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2017 hopes and predictions: patches, skins, champion updates and splash art

Xodiathe4bdn1·1/23/2017, 3:56:11 PM·2 votes·3,713 views

https://lolstatic-a.akamaihd.net/frontpage/apps/prod/preseason-2017/en_US/bacfc709a7c45bccfa11dbee310f9aa166b56f51/assets/downloads/2017_assassins_wallpaper_1920x1080.jpg In the last two years there has been a fairly consistent flow to the amount of content released and updated in a year. With that in mind this is some of the things I predict/hope for in 2017.

Patches Since 2015 we’ve seen an even amount of patches for the year, to about 24. As patches come every two weeks the dates are easy to predict. January 11, 25 February 8, 22 March 15, 29 April 12, 26 May 10, 24 June 7, 21 July 5, 19 August 2, 16, 30 September 13, 27 October 11, 25 November 8, 22 December 6, (Patches during the middle and end of the year usually come a day or 2 early so this what it would be if it was consistent )

Skins 1 or both patches done each month have a skin released, and many old and new themes released leaving many fans with hopes that their favourite champions will be picked for the event. Nobody can predict accurately and I sure as hell can’t but after looking at some concepts by fans and riot there are many skins I hope to make it this year Coach Trundle , project Elise , harrowing skins for Warwick and Vladimir , elderwood Kindred , blood moon Jax , championship Lucian

Champions update

  • New: looking at the new pattern for the amount of champions released, at most 7 or at least 5 new champions this year depending on what the riot team decides to
    • Old: VGUs have always been a lovely part about the game and a lot has been said on which champions will get their overhaul this year. I’m hoping for 6 VGUs but it’s likely there may be 4 or 5 this year. The first three have already been confirmed ( Warwick Galio Urgot ) and it’s too early to tell but the 4th and 5th could be among these champions that are top on the VGU list:Evelynn Mordekaiser Pantheon Swain

