Vladimir has been one of the more polarizing champions in League of Legends. Though he received a small update to his effects in 2016, he hasn’t gotten a true visual or mechanical rework since his release in 2010.
This fan-made rework, however, has the League community raving about its amazing design work and how well it could fit into the game today.
Anthony Sun, a concept artist and illustrator, created a new vision for Vladimir. The blood mage was redesigned from the ground up, from his outdated visuals to a new kit. The update transformed the champion into an ancient mage that uses a swarm of Crimson Harvesters to collect the blood of the innocent.
His visuals are similar to the Crimson Follower card group shown in Riot’s popular virtual card game, Legends of Runeterra. The swooping collar, the blood-red color scheme, and the new costume design have modernized Vladimir for the 2020 League world.
The reworked kit, on the other hand, didn’t have too many fans in the League community. Some people thought that the skills were too similar to other champions, like Swain and Nasus. Others weren’t sure about some of the aspects of the kit, like how his ultimate would grant him immunity from Grievous Wounds.
Overall, Sun’s impressive work made people yearn for a Vladimir rework in the future. League fans have complained about how multiple older champions have been left in the dust when it comes to both their kit and design, especially when compared to the shiny new champions that have come out recently.
Although we might not see this exact redesign for Vladimir, Riot has started to update older champions to help them stand next to the newer champions of today. Fiddlesticks is getting updated to become the scariest champion on Summoner’s Rift and Volibear is up next.
