NERFPLZ.LOL Top 10 Champions Reworked Into a Completely Different Game

Some champions got a new ability or two. These ten got an entirely new identity, and in a couple of cases, an entirely new species.

Every patch has champions who feel one update away from a full rework. These ten actually got one, and the results changed more than a few numbers on a tooltip. Playstyle, role, and sometimes species all got thrown out and rebuilt from scratch.

Top 10 Champions Reworked Into a Completely Different Game

Some champions got a new ability or two. These ten got an entirely new identity, and in a couple of cases, an entirely new species.

Counting down from the rework that changed the least of these ten to the one that changed almost everything.

#10: Volibear (May 2020)

Old Volibear was a fairly straightforward lightning themed bruiser. New Volibear showed up as a storm god who slams the ground, chains lightning between targets, and calls down the sky to end a fight. Same bear, completely different job description.

#9: Karma (April 2013)

Karma's original kit barely resembles the Mantra powered mage support players know today. The empowered ability system survived the rework, but nearly every individual spell underneath it got replaced. Few champions on this list changed this much ability by ability.

#8: Poppy (December 2015)

Poppy used to be an awkward little duelist that most players forgot existed. The rework turned her into a wall summoning, hammer swinging protector who can end a fight winning ultimate with a single well timed knockup. She went from forgettable to a top lane menace almost overnight.

#7: Gangplank (July 2015)

The original Gangplank leaned hard on random critical strikes and a much simpler ultimate. The captain players know now trades that randomness for barrel chains and setups a coordinated team can actually plan around. Few reworks flipped a champion's entire design philosophy this hard, from random to deterministic.

#6: Warwick (January 2017)

Old Warwick was a simple sustain hunter who mostly just autoattacked things low. The update gave him a percent health execute, a fear that scatters an entire team fight, and a much scarier ultimate. He still hunts low health targets. He just does it with a lot more theater now.

#5: Fiddlesticks (April 2020)

Fiddlesticks went from a mage who flashed in, feared, and flashed right back out to a swarm of crows wearing a scarecrow's coat, complete with a decoy that can stand in a bush pretending to be a real minion. The fear mage fantasy survived. Everything else about how he looks and plays got a full horror movie makeover.

#4: Skarner (April 2024)

Skarner's crystal themed suppress ultimate defined an entire era of jungle gameplay. His full rework replaced almost the entire kit and the terrain interactions along with it, to the point where longtime players had to relearn him completely. Same name, same crystals, almost nothing else carried over.

#3: Aatrox (June 2018)

Old Aatrox was a lifesteal heavy juggernaut who turned into a genuine monster on his ultimate. The current version dashes, slams, and resets cooldowns off landed hits instead of sustaining through a fight. He kept the darkin flavor and swapped the entire gameplay loop underneath it.

#2: Evelynn (October 2017)

Old Evelynn spent the entire game invisible, which made her nearly impossible to balance and miserable to play against. The rework gave her a full demonic redesign, a charm combo, and stealth that only kicks in outside of combat. She is arguably the most complete visual and mechanical overhaul in the game's history.

#1: Sion (October 2014)

Every other champion on this list kept their job. Sion didn't. He used to be an AP support and jungle caster with a shield, a stun, and a signature death explosion. Today he is an unkillable top lane juggernaut who charges an unstoppable dash off stored max health and keeps growing bigger the longer the game goes. Support caster to juggernaut tank is the single biggest identity swap a rework has ever pulled off.

Conclusions

League has reworked plenty of champions over the years, but most of those changes stayed within the same lane and the same rough identity. The ten above didn't. They changed roles, changed species, changed entire design philosophies, and in Sion's case changed which side of the map he even shows up on.