Esports players in the League of Legends scene have picked all but two champions in this year’s season, breaking previous records set for champion diversity. All 139 champions, except Annie and Vi, made an appearance in the Rift this year, which shows how seriously Riot has taken to balancing the game.
The MOBA has undergone a number of major patches this year, including five champion reworks and two new releases, forcing players to adapt to the game’s ever-changing meta. Aatroix and Akali made a comeback this season thanks to their reworks, while previously underplayed melee champions such as Yasuo and Ornn began making appearances in the bottom lane towards the end of the season.
While the pick rate of these champions may vary, the record is mightly impressive. Pick and Bans believe the spike in diversity might be due to Patch 8.11, which changed the way the bottom lane was played – forcing players to move away from AD carries to playing mages.
And the season continues to break records. This year’s Worlds tournament actually had 90 unique champions played – the highest in the tournament’s history. Aatrox had the highest presence at the tournament, closely followed by Urgot and Alistair. And, if that wasn’t enough, this year’s final actually holds the record for the fastest best of 5 final in Worlds too, as Invictus Gaming romped to a 3:0 victory over Fnatic.
No matter which way you look at it though, these impressive statistics show that competitive side to League of Legends is continuing to thrive in its current state, and will do for years to come.