With the “Ink Mage,” a new champion in League of Legends, Riot Games could be revisiting an old concept that was discarded a few years ago, according to a leaker. The leaker claims that the “Ink Mage” is now coming to LoL after all.
In March 2023, Milio was the last new champion introduced to the MOBA League of Legends. Next, Naafiri, a Darkin assassin, will follow.
After that, the Ink Mage could make his big debut, which, according to a leaker, could bring a very interesting kit. The idea behind it was created several years ago but apparently could not be implemented technically at that time.
The information about the Ink Mage comes from Big Bad Bear, a leaker known in the LoL community for his accurate predictions.
Here you can see the video from Big Bad Bear:
The concept of the Ink Mage is intriguing but could lead to bugs
According to the YouTuber, the Ink Mage is expected to come to League of Legends after Naafiri. Riot Games has supposedly worked on his character concept several years ago. The information Big Bad Bear refers to comes from an interview with Riot Meddler about the “Ink Mage” about 5 years ago.
The champion would be able to “draw” his skills with the mouse. However, this mechanic is supposedly too difficult to control in team fights. Therefore, the idea was initially discarded. They kept the option in mind to “revisit it later” (via YouTube).
Additionally, his ultimate would consist of the Ink Mage marking terrain on the map. The YouTuber shows in the video how various shapes are drawn onto the map with the mouse, which then create stone structures.
As the YouTuber notes, such a champion kit would be quite exciting, but he also sees the risk of bugs in a gameplay mechanic where players can draw their own terrain.
Given that the concept was discarded 5 years ago, it seems that it was not technically possible at that time to incorporate such a complex gameplay mechanic into LoL. Perhaps the developers have found a way to implement the idea after all these years and are now equipping the Ink Mage with the kit.
Keep in mind that the information regarding the “Ink Mage” is still purely speculative and no confirmed facts from Riot Games. If the Mage comes, it will be no earlier than 2024, as only 2 new heroes are planned for 2023 and they are already set.
