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Calling it Now! The next VGU will not be Nunu or Morde, but a M. Targon Character!

DeadUnborn··1 votes·537 views

It just came to me. While both Morde and Nunu are easily the most requested champs to get a VGU, there are some problems with the champ updated lineup that makes their releases problematic:

  • Thematically, Morde is too similar to Swain in that he is a Villian, a Leader and uses magic

  • Gameplay wise, Nunu is also a jungler like Evelynn, and he belongs to Freijlord, which Ornn is just going to be released for

Riot likes to keep their line ups diverse so that all players feel like they are getting something over the course of the year. This encompasses thing such as champion thematics, role, gameplay, lore, and such. Now think about it: Ever since Targon was updated we haven't received a champion from there. Taric was updated april 2016, and since then we got champs updated for Zaun, Demacia, The Shadow Isles (Eve) and now Noxus.

In parallel, Ionia has gotten a lot of attention with the release of Xayah, Rakan and Kayn, which makes me think Riot will want to put attention to other Regions (so this rules out Akali, Shen and Irelia). Shurima and Voidborn characters haven't had attention in a while but if we look at the candidates to be updated for those factions, we have:

Shurima:

  • Rammus: Recently Updated and viable to use
  • Skarner: Need a VGU but isn't as high as mount targon candidates (a case could be made for him however, but with his rework history I believe riot want to be careful with him)
  • Nasus: Just received an update to his ult, viable to use
  • Amumu: Strongest candidate for Shurima honestly, but he received a gameplay update recently and is viable to use without causing grief

Voidborn:

  • Chogath: Just received update and is viable now
  • Kog Maw: Works good enough and his update was called back

. Now, if we look to M. Targon characters we have:

  • Pantheon: He frustrates a lot of players playing against him top, has a lot of untapped potential with his rivalry against Aurelion Sol

  • Diana: Even with her update, no one touches her with a 10 ft pole. Her kit is outdated and her thematic not fully expressed in game

  • Malphite: Same as Diana, no one that has enough IP for better champions plays him, he has a ton of great skins that most people that have enough play time on LOL won't buy because outside of his ult he is very dull to play as. His thematic is cool

Remeber when no one asked for a Galio rework because no one even remembered he existed but Riot went through with it? I think it's gonna happen again

7 Comments

Ravenhale2 votes

If there's a rework nobody anticipates or expects, I'd call Fiddlesticks to the stand before anybody from Mt. Targon.

I also don't consider any of the new champions as representatives of Ionia. Two of them were used to launch the concept of Vastayan, which updated lores for Ahri, Nami and Wu (with a bit of Master Yi as well). There still has not been an Ionian regional lore update for the government or the Order. An update of Irelia or Akali would remedy that and might finally tie down where Lee Sin fits in the lore.

Also... Evelynn is probably the last Champion Update of this year. I'm thinking Swain will be January/February of next year, so any following rework is like April. It's difficult to anticipate what region Riot will be gearing up for at that time. While I don't think we could expect a major regional update of the Freljord that quick after the Noxus region which is most likely to come with Swain (this does rule out Nunu), I could easily see a minor update of the Ionian region (Akali or Irelia) or even a quick return to Targon for the Sisters (primarily Kayle) or Pantheon and a hopeful update of Soraka's Lore.

DeadUnborn1 votes

I disagree with your first paragraph, but that is what opinions are for I guess. I agree swain will be jan or feb. However, because reworks already have regions tied to the characters, I think is easier to predict where champions will be from as opposed to regular releases, where "region" is only selected after a main thematic for the character has been chosen. Also I think I read somewhere that Riot is not going to continue doing Regional updates, as most characters that do not absolutely require a full VGU have had their lore updated. Kayle and morgana could become aspects come think of it, but because riot want to do their updates in tandem I doubt they will come next

Ravenhale2 votes

Well, those two Vastayan champions have about as much to do with Ionia as Galio being tied to squishing Noxian mages. And Kayn felt more like the answer to the long question about what exactly was a Darkin. Sure, they all have ties to Ionia, but I don't think that makes a solid case of claiming Ionian lore has been updated. We still don't know much about the government Karma is running, or if it even speaks for the entirety of Ionia. Will Irelia still be some captain of the guard for this government? Will Lee Sin be involved? How does Yasuo fit in to the equation? Is Riven just some estranged warrior roaming hostile lands? How closely tied is Shen's Order to the government whom they turned Jhin over? Is Karma's government the same one that released Jhin, and if so, why would she ever think that a reasonable thing to do? I just don't see how Ionia is ruled out because it happens to be the origin of the Vastaya and a Darkin Blade wielder happened to live there.

