First Designed Champions in League of Legends

League of Legends today has over 160 champions and counting. It all had to start somewhere, so here are the oldest LoL champions, as they were designed by the – then fledgling – Riot Games.

League of Legends launched on October 27, 2009, with 40 champions available to be played in the game. However, before that, Riot Games added the first 17 champions to LoL on February 21, 2009. Fearing that 17 champions won’t be enough, Riot Games decided to more than double the amount of champions in the game, thus League of Legends launched with 40 champions.

Which LoL Champions did Riot Games Design First?

Unlike what their release date might say, not all LoL champions are made equal, and the Riot Games developers themselves have given us insight into who the first League of Legends champions to be designed were, thus making them the oldest League of Legends champions.

Singed

Singed, The Mad Chemist is the oldest champion in League of Legends, as he was the first of all to be designed, Riot developers state. Singed is a frontline specialist that inflicts magic damage with his poison trailing behind him, while his passive ability originally granted him bonus health based on his maximum mana pool.

Now Singed is priced at 48000 Blue Essence, while the original currency used was IP, with the same price. And speaking of value, this is one of the champions whose best skins fetch quite a price, even in their old age.

Twisted Fate

Twisted Fate is the most fundamental mid-lane champion in League of Legends. He teaches players spell rotation and map awareness, the basic tools of any magic dealing mage.

To help beginner players utilize this information, Twisted Fate’s ultimate ability allows him to teleport to any location on the map, and easily gank unsuspecting enemies.

Annie

Speaking of mid-lane, magic dealing champions for beginners, we have Annie, another of the six champions that were first designed in League of Legends. Unlike Twisted Fate, however, Annie is the best beginner champion to learn the basics of last hitting minions on, due to the passive on her Q ability, which refunds mana if the target is killed.

If you give your enemies time to react when attacking them, while playing Annie, you’re doing something wrong. And it’s this kind of unbalanced, but definitely fun, gameplay that made us fall in love with League of Legends all those years ago. 

Lee Sin

If you’re confused about the fact that Lee Sin is listed as one of the first designed League of Legends champions, but is not part of the first 17 champions, there is a simple explanation for that. Lee Sin was first canceled then reintroduced to the game on April 1, 2011.

Lee Sin has introduced League of Legends to a new line of thinking when it comes to using abilities, with his signature Bicycle Kick combo. This is the best LoL jungler if you wish to outplay your opponents with superb mechanics and make incredible plays. Just be careful of the so-called Lee Syndrome, of following every Q ability, even into death.

Sion

There is a theme we can see going on here, with Riot Games designing the first six champions for every class in the game. Sion is the most iconic top lane Juggernaut, a combination of the best tank class with some damage mixed in from fighter-type champions, with his passive ability making him one of the 9 infinitely stacking champions in League of Legends.

As one of the oldest League of Legends champions, Sion’s lore shares a lot of history with other League of Legends champions. Nowadays, the canonical version states that it was Sion who Killed Jarvan I and is using his crown as his lower jaw.

Sivir

The last of the champions Riot Games first designed for League of Legends is Sivir. Unlike today, however, where her place in the meta is unstable, she was the first attack damage carry in the game. Where today her only option is the lethality build, once she was the prime sustain damage champion, capable of bringing down tanks such as Sion.

Where the rest of the champions have kits that can withstand the test of time or have been significantly reworked, Sivir languishes in mediocrity, as this champion has not been updated to the modern standard we have in the Ruined King era. The only thing currently positive about this champion is that she is one of the best champions for beginner ADCs, due to the simplicity of her kit, and her ability to negate crowd control.

Some of these champions have withstood the test of time, others had to adapt, while some have fallen by the wayside. It's definitely a lesson we can all learn from.