Riot slightly pulls back the curtain, teasing 2 of LoL’s upcoming champions

Earlier this year, Riot Games teased League of Legends players with two new champions: a “hangry jungler” and an “artistic mid laner.” While players had no information on those two releases throughout the majority of the year, the League developers have given an update today on what fans should expect from two of the game’s next releases—even including a name for one of those champions. 

This year, League players should expect four new champions, with Milio being the first. Beyond him, though, an assassin named Naafiri is in the works, as well as two others. While Naafiri is the furthest along in the development cycle, the two others—one of whom is a woman named “Briar,” and the other is an unnamed man—still have a ways to go. 

Briar is the “hangry jungler” from Noxus, whose mechanics surround the concept of going into a “frenzy” whenever her hunger is insatiable. “The team really liked the idea of exploring an uncontrollable hunger, and what happens when sometimes that hunger takes over and the creature is allowed to feast on those who deserve it,” Riot’s lead champion producer Alexia Gao said in a Champion Roadmap piece earlier today. 

Related: Here are the early LoL Patch 13.9 notes

The other champion teased by Riot in today’s roadmap had fewer details revealed about him, although League players now know that he is a “tortured artist” from Ionia who creates “highly complex” pieces of art. Riot also offered up a quote from the champion: “For some, art is the pursuit of a lifetime. That’s true for me. And… the brush in my hand is a simple tool—but a perfectly crafted one.”

While little is known about this champion—and his release shouldn’t be expected until well into the later stages of the year—it may be safe to say that he’s going to be quite melodramatic if that quote is any indication. 

No release dates have been announced for either Briar or the unnamed artist in the mid lane, although players should likely expect them to both hit the Rift at some point in late 2023. 

Currently, three new champions are in the works at Riot (Naafiri, Briar, and the tortured artist), with several pre-existing champions also on the docket for visual and gameplay updates. In today’s Champion Roadmap, Skarner and Jax were explicitly mentioned as next in line to have their VGUs shipped to the live servers.