Victorious Skin... Who Is It?

Hey guys! So with the reveal of Championship Kalista and a bit of free time, I thought I'd put some effort into finding out who the Victorious Skin can and will be for. So Riot has revealed that the Victorious skin will be for a marksman. Each year the Victorious skin is given to the champion that "has greatly impacted the meta". So I've compiled a list of champions that have shined the most throughout this season. Remember, these are my own opinions. They may not be 100% accurate and the Victorious skin might not even be on the list I have below, but I definitely had fun excavating through each champion. Please don't be so judgemental. :3

Ahri - After season 4, Ahri was given a few buffs and tweaks to her kit which resulted in a mid lane domination. Ahri's win rate skyrocketed and she came to show us how the smallest difference in mobility can end up in a huge change.

Ashe - Ashe also received changes to her kit giving her Q ridiculous damage and attack speed at 5 stacks. She was a top tier pick for ADC for a while until riot nerfed her W damage (Which I think hurt her a ton), her Q, and E width while traveling.

Azir - Azir was a great team fighting champion. Just like Orianna, his ult was game changing providing high damage and cc. Unlike Orianna his was more of a disengage but it gave him great control over enemies. He was given a few nerfs to his ult which did hurt him in the mid lane a bit. More bug fixes coming up in the future :)

Diana - Diana had her moments in this season. She was definitely a great pick for a few months and for some odd reason she slowly starting going back down. Like Akali and Katarina, Diana needs to play a bit safer early levels and after 6, she can roam and go 31/1 (I speak from experience). People just need to know how to take advantage of her snowball, but I suppose with more tanks and juggernauts coming back into the meta, she does fall off a bit.

Elise - Elise is crawling her way back up into the meta once again! No pun intended. But seriously, Elise has been shining this past month as such a strong jungler. People found a way to take advantage of her early game damage and it resulted in an increase in win ratios and ban rates. This time I believe it is her spiderlings doing a lot for her and that W in Spider Form. Her outplay potential is great. We're definitely going to see nerfs next patch.

Ezreal - Looks like AP wins. After the Runeglaive release, people have found a way to make AP Ezreal even stronger in the mid lane and IT WORKED. For so long, AP Ezreal has always been underrated, but with the Runeglaive enchantment, he finally rose in the meta. That combined with Lich Bane was crazy and Ezreal was already doing so much damage. There were other champions that were proven to have been pretty good with Runeglaive in the mid lane, but Ezreal just clicked.

Fiora - Fiora hasn't shined exactly after her VU, but she definitely became a better champion than she was before. She has a stronger early game than she did before and I believe Riots attempt at this was to make her more of a duelist than a team fight champion. A fed Fiora is a scary one.

Fizz - Fizz's AP Ratios were nerfed a few times, but for a while, AD Fizz became bigger than before. Like AP Ezreal, AD Fizz has always been a thing. Fizz was nerfed? Okay, let's switch to AD. It was really fun for a while with Seastone Trident dealing more percent damage, but all good things come to an end.

Gangplank - Oh. My. Gosh. Thank you Riot for nerfing his barrels. So Gangplanks VU and rework was a bit... complicated making it more lore related, but who cares? After his rework, he became a monster in the top lane. His barrels did RIDICULOUS damage. Later on, his armor penetration and cast time were reduced, but I still think he is a great pick especially against armor heavy champions.

Graves - So it is official, Graves has stopped smoking. Graves was everything I wanted in an ADC at the time I started playing him which was when he started becoming a stronger ADC. I felt like his early game damage was very good and he definitely was the strongest at one point. There's not much I can say about him, but he's lost his way in the meta now.

Hecarim - Hecarim hasn't been the most influential champion in this meta (Definately more influential than some of the champions I put on this list, but not the most). So Hecarim was seen being played in the top lane more than in the jungle which in my opinion I don't exactly understand. I thought he was a way better jungler considering his kit is literally one of the best for a jungler, but people like to try new things. And I suppose it worked for a while. He did get nerfed later on which dropped his viability in the top lane just a bit, but he's still a pretty good pick for jungle :)

Heimerdinger - Heimerdinger has always been the most annoying champion to ever lane with. I hate Heimerdonger and especially when he is in top lane. Yah he's squishy, but if I can't touch him from level 1-6, then I'm just stuck. I've seen way more Heimerdinger top this season than I have in previous seasons. I feel like his viability relies mostly on his landing phase.

Janna - My favorite support <3 Janna was an AMAZING support this season. I had tons of fun playing her and she's one of the very few caster supports out there that are still very strong. Her ultimate is the best in my opinion for a support. She did receive some nerfs this patch that hurt her a bit in teamfights (No more five man knock up), but that doesn't mean she still isn't great. Good luck chasing a good Janna

Katarina - As Katarina has always been one of the most ridiculous of all champions, she was found to be very OP at one point earlier this season. She had great snowball potential. Katarina starts getting fed and after a few kills with her passive, she's unkillable. Her passive did get nerfed which didn't hurt her too much, but new champions started showing up in the mid lane, those including ones with CC.

