There is a surprising fact that many League of Legends (LoL) players may find shocking: the latest pure tank champion in this game was released back in 2017. Specifically, this champion is Ornn, who appeared on the official server on August 23, 2017. It’s been 5 years, yet LoL has not introduced any new tank champions since then.
Since Ornn, many assassin, fighter, marksman, and support champions have been released, but the tank class has been entirely overlooked. So what is the reason for this absurdity? Let’s explore.
Tanks Generate Low Revenue
In a highly competitive game like LoL, it is extremely important for players to express themselves. Therefore, champions with strong damage potential who can rack up kills and “carry” their team to victory are highly favored. It’s no surprise that marksmen and high-damage champions like Lee Sin, Yasuo, and Yone are popular among players.
In contrast, the essence of tank champions is to absorb damage as much as possible and allow teammates to deal damage comfortably. This is a role that very few LoL players want to commit to because it does not provide the same satisfaction as playing damage-dealing characters. The statistics on pick rates clearly show this, with tank champions like Dr. Mundo, Sion, and Ornn having very low pick rates (under 5%).
Clearly, when the pick rate is so low, the number of players willing to spend money on items such as skins for tank champions will be even lower. After all, Riot is still a business, and they need to make money to survive, so they are not overly enthusiastic about designing tank champions that do not generate high revenue.
Tank Champions Are Prone to Imbalance
If you remember, when the item system was revamped, Amumu and other tank champions immediately became some of the strongest characters. This was because the Sunfire Aegis at the time proved to be too powerful, turning tank champions into true juggernauts, hard to take down while still dealing significant damage.
Even to this day, the Sunfire Aegis remains a hugely unbalanced item. You can clearly see this as assassin champions like Yone and Diana also use Sunfire Aegis because it provides too much damage. This illustrates how tank champions can easily fall into a state of imbalance when their core mythic item is excessively strong.
It’s important to note that in recent years, Riot has often created champions that are too strong with perfect skill sets and almost no weaknesses. If they were to release more tank champions, this class would surely become extremely unbalanced as both the champion’s quality and supporting items would be too strong compared to the regulated levels.
Conclusion
With low revenue generation and the inherent risks of imbalance, tank champions have been neglected by Riot Games for the past 5 years. The encouraging news is that Riot has confirmed they will create a new tank champion in the near future. Hopefully, Riot Games will design this character carefully and avoid letting it fall into the same imbalance issues as previous characters.