New year, new champions.
2022 is about to conclude, and you know what that means—it’s time to check out what’s in store for players with League of Legends accounts in 2023. Since preseason 2023 is here, Riot Games has revealed the champion roadmap for the MOBA. The champion roadmap gives insight into what Riot has planned for the Rift in the coming months. They have shared the various changes coming to League of Legends. Plus, we’re scheduled to get an ASU, CGU, and two new champions. Let’s look at what Riot Games has spilled the beans on thus far.
Ending 2022 With K’Sante
Before 2022 ends, Riot Games wanted to go out with a bang by releasing K’Sante, a top lane/fighter. Based on what we’ve seen, K’Sante looks like a champion with a high skill ceiling, so he will not be for everyone. However, if players with LoL accounts take the time to master him when he’s out, the latest champion can make life a living hell for the opposing team.
Upcoming Champions for League of Legends
A couple of months earlier, Riot Games announced that they would be releasing two new champions. These champions are a Darkin assassin and an Ixtal enchanter.
The Darkin Assassin
One of the most popular types of champions in League of Legends is the Darkin; they’re known as the God-Warriors of Shurima. Due to being traumatized by the void war, they learned how to use blood magic to heal themselves. Blood magic is a type of magic linked to healing and resurrection.
Unfortunately, most Darkins are imprisoned in various weapons and are unable to regain their true forms. There are three Darkins in League of Legends: Varus, Aatrox, and Rhaast (the red version of Kayn). If you look at their abilities, most of their skills have something to do with healing and sustenance. There hasn’t been a new Darkin champion since 2017, and with the champion roadmap, we can expect another Darkin to arrive in the Rift.
Riot Reav3 stated that the upcoming Darkin assassin would be trapped in a dagger. However, the person wielding the dagger is yet to be revealed. The new Darkin would be a mid-laner that can double as a top laner. That’s because the other Darkin champions already occupy the other lanes. We have Varus in the ADC, Kayne in the jungle, and Aatrox in the top lane. The Darkin assassin’s abilities have yet to be revealed, but we can expect that they’ll at least have some self-healing passive or skill.
The Ixtal Enchanter
Ixtal is one of the few places in Runeterra shrouded in mystery. While it’s a rich country, the constant invasions from other countries made it disconnected from the outside world. As the people of Ixtal kept to themselves, they knew only Qiyana’s reputation. According to Riot Reav3—the lead champion producer of League of Legends—the upcoming Ixtal enchanter champion will have a different lifestyle than Qiyana. Qiyana is a champion that grew up with a lavish lifestyle, while the new champion will show a never-before-seen side to Ixtal.
Support is a role that’s vital to every team composition in League of Legends. They have the strenuous job of setting up vision wards all over the map to aid their allies, but there’s also the matter of setting up kills for their ADC so they can get fed and carry the game. It’s a mix of babysitting a player while keeping the rest of your team aware of what’s happening. There are three types of supports: Engage, Poke, and Enchanter.
Since the upcoming support champion we’ll be getting is a Support Enchanter, let’s talk about what the Enchanter does. This type of support can give various buffs to their allies and heal them. Enchanters typically shine in groups since coordinating with others is much easier. The only caveat to using them is that it’s hard to carry games. Since you only give out heals most of the time, you don’t offer anything to the table regarding providing crowd control.
Aurelion Sol CGU is Delayed
Due to the early release of K’Sante and the Fright Night skins, the CGU (Comprehensive Gameplay Update) got pushed back. Riot Games already showed off some late abilities that the battle mage will receive before the announcement. They also mentioned that Aurelion Sol will still be able to fly, but instead of only being able to fly in one direction, he’ll be able to fly in various directions now. Riot Cobra stated on Discord that the CGU update for Aurelion Sol wouldn’t be coming out this year, but in early 2023.
Ahri’s AGU Slated for 2023 After Being Pushed Back
In the preseason 2022 video, Riot Games stated that Ahri is set to receive an ASU. ASU, also known as Art and Sustainability Update, is where the developers update the champion’s visuals without altering their skills. We’ve seen other champions receive the ASU, such as Caitlyn. Unfortunately, because Ahri has a lot of skins, her ASU was delayed until 2023.
2023 is Here
Many champions have been released for League of Legends over the years, which can sometimes get overwhelming. Hopefully, Riot Games will keep it at a minimum after releasing the two upcoming champions for 2023 and the ASU and CGU updates for the existing ones. We’d rather see Riot improve what they already offer if you ask us. For those interested in trying out the soon-to-be-released Darkin and Ixtal champions, we recommend that you get a PBE account to be one of the first players to experiment with them before they hit the live servers.