Splash art A quarter or more patches also include new splash art for old skins, it can be either just a handful or large bundle of skins. New splash arts mainly happen to champions released at 2009-2012. You may not agree with some skins on here either because it was updated at one point or because its good enough, but when you compare them to how the other skins are for these champions and champions that share this theme, then they seriously need to be updated.(champions on the vgu list I mentioned are not listed here, but those with a star have been said by rioters to be a high priority on their list) Ahri ; Dynasty, Midnight, Foxfire Akali ⭐️:Nurse, Blood Moon, Silverfang, Stinger, Crimson, All-star Alistar : Golden, Infernal, Matador, Longhorn, Black, Unchained Amumu : Emumu, Little Knight, Sad Robot, all legacy skins(4) Anivia : all skins save Classic and prehistoric Annie : Frostfire, Reverse, Legacy skins(4) Ashe : Sherwood Forest, Woad, Amethyst, Freljord, Queen Blitzcrank : Boom Boom , Piltover Customs, Goalkeeper, Definitely Not, Rusty, iBlitzcrank, Riot Brand : Apocalyptic, Cryocore Caitlyn : Resistance, Arctic Warfare, Sheriff, Safari, Officer Cassiopeia : Desperada, Siren, Mythic Chogath ⭐️: Gentleman, Loch Ness, Jurassic, Nightmare Corki ⭐️: classic, Urfrider, Ice Toboggan, Red Baron, Hot Rod Darius : Lord, Bioforge DrMundo : Corporate, Toxic, Mr. Mundoverse, Mundo Mundo, Executioner, Rageborn Draven : Soul Reaver, Elise : Death Blossom Ezreal : Nottingham, Striker, Explorer, Pulsefire Fiddlesticks : Spectral, Bandito, Surprise Party, all Legacy skins(4) Fizz : Classic, Atlantean, Tundra, Fisherman Gangplank : Minuteman, Spooky, Special Forces, legacy skins(2) Garen : Sanguine, Commando, Dreadknight, Desert Trooper, Rugged Gragas : Hillbilly, Esq, Oktoberfest, Scuba, Santa, Vandal Graves : Hired Gun, Mafia, Jailbreak, Riot Hecarim : Blood Knight, Reaper, Headless Heimerdinger : all skins save classic Irelia ⭐️: all her skins save order of lotus Janna : Hextech, Frost Queen, Tempest JarvanIV : Victorious, Darkforge, Dragonslayer, Commando Jax : Jaximus, The Mighty, Vandal, Angler, PAX, Temple Karma : Sakura, Sun Goddess, Traditional (art and the fact they still looks pre-relaunch) Karthus : Statue of Karthus, Grim Reaper, Phantom Kassadin : Pre-Void, Harbinger, Festival, Deep One Katarina : Mercenary, Bilgewater, High Command, Sandstorm, all legacy skins(3) Kayle ⭐️: all skins save Classic and Iron Inquisitor Kennen ⭐️: all skins save Classic and blood moon KogMaw : all skins save Classic and battlecast Leblanc : classic, Wicked, Mistletoe LeeSin : Traditional, Acolyte, Dragon Fist, Muay Thai Leona : Classic, Valkyrie, Iron Solari, Defender, Lux : Sorceress, Commando, Steel Legion, Imperial, Malphite : Glacial, all legacy skins(4) Malzahar : Shadow Prince, Djinn, Overlord, Vizier Maokai : Totemic, Charred, Festive, Haunted, MissFortune : Cowgirl, Waterloo, Mafia, all legacy skins(3) Morgana ⭐️: Blackthorn, Exiled, Sinful Succulence, ghost bride Nasus : Galactic, Pharaoh, Dreadknight, Riot K-9 Nautilus : all skins save Worldbreaker and Warden Nidalee : Classic Nocturne : Void, Haunting, Ravager, Frozen Terror Nunu ⭐️: Grungy, Bot, Demolisher, Sasquatch, Workshop Olaf : Forsaken, Brolaf Orianna : Gothic, Sewn Chaos, Bladecraft Rammus ⭐️: all skins save Classic and Guardian of the Sands Renekton : Outback, Bloodfury, Rune Wars Rengar : Headhunter Riven : Crimson Elite , Redeemed, Battle Bunny, Championship Rumble : Bilgerat, Rumble in the Jungle Sejuani : Sabretusk, Darkrider, Traditional, Shaco ⭐️: Mad Hatter, Royal, Nutcracko, Workshop, Asylum, Masked Shyvana : Ironscale , Boneclaw, Darkflame, Ice Drake Singed : Riot Squad, Hextech, Surfer, Mad Scientist Sivir : Warrior Princess, Huntress, Bandit, Spectacular, PAX Skarner : Classic , Sandscourge, Earthrune Sona : Guqin, Muse, Silent Night Soraka : Dryad, Talon : Renegade , Crimson Elite, Dragonblade Teemo ⭐️ : all skins save Omega Squad and Little Devil Tryndamere ⭐️: Highland, King , Viking, Demonblade, TwistedFate : PAX, The Magnificent, Tango, High Noon, Musketeer, Underworld Udyr : Black Belt, Primal Varus :Blight Crystal Vayne : Aristocrat, Vindicator, Dragonslayer, Heartseeker Veigar : White Mage, Curling, Greybeard, Leprechaun, Baron Von, Superb Villain , Bad Santa Viktor :Full Machine, Prototype Vladimir : Blood Lord, Nosferatu, Vandal Volibear : all skins save Captain and El Rayo MonkeyKing : Volcanic Xerath : Battlecast, Runeborn, Scorched Earth XinZhao : Commando, Imperial, CLASSIC Zed : Shockblade Ziggs : Mad Scientist, Major, Snow Day Zilean : Old Saint, Groovy, Shurima Desert, Time Machine Zyra : Wildfire Some of the skins will either be updated individually or as a group and you’ll notice the starred champions either haven’t gotten a new skin in a while or has a lot of outdated skins. Which is one the factors for being on the vgu list

7 Comments

Meta Noir1/24/2017, 2:46:52 PM2 votes

First of all, thanks for the probably to be expected patch schedule this year. That is pretty useful!

Elderwood Kindred is a really cool idea and fitting to Bard's release skin, I like it. Also Jax, which is like already mentioned in this thread of the list, as the Blood Moon skins for this year were just announced yesterday, not including him. I would love to see this happen after his VGU! Let alone his mask and fightingstick with the lamp on it have so much potential!

Vladimir already had a Harrowing skin with Nosferatu and you can expect it to be awesome after his VU sometime far out in the future.

For my hopes, or let's say more like wishes… I wish, that we get to see one or even two more VGUs compared to last year and I hope it will include Mordekaiser & Nunu! One of them is interchangable with Swain or Pantheon, if the back to back releases collide in terms of theme (Mordekaiser & Evelynn). I am pretty confident, that we will definitly see Evelynn this year, even if it not may be directly after Urgot.

My biggest wish is, that there will be an announcement sometime over the year, that Riot will put just a little more focus & resources on their ChampUp team, because there are just too much Champions, that actually need a huge amount of love concerning VGUs & VUs. Resulting in an additional VGU or simply VU team or just a bit more manpower to finish projects faster and more effective. That would be wonderful and is definitly needed.

I also would love to see a good batch of item icons changed to fit thematically to the regions of Runeterra, because there are actually several huge opportunities for it and they are all very outdated and inconsistent to the modern standard. I sadly can understand though, if they won't be able to do it, because of lacking resources and much more important high priority projects.

Coming to my last point…

All these splash arts below are perfectly fine and modern, you even listed that Riot should update skins that were released just like 2-3 years ago (Riot Blitzcrank & Hazmat Heimerdinger or splash arts that just got updated an insanely short time ago – Cottontail Teemo? Others are new era skins from 2013 onwards… like what?). Nunu & Irelia are also even very high priority for a VGU so these are also just would be wasted resources down the drain. Cho'Gath, Mundo, Shaco, Rammus, Jax, Malphite, Fiddlesticks, Nocturne, Kayle, Morgana, Amumu, Corki are all on the list for VGU, some are high (even pretty high already) on the list, others are lower but still on the list. Why would you put lots of resources into them, when they get changed anyway soon and splashes would need to be changed again?)

That has nothing to do with personal taste at all.

The recent few skin splash updates you have seen (like Prestigious LeBlanc or Blade Mistress Morgana) were passion projects by single Rioters or some unfinished work from a longer time ago, when Riots infrastructure wasn't as clear as it is today. There are 2 VGU teams & 1 Roster Update team for example.

I can see where you are coming from in terms of Alistar, Garen, Nasus, Cassiopeia, Karthus, Sona, Renekton, Sivir, Miss Fortune, Kassadin, Karma, Gangplank, (Singed, Maokai & Heimerdinger in general) and maybe some others I forgot to list. All these got VGUs & minor VGUs & VUs and are already confirmed to be changed. Karma is the next one in line, if I remember correctly. There are even a small amount others, that will maybe changed, where a lot of players don't get why Riot is thinking about doing it, because there is no theme disturbance at all and the quality is already very high and it is still open if it will be done.

Ahri Midnight & Foxfire Amumu Little Night & Sad Robot Blitzcrank IBlitzcrank & Riot Darius Lord & Bioforge Draven Soul Reaver Elise Death Blossom
Ezreal Pulsefire Gangplank Special Forces Gragas Oktoberfest Graves Mafia & Riot Hecarim Headless Heimerdinger Hazmat Irelia Frostblade KogMaw Jurassic Leblanc Classic LeeSin Muay Thai Lux Steel Legion Malphite Glacial Maokai Haunted Morgana Ghost Bride Nautilus AstroNautilus Nidalee Classic Orianna Bladecraft Riven Battle Bunny & Championship Shaco Masked Shyvana Ice Drake & Darkflame Singed Mad Scientist Talon Dragonblade Teemo Cottontail TwistedFate High Noon & Underworld Varus Blight Crystal Vayne Heartseeker Veigar Bad Santa Volibear Runeguard Zed Shockblade Ziggs Snowday & Mad Scientist Zyra Wildfire

Valaran Nara1/23/2017, 6:33:58 PM1 votes

We can scratch Blood Moon Jax off the list because I don't think they'll do blood moon skins twice in one year.

Also, you forgot to include champions who got their VGU but not their new skin yet.

Like Yorick Though, it appears that he might be getting one of the Blood Moon skins.

Xodiathe4bdn11/24/2017, 4:40:10 PM1 votes

And i can't believe just a few hours after posting this, riot just goes and shows all they're blood moon skins for the year there's one hope gone https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1061/1924/products/Sad_Face_Emoji_large.png?v=1480481055

Wordofmask1/24/2017, 7:24:22 PM1 votes

Nice post mate!

Actually, You forgot the key player Irelia who Reav3 recently referred to as "Very High" on the list from "Pretty High" last year

He also referred to Mordekaiser but he just "High" on the list which means dat Morde might come after Irelia.

Only Swain Pantheon Nunu who Reav3 or Meddler hasn't stated to since the start of 2017. So, I think Irelia has got the upper hand for now. As a Swain main, It would be sad for me if she would be the next after Urgot but still understandable.

Anyway, We will know the answer soon. It can't be longer than next week.