League community is really not impressed with new ability icons

Declan Mclaughlin
Vayne Sett Counter

Riot Games has replaced some of the older ability icons for League of Legends Champions in the upcoming 13.18 patch.

League of Legends is getting a new visual update of sorts as Riot Games is set to gift many Champions with new ability icons. Some of the Champions receiving these updates, like Blitzcrank, Janna and Vayne, are some of the oldest in the game.

The older ability icons can be quite clunky, and not really showcase what the Champion’s ability does at all. However, the new ability icons don’t seem to do that either, and have left the League community mixed, and generally not impressed, with them.

In a Reddit thread about the changes, after they were initially leaked, players debated whether or not the changes were good or not. Some pointed to how abilities with the Champions depicted doing actions in the icons looked off, and how others were a noticeable improvement over their older counterparts.

“Kinda hit or miss, some look great (Varus, Janna) while others look criminally bad (Olaf Passive, Vayne Q, Malphite E/R etc.),” one Reddit user said.

League ability icons update met with mixed fan reaction

The biggest negative reaction to the update has come from LEC caster, and former professional player, Marc Robert ‘Caedrel’ Lamont.

“WTF IS THISSSSSSS,” he said on social media about the icon updates.

Caedrel’s post has gained some traction on social media as other players have chimed in either defending the new icons, while also expressing some dislike for them, or just outright trashing them.

“Seeing people sh*t on all of these just seems like complaining for the sake of complaining, the only genuinely terrible one is Vayne Q where she’s slipping on a banana,” one user said.

“Thank you Riot for paying artists, but don’t try to improve things that simply cannot be improved. Nostalgia and pretty much ideal icons were already made. Don’t add these,” another user said.

The updates to the ability icons are set to come in patch 13.18, which has a September 13, 2023 release date. League of Legends is currently on patch 13.17 which included some massive buffs and nerfs to multiple Champions.

About The Author

Based in Indiana, Declan McLaughlin is an esports reporter for Dexerto Esports covering Valorant, LoL and anything else that pops up. Previously an editor and reporter at Upcomer, Declan is often found reading investigative stories or trying to do investigations himself. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Indiana University. You can contact him at declan.mclaughlin@dexerto.com.