Champion reworks and updates are almost as good as getting a new Champion altogether. Players will have to relearn how the Champion works, and whether their old playstyle will still feel the same. For some, this can be a fairly worrying procedure, having sunk so much time into learning the intricacies of the old Champion. With the news that Akali is the next Champion to be reworked, and the details already available, we caught up with Joedat "Voyboy" Esfahani, one of the more famous former pro-players who popularized Akali in competitive play, to see what his thoughts on the topic were.
We recently got the Akali rework, what are your thoughts on the changes?
“Obviously, I have a long history playing Akali throughout the years, when she was bad, when she was good, I played her competitively a lot and had her banned out. Played her in game five against LMQ when we got reversed swept, very close to going to worlds with that Akali game, but not quite. I have a lot of love for her and her kit, the Champion as a whole.”
“A part of me is obviously sad that the old kit is going away, and she’s being reworked but I think the new kit looks really cool and there’s a lot more skill expression. It reminds me of Irelia and her rework in that there’s a lot more skill and outplay potential. I haven’t tried her out yet, but I’ve seen the kit and videos of people playing her and I’m really excited to see what I can do when I get my hands on her. I like the direction Riot has been taking with a lot of their reworks. “
“Some people say that they’re too OP or whatever, but I think design wise, just how cool it feels, how fun it feels to play. Definitely a big fan but you just got to make sure they’re balanced so that it’s not just the Akali and Irelia players having fun, but everyone in the game is having fun.”
So, all that’s really left to do at this stage is wait for the new and hopefully improved Akali to make her way to the main game. While we don’t know the exact date just yet, if the schedule stays the same as the other reworked Champions, then we should hopefully see her very soon. For more on Voyboy and his experience at the Red Bull AdrenaLAN, check out our other interview with him, here, and for more on the Red Bull AdrenaLAN tournaments themselves, check out their community piece, here.
