Outside of full-scale reworks, Riot Games has implemented a variety of ways that it’s adjusting the kits of champions in League of Legends that have fallen out of the meta, such as with Ahri and Janna earlier this year. Two more champions are receiving changes in this vein, potentially bringing them out of obscurity and into more play on the Rift.
Riot August, lead champion designer for League, revealed today that “mid-scope updates” are underway for Taliyah and Olaf but are not expected to hit the live servers for a number of months. These changes follow similar adjustments to Ahri and Janna, which aimed at making them more viable picks as the cast of champions in League continues to evolve.
“These changes attempt to revitalize characters that have lost a bit of their shine over time,” August said. “Ideally they’re something the players of those champs can be excited about.”
“Mid-scope updates,” as August refers to them, are not full-scale reworks of champions, rather subtle adjustments to their kits that aren’t too jarring, yet also make a noticeable impact on their pick rates. He mentioned that adjustments to Xin Zhao, Sona, and Lucian are examples of previous times Riot has opted for these kinds of changes to champions.
Taliyah currently sits at a 52.14-percent win rate in the jungle, according to OP.gg, but remains a niche pick due to the current state of the jungle meta. She is almost never seen in the mid lane, which is where she was designed to be played. Olaf has similarly fallen out of the jungle meta, sitting at a 49.25-percent rate.
It is unclear what the changes to these two champions will be, but using the other “mid-scope updates” as examples, they will likely boost their power in their roles—possibly even moving Taliyah back into the mid lane. More details are expected to come later this year.
