Riot Games has released the latest Champion Roadmap for League of Legends, providing insight into the next champs that will hit Summoner’s Rift this year.
Riot is going to “slow down” the production of the next new champion, according to the developers, with the intent of making sure every next addition to League gets “the time and attention they need.”
Even though the devs didn’t anounce an exact number of champions that will be released throughout the remaining months of 2022, Riot said the overall yearly output should be “pretty similar to last year.” In 2021, four champions were introduced to the game: Viego, Gwen, Akshan, and Vex.
So far this year, players have been able to enjoy the company of Zeri and Renata Glasc. And soon, they will become the subject of a new empress.
Here’s everything we know about the next three champions Riot plans to release in League.
The inevitable and foretold jungler skirmisher
Following Renata Glasc’s release, the next champion will rule over the jungle and aims to do the same with the whole of Runeterra. As hinted at in the previous Champion Roadmap, the new jungler will come from the Void to submit everyone to her will. The Lavender Sea empress is said to be hitting the Rift in the coming patches and will “feed on your essence.”
From what was explained, we can assume the champion’s abilities will make her opponents (and maybe her allies) submit to her will, consuming their “essence” to then reveal “the true face of the Void.”
A non-traditional bot lane champion
After the empress of the Void, Riot is set to add a joyful and deadly champion with mysterious origins that can be traced to “a land across the seas.” The mysterious champion was introduced with a short story of a fight in a restaurant, where some rowdy Noxians were killed by the colorful stranger. According to the restaurant owner, Bill, a “mist” suddenly filled the place, and before the bodies of the Noxians were discovered, only “splashing water” was heard.
Presuming the joyful and colorful stranger has water-based abilities, some fans might recall the teaser shared by Riot during the Champions Teaser in January. A colorful set of hands tied together by a flowy blue-ish substance at the center of the image was shown. At the beginning of the year, the teaser was meant to introduce a “non-traditional bot laner” that Riot will be “whipping out” this year.
The story ended with the restaurant owner challenging the narrator to check on his unbelievable testimony by visiting the colorful, deadly, and joyful stranger who lives just above the diner. The narrator chose not to commit to this, but it’s possible they could the next time around.
The new top lane tank from Shurima
Riot also left the League community with a tease of what could be the last champion released in 2022. Colorful buildings and green scenery are highlights of the new region of Shurima “that hasn’t been seen yet.” Linked to this very unusual scenery of the desertic region in Runeterra, Riot has left what could be interpreted as a title: The Pride of Nazumah. Believing the place depicted in the image is “Nazumah,” fans may think that this “Pride” could be the tank top laner that’s set to land on the Rift later this year.
Since this is an unexplored part of Shurima’s vast region, we have no other information aside from what we can see by looking at the picture. In the image shared by Riot, there’s a flourishing city, with water descending from the high mountains in the distance and birds flying in small flocks, almost like seagulls. By looking at the interactive map of Runeterra and focusing on the region of Shurima, there are a few places with plenty of water, high mountains in the region, and proximity to the sea. One of those places is an unnamed peninsula in the southern point of Shurima. That small territory is far enough from the other places already described in League’s lore to be the possible home for this upcoming champion.
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