League of Legends has been in its 15th season since January 9, 2025. Many changes have been made to champs and items, and a new jungle monster has been added that gives players a crazy advantage.
Which monster is it? It’s about Atakhan, the new epic jungle monster. He appears at the 20-minute mark and has two forms with different buffs for the entire team. The buff Atakhan grants depends on champion kills and the damage dealt.
Through a lot of action in the game, the Destructive Atakhan appears, and with less action, the Insatiable Atakhan appears. Each provides a unique buff for the team that killed him.
What do the buffs do? By killing the Destructive Atakhan, the entire team receives a 25% bonus on all jungle effects. This means that every dragon, baron, and other buffs are further amplified.
The Insatiable Atakhan grants each champ on the team that kills him a state for 150 seconds in which no one can die. In case of a champion’s death, they are put into stasis for a few seconds and then teleported back to spawn.
Immortality is not a good idea
How are you rewarded for dying? With a minimal gain for the opponent of only 200 gold upon death and the quick teleportation to spawn, this buff encourages risky actions. Without suffering many losses.
Getting the last minions, a quick gank, or an entire team fight are significantly less dangerous. In the worst case, it leads to the team gathering at spawn. They may have lost the fight, but they are right back in the base.
While many players agree that the 25% amplification of all jungle effects is acceptable, the 150 seconds of immortality presents some issues. On Reddit, it is criticized that the professional scene has become quite boring. The aftermath of defeating the Insatiable Atakhan is often the same.
- “It’s hard to get excited about a team fight after one of the teams has killed Atakhan because you already know how it will end. The team with the buff wins, even if they actually lost the fight; that’s not a good viewer experience,” writes KriibusLoL (via Reddit).
The post has received quite a bit of support with over 3000 upvotes and more than 400 comments, but also some backlash.
An Aggressive Playstyle Emerges
Is the buff only criticized? Another user on Reddit agreed that team fights after Atakhan are less interesting, but works as intended by Riot.
It invites players as well as professionals to adopt an aggressive and interesting playstyle, rather than just waiting for the next mistake of the opponent before acting. Such mechanics also make it possible to compensate for a previous gold disadvantage.
Riot is currently addressing the players’ criticism regarding the time it takes to unlock a champ and might come up with something new for this buff soon.
While players criticize the new Atakhan buff, a streamer is focusing on the whole new season and claims that Riot is only trying to adjust the game for the Arcane fans: Top streamer for LoL on Twitch criticizes “terrible” patch, saying it is only for Arcane fans
