It’s extremely common for the League of Legends community to be filled to the brim with speculation and tinfoil hats after a teaser reveal drops for a new champion, such as the one last week.
Some of the current speculative theories surrounding Riot’s new “darker,” apparently aquatic-themed, aggressive support aren’t actually that far-fetched, though—especially one claiming that the new champion will be a manta ray-type creature, or that it’ll have a Battlecast skin.
Theories about an upcoming manta ray champion have been floating around for the past three years or so. They started when players noticed a manta ray in Creator Viktor’s recall, on the screen that Viktor uses to monitor his Battlecast creations. Others included on the screen are Kog’Maw, Cho’Gath, and Skarner, which hints at the manta ray-shaped thing at least maybe being a future champion, even if it isn’t actually a manta ray.
The second time this theory surfaced was after Urgot’s large scale rework last year, when a flying manta ray was added into his Battlecast skin’s splash art in the distance near Vel’Koz. The shape is blurry, but it does have similar design characteristics to the other Battlecast skins, and it is flying very close to the silhouette of Vel’Koz.
Here’s the splash art, followed by a zoom-in on the would-be manta ray.
Those old theories on the League Reddit community are resurfacing for a third time because of what Riot revealed about the new champion last week.
Based on the image relating to the new champ, players assume it’ll be an aquatic creature of some kind. Riot also revealed it’ll be aggressive, dark in theme, and a play-making support. Being aggressive certainly fits the motif for Viktor’s Battlecast army, but the fact that it should be some sort of ocean dweller is the real kicker.
Players think this new champ will be the manta ray simply because it’s the only time it’s ever actually made sense. Riot has been teasing new champions in this same way for the last year or so, and this is the only time the teaser has ever actually lent any credence to the manta ray theory, so the conspiracy theorists are sold.
Based on Riot’s past patterns, it could be several weeks or even a month before we see anything concrete on this new champion, but if it is a manta ray, you can be sure it’ll make a good portion of League’s tinfoil-hat-wielding players very happy.
