With the 2021 LEC Summer Split only a week away, it’s not long now until Europe’s top League of Legends talents take to the Rift once more to battle it out for a coveted spot at Worlds. According to head of LoL esports in Europe & MENA, Maximilian ‘MAXtheX’ Schmidt, pros will finally be able to get their hands on two new picks – Gwen and Viego.
Gwen found herself in the unfortunate position of being released too close to the Mid-Season Invitational to be enabled. The Hallowed Seamstress was released back in April on patch 11.8, and currently sits in a fairly solid spot in the top lane with a 51% win rate in Challenger.
Viego meanwhile has had a much more turbulent time since his release in January’s 11.2 patch. Soon after the champion’s release, reports of various game-breaking bugs began to appear to the point that an update on his LEC availability was posted almost weekly. Finally, it was confirmed that the Ruined King would not be making a showing at MSI.
With today’s announcement, it now appears that the developers have given the champion the all clear, and Viego can now be freed from his debugging prison.
#LEC Update:
League’s newest addition Gwen will be enabled and is expected to be a serious thread.
Viego is also expected to finally make his competitive debut next week.
Make sure to tune in next Friday at 6PM CEST for the return of the (unofficial) best League in the world.
— Maximilian Peter Schmidt (@RiotMAXtheX) June 4, 2021
However, with only a 48% win rate in his strongest role – the mid lane – Viego’s viability in the highest level of pro play remains to be seen. After all, solo queue and pro play are two very different realms.