When a new champion enters the roster, theLeague of Legendscommunity always prepares for the worst case scenario. It’s a consistent tradition that Riot releases champions that break the game with their overtuned values and overloaded kits. What follows are painful weeks when the developers slowly tune the champion to bring it to a balanced state, then the cycle repeats a few months later.
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Last year was no exception, as Riot introduced six meta-definers in its vast champion pool. Each of these champs had its own niche to fill with novel tricks and gimmicks to cause a riptide in already unsteady waters. Their initial anonymity and unknown threat are immediate causes to ban them, but if you are up to ride these new waves, then prepare for a wild ride.
6Nilah
It might not be a joy to see this first champ at the bottom of the list, butNilahcomes in last among the champions released in 2022. This absolutely optimistic, by that it means she never feels anything but joy, still whipped in her way as a good champion, considering that her kit and common build revolve mainly around hitting fast and sustaining herself in battle in a tank-dominated meta.
She has a relatively low pick rate compared to the other champs and a low but solid 50.6 percent win rate to match. Her jubilant entrance in the game was not at all ground-breaking despite her being the first official botlane melee champ. She was broken, not in that it broke the meta, but because the champ itself technically is broken, as shown by several bug fixes after release.
5Bel’veth
The League community has long been starved of anew monster champion, considering that the other champs posing to be a creature fell short of being a monster but rather just one of those cutesie half-monster champs. Bel’veth, empress of the void, finally satisfies this hunger, posing as a manta ray until she reveals her true form and slaps the void out of you.
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Bel’veth’s pick and ban rate is significantly higher than Nilah’s, but with a lower win rate to compare. Bel’veth’s kit is extremely complicated, and it could get intimidating to try as her abilities, passive or active, are practically written like a novel. Nonetheless, it didn’t stop many of you from picking her and not wanting to play with her through a ban. It was quite overpowered, and rightfully so for the leader of the void, as her power was reduced across patches.
4Renata
Who needs strength and power when you’ve got money? A champion who can revive an ally in the heat of the battle has got to be an important addition to any team. This is whereRenatashines because a perfectly timed bailout can make or break a game. Not only that, her coins can make the enemies berserk and attack their allies. Creating chaos on Summoner’s Rift is always fun to do.
Renata boasts a win rate of an astonishing 51.6 percent. Despite her high difficulty, as her kit relies heavily on situations, the utility she can provide to her team is superb. She has a built-in Imperial Mandate without the need to slow or immobilize enemies. She might have the least ban rate of all the 2022 champions, but this can be interpreted as her main role is support and ban priority is always against carries. Nonetheless, if she is built well, she can also carry a game if you mute chat to avoid being fumed.
3Zeri
Don’t be fooled by her almost Disney-like aesthetic becauseZeri isn’t a princess, as she can mow down on the battlefield. She can burst, skate-dash, parkour, shoot lasers, and discharge a huge bolt of electricity while increasing her damage and speed to follow up. No wonder she’s third most-picked — her gameplay is nothing short of a roller coaster.
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Indicative of a broken champ is the times they’ve had to be nerfed to balance the meta with the champion’s introduction. Guess how often Zeri’s kit was nerfed through several patches? More than 50 times. Even up to the current patch, she is still being nerfed — that’s how much of a powerhouse she is.
2K’sante
It’s a known fact that heartbreak changes people. Based onK’sante’s lore, his loss of his former partner tempered his ruthlessness. It’s a fitting story to tell after he smashes an enemy champion across a wall and backstabbed thereafter. This proud monster hunter is both a tank and a duelist. He can act as a defender for his team and also isolate high-priority enemy players away from the team fight for a hasty one-on-one.
K’sante is the most popular among all the 2022 champs, and this is not only because of his extravagant and en grande prestige skin (thank you, Lil Nas X, for that fire crop top). The only thing holding him back is his subpar win rate which may be attributed to his relatively fresh release and a high difficulty level. Nevertheless, a significantly high ban rate shows how much of a threat K’sante is. Nobody wants to be hit by Ntofo — a huge blunt weapon, and a shield, and a double blade.
1Udyr
Prevailing out of all the 2022 champions isUdyr, which may come off as a surprise. The Udyr rework practically introduced a new champion with a modified kit that a non-Udyr main may have difficulty recognizing. Gone are the monkey, turtle, and bear stances; he now has lightning, steel, fire, and ice coupled with a new awakened effect for each ability, further empowering the spirit walker. Gone too is that clunky skirt; Udyr now ditches the old drip and goes full-on shirtless flaunting that bomb dad bod.
Udyr might not be the most popular champ, second only to K’sante, but his staggering win rate and highest ban rate puts all the other champs in their place. He occupies the god-tier tier lists for jungle, both for high and low elo. He is a fearsome threat that caused a tremor in the meta. Tagged as a masterclass of rework, Udyr rightfully seals this ranking of champions released in 2022.
