League of Legends players should seek to understand the complexities of the most recently released champion, Naafiri, quickly since another new addition to the cast is right around the corner.
Following a brief tease in the developer update video released this morning, Riot Meddler, head of the League studio, has offered players a bit more clarification on when exactly they can get their hands on Briar, the “hangry” jungler who is currently shrouded in mystery. This comes just over a week after the release of Naafiri, who served as the first Darkin champion introduced to League since Kayn in 2017.
“You’ll see [Briar] on PBE at least between now and the next dev update,” Meddler explained on a Reddit post discussing today’s announcements. He noted that the dev updates are usually scheduled to release within four to six weeks of one another, though it is not a solid timeline and thus any upcoming information released regarding Briar may not be concrete.
As of now, not much is known about Briar other than her name, her Noxian heritage, and her insatiable hunger. In all of the times Riot has mentioned her this year thus far, developers have emphasized this vampire-esque champion’s need to constantly be feeding on something—or someone. When she hits the PBE, she’ll likely undergo an extended period of testing to ensure that this hunger is balanceable and not too underwhelming or overwhelming.
Should Briar seek to feast within the jungles of Summoner’s Rift in the next few months, it is unlikely that she will be available for professional players to pick at this year’s World Championship in Busan and Seoul, South Korea. Champions released or heavily reworked in the weeks leading up to Worlds are disabled from play to not disrupt the established meta at the biggest tournament of the year.
Briar will be only the third champion released this year, joining Milio and Naafiri in the MOBA’s evolving lineup of playable characters. Should Riot stick with this current release schedule, where the company puts equal importance on touching up older and more convoluted champions, there is a possibility that the schedule of five new champions per year won’t be met in 2023.
