After a long wait, the League of Legends community has finally had the chance to see and experience the Hall of Legends Faker skin line – the first HoL collection in the entire League of Legends universe appearing in the Shop. Regarding the significance of the skin, the stature of Faker, and especially the price that Riot has set for this collection, it can be said that this is one of the most anticipated in-game updates in the League of Legends scene for 2024. Not to mention, the previous discussions have led to peak anticipation, and many gamers, including KOLs and professional players, immediately “donated blood” as soon as the skin line was released.
However, the release of the HoL skin of Faker immediately caused one champion to “cry out”. Specifically, that champion is Ahri – the main character of this skin line alongside LeBlanc. For those who don’t know, until the end of patch 14.11, in the ranks from Emerald and above, Ahri ranked 7th in the ban rate list with only about 8%. But when moving to patch 14.12, the Nine-Tailed Fox immediately shot up to 4th place with a 13.11% ban rate.
The same situation happened with LeBlanc (the champion also featured in HoL but with a slightly lesser role). Specifically, in patch 14.11, LeBlanc ranked 5th in the list of most banned Mid Lane champions with 11.84%. But in patch 14.12, LeBlanc also jumped to 2nd place with a 16.03% ban rate. Notably, in patch 14.12, the champions that were buffed or adjusted do not include Ahri and LeBlanc.
The reason for the surge in ban rates might come from Riot itself. Recently, when this publisher announced the pricing for Faker’s HoL collection, the community called on each other to ban Ahri and LeBlanc in all matches so that players who had purchased the skin would not have the opportunity to use it, while also expressing their opposition to Riot. According to many opinions, the release of a skin line at such an exorbitant price not only burdens gamers but also goes against the frugal living principle that Riot intended to honor – Faker.
Although patch 14.12 has only been out for just over a day, and the HoL skin has just appeared, two champions from Riot have had to “endure” their unfortunate fate. Nevertheless, Ahri and LeBlanc are not easy champions to play, and the increase in their ban rates could be due to various reasons, not just because of Riot’s expensive collection honoring Faker.