely be retained, with Riot’s task being to make his four abilities more versatile, dynamic, and less dull. Udyr’s martial arts come from absorbing the powers of the mighty demi-gods of Freljord, and this may explain why his abilities have many “similarities” to Volibear, Ornn, or Anivia.
