Viego, the Ruined King, is one of the most significant League of Legends champions to be released in recent years. The former ruler of Camavor, and wielder of every Vayne main’s favourite item, Viego is a central antagonist in Runeterran lore.
While many have been eager to pilot the current Shadow Isles denizen since his release on patch 11.2, things have not been smooth sailing. Over the past couple of months, the champion has thrown up some rather interesting – and at times game-breaking – bugs. In fact, he was briefly disabled on patch 11.5 after a Dark Seal interaction caused the item to accrue thousands of stacks.
With Viego still in a tentative spot, the champion is still awaiting his debut in the pro League of Legends scene. Although Riot has worked diligently on getting Viego to a state where he can be added to the competitive pool, it unfortunately hasn’t happened in time for the regional Spring Split Playoffs.
With the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational rapidly approaching, many have wondered if Viego will finally make his debut at the LAN event in Iceland. However, according to Riot’s official guidelines, “new champions and VGUs must be enabled for Playoffs in all four of the top regions in order to be playable at the next international tournament.”
While some familiar with the rules already anticipated Viego’s absence, Riot has now officially confirmed that the champion will not be available at MSI.
Viego👑 pic.twitter.com/gK0hScwx89
— League of Legends (@LeagueOfLegends) January 10, 2021
“While it is of course unfortunate to not have Viego [as] part of the competitive meta game, we strongly believe this was the right decision given his current status for competitive play,” a Riot representative tells The Loadout. “Given Viego will be disabled for Playoffs in multiple regions, this will sadly also mean he will not be available for MSI.”
Although Viego sits with a relatively balanced solo queue win rate – especially in the mid lane – he is only one game-breaking bug away from potentially skewing the results of a competitive game. Of course, systems such as Chronobreak and match remakes exist to ensure any issues can be addressed as they arise. But ultimately, the risk to competitive integrity outweighs the excitement of a new champion in this specific case.
