With Urgot’s rework revealed and two more champions on the schedule to be updated, the future of bringing older champions up to speed with the flashy new champs looks promising.
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The next two champions in the line-up to be updated are Evelynn and Aatrox, in that order, but it’s likely that there will be some time between them, especially since new champions are likely to be revealed between the reworks. They could still come pretty close together though as we’ve seen with Urgot and Kayn, and with Aatrox’s update being a Gameplay Update instead of a Visual Gameplay Update, he’s got one less component to think about that’ll hopefully speed up his return to the Rift.
After those two champs though, there are still plenty of champions that could use some love in the rework department to help them become viable again, or at least make them more fun to play. Some of these picks are in a tough spot and have been there for awhile, and others simply aren’t currently taking advantage of what their lore and design could become. Fortunately, a few of them have already been confirmed to be in line for an update, but here are a few champions whose reworks are most needed.
Swain
For someone who rules over Noxus and directs his fighters such as Darius as a so-called Master Technician, Swain doesn’t see a lot of playtime on the Rift. Not only is he a cruelly effective leader in his lore, he also commands a great deal of respect from those who work under him. Despite this, his kit doesn’t really reflect the mage tactician vibe that he’s supposed to be putting out, and his gameplayย doesn’t allow for too much decision-making to be made.
Whatever comes out the other end of Swain’s long-awaited rework, his ultimate should certainly be kept intact since it’s the defining ability of the champ. His passive is basically a Doran’sย Ring effect though, and as we can see through Singed’sย changes on the PBE, some of these purely stat-based abilities are already being looked at.
Riot Reav3’s champion roadmap should be coming out this month to detail upcoming reworks, and many are hoping that there will be some news about Swain. The Rioter also dropped into a discussionย about the new relationship between Swain and Urgotย to say that speculation of more interactions and Swain appearing on the roadmapย wasย an “interesting speculation.”
Nunu
Nunu and Willumpย are perfect introductions to the jungle for new players, right alongside Warwick and Amumu. Each of them helps teach different aspects better, Nunu’sย gameplayย being more focused on counterjunglingย and assisting his teammates, but his simplistic kit still feels a bit lackluster compared to what he could be.
According to Nunu’sย lore, the boy links up with Willump, a vicious Yeti who is capable of ferocious attacks while still being gentle with Nunu, but we don’t really see that in his current form. Instead, we see a Yeti who takes bites out of jungle monsters and causes immense frustration for the enemy jungler.
Nunuย isn’t suffering right now in the win rate department, and even though he’s not picked as much as more dynamic junglers, he still sees some playtime both in solo queue and in pro play.ย If and when the duo gets a rework, we can only hope that the Nunuย Bot skin remains supreme, especially when it comes to its laugh.
Pantheon
A snowballing champion if there ever was one, Pantheon thrives in the top lane as a feast or famine champion where his part in the game is usually decided quite early into the match.
The critical passive on his E ability, Heartseekerย Strike, makes sense in Pantheon’s kit as it reinforces his identity as a master warrior, imbued with the Aspect of War, but there are other ways his abilities could be adjusted to reflect that persona as well. We only see him using a spear and a shield through a few point-and-click abilities and a cone skillshot, but providing him with more weapon-based abilities would round out his warrior identity.
Gameplayย aside, Pantheon is also badly in need of a Visual Update as well. Some of his skins can be quite impressive, but others like the Full Metal Pantheon haven’t been touched in awhile and could use improvements.
Dr. Mundo
Another tankyย champion from Zaun, Dr. Mundoย recently received a new lore, though some might say that his previous iteration fit the champion more.
No longer is he a Dr. Jekyllย and Mr. Hyde archetype, he’s now supposed to be a deranged champion who loves both receiving and inflicting pain. While not everything about a champion should be based around their lore, this new story gives Mundoย plenty of room to have more of hisย abilities improved to align with missing health or receiving damage.ย His E, Masochism, gives him more attack damage based on missing health, and applying a similar health/damage effect to something like his somewhat lackluster Burning Agony ability would help solidify his identity.
One of the biggest issues that stands in the way of his rework though is his regenerating abilities. Like Aatrox, he relies on gaining health back during fights, something that’s easily shut down by the fairly cheap Executioner’s Calling.
Keep Up With The Update Schedule
While these are just some of the champions that are in need of a rework to keep them modern and give them some playtime, a list of the confirmed champions that will be given updates can be seen over at the officialย League of Legends update schedule that can be seen here.
While the schedule doesn’t get updated too often, that doesn’t mean that update ideas aren’t in progress for certain champions. They’re definitely being discusses as well, as can be seen in Reav3’s champion roadmapsย where the Rioter lays out a rough plan for upcoming champions. The Rioter has already mentioned some of the previous champs off the top of his head as champions that need a rework, and others include champs like Tryndamere, Akali, and other older champs. A champion roadmapย post should come later this month at which point we’ll hopefully be able to gain more insight into which reworks to expect.
