League of Legends' Irelia Added to Update Schedule Ahead of Aatrox

Irelia has been added to the official schedule of champions to be updated in League of Legends, and the top laner finds herself currently listed just ahead of the Darkin Blade for her rework.

During the Champion Roadmap announcement for October, it was confirmed that The Will of the Blades would be receiving a Visual and Gameplay Update. This puts Irelia in the company of other champions such as Galio, Warwick, Urgot, and Evelynn who also received similar full-scale reworks with improved graphics and abilities.

She's in a different category than Aatrox, a champion that's in line for an update that's supposed to be a smaller one focuses on his gameplay, but she's been placed ahead of him on the schedule. Aatrox is set to receive a Gameplay Update, so they'll leave his visual alone aside from some animation tweaks, but his update is apparently taking quite a while to get ready. Riot's designers have said recently that Aatrox's update is the largest pure Gameplay Update that they've done yet. His update is still quite far away according to some recent comments from Riot Reav3, but the update schedule proves just how far away it seems to be.

As for Irelia's spot, she falls in line just ahead of Aatrox but after Swain. Swain's Gameplay and Visual Update is the one that's currently being worked on, though precious little has been revealed about the Noxian ruler's changes. If the pattern of recent releases of new champions and reworks hold true, Swain's update will come after the new burst mage champion, then another new champion, and finally will come Irelia's rework. Updates like Xin Zhao's and Azir's haven't been confined to the same schedule in the past which means that Aatrox's could be released simply whenever it's finished, but judging from how sizeable his appears to be, it might follow that trend anyway.

If you're wondering why Irelia is even receiving an update over other worthy contenders, you're not alone. Many have asked, and an answer has been given recently as to why Irelia was chosen over Udyr, Volibear, and other picks.

Swain, Irelia, and Aatrox don't have release dates for their eventual updates, but more timeframes will likely come along with update details soon.