League of Legends Previews Aatrox, Irelia Updates

Several League of Legends champions are currently on the schedule for a rework, but two that have been coming for a while now were previewed recently by Riot Reav3.

The two champions in question are Irelia and Aatrox, the first a relatively new rework announcement and the second one a champ that’s been in line for work for quite some time now. While both champions are currently listed on the League of Legends update schedule, their respective updates are a bit different from each other. Irelia’s rework is a Visual and Gameplay Update (VGU) that’ll overhaul both her ability kit, her model, and her skins, but Aatrox’s is just a Gameplay Update (GU) that targets only the champion’s abilities.

As for what’s currently planned for the champions and where their reworks stand, Riot Reav3 explained what’s going on with each champ and which parts of their kit players can expect to persist post-rework.

Irelia

Irelia’s VGU is one that looks to capitalize off of the champion’s unique role in League as a master of blades who levitates these weapons around her while slashing enemies apart while maintaining the champion’s playstyle that keeps her in the fray, deep in enemy lines during a teamfight. Riot Reav3 also explained that Irelia’s Bladesurge (Q) will still be part of her post-update kit, though they plan on somehow making it even better.

“Like I mentioned before, we’re keeping her current Q, Bladesurge, as we believe it’s a great ability that’s core to Irelia, and we’ll even be spicing it up by giving her more reset opportunities,” Riot Reav3 said.  “The rest of her kit is going through pretty big changes to help fully realize her theme. We still want to maintain her strength against ranged champions and want her to be able to fight at a relatively long range (for a fighter), poking at her enemies with a thousand tiny cuts before surging in for the kill.”

Riot Reav3 also suggested that Irelia “needs some tools to initiate a fight and signal to her teammates that negotiations have failed and it’s time to fight back,” another teaser that may find its way into her new kit.

Aatrox

And then there’s Aatrox, the largest pure GU update that Riot Games has ever worked on. The update for the first Darkin champion is one that’s taken a while now, one that should totally represent the Darkin theme that
Aatrox embodies once it’s finished.

“As noted previously, Aatrox’s changes will be the largest pure gameplay update we’ve ever done, and it’s taken us a bit longer than we originally predicted,” Riot Reav3 continued. “We think that Aatrox really isn’t holistically living up to his Darkin Warlord theme and needs to be rethought from the ground up.”

Regarding the direction that Riot plans on taking Aatrox, the champion’s rework team has settled on the design of a “bloodthirsty, greatsword-wielding Warlord,” a title that sounds perfect for Aatrox.

“We want Aatrox’s attacks and abilities to feel very heavy and powerful while still maintaining the duelist nature of a sword master. And he’s definitely gonna have a giant Darkin sword that feeds on the death and destruction of all humanity. You know, typical Darkin stuff.”

Current Champion Update Schedule

Along with the updates on both of these champions’ upcoming reworks, the champion roadmap also confirmed another upcoming rework for Akali. While the champion hasn’t officially been added to the champion update schedule yet with the news being so recent, her rework will more than likely come after the other two champions receive theirs.

At the moment, the champion update schedule only has three champions listed, but with Swain about to leave the schedule and Akali taking his place, the schedule is going to start moving around a bit once it’s updated once again. The current schedule is listed below with Akali added in for a reference on her timeline, but the schedule is always tentative and could be changed.

• Swain: VGU
• Irelia: VGU
• Aatrox: GU
• Akali: VGU

Are You Excited for Irelia, Aatrox, or Akali?

With Swain’s rework already on the PBE and his abilities fully revealed, there’s little surprise to be left in what will come from his update. However, with the other three champions that are in line for updates, there’s little known about what will happen to them and plenty of excited speculation about where they’ll end up.

Akali, Irelia, and Aatrox all have their spots in various roles such as the top lane, mid lane, and jungle depending on where you want to take them, so many players have a stake in their reworks and speculation has already begun running wild on League forums and Reddit as to how the champions will fare after their reworks. Cast your vote for the League of Legends rework that you’re most excited for in the poll below and voice your opinion with other Akali, Aatrox, and Irelia players.