Ranking The 2021 LoL Champion Releases

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Time to see which champion release was the best and which were the worst!

Sabrina Ahn

League of Legends - December 28th 2021, 22:30 GMT+1

Akshan Banner — 4. Akshan

Akshan was probably the least embraced champion **upon release**. Players hated his kit, the fact that he could revive whole teams just seemed completely broken, and his low attack speed landed him at the bottom of the win rate list at **a mere 34%**.

His champion release was pushed ahead of that of Vex and while he did play a key part in the Sentinels of Light event, due to the failure of the overall event, Akshan wasn't as hyped as some had probably hoped.

His visuals are great, and he seems like a cool character, but his debut really wasn't the best in League of Legends history. | © Riot Games

Gwen League of Legends Banner — 3. Gwen

Gwen was a whole new AP top laner and before her release, everyone constantly talked about Isolde and how the champion would be none other than Viego's long-lost love – and in a way, Gwen was just that.

Gwen was a whole new take on top lane carry, and she is a fun and unique champion, but she has a high skill cap, due to having to weave in and out of danger. Not to mention that her whole kit is based around the fact that she is meant to incorporate auto attacks between her abilities and that could be a bit much.

Gwen is a great champion and her release was pretty popular, but it quickly became apparent that in pro play, she is broken, while in solo queue, she struggles. | © Riot Games

Viego Splash — 2. Viego

Viego was the first champion released in 2021. He is a skirmishing jungler who also found success throughout the year in the top lane and even the mid lane.

Overall, Viego was a well-received champion upon release. Fans were excited about the jungler and the story that surrounded him and would follow the whole year.

His release hyped up the rest of the year and got people excited for League of Legends once more. | © Riot Games

Vex Splash art — 1. Vex

Okay, let's ignore the amount of '**the Yordle champion is Norra**' articles we wrote... we all make mistakes, alright? But even though Vex didn't end up being Norra in the end, players were still excited about this emo champion.

The anti blink/dash mechanic in her kit was a welcomed one with all the overloaded champions rushing all around Summoner's Rift. She is a fun pick that is able to burst down enemies and her win rates early on and play rates speak for themselves, making Vex the best champion release of 2021. | © Riot Games

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In 2021, we received 4 new champions. The bot lane and support champion had to be pushed back into 2022, so expect a new champion to be released early on into season 12. Viego was also released pretty quickly in 2021, so we are excited to see what this Piltoverian (or Zaunite) bot laner will have in store for us.

But it's almost 2022, and it's about time we look back at the last year. A whole lore event took place, bringing us these 4 champions, and today we're going to rank the release of the four new champions onto Summoner's Rift. Which champions hit the mark, and which champions needed some time until players got used to them and liked them, both lore-wise and play-style-wise?