Champions Released in 2021

In 2021, Riot released 4 new champions: Akshan, Gwen, Vex and Viego. That ranks 2021 joint 13th of 18 release years by volume, down from 6 in 2020 and against 5 in 2022. The average across every year is 9.6, so 2021 sits below the norm — typical of the slower, larger-kit release pace Riot settled into after the first four years.

The most commonly listed position in this batch is Jungle (2 of 4), and the champions span 3 regions, led by Shadow Isles (3). The most common species is Doll (1), with Human counting 1. By range there are 2 melee and 2 ranged listings; by gender, 2 female and 2 male. 3 of 4 use Mana; the exceptions are Viego (Manaless).

Firsts: 2021 introduced the first Doll (Gwen) species tag.

The best first guess among the 2021 champions is Akshan, ranked 74th of 173 on the strategy page, leaving 4.4 candidates on average — a middling opener. A 2021 guess lights the year cell yellow for anything from 2019 to 2023 — 24 champions, 14% of the roster. Beyond that, 142 champions are older and only 7 newer, so an up arrow is the valuable result: it leaves a short list of recent releases. Play a round to try it.