I've invested time in creating two champions for League of Legends and developing their in game kits as unique as possible. However, both times I did this, there were similar champions and identical in game abilities enter the game before I could even get close to finishing my concept champions. Are their ways to upload my ideas to the community? Or even some kind of contest I could enter before I start investing in making a third concept champion?
If your problem is that the new champions or reworks are very similar to your ideas then you just need to come up with ideas and gimmicks that seem possible but hard to balance, cause then the chances of such a champion to get released soon is very low
I guess that's my problem... I want to make everything about my champions as perfect and balanced as possible. From their lore, all the way to the math that involves their kits. I want them to be presentable but I know this takes time. Especially since I'm not visually artistic myself (cant draw very good) I know my creation would take even longer, if I ever get one completely finished.
You can post your creations to this board, or you can come onto the League Creative Community Discord to hang out and chat with other designers.
We also do a monthly (give or take) contest on the boards, and, when a new one is open, you'll see a post about it at the top of the Concepts & Creations board (it's called the CCOS).
I once designed a raptor champion concept with an ability literally the same as ekko's E (dash instead of blink) 6 months before he was revealed as a champion. You simply restructure the ability to have a unique spin, or design a new one. Same thing happened when Camille was revealed -- I designed her R a year before she was announced. Also designed ornn's "shop from anywhere" passive before he was revealed -- blacksmiths with that passive turned out to be very common among the community forums.
In these cases, overlap isn't necessarily bad since many champions have similar abilities that work differently in the context of their kits. It starts with a unique theme (don't get "inspired" by a riot reveal and make a champion archetype they literally just announced). This theme works best if you choose archetypes that people maybe haven't thought of a hundred times before (yordle wrecking ball, bilgewater aladdin style bandit, glade dreamcatcher dragon, apocalypse-world time traveller, to name a few concepts).
