Earlier this year, League of Legends lead champion producer Ryan “Reav3” Mireles teased the arrival of three new champions to the world of Runeterra all connected to the story of Viego, the Ruined King. The first of these three champions was recently revealed to be Gwen, the Hallowed Seamstress, who hit the game’s live servers in Patch 11.8.
Information regarding the other two hinted-at champions has proved elusive, however. That is until a post to the official League China website revealed some key tidbits about the two new champions coming to the live servers this year.
The post has since been deleted, but a translation posted to Reddit by user u/GipJoCalderone details the contents of the roadmap. Alongside details of the new champions coming to the Rift, the article revealed information regarding reworks for Dr. Mundo and Udyr.
The Sentinel of Light
The first of the two proposed champions coming to League in 2021 is a so-called Sentinel of Light. The Sentinels of Light are a crucial part of League’s lore. An ancient order of hunters originating from the Blessed Isles, they defend the world of Runeterra from the undead spirits that come from the Black Mist of the Shadow Isles. These undead spirits include characters like Kalista, Hecarim, and Thresh.
Both Lucian and Senna are Sentinels, according to their official character biographies. Their iconic pistols are the preferred weapon of the Sentinels and the weapons are used by channeling their souls into the pistol. The as-yet-unnamed third sentinel who will be joining League’s champion roster is hinted to be a “mid lane marksman,” according to the roadmap translation. They’ll be League’s first marksman exclusively designed for the mid lane role and will have a “unique role” in League’s champion lineup.
The only other living sentinel that currently exists in League’s lore is Daowan. Appearing in the Voices of the Dead short story released by Riot in 2019, Daowan is the apprentice of the Sentinel Anabal. In the short story, Anabal dies defending his village from an attack of the Black Mist and his relic pistol is picked up by Daowan. She uses the pistol to aid Senna and Lucian in fending off the Black Mist and hasn’t been seen again in League’s lore.
The bad-tempered yordle
Initially, this confirmed female yordle character was meant to be the second champion to be released after Gwen in 2021. But her development is being pushed back to allow for the use of “new technology to make her power sources more believable,” according to the leaked roadmap.
Her champion identity is also going to be “moving closer from an artillery mage to a traditional mage.” She’ll be the first yordle champion to be released since Kled, who hit the live servers in September 2016. She, too, will be involved in Viego’s lore in some way and will tie into the overall Ruination storyline that was set up in the Viego cinematic released at the start of 2021.
The leaked article gave no hints as to the arrival dates of either of these champions. But as far as we know, both will still be released sometime in 2021.
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