Is League Of Legends' Udyr Locked Out Of An Update Due To Spirit Guard Udyr?

Updates are a popular topic right now in League of Legends as champions are frequently getting reworked, such as Urgot, alongside the release of new champions like the upcoming Kayn. Older champions can only be remade so fast though, especially since players have grown attached to their classic versions, but some players are concerned that the primal jungler, Udyr, might be put on the back burner, if not locked out completely, when it comes to updates because of his Spirit Guard Udyr skin.

It's not the first time that this question has been asked, and it likely won't be the last time until Udyr finds himself listed on an update schedule that currently only has Evelyn and Aatrox on the list. A thread was posted on Reddit recently asking the same question, and commenters weren't too optimistic about Udyr receiving an update anytime soon.

"It's good for Riot that nobody plays Udyr, they can just ignore this problem for as long as they want," the top comment read, a scathing answer that spoke to how infrequently Udyr is seen in the jungle or on the Rift at all.

The issue that many take with the Spirit Guard Udyr skin isn't that it's a bad design — in fact, it's a terrific design, and that's the problem. His Spirit Guard skin comes at a whopping price of 3250 RP and amplifies and improves everything about the jungler. Each one of his four forms look and sound better with this skin and make it a must-have if you're an Udyr main.

But a lot of skins offer a completely different take on a champion, not an updated version of their current form. Players pointed to Blood Lord Vladimir as another example, a skin that just looks like a better, more vampiric version of Vlad's base model.

Udyr's appearance does seem outdated next to new champs, and the term "pizza feet" is often used to describe him along with other older champs. If he were to receive a Visual Gameplay Update, they'd have to bring both his abilities and appearance up to a modern level, but they'd also have to do the same with Spirit Guard Udyr and make it an even better skin.

Some players have accused Riot of ignoring Udyr as far as VGUs are concerned so that players will instead buy his Spirit Guard skin for their own Visual Update. However, it's much more likely that there are just a lot of champions to update and work on, and maybe Udyr just isn't at the top of that list right now.