In League of Legends there are currently 159 champions. Some are very popular, while others are hardly played. A developer from LoL now explains which character was the least popular in the history of the MOBA: The old version of Urgot was so unpopular that Riot had to completely rework the character in 2017.
What are the least popular characters now? Characters are typically considered extremely unpopular when they have a pick rate of less than 0.5%. According to an article by MGG, the currently least popular characters are:
- Skarner with 0.41% – a scorpion that can drag opponents but is considered relatively slow
- Aurelion Sol with 0.49% – a dragon that is considered hard to play because he has to hit opponents with a thing that orbits his body: He is a mage that has to get close to opponents
But the two “problem champs” are nothing compared to the least popular champ in the history of LoL: Urgot.
No one wanted to play Urgot, even though he was incredibly strong
What was the problem with Urgot? In his personal Twitch stream, August “Riot August” Browning, the Lead Champion Designer of LoL, talked about the least popular champ in the 13-year history of the MOBA.
He says the old version of Urgot (2010-2017) had such a bizarre combination of skills that he didn’t feel like a part of League of Legends at all. He was a mix between a marksman and an attrition mage that simply didn’t work.
Even the parts of his abilities that were fun, like his ultimate, didn’t fit him at all, says Riot August.
Ultimately, Urgot was so trapped between roles that he didn’t work properly in any position unless the meta favored him.
But it didn’t really matter whether he worked in the meta or not: Urgot just wasn’t fun for players. Some could even dominate SoloQ with him but couldn’t maintain it or establish a trend:
If you see Jinx in the pro league, you want to play Jinx. If Akali has a 52% win rate, you can bet that everyone will jump on the bandwagon. There are certain champions that everyone plays when they look good. Look at Kai’Sa, everyone is currently looking for a reason to play Kai’Sa.
But there are also champions like Aurelion Sol, who hardly anyone plays, even though he is greatly showcased by the pros.
In a similar position was Urgot back then: He could literally win every game, but no one played him because he didn’t fit into LoL. His skills contradicted each other, and his vaguely defined role made him unattractive to many players.
What did Riot do? In July 2017, Riot completely overhauled Urgot. All his abilities were fundamentally changed:
- The “old Urgot” was a low-range marksman who had the ability to gain higher range when he hit with his E ability. He relied on reducing his opponents’ damage and making them more vulnerable to damage.
- The “new Urgot” is a kind of walking death machine whose idea is to stay on an opponent, wear them down with increasing damage, slow them, and ultimately take them out.
How is Urgot now? After 2017 and a thorough overhaul of his abilities, Urgot is still a strange fantasy of a mechanical spider with traces of human-like qualities, but he works: He appears in about 2.8% of all games now.
Well, let’s see how we talk about Bel’Veth, the new heroine in LoL, in a few years:
The new champion of League of Legends can attack infinitely quickly – theoretically
