Viego: The Ruined King Champion Spotlight
Published: Jan 13, 2021 - Last Updated: Jan 14, 2021
While League of Legends fans knew ‘The Ruined King’ would be making his way onto the rift early 2021, Riot waited until the start of the season to reveal details on the champion. A few minutes into their 2021 celebration stream, Riot Games revealed The Ruin King’s true name to be Viego. The gripping cinematic trailer showed a battle of light vs. darkness between Senna, Lucian, and himself as he controlled ghoulish souls which would soon lead to a teaser of his actual abilities.
Viego’s full kit was unveiled on the League of Legends website showing his full capabilities as a champion. The Ruined King uses his possession of souls to take control of fallen enemy champions in a way that is reminiscent of how old Mordekaiser could control neutral objectives. His ultimate ability also has some unique nuances that are similar to that of Pyke’s, but his position in the jungle makes him a unique attack damage threat that can rival the mobility and presence of Kayn.
A Sovereign Domination
The Ruined King has long been a fable of League of Legends lore since the reintroduction of his item back in season 3. With Riot increasingly making the push to expand the LoL universe, Viego became the natural successor to a long list of champions that have had long-awaited arrivals onto the rift. Viego finally gets to lift his blade with vigor onto the rift, which is also rumored to solidify into a physical sword once the item is purchased within the shop.
Viego’s auto-Q-auto proc for the second half of the ability makes great use of his blade as this damage output will make for excellent clear speeds within the jungle. While laning Ruined King may be a possibility to flex, Riot developers have made it clear that they envision the Ruined King to do most of his bidding via the brushes as his harrowed path ability also lends itself to dealing damage within corridors like Trundle or Kayn.
Much of Viego’s kit is built off feast or famine abilities that enable his skills and movement when he’s ahead. After killing an enemy, Viego’s passive ‘Sovereigns Domination’ allows him to control a ghost version of his