LeBlanc - LeBlanc is so stupid. What more can I say. She was ridiculous. More annoying than Donald Trump. Even now after changes to her W and E I still find her too OP. She's been strong. Most people may not find her as strong as I do, but I. HATE. LEBLANC. But I cannot deny that she was a top tier pick for a while.

Lissandra - I actually loved the fact Lissandra became a strong champion. I started seeing her in the top lane more and before I knew it, Lissandra's win rate went up VERY high. I always was a decent Lissandra player, but after I fixed my mistakes ...FREELO... Yah I'll be honest this champion won me my promos for many games. She was SO strong earlier with her ultimate. That with zhonyas, GA, and a good lead, just even try to kill her. Unfortunately my little ice witch was nerfed, but Riot did make up for it by giving her a heal so thank you.

Lulu - Lulu can be played in so many positions which is what makes her such a high pick in LCS. Play her mid, top, support, doesn't matter, she's a great utility Mage. I don't know how to describe it but her auto attacks just feel very clean. Lulu has impacted not only the game, but competitive play as well opening many doors to champion diversity.

Mordekaiser - I LOVED the idea of his update giving him a pet dragon. Not on,y that but Riot put him in the bot lane and shifted their own meta. Me as a support main, I have tons of fun laning with a Morde on my team. I find he works really well with Leona.

Nautilus - Riot lowered his mana costs and cool downs in previous patches in an attempt to buff his jungle but ended up creating a better support. Thanks to LemonNation, support Nautilus was brought into the light.

Rek'Sai - Rek'Sai was strong on release and is a very good jungler today. Although I do not see her being played as often as before, she definitely left her mark in the jungle. She was the queen of season 5 jungle at one point, but she Riot had to nerf her eventually.

Sejuani - Speaking of Queen of the jungle, here's Sejuani. Not only was she the queen of the jungle but she was the queen of the tank meta. There doesn't even need to be a king, she was probably the strongest at the time during the tank meta. Her ganks were so strong if pulled off correctly and her ultimate provided such a strong teamfight.

Shyvana - The dragon nears.... it's way into the meta. I played Shyvana for the longest time now and she is finally being revealed. People say to build cinderhulk, but I say if you have the first few early kills, go for devourer. Her E mark gives her a great boost of damage and definitely helps with those early game clears. Her ganks aren't the strongest, but her team fight definitely is. I definitely do think with the release of devourer, she started to lean a bit more on the OP side.

Sivir - I will be honest, I didn't even know Sivir was played that much until she started becoming a pretty good ADC. I was actually happy for her. A champion as underrated as she is became a high pick. Her shield was really useful in the early game laning phase. Late game.... once you press that ult, your team just dives straight into the enemy team for that game changing fight. She received a few nerfs which did lower he position, but like I said, all good things come to an end.

Skarner - I hate this champion even more than I hate LeBlanc. Like I didn't even like him even before his rework. I thought he looked gross. Now Riot buffs him to the point where I don't even feel safe walking around the jungle. I'll be honest, the champion did need an update, but they could've gone for something a bit less strong. Definitely the strongest of the four juggernaut updates.

Varus - So Varus has been popping up in the mid lane a few times this season which I completely understand. He has very high damage on his Q and his ult is very strong for pick out those late game carries. I think he has a chance at this.

Viktor - Viktor was the reason I stopped playing mid. I use to play Orianna A LOT in solo queue, but then I kept getting matched against Viktor's and the first few times I did pretty decent, but his Q did too much at the time. Orianna isn't the greatest champion against Viktor unless you can take advantage of her early game damage but even then he can hit you with a good Q and you're like 2 bars down. So yah, he was a very strong mid later at one point, but it was too much for me to handle. Thank you Riot for nerfing him and maybe now I can be reborn in the mid lane.

Okay, so after this list, there are questions we need to ask ourselves that knock some champions out of the running. I will have information backing this up. Has this champion received a Victorious skin previously?

• Elise: Yes OUT
• Janna: Yes OUT I highly doubt Riot would ever give a champion two of the same themed skins. Therefore Janna and Elise obviously will not be getting the Victorious skin this year, but they did have an impact on the meta in their own small ways this season.

