Buzz
(Motherland) - It's been 5 years since Riot Games introduced the latest Tank champion for League of Legends named Ornn.
There's a surprising fact that many League of Legends (LoL) gamers may not know: the newest pure Tank champion of this game, Ornn, was released back in 2017. Specifically, Ornn made his debut on the official server on August 23, 2017. It's been 5 years since then, yet LoL hasn't seen any new Tank champions added.
After Ornn, numerous Assassin, Fighter, Marksman, Support... champions have been introduced, but the Tank champion class has been completely overlooked. So what's the reason behind this irrationality? Let's find out.
Tank champions generate low revenue
In a highly competitive game like LoL, players showcasing themselves is crucial. Therefore, champions with high damage output, securing numerous kills, and contributing heavily to victory are highly favored. It's no wonder why Marksman champions or high-damage characters like Lee Sin, Yasuo, Yone... are greatly beloved by players.
The core essence of Tank champions is to absorb as much damage as possible and provide comfort for teammates in dealing damage. It's a role that few League of Legends (LoL) players desire, as it lacks the satisfaction of playing damage-dealing characters. This is evident in the pick rate statistics, with Tank champions like Dr. Mundo, Sion, Ornn... all having very low pick rates (below 5%).
It's evident that with such low pick rates, the number of players investing money in purchasing items like skins for Tank champions will be even lower. Ultimately, Riot Games is a business, and they need to generate revenue to survive. Therefore, they are not overly enthusiastic about designing Tank champions, which do not yield high revenue.
Tank champions are highly susceptible to imbalance
If you recall, when the item system was revamped, Amumu and other Tank champions immediately became the strongest characters. The reason being that Sunfire Aegis at that time proved to be too powerful, transforming Tank champions into true tanks, both difficult to kill and capable of dealing significant damage.
Even to this day, Sunfire Aegis remains horribly imbalanced. You can see this clearly when Assassins like Yone or Diana also utilize Sunfire Aegis because it provides too much damage. This illustrates that Tank champions are highly prone to imbalance when their key item, Sunfire Aegis, is excessively strong.
It's important to note that in recent years, Riot has often introduced champions with excessive strength and nearly no weaknesses in their skill sets. If they release more Tank champions, then surely this class of characters will become extremely unbalanced when both the champion abilities and supporting items are too strong compared to the standard.
Conclusion
With no significant revenue and too many risks of imbalance, Tank champions have been neglected by Riot Games for the past 5 years. The good news is that Riot has confirmed they will create a new Tank champion in the near future. Hopefully, Riot Games will carefully design this character and prevent it from falling into the imbalance issues like previous champions.
