Riot Games is constantly applying changes to champions in League of Legends, looking to buff those that need it, and nerf those that prove too powerful. Most of these tweaks are just changing a few stats here and there, so the character becomes competitive, or conversely, a little less oppressive to play against. However, sometimes bigger changes are made, with a complete overhaul of at least a few skills, or even the entire kit. This is a situation from which no character escapes, except an irreducible lich.
A graphical overhaul, but no gameplay
Karthus hasn’t evolved much since its release in 2009. The biggest changes concerning his spells, have mainly taken place on his passive (which could make him resurrect at the beginning) and on his Wall of Pain which no longer reduces the armor of enemies for a few years. These changes didn’t have a big impact on Karthus’ gameplay, which remained the same. The champion has undergone certain modifications, going from a very passive midlaner, to a rather passive jungler, while making a few stops in toplane and even at the ADC position. But that didn’t change the way his abilities worked.
That’s also not to say it hasn’t gotten some attention from Riot Games. Apart from being given a good boost with the Pentakill metal albums, the Lich has also received a very nice visual overhaul. The latter was not only intended to dust it off, but also to censor it slightly. To understand this, you have to know that representing human bones in video games is illegal in some countries, and Riot Games made sure to remove them from the visuals of Karthusin order to standardize the splasharts in all regions (and honestly, it was not a bad thing, some of the Asian artworks made western players drool with envy, whose splashes were the same since the release of the game).
Honorable mentions
Finally Karthus is not the only one to have been very little modified, even if he is without a doubt the least modified champion in the history of LoL. For example Jax has changed very little since his release, even if the disappearance of the dodge stat (available only through his passive and the old Tabi Ninja) has profoundly changed the way he is played. The goal here was to remove a random component, Jax can sometimes dodge 5 consecutive attacks, or on the contrary not dodge any despite the investment in this stat.
The other good candidate is Tryndamere, which has also changed very little. Even though its gameplay remained the same, it underwent a fairly substantial change in 2011. At the time, Fury didn’t exist, and Tryndamere’s abilities cost him life like a Dr. Mundo. Basically his gameplay has not been very affected by this change, but it represents in our eyes, a relatively significant evolution, which forces him to leave the title of champion who has evolved the least to Karthus. And anyway, isn’t death the end of evolution? (When we die, our bodies become grass, and the antelope eats Simba grass…)
esport-lol
With the end of the regular season of the League of Legends European Championship, the title of MVP went to Frenchman Vetheo. If he did not steal this reward, it is clear that a specific position remains still and always in the shadows.