Has this champion received any major skin(s) this year? (Notice I say MAJOR skins. If it is a small skin that has been involved in a group release or a legacy skin, I'm more than positive Riot would still give that champion a Victorious skin, but if it's an Ultimate skin like DJ Sona, it is very unlikely she would receive a Victorious skin in the same season. All the champions that received Victorious skins, after Jarvan, have not had any skins come out in the same year they received their Victorious skin. I believe in Season 1, Riot still had trouble balancing out their game and you need to take into consideration that there wasn't a big champion pool. The popularity from all of Jarvan's skins that year must have made him a pretty top pick at the time and perhaps created a specific "meta" in season 1 which resulted in him receiving this skins. Any champions after that did not receive any skins the year they received their Victorious skin)

• Ahri: Yes, Challenger Ahri OUT
• Fiora: Yes, PROJECT: Fiora OUT
• Fizz: Yes, Cottontail Fizz OUT
• Gangplank: Yes, Captain Gangplank OUT
• Katarina: Yes, Warring Kingdoms Katarina OUT
• Lulu: Yes, Pool Party Lulu OUT
• Rek'Sai: Yes, Pool Party Rek'Sai OUT
• Skarner: Yes, Guardian of the Sands Skarner OUT
• Varus: Yes, Heartseeker Varus (Although he did receive a decent skin like this, I don't think this would hurt his chances at being given the Victorious skin) STILL IN

Is this champion primary/secondary role a marksman? (Riot officials have confirmed that the Victorious skin will be for a Marksman. If you haven't seen it, it is mentioned in this reddit post here. Riot could be messing with us, but if they are going to leak information on the Victorious skin, I don't see why they would want to lie to us.) So this leave us down to:

• Ashe
• Azir
• Ezreal
• Graves
• Sivir
• Varus Eliminating:
• Diana
• Hecarim
• Heimerdinger
• LeBlanc
• Lissandra
• Mordekaiser
• Nautilus
• Sejuani
• Shyvana
• Viktor

Out of the 6 champions I have up there, I believe 3 of them have the highest chance at receiving this skin. Those champions are Ezreal, Varus, and Sivir. I will give you an explanation on why I believe each champion deserves and doesn't deserve the skin.

UNDESERVING: Ashe: Yes Ashe was a very strong pick for a while after her little rework, but I don't believe Riot fully expected her to rise up so high in the pick/ban rates. She didn't exactly have a HUGE contribution to the meta. She was still played in the regular ADC Marksman role she just happened to be a very good pick for it. If Ashe was to get a big end of the season skin, I think it should've been the Championship skin. Perhaps Riot may keep the Challenger skin theme going and maybe give it to Ashe, but for now I do not think she is worthy of a Victorious skin.

Azir: Really.... Azir....? So Azir's secondary role is labeled as "Marksman", but I think it would be pretty misleading for Riot to say that this skin will be given to a Marksman and then give it to Azir. If this was so, they might as well have just said Mage.

Graves: Like Ashe, Graves was a top tier pick for ADC. At the time, he was my go to pick if I had to fill for that role. He was very great early game and even stronger late if he had a big lead. Unfortunately, I don't believe Riot would give him this skin for one reason. If you look at older patch notes, there's a recurring pattern. Around this time, the champion who receives the Victorious skin is given a few nerfs while we near the end of the season. If Riot planned to have given him this skin before, I feel like they would've nerfed him later than they did this season. Graves also didn't have any huge, if not, any impact on the meta whatsoever.

DESERVING: Ezreal: Out of everyone here, I believe Ezreal deserves the Victorious skin the most. He IS a Marksman, but he was a beast in the mid lane with Runeglaive. People doubted this for a while, but Smite mid Ezreal became the strongest. It changed the meta for a short period of time bringing Smite into the mid lane instead of the typical Ignite/Flash. Other Runeglaive mid laners have also been proven to work such as Orianna and TF. This was definitely the peak of AP Ezreal mid and he definitely left his mark in the mid lane. Riot gave him indirect nerfs by nerfing Runeglaive instead of Ezreal since they didn't want to hurt his bot lane potential.

Sivir: Sivir is probably the weakest on the deserving list, but I put her up here for a reason. Utility ADC's have been proven to be very strong ever since Sivir's winrate started going up. It was that shield and ult that really helped her dominate the lane. She open door to other ADC's with strong teamfight engages such as Ashe and Varus and we owe it all to Sivir. She was nerfed earlier which does steer me away from believing she will receive this skin, but if you ask anyone, they'll most likely agree with me that she has proven herself worthy of the Victorious skin this season.

Varus: So Varus mid. ADC's being put into the mid lane have been tampered with for a while but Varus really emphasized on it. His high damage and utility is similar to that of perhaps a NIdalee mid or Lux mid. Except he still builds AD. There aren't ANY ranged AD mid laners out there, but Varus is the best candidate for it. A few years ago, the meta strictly revolved around having an AP mid. There has been later introductions of AD mid laners later on such as Zed and Yasuo, but Varus was the only ADC that was deemed viable in the mid lane. He definitely broke that stigma of keeping a melee AD mid and followed up with champions such as Jayce that also have been proven to be viable in the mid lane. It all revolved around that high base damage. I would not be surprised if he received this skin.

So thank you so much guys for reading it or even skimming through it quickly. Just remember this is coming from a player's opinion so pleaaase not harsh judgement. I put a lot of work into this because I really love digging up clues and I learned a lot myself while doing this. The Victorious skin might not be on the ones I think that deserve it or it might not even be on this list, but whatever happens, this was very fun to create. Once again, thank you SO much for taking the time to read this and I wish you all the best of luck in your future ranked games! Good Luck!

~Eliax