League of Legends has too many champions. At least that’s what the current world champion and professional player BeryL claims. He demands that Riot should focus less on releasing new heroes and rather revise the ones that are already there. The community sees it differently.
Who is the professional?
- Cho “BeryL” Geon-hee is a 26-year-old Korean and currently plays as a support for DRX, who won the LoL Worlds in 2022.
- His team was considered the underdog and has wrecked some bets by literally obliterating favorites like Gen G.
- BeryL is also an avid fan of anime girls, for whom he has already spent over $7,000.
This is what BeryL criticizes: In a statement, BeryL wishes that Riot would release fewer new champions (via e-focus.co.kr). He keeps it quite short:
I wish there were no new champions anymore […] In my opinion, there are currently more than 20 champions that need a rework.
According to BeryL, it is more important to first balance all champions somehow. It is not good if a new champion appears that cannot be balanced.
Currently, there are 165 champions in LoL, of which the newest is the jungler Briar, who has one of the worst win rates of all champs. However, BeryL’s statement does not only find support in the community.
“Nothing would kill the game faster”
On Reddit, the post was read and commented on by thousands of fans. There is agreement from players who say: other professionals should also weigh in. It’s annoying when old heroes are not touched at all.
Concrete examples are Evelynn or Akshan. Both are incredibly strong or have even received a buff, but haven’t been touched for years – because they are not found in the professional league.
In regular play, however, they are a plague for anyone who has to play against them. According to OP.GG, Evelynn currently has a win rate of 52.09% in the jungle at platinum and above, ranking 5th. Akshan has 52.20% for 3rd in mid.
Other fans, however, argue that if Riot really stopped bringing new champs, LoL would be doomed to downfall. Players would immediately suspect that the game was in maintenance mode and that no new content was coming.
For professionals, this may be comfortable. They wouldn’t have to learn any new heroes and counters, and would indeed keep playing. That’s what they are paid for. However, for casuals, the game would become boring.
It’s not good if a season feels like the last one, with no changes at all. That’s not the expectation that LoL players have for their game. Nevertheless, Riot has already stated that there will eventually be an end to new champions:
LoL will eventually not receive any new champions anymore – Riot explains when it will happen
