League of Legends has given us nearly 200 champions over the past decade and a half, but not all of them have retained their original feel. League players think some champions have lost their unique identities, whether due to being outdated or having new mechanics shift their original design.
A Jan. 30 Reddit thread titled “Which champions have lost their identity?” cropped up and drew in hundreds of replies regarding several champions in League who have become unrecognizable in the face of novelty. The original post first names Kennen, who has lost that sense of being lightning quick, and “many champions seem to outrun him,” claims the thread’s creator. Others, however, point the finger at several other champions, most notably Shyvana and Nautilus, who both feel drastically different from their original selves.
User EphesosX pointed out Shyvana has pivoted away from being your bog-standard AD Bruiser jungler to an impressive burst mage capable of dishing out serious AOE damage from a distance. From having a 30 percent AP ratio on her E to now sporting a whopping 90 percent, Shyvana has become a borderline mage, retaining only part of her bruiser mechanics. A reply to these claimed Shyvana can still be played as an AD bruiser—unlike Nautilus, who completely lost his role as a dangerous top/jungle pick and was relegated to being a mere support.
Nautilus is a champion most replies named as being the one who most lost his identity. He went from being a frequent jungle pick in the olden days (I myself played the hell out of Nautilus jungle) to becoming a standard tank support picked by Thresh players if their main was banned. Though Nautilus still has a ton of solid combos and can be a menace in the bot lane, his top lane strength has largely faded and his performance in the jungle is worse still. He’s truly lost his sense of self, which is a shame, and I pray Riot one day buffs his performance in other lanes.
And, perhaps with these new items in season 14, some of the mentioned champions can steal back their original identities.
