The formula for creating a champion at Riot has remained almost the same across seasons, leading players to expect a cycle every time a new name is introduced: overpowered champion – nerfed – disappears – buffed – becomes overpowered again – heavily nerfed – disappears – reworked. In addition, Riot has also conducted revamps for champions released since the early days, like Udyr, Volibear, or Fiddlesticks. The two names that will soon undergo “cosmetic surgery” by Riot are Taliyah and Swain.
Regarding Taliyah, the Stone Mage was once one of the standout names in League of Legends since her debut, but her fate has been quite unfortunate. Taliyah was once considered a “failed” champion, leading Riot to frantically buff her, resulting in numerous ups and downs that left Taliyah players feeling disheartened. Once a highly versatile champion who could play mid lane, jungle, and even bot lane, Taliyah has almost completely vanished from the League of Legends map as well as from the minds of players since her nerf in the Pre-Season.
Feeling that Taliyah is truly becoming a “neglected” champion in League of Legends, Riot had to step in immediately. Riot’s game analyst – Galaxy Smash stated: “She needs significant power adjustments, which is somewhat challenging now, but we will definitely carry it out.” It’s important to note that Taliyah’s pick rate in Season 11 is extremely low (only 1.06%), and many new players or those who do not frequently check League of Legends patch notes may not even remember that Taliyah was once part of the champion roster.
As for Swain, the Noxian Grand General does not suffer from a “tragic” fate like Taliyah, but he can also be seen as somewhat neglected. It should be noted that Swain’s win rate is not low, indicating that this champion is still very useful when selected, but with a win rate of 48.87% while only being picked 1.75%, Riot is genuinely concerned. This suggests another meaning: because of the very low pick rate, Swain has a high win rate. In reality, although positioned as a Support, Swain is nearly absent in high-rank matches or professional tournaments (not picked at all in LCK, LPL, or LCS).
However, given the current pandemic situation, and Riot still struggling to find a venue for the 2021 World Championship, players may have to wait until early 2022 at the earliest to see revamped Taliyah and Swain, and if conditions do not improve, it might be quite a while before the Sand Mage and Noxian Grand General return to the professional arena.