Aatrox and Riot's grand scheme behind his rework.

They built this champion that doesn't resemble the old Aatrox at all and made him completely different from the champion some of us love

And it is very deliberate. He was a noble, composed warrior in the past. Then he was betrayed, and that changed him into the furious, screaming maniac we see today.

Now, Riot is taking the lore storytelling to the next dimension.

For a while, Aatrox was viable - we got to experience him being strong, and took pride in our skill and passion with him.

And then they betrayed us.

They took away everything we loved about him and gave us this completely different champion that nobody asked for and nobody wants. By doing so, they turned us into furious, screaming maniacs (that flood the boards with our frustration).

Now, at last, we understand. It's not "in the distant past" that Aatrox was betrayed. His betrayal is happening right now, as the patch goes live. This is why he becomes a furious, screaming maniac - because we are watching him be betrayed, and we cannot do anything to stop it.

Now we have been made to understand.

Now we truly, more than ever, become Aatrox.