Developer RiotGames has announced a new dragon champion for its MOBA League of Legends. The old concept Ao Shin will not be pursued further.
Rightly, many of you might now ask, “New? But we already know Ao Shin.” Unfortunately, we have to start with bad news:
In a forum post, RiotIniquitee clarified that they have not been clear about the status of Ao Shin for far too long. During a “Question & Answer” format recently held by RiotGames in China, the question about Ao Shin was the most frequently asked. The post states that the dragon, whose concept was already visible in 2013, will not be presented in this form. This champion has evolved so much that it can no longer be identified as Ao Shin.
Reasons why Ao Shin did not “fit” into League of Legends:
- Ao Shin’s kit did not really fit into the game. This is often a problem with new champions, but it can often be addressed with small changes. In other cases, the entire concept must be discarded, and a step back must be taken. This is called “Ice boxing” (essentially putting a champion on ice) and will take as long as necessary until the champion can be approached with a new perspective.
- The appearance of a large, snake-like dragon is difficult to implement in LoL because the game thrives on quick movements and reactions. Such a huge dragon would appear rather clumsy. A massive, snake-like dragon stumbling through the Summoner’s Rift would, in my opinion, be more suited for a parody video.
- The main reason: RiotGames committed to the premise of Ao Shin far too early without considering what kind of abilities theme this champion should have. There was simply no solid foundation to build upon. At the time Ao Shin was announced, they were in the process of making champion appearances rarer so that they could consistently release unique heroes and not flood the champion selection.
The Reddit user “noobtheloser” paid homage to Ao Shin with a touching drawing showing designer RiotMorello with Ao Shin:
The new champion has to step into big clawed shoes
Due to the hype that Ao Shin has generated over the years, the new hero has a lot to make up for. Riot is aware of this and will release the new dragon champion Aurelion Sol in the first half of this year. The name means something like “Golden Sun,” but it is not yet 100% confirmed.
One of the next champions could therefore be Aurelion Sol – we are excited to see when he will be available for League of Legends!
Ao Shin is not the only “showcased” champion that never made it:
LoL: 9 champions that have not (yet) made it into League of Legends
