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Has anyone else been disappointed with the champion reveals this year?

ModCaptainMårvelous··3 votes·634 views

Looking back, Riot really evolved when it came to new champs. I personally think the top tier of reveals was around late season 3 - 5 or so. Some examples following. Some of these will be out of order (I'm sure) but forgive me, its been years:

#Jinx's Reveal She trashes several champion pages, and provokes mystery among who she is. This leads to Jinx's eventual reveal and music video.

Jinx may have not been much but it was the start to something amazing.

#Aatrox Reveal A mysterious figure begins to appear in the background of splash arts, as well as Ezreal (in-character) explaining the background behind a mythical god-fighter appearing all throughout lore.

Say what you will but Aatrox's reveal was awesome.

#Zac Reveal Small pages of a zaun experiment, coupled with the tales of a living amorphous creature and grainy photographs of the being that was created in a test tube.

It wasn't much but there was major build up.

#Jhin Reveal Several champions appear 'dead' on the champ pages, coupled with haunting music and the mysterious teaser of a masked man a few days later.

By far the best teaser Riot has ever done (IMO), Jhin was a masterful build-up to a character in the shadows. Reading page code, analyzing mysterious pictures, pretty much everything was perfect save for Riot being a bit slow on actually showing him.

Fast forward to today....what have we gotten for champion reveals (Reworks and New champs) this year?

Camille gets a sudden comic. Warwick gets an amazing cinematic and probably the best opening trailer for a new champ. Xayah and Rakan...get a weird facebook gif. Urgot gets a splash art teaser. Kayn is dropped unceremoniously like Zed telling him to surprise people. Ornn gets a poem and song.

Do you see what I mean? Most of these champions are revealed in a very quick, very boring fashion. There's little-to-no build-up. No mystery. Anything that could provoke mystery is revealed about a day later making the reveal all the less spectacular.

I wouldn't mind it...if we didn't also get cinematics and movies. Kayn got a cinematic of his two forms a few days before his release. Xayah and Rakan got their cinematic against Zed. Ornn might get something, I'm sure. But still; Imagine if we got these cinematics as the "reveal" rather than shortly before/after the champions were released. Imagine the speculation of Kayn having two forms or the confusing discussions if Xayah and Rakan are a duo like Quinn and Valor.

Honestly, it's hard for me to get surprised and hyped for a reveal when the cool reveal part happens after I know everything about the champion.

15 Comments

kitcat3003 votes

Yeah it felt like Kayn's hype would have been better if they had lead with his trailer instead of ending with it.

Instead of "Here is Kayn, he transforms..."

It would have been "Who is this guy and why is he transforming?!?!"

Limrick3 votes

I mean Ornn's poem is badass as hell, got me more hyped than any champ since Aurelion. Also Jhin's teaser started really good, but it took way too damn long, so a lot of the hype just lost steam and died down. Think Sombra in Overwatch.

ModCaptainMårvelous2 votes

Sombra and Jhin aren't comparable in the slightest. Yes, Jhin took a bit too long to come out, but Sombra was teased for almost half a year with terrible ARGs that amounted to little more than frustration.

But really, I didn't find much hype in Ornn's teaser. Oh, it's nice, but there's no punch. It would have been nice if we had follow-up poems detailing Ornn's reveal but basically we got "Hey here's a poem OOPS ORNN REVEAL LOOKIE HERE."

Limrick1 votes

They are very much comparable, Sombra's was a bit more extreme, yes, but Jhin legit was teased months before his reveal. I just feel that they could have fit all of the teasers in a month and maximize hype.

ModCaptainMårvelous1 votes

Yeah, no. At best, Jhin was teased for a month. The four champ icons, then the video, then the actual reveal before his PBE release. I'm not sure what you remember but I distinctly remember the wait time being around 1-2 weeks.

Sombra, conversely, was months to the point where everyone involved/trying to decode the ARG was absolutely miserable. Jhin's teasers, however small, gave info. Sombra gave nothing.

Limrick1 votes

Lol, the teaser with Zed was there for 3 days before the next one showed up, then it was about 2 weeks before we got through that. Then there was silence for several weeks before "Mind of the Virtuoso" dropped. And Sombra was Blizzard's first new hero that they tried to build up, and while it was done poorly, most of the normies probably didn't even know about the Sombra ARG before her official reveal. Jhin's was common knowledge, and it took forever.

ModCaptainMårvelous1 votes

Replying because I went back and checked.

Jhin's teasers began on December 26, 2015. Jhin's full release was on Febuary 1st, 2016. That said, Jhin's actual reveal was well before that, being revealed on January 12th 2016.

So while he took a little over a "month" to come out, we had info on Jhin and his reveal in about three weeks. Either way you slice it, Jhin's teaser-to-reveal only took (at absolute most) about three-ish weeks.

Jeddy0173 votes

Anyone else remember the Kled built up? I remember several "mysterious" posters popping at various locations throughout the world. Each poster having to be translated from their respective languages for the rest of the community. All of them saying something different & adding new clues. This was over the course of several weeks. Then there was the addition of some creature SFX playing when you approach a bush in-game. And to finish it all off, we get a cinematic fully showing the new champ (and Skaarl).

Cetri2 votes

Yeah, I feel like Ornn's song is a step back in the right direction, but I feel really bad for Kayn, tbh. I miss the in-game teasers like Tahm Kench, Bard, and Kindred got, which were absolutely fantastic imo.

6FlagsFunnelCake2 votes

Despite this, the Champions are still very exciting nonetheless! However, I see what you mean and I think there's a reason for this. I remember reading earlier by a Rioter that most League players aren't too fond of really long teasing and build up for new Champions, which is somewhat understandable. Strange example, but Sombra from Overwatch is a perfect example of unnecesary and painfully long build-up that simply doesn't even live up to the hype. Along with that, Aurelion Sol was built-up and hyped with an amazing cinematic and teasing over a period of time as well, but most of the fanbase isn't exactly too fond of him (I personally love the sassy space dragon though).

Though personally, I feel that Champions like Jhin and Zac lived up to their hype, and much more flashier reveals like, oh and dear god have this happen, a cinematic to reveal the new champ rather than just throwing him in the website would be extremely cool. Though I think Ornn is an amazing pile of work, I think I would love him to death from the start if he was revealed through a badass cinematic.

Trap or a Trick1 votes

say what you want, ornn's song is absolutely amazing!

DariusDemiurge1 votes

No do to technicality of me no longer following the info or hype. Jhin was the last awesome one I remember or truely cared for.

Though GD knows me, I'll be expecting something amazing for my angels when riot reworks them and updates thier lore in another 5 years. At least on par with sion's little stories.

GreenLore1 votes

Honestly I do prefer it though when champion teasers don't get dragged out that much.

ModCaptainMårvelous1 votes

Absolutely. There's a fine line between "A teaser for an upcoming champ" and "A teaser for something in half a year". But right now it feels like the teasers are done for stuff two days later.

A happy medium between 2 days and 2 months is all I'm asking for. (Usually tease it over the course of a week or two. )

GreenLore1 votes

I'd say 2 weeks is a bit too long,thats pretty much expecting a teaser 2 patches before the release of the champ(basically a teaser a in the patch before the actual reveal) I remember this being the case for Bard and Tahm and honestly the hype was mostly gone once the 2 came out.(at least for me)

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