Somehow, 2023 is already coming to a close despite my insistence that it’s only been a couple of months. There’s at least a silver lining in the unstoppable passage of time—I get to look back at Riot’s 2023 League roster and cast my judgment on what worked and what didn’t.
2023 was a slower year for champ releases, which I’m thrilled about. New champions are always (usually) exciting, but what’s even better is well-designed champions. Four were released this year, and for the most part, Riot’s effort paid off. Ultimately, this was a year of quality over quantity…but not all hard work is created equal.
2023 League champion releases, ranked
In this ranking system, I won’t just look at win rate. That will factor in slightly, but I think ranking champs based on who wins the most is a boring and frankly unnecessary undertaking. Rather, I’ll be looking at how well-designed their respective kits are, how unique or unoriginal they feel, whether they have memorable or interesting personalities and designs, and of course—how well they perform. I’m not just looking for style, and I’m not just looking for performance—to place high on this list, you need the whole package.
4) Hwei—the worst champion release of 2023
Coming in at last place for 2023 champion releases is Aphelios—wait, no, Sona! Wait…Hwei? One of my personal biggest gripes in recent years is champions that feel overloaded. It seems to me that recently that when Riot can’t decide on what they want a champion to do, they simply make them do everything and then play around with their core stats and scaling to accommodate the massive kit. In Hwei’s Champion Spotlight, there is a literal spellbook cheat sheet that you’re encouraged to screenshot and reference. The guy has 10 abilities, and that just doesn’t sit right with me.
But hey, don’t let my personal opinion on what a well-designed champ ought to look like sway you. Currently, Hwei is sitting on a sub-40 percent win rate—over 10 percent lower than the second worst-performing champion. What’s worse is the fact that this is a six percent increase from where he was in the first two weeks after his release. Maybe that’s because people are still studying the tome that is Hwei’s “four” abilities, but that in and of itself is a problem.
I like one thing and one thing only about this champion: his jawline.
3) Naafiri
I know what you’re thinking, and yes—I know that Naafiri has the highest win rate out of any 2023 champion. The reason I’m placing her at the third worst is because of WHY her win rate is so high. If you ask me, her damage is quite frankly too high, and once that’s fixed, she will be entirely forgettable.
Riot recently admitted that the devs are intentionally keeping Zed weak because he is so frustrating to play against, and I have a feeling that Naafiri is going to be in a similar situation before too long. In fact, Naafiri’s W is ominously reminiscent of Zed’s Ult. Naafiri’s kit is basically dash, one shot, rinse, and repeat. If she is ever in a weak state, I don’t really see any way that competent usage of her abilities can make up for that. Each patch will individually dictate whether Naafiri is strong or weak, and I don’t really think individual skill or understanding of the champion makes much of a difference.
2) Milio
Milio is currently and has been sitting at a win rate just above 51 percent for quite some time, and if you ask me, that’s exactly where a champion should be. The Gentle Flame hasn’t ever really felt OP -or weak. Just as important to me is the fact that his kit feels simple to be reminiscent of the sort of designs that made League so addicting in the first place while simultaneously being modern and nuanced enough that he still feels innovative and fresh.
However, as I said in the intro, stats and functionality aren’t everything. What makes me love Milio is his personality and style. This champ is just cute enough to be endearing but not so cute that he ends up swaying in the other direction and thus becoming despicable (Yuumi). Milio’s kit synergizes extremely well with his childlike wonder and flare and keeps him from falling into the camp of champions whose abilities are constantly compared to other champs. I mean, who else kicks a soccer ball and lights campfires?
1) Briar—the best champion release of 2023
Briar’s release may have been a little rocky initially, but I stand firmly by my belief that she is the best-designed and first truly new champion that has been released in as long as I can remember. This isn’t even a jab at Riot—this development was inevitable—but for the past several years, it has felt like the designers had simply run out of new mechanics to introduce to the game. I had given up hope for a truly original ability, and I wasn’t even upset about that—it was just the nature of the game. And then came the Self-Taunt.
Briar’s forced all-in mechanic is a breath of fresh air in League, and it really is the only one of its kind. That isn’t the only thing that makes this champ stand out from other recent releases, either. Briar’s kit is a true four-ability one, which I similarly didn’t think we would ever see again in a new champion—especially not in one that feels completely different from anything that’s been done so far. She’s easy to get the hang of, and that’s a great thing whether you’re playing with, as, or against her. Unlike K’sante, Aphelios, Hwei, and countless other new champions, you can tell what Briar does after seeing her in a few games.
Of course, design isn’t everything—let’s look at Briar’s performance. Currently, she is sitting on a hefty 53 percent win rate, which puts her in the top ten of the year. Riot has had some trouble balancing the new champion: Briar has been nerfed four times in a row, and she remains an absolute menace.
What’s shocking about this (and speaks even more to how well-designed she is) is that players aren’t really mad about Briar’s dominance on the Rift. Some champions are incredibly frustrating to lose to, while others simply aren’t as tilting even when they’re decimating you. It’s always been rare to see a champion with such a high win rate without becoming hated, and in 2023, I truly thought a new champion couldn’t manage to walk this tightrope.
Published: Dec 31, 2023 04:35 pm