You’ve probably seen the massive list of over 170 characters and wondered how on earth Riot Games managed to build this behemoth. Honestly, it’s a bit of a miracle. Looking back at the league of legends champions release order, the early days were basically a frantic sprint. Riot wasn't just making a game; they were trying to fill a void in a genre that barely had a name yet.
Most players who joined in the last five years think the slow, methodical release cycle of 2024 and 2025 is the norm. It isn't. Back in 2010, the studio was pumping out a new champion roughly every two weeks. It was chaos. Balancing was an afterthought, and "overpowered" didn't even begin to describe some of those day-one kits. If you want to understand why the meta looks the way it does today, you have to look at how we got here.
The Big Bang: February 21, 2009
The game didn't start with a single hero. It started with 17. These are the "Alpha" champions, the foundation of everything. On February 21, 2009, Riot dumped a group of legends into the Rift that still define the game’s identity.
Alistar, Annie, Ashe, and Fiddlesticks were there. So were Jax, Kayle, and Master Yi. You also had Morgana, Nunu, Ryze, Sion, and Sivir. Rounding out the first batch were Soraka, Teemo, Tristana, Twisted Fate, and Warwick.
It’s wild to think that Teemo and Ryze have been haunting our nightmares for nearly two decades. Ryze, in particular, is famous for being reworked more times than most players have skins. He’s the poster child for "we didn't quite get it right the first time."
The 2009 Expansion
After that initial drop, Riot didn't slow down. They added champions like Singed and Zilean in April, followed by the stealth trio—Evelynn, Tryndamere, and Twitch—in May. By the time the game "officially" launched in late 2009, the roster had grown to 40.
- Udyr (December 2009)
- Nidalee (December 2009)
Nidalee was actually the final release of that year, bringing the first real "form-swapper" mechanic to the game. It was a sign of the complexity to come.
The 2010-2012 Gold Rush
This was the era of the bi-weekly release. If you missed a month of playing, you’d come back to a completely different game. In 2010 alone, Riot released 24 champions. That is an insane pace.
Think about the icons that dropped during this window:
Garen, Lux, Leblanc, and Lee Sin. Lee Sin is arguably the most important release in the history of the league of legends champions release order. Released on April 1, 2011, he was originally teased as a joke, but he ended up defining the "high skill ceiling" archetype that Riot would chase for the next decade.
When Design Got Weird
Around 2012, the philosophy shifted. Champions weren't just "guy with sword" or "girl with fire" anymore. We started seeing stuff like:
- Lulu (March 2012): The first true "enchanter" with a morph CC.
- Draven (June 2012): A mechanic (catching axes) that actually required physical movement to maintain DPS.
- Kha'Zix and Rengar (September/August 2012): The first time two champions were released with an in-game "hunt" quest specifically for their lore.
By the end of 2012, Vi and Nami closed out the year, bringing the total count to over 100. The game was "full," or so we thought.
Quality Over Quantity: 2013 to 2019
The brakes finally got tapped. Riot realized that 100+ champions are a nightmare to balance. The release schedule dropped from 24 a year to 8 in 2013, then 6 in 2014.
This is where the "modern" League champions started appearing. Thresh (January 2013) changed the support role forever. Jinx (October 2013) became the face of the franchise. Then came Yasuo in December 2013—a champion so divisive he’s still the most banned character in the history of the game.
The Mechanic Arms Race
As the years progressed, Riot started experimenting with "breaking" the game’s rules.
- Kalista (2014) could hop with every auto-attack.
- Bard (2015) could travel through walls.
- Jhin (2016) had a fixed attack speed and a four-shot reload.
- Sylas (2019) could literally steal your ultimate.
By the time we hit 2019, the league of legends champions release order included Senna and Aphelios. Aphelios is still considered one of the most complex characters ever made, requiring a manual just to understand his five different guns.
The Modern Era and the 2025 Shift
Entering the 2020s, Riot leaned into thematic "events." Viego (2021) wasn't just a release; he was a year-long story arc. But as the game aged, the community started asking for simpler designs again.
Riot listened—sorta. We got Naafiri (2023), a straightforward assassin, but we also got Hwei (late 2023), a mage with ten different spells.
Recent Releases (2024 - 2025)
In the last couple of years, the cadence has settled into about three champions per year, often tied to "Seasons."
- Smolder (January 2024): A scaling dragon marksman.
- Aurora (July 2024): A Vastayan solo-laner.
- Ambessa Medarda (November 2024): Bridging the gap between the Arcane TV show and the game.
- Mel Medarda (January 2025): Another Arcane heavy-hitter.
The release of Mel and then later Yunara and Zaahen in mid-to-late 2025 shows Riot is now prioritizing lore-heavy champions who can exist across their entire "cinematic universe."
Why the Release Dates Actually Matter
If you’re a newer player, you might think release dates are just trivia. They aren't. There’s a "power creep" that is very real. Older champions like Garen or Annie have very "binary" kits—you either hit your spell or you don't.
Champions released after 2018 almost always have some form of:
- Mobility: A dash, leap, or blink.
- Passive Stacking: Doing three hits for extra damage.
- Resets: Getting an ability back after a kill.
When you're drafting in Ranked, knowing where a champion sits in the league of legends champions release order helps you understand their kit's philosophy. An old-school tank like Malphite is designed to do one thing (press R). A modern tank like K’Sante is designed to outplay you in 400 different ways.
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Actionable Strategy: Using History to Win
Stop treating every champion like they were designed in the same era. To climb, you should categorize the roster into three "buckets" based on their release window:
- Foundation (2009-2011): These are your "Fundamentals" champions. Use them to learn the game (Amumu, Ashe, Garen). They are reliable because they have fewer "points of failure" in their kits.
- The Specialists (2012-2017): These champions usually have one "gimmick" you must master (Draven's axes, Aurelion Sol's flight). Pick one and main it.
- The Hyper-Carries (2018-2025): These are the high-reward, high-risk picks. If you have the mechanics, use champions like Zeri, Briar, or Hwei. They have the "modern" tools to carry games even when behind, simply because their kits are so versatile.
Check the latest patch notes specifically for champions released in the last 24 months. Riot usually keeps newer releases slightly stronger to ensure they see play in the pro scene, so keeping an eye on the most recent end of the timeline is the fastest way to find your next "freelo" pick.