Better Dragon Boy Incoming: Riot Games Is Finally Going Back To Rework Aurelion Sol

Today, Riot Games announced a massive Champion Roadmap for League of Legends for April 2022, featuring a plethora of new content like a new area of Shurima and a foreboding Empress coming on the horizon. While there is a lot to digest for any fan out there, what steals the show is the Comprehensive Gameplay Update (CGU) for Aurelion Sol, which will finally deliver the fantasy of what the champion should have been on release.

Aurelion Sol, the Star Forger, was a pretty hyped-up dragon boy back in 2016. To match that hype, he has one of Riot Games' highest purchase rates on day one, yet he didn't deliver because of his gameplay kit. With a roster of over 150 champions, it was quite a blow to Aurelion Sol's reputation that this gigantically badass dragon wasn't fun to play; even more so as time went on and other champions came into the fray. His only saving grace were his visuals, which made him often appear in the top ten most liked visuals whenever Riot Games did champion surveys.

The best way Riot Games could fix Aurelion Sol was to completely "start his gameplay over from scratch." By doing so, Riot hopes to nail the "promised thematic fantasy" that put Aurelion Sol in the limelight. As you can tell, there's an emphasis on making his design match his gameplay better, and Riot Games explains more about that in their blog with an estimation of its release:

"We want to emphasize his dragon fantasy, as we don’t think he currently delivers on that part of his persona very well. We also think our new take on his star forging gameplay will be both spectacular to see and more intuitive to play. While things can always change, we’re currently targeting some time at the end of the year to get a new and improved Star Dragon in your hands. We really hope he’ll finally deliver on the fantasy you all were excited about many moons (stars?) ago."

As the latest CGU in League of Legends' history, it's enlightening to see relatively older champions gain some love. But whether they can actually fix Aurelion Sol is another matter altogether, which we will all have to wait and see how it shapes up!

You can read more about the Champion Roadmap: April 2022 on the Riot Games' dev blog!