LoL Champion Roadmap: Riot Teases New Champions
A Void Jungler, a non-traditional botlane champ, and a Shuriman tank are in the making
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Riot Games released a new Champion Roadmap for League of Legends and teased two new champions who will soon grace the Summoner’s Rift. Riot made it clear that it would be slowing down the production of new champions. In the LoL Champion Roadmap, it wrote, “We want to make sure every champion gets the time and attention they need before they’re shipped, even if that means we don't hit every position in a year. While we don’t know exactly how many champions we’ll release this year, it should be pretty similar to last year.”
In 2022, Riot has already released two new champions for the bottom lane - an attack-damage carry (ADC) and an enchanter support champion. Both Zeri and Renata have very interesting ability kits and have been prioritized in pro play, as well.
On the League of Legends Season 2022 Opening Day livestream, Lead Producer of Champions Ryan “Reav3” Mireles unveiled the plans for new champion releases lined up for this year. After he teased Renata, who was not yet revealed at that point, he also revealed that a jungler and a non-traditional bot-laner would be released later this year.
New jungle champion in the making
This new jungler will hail from the Void and make “everyone submit to her will.” Notably, this jungle champion will be the third champion to be released in 2022. According to the LoL Champion Roadmap, this new Empress will be a skirmisher, who is beautiful, inevitable, and foretold.
The Void is a manifestation of the unknowable nothingness that lies beyond. It is a force of insatiable hunger, waiting through the eons until its masters, the mysterious Watchers, mark the final time of undoing."Riot Games
“Those who do so willingly will be rewarded by becoming part of the ever-expanding Lavender Sea, crashing like waves against the enemies’ defensive structures. Give in to your Empress and let her feed on your essence, so you may become part of the new evolution of Runeterra. And as an added bonus, if you succumb to her you will also bear witness to her true elegance, her true beauty, and the true face of the Void,” wrote Riot.
Drawing lines from Riot’s description of this new champion, it seems like the Empress will consume the “essence” of enemies and reveal the true face of the Void.
A stranger from the land of a thousand colors
In the LoL Champion Roadmap, Riot teased another champion in the making with a small story revolving around Oyster Bill’s Oyster Shack. It narrated that Oyster Bill’s shack was a wreck, with smashed tables, broken bottles, and strange glowing puddles all over the place.
“According to Oyster Bill it was caused by a colorful but deadly stranger who came to Runeterra from a land across the seas. He claimed some Noxians were getting rowdy and one of them accidentally knocked over the stranger’s oysters,” recounted the narrator.
Following this, the colorful stranger “laughed a most joyous laugh” as they stood up from their table. There was a fight that erupted between the stranger and the Noxian band of ten people. Oyster Bill said all he heard was the joyous laughter and the sound of splashing water and when the mist cleared up, he found all the Noxians dead and the stranger missing.
“When one of the other customers doubted the story, Bill doubled down on his claim that it was true, and that the mysterious stranger was, in fact, living in a room above his restaurant. He said that if any of us wanted to go talk to them ourselves we were welcome to,” said the narrator.
This stranger from the land of a thousand colors with a joyous laugh could very well be the “non-traditional” bot-laner that Riot Games teased.
A Shuriman tank for the top-lane
Riot also revealed the third champion for this year, possibly the last champion to be introduced in Season 12 of League of Legends. In the outro of the blogpost, it shared an image of a busy city with colorful high-rise buildings, surrounded by waterfalls and greenery. This place is representative of the new region in Shurima, which according to Riot, “hasn't been seen yet!” The company stated that it will be releasing a new high skill top-lane champion, called the Pride of Nazumah, meaning that this desert-like region could very well be Nazumah.
If we were to draw from the releases of Zeri and Renata Glasc, these new champions might also have interesting abilities in their kits, and could also boast some new mechanics. Riot Games will likely update the community with the exact release dates for these champions in the future.