I think the reason why Ionia hasn't been addressed is because Riot wants to pin down Noxus first. The invasion of Ionia by Noxus is a major and ongoing event which will most likely get mentioned in the Noxus region update, and would allow Riven's Lore to be promptly addressed. This should pave the way for an easy transition of updating the Ionian Lore in regards to their government. I don't know if this guarantees Irelia or Akali as the next major VGU, but I'm at the point of accepting one of those two will kick off the Ionian regional update.

As for Targon... technically it has already had its "update". If a champion gets picked from the Targon region, it will be sort of like how Riot decided to run with Evelynn despite having a Shadow Isles update initially after the Bilgewater event and then later expanded with Yorick's release. So if say Pantheon or Malphite do get picked, we will probably see a few updated lores for champions that will be added to the Targon roster such as Soraka and possibly the Kayle-Morgana duo. I certainly don't expect anything major to happen there.

I'm also at the point where I question what exactly they plan to do with Kayle. She just got a skin... so are we at the point that Kayle is only going to get a minor Gameplay update with most of the focus being on Visuals? I mean, that is what Riot has stated for Morgana. Other than a little tweaking on things like her passive, the work planned for Morgana was rumored to be primarily in context with Visual and Rigging. If the scope on Kayle has reduced a tad bit, I don't think a dual release of these two would be entirely out of bounds for an April brush up on Mt. Targon.

Excalibait1 votes

Gameplay wise, Nunu is also a jungler like Evelynn, and he belongs to Freijlord, which Ornn is just going to be released for

Riot likes to keep their line ups diverse

Funny that you brought up Mt. Targon as an example, as both Taric's update as well as Aurelion Sol were released back to back then.

Also, keep in mind that whatever is next in line will take quite a while, so just because certains champs don't seem to be a good fit right now might fit very well in the upcoming months.

DeadUnborn1 votes

Yes, it was part of the M. Targon event, so it made sense for that. Riot is not as strict lore wise for creating champs. Warwick and Urgot were also released with only Galio in between if I remember correctly. They do try to avoid it. However, when it comes to champion roles, Riot is way more strict about having diversity here. Nunu and Eve both being jugnlers is a huge deterrent in my eyes. Sure, I can guarantee 100% that Riot won't update characters in the order jungler --> mid/top laner ---> jungler, but I have my doubts about it. Nunu being from frejlord is a weaker argument I admit, but still something to consider I think

Riot plans their champ lineups about 9 months in advance, so people can usually have an educated estimation of what is going to be released next (we know the line up right now is going to be Ornn-->Eve--> one or two champs--->Swain). For example, I can almost guarantee you the next champion released will be a mid laner

Monotachi1 votes

Diana will be a getting a gameplay update at some point, just like Aatrox, but not a VGU. So that rules her out.

Pantheon is currently doing well in solo queue. Looking at past VGUs for champions, it's never a champion that's been in meta recently.

Malphite could be a good candidate, but Meddler did mentioned they are planning to give him something in the next few patches, hence unlikely for a VGU if the work on him is going to decent-sized.

DeadUnborn1 votes

Diana: fair enough

Pantheon: I disagree. Pantheon is doing well, but Warwick was also in and out of meta depending on jungle items and he got a VGU. Nunu is also in and out of meta and he is very high on the priority list

Malphite: This VGU would come out around mid year 2018, so that's plenty of time to justify "putting a band-aid" on him meanwhile. The same thing was done to Aatrox, which is scheduled for a GU

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