Rekkles takes aim at Riot for making too many “crazy OP” LoL champions

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Fnatic superstar Martin ‘Rekkles’ Larsen has slammed Riot Games for their “crazy” new League of Legends champion designs, and suggested players shouldn’t be forced to play the “new generation” releases to keep up.

After ten years of character development, and nearly unique 150 champions, it’s no surprise Riot has begun to push the boundaries of their popular MOBA with new abilities, ultimates, and features for their recent releases.

With the start of the Season 10 ranked ladder and pro leagues around the world, it soon became clear some — namely new bot laners Senna and Aphelios — have been released with “broken kits” and a lot of in-built power, and Rekkles has had enough.

Riot’s newest marksman champions Senna (pictured) and Aphelios were two of the main reasons Rekkles took aim at their balancing decisions.

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During a game against Aphelios, who arrived as champion 147 weeks after fellow marksman Senna was revealed, Rekkles took aim at Riot’s designs, suggesting it was a “joke” these new characters had made everything else obsolete.

In particular, the Swedish bot laner suggested it was “crazy” that two back-to-back releases so close together had warped the meta so strongly, and even bumped 2019’s power picks Kai’Sa and Xayah right out of contention.

“Kai’Sa and Xayah used to be at least twice as good as every other ADC, and now Xayah is never played without Rakan, and Kai’Sa isn’t even played, just because Riot released new champs that are even worse to play against,” he said.

Rekkles has been playing League at a pro level since 2012, and says this is the worst he’s seen the design get.

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One particular problem that has arisen from Aphelios and Senna’s arrival has been their “overpowered” kits, which allow them to extend their auto-attack range to game-breaking levels, all while remaining relatively safe from harm.

Alongside the extended range, both champions boast interesting new mechanics that have proven difficult to play around, from Aphelios’ literal arsenal of weapons he can change between, to Senna’s shadow moves which conceal allies.

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“It’s crazy, right? Not really sure what their theory is, because if they keep making stronger and stronger champions, then no one will play anything except what’s new,” Rekkles added. ‘“I think that’d be a shame because there are so many champs in the game… but what do I know, I don’t have 200 years of experience.”

The LEC champion finished his thoughts by suggesting League of Legends would be at its “most fun” if “everyone was on even ground” when it came to power in kits, but accepts that it’s basically impossible for Riot to achieve that.

“I know it’s not possible because if you don’t release these new generation OP champs then people get bored,” he said. “I guess we just have to accept anything released 10 years ago won’t be played again… unless they have too much damage.”

Rekkles isn’t the only one to take aim the game’s development recently either, with a cheeky parody video going all-in on the balance of champions like Zoe, Aphelios, and Qiyana as well as reworked characters like Akali and Galio.

League’s developers also recently went on the record to admit they believe it’s “impossible” to balance all 148 champions. Instead, they revealed they aim to bring a level of “richness” to every meta as characters rise and fall in power.

While it’s not the best news, especially for outspoken critics like Rekkles, at least it looks like Riot understands they may have gone too far in some places. Now it’s just a matter of seeing how powerful upcoming champions 149 and 150 really are.

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