Champion reworks have been a necessary task for Riot Games in recent years to keep older characters fresh and not feeling out of place in the game. Last year, Riot Games listened to players and allowed the community to decide who needed a rework. The winners, as we saw, were Fiddlesticks and Volibear, both of whom got a complete overhaul in 2020.
Even in their latest champion development roadmap, Riot Games revealed that Dr. Mundo is the third champion to be reworked this year. This is quite understandable as the madman from Zaun has an overly simple skill set that heavily relies on his durability stats. Meanwhile, looking at other tanks like Ornn and Maokai, they require certain skills from players, not just activating R and charging in like Dr. Mundo.
With the addition of 3 new champions and 1 rework, the characters entering League of Legends this year seem to be finalized, and many are questioning who will be reworked by Riot Games next year. Just a few hours ago, Riot Reav3, the head of champion production for League of Legends, provided us with a shortlist of the champions most likely to receive a rework next year.
Riot Reav3: “Indeed, reworking Udyr is quite challenging, but that doesn’t mean we won’t upgrade him. We still discuss Udyr a lot in our talks about upgrading old champions. I wouldn’t be surprised if Udyr is the next champion on the rework voting list.”
A player asked: “Do you have a shortlist of the champions most likely to be reworked? I know everyone has been talking about Shyvana and Nocturne, but who really needs a rework? Is Shaco still going to be reworked even after a recent upgrade?”
Riot Reav3: “A few champions I can think of for the rework list include Skarner, Shyvana, Nocturne, Rammus, Udyr, Quinn, Shaco, Tryndamere, Cho’Gath. I’m not sure what the final list will look like.”
In Riot Reav3’s comments, we can see that the champions he mentioned all have significant issues with skill design, gameplay, and need a rework. Some champions have overly simple skill sets like Rammus, Udyr, and Skarner, making their gameplay very one-dimensional, and players lack interest in exploring and using them.
Meanwhile, a few champions face gameplay issues, such as being strong in solo play like Quinn, Tryndamere, and Shaco, but having minimal impact in team fights. Shyvana also needs a comprehensive rework of her skill set to have a clear gameplay style, rather than being described as a Fighter but building AP in-game as she currently does.
Cho’Gath and Nocturne are probably the most ordinary champions on this list; Riot will likely just add a few effects to their skill sets and upgrade their visuals rather than a complete rework being necessary. What do you think? Which of the names mentioned above needs a rework the most? Feel free to leave your opinions in the comments.