League of Legends has over a decade of development behind it, and the sheer passage of time is one of the biggest factors in champion balance. Over the seasons, players refine their strategy to find the best way to approach matches in order to achieve victory. In this way, they establish a set of priorities and select the characters that best meet specific needs. The problem with this development is that some champions may not adapt to the new circumstances and remain in oblivion.
The champion that Riot Games has been improving for years
One of the most extreme examples of this character type is Ziggs. The Hexplosives Expert has had a glorious past in League of Legends, even becoming one of the most feared champions in competitive play in Season 4. The problem is, it hasn’t shined since, and it’s not because Riot Games hasn’t tried. If we look at his change history, we can see that every season he received improvements. In total, Riot Games has made 11 attempts to increase in-game performance over the past seven years.
Logic would dictate that a champion who received that many consecutive buffs would be one of the most powerful in League of Legends, but nothing could be further from the truth. Ziggs mid lane win rate varies with patch progress, but currently it doesn’t even reach 50%. All this while being selected in only one out of a hundred games and without having appeared in the pro game as a mid laner for the entire season. In fact, in the last eight years of competition, he has never been selected for this position.
The big problem is that while Ziggs has some great features, it doesn’t offer what you expect from a mid laner. Its functions are to eliminate minions, bring down turrets and deal damage. These are functions his abilities perform brilliantly—however, the champion’s full kit lacks the tools to allow him to shine on his own. He’s one of the worst mid lane characters because he’s easy to chase and doesn’t have any survival tools (apart from his W – Explosive Charge). This situation, in the realistic setting of a game of League of Legends, makes it almost impossible for him to show his power.
Due to these circumstances, Ziggs had his moments of glory on the bot lane accompanied of course by a support, but here another problem arises. While there is nothing bad to say about the character in this position as he is very capable, players just don’t want to use him in this role. Historically, the League of Legends community has adamantly rejected the possibility of introducing Mages into a position traditionally dominated by ADCs. Even though these are the characters with the most kills in the leaderboards according to stats, no one just chooses this role to play this type of champion.
In this sense, it remains to be seen which direction Riot Games will take. They’ve spent seven years trying to improve the champion with little success, but maybe there will be another try now that the company is busier than ever with second chances for old League of Legends characters. . So far, it doesn’t look like they’ve given up the fight. It wouldn’t be surprising if in future patches, possibly before Worlds 2022, there’s a surprise for all the bomb-loving Yordle lovers.
The start of League of Legends Worlds is in less than 2 months! For the occasion, the esports section of Riot Games has teamed up with Tiffany & Co. to reinvent the sacrosanct grail, the famous World Championship cup.