Many League of Legends players were happy to find out that Skarner had won the latest VGU poll for 2022. The Crystal Vanguard has been one of the least-played champions in the game, sporting the same kit and visuals since his release in 2011. But according to the latest Champion Roadmap, he’ll be rocking a shiny new shell and some sharpened claws soon.
Riot said that although it hasn’t started work on the Skarner VGU, it still wanted to give fans a teaser of what could be coming in the next few months. League‘s champion art director Larry “BravoRay” Ray shared some new images showing off some of his explorations involving Runeterra’s favorite crystal scorpion.
The first and second row of concept images are attempts to maintain Skarner’s current theme, while also modernizing him with other aspects to break him away from a regular scorpion-like body. The last row, however, is a complete reimagination of the champion after continuing his story in the lore.
Though it’s not set in stone, Riot has built a story in the final three versions where Skarner was captured by Piltover, experimented on, and is now a creature they can control to protect the city and its interests. Skarner, however, eventually regains consciousness and power over himself and sets off to destroy Piltover and the people who have decimated him and his kind.
This would be an interesting story to add among the endless tales in Runeterra’s ever-expanding universe. Riot is still brainstorming on what this update will look like on all fronts, however, so these ideas could end up not showing up at all if the team finds a better direction to go in.
After the Skarner VGU actually gets underway, the League fan base will eventually get more information through a full developer’s blog post, complete with information on the champion’s narrative and game design.
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