Viego can be a terrible release with such game-breaking abilities.
The 2021 League of Legends preseason made extensive adjustments to the traditional item system, introducing the latest category of Mythic items into the eleventh year of the franchise and disposing of certain iconic items as well. In certain parts, all the positions have benefited from the changes, but none more than the jungle, who have seen already-dominant champions grow stronger to the point that a good gank will decide the outcome of the whole game.
Before the release of Viego, Graves, Nidalee, and Ivern are three of the many jungle champions whose play, ban, and win rates have risen dramatically due to new Mythic items such as Galeforce, Night Harvester, and Moonstone Renewer. Many of the attributes of these items and synergies with these champions are addressed in Patch 11.2. But there was also a new problem: Viego, the Ruined King.
From a clunky kit full of new mechanics to strong versatility outside the jungle, Virgo has the ability to be one of the best champions in the game—which is not what League needs right now.
Another game-changing champion had arrived
Following suit with almost every champion launched in the last two years, Viego carries with him a kit full of new mechanics that instantly show him as a significant new challenge.
The sword of Viego—the Blade of the Ruined King—is his major mechanism of attacking, as well as his Q. If the length of the sword that gave him one of the largest melee attack ranges in the game wasn’t enough, his first passive Q gives him a prototype of the item of the same name at all times.
After the skill has been used, his Q second passive is triggered. This results in a second instant hit of his auto attack, which does substantial bonus damage and heals Viego for a percentage of damage done.
And those are just the passives. Its active is a straight line attack with a short cooldown that’s ideal for melee skirmishes.
His ultimate ability, Heartbreaker, combined with his passive, Sovereign Dominance, is where the problems with this jungler get worse. Through his passive, Viego will take over the body of any champion he defeats, taking their stats, abilities, passive and active bonuses, and disappearing for a brief period. Unlike Sylas and Neeko, who steal the finals and looks, Viego “becomes” the other champion.
Luckily, Viego’s W, Spectral Maw, is the only healthy element of his kit. It’s a dash, and if you hit someone, they’re momentarily stunned.
His auto-attacks are very sluggish when the game starts, but his jungle clear can be comparable to Kayn in that he doesn’t need any help. When starting Q, the percentage of health damage inflicted by auto-attacking jungle monsters and the health recovery after using his active jungle items combined with the Omnivamp means that he ais fully capable of fully clearing himself. Conqueror is also Viego’s rune of choice, so healing is definitely never going to be a problem at any stage in the game.
Good ganking potential
The influence of ganks in season 11 is more important than ever before. Champions with high versatility have dominated the preseason and the beginning of the year, and Viego just makes it more conspicuous.
Perhaps the most striking issue in Viego’s kit that will make him an influential pick is his E, Harrowed Path. This skill mixes the team shroud of Senna’s E with the wrap-around effect of Qiyana’s ultimate all-in-one swoop. When used against walls, the skill goes around the wall and gives Viego extra speed of movement and speed of attack when inside, at the top of the stealth. Aiming it at normal terrain produces a small shroud area where he earns the same bonuses. Did we note that the shroud itself is almost a whole lane in width?
By having ways to improve his attack speed with his skills, Viego can concentrate on building damage-centric items, such as the Trinity Force and the Ruined King’s Blade, and still have more than one-percent attack speed at all points in the game.
And when he finally reaches level six, his power grows exponentially. Being able to use his ultimate immediately after possessing a champion with no drawbacks makes Darius’ ultimate refunds look futile. In theory, Viego can cast his ultimate five times in a matter of seconds during team fights while also gaining new abilities for every kill, making it impossible to fully prepare to fight him.
High flexibility jungle champs have recently been tuned in Patch 11.2 but not enough to make them obsolete. This ensures that Viego steps along at the most convenient moment to take advantage of these abilities and at the same time add even more to the table.
In a similar vein to Seraphine’s release, Viego takes what other champions do, and he only does it better.
Of course, he’s going to be a prevalent force in solo queue and pro play, but the probability that he’ll get through the ban process is very small. If you can get your hands on playing Viego, take advantage of his power to quickly play snowball games without a lot of faults—but do this before he finally gets nerfs.