Newer League of Legends champions have been heavily criticized by the community for their wacky mechanics, and for having the ability to constantly make fools of older characters in the game.
However, many players have forgotten that this is not exactly a new trend from Riot, which has tried to break the mold numerous times in the past.
In fact, arguably their strangest creation came six years ago, in the form of a rework. .
Mordekaiser, the juggernaut
Mordekaiser, a little-used champion at the time, received his first major update as part of the infamous Juggernaut patch.
It was an update that changed the way Riot behaved with respect to the significant changes it used to make in the run up to major international competitions.
His rework was so impactful he saw a 98.6% presence (picks + bans) at Worlds 2015, being banned in 68 games, and winning all four matches in which he managed to slip through the ban phase.
What's striking about Mordekaiser's rework is not only the new, extraordinary ability to win games he suddenly found, but also the particularly high number of unique mechanics he brought to the game.
Riot decided to forcibly make him work in the botlane, by allowing him to gain a greater amount of experience than rivals, making his primary source of damage come from auto-attacks, and even allowing him to drag a spectral dragon into lanes as a reward for drake captures.
Mordekaiser's problems in establishing himself in the game also helped Riot learn about their own systems. The champion was able to do so many different things that they had to consistently change abilities and nerf his stats to finally balance him out.
By the time he got to that point, however, he felt too weak -- with only a few extraordinarily dedicated players still attempting to take advantage of him.
Morde's rework was one of the great lessons Riot have learned throughout the history of League.
During a live stream, one of Riot Games' champion developers gave their tier list of champion ultimates, based on their power. Some of the results are rather surprising.
