An homage to one of League of Legends’ biggest fans just became a key part of a certain weapon master’s lore, acting as part of the drive for him to keep his skills sharp.
Jax’s long-awaited art and sustainability update (ASU) is finally being patched into League’s PBE server, with information regarding the specific changes to his kit expected to be made available in the coming hours. Alongside a sneak peek at what the Grandmaster at Arms now looks like, a touching detail was added to the champion’s revamped lore to further connect the champion to a player who had a strong connection to him.
In 2012, Riot worked closely with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and a player known as Joe, who was suffering from Ewing’s Sarcoma, to have all proceeds made from the purchase of Jax—Joe’s favorite champion—and one of his skins, Jaximus, go directly to the charity for a period of time. Upon Joe’s passing, Riot added the “Here’s to you, kid,” voice line to the Jaximus skin to forever acknowledge Joe’s passion and love for the game.
With this ASU, this commemoration has been taken one step further, now becoming a small yet central piece of Jax’s overall lore, rather than being tied to simply the Jaximus skin. While Jaximus retains that specific quote, all of Jax’s skins—except Legendary ones—now acknowledge a certain unnamed kid, likely Joe, as a hero to the Grandmaster at Arms.
“Bravest hero I ever knew was just a kid,” Jax says when players have him walk a considerable distance at once. “Here’s to you, champ.”
The updated biography for the Jaximus skin in particular also now directly ties Joe to the reason that this version of Jax picked up the mantle of “Jaximus.” It acknowledges Joe as Jax’s biggest fan while he competed in his various battles in the colosseum, noting that Jax found him “far braver than anyone [he] had met.”
A specific date has not yet been revealed for the release of Jax’s ASU on League’s live servers, though his voice lines and new splash arts have been patched into the PBE. It is likely that he, alongside the recently-announced Coven skins as well as the Worlds 2023 Renekton skin, will remain there for testing until they are ready to be officially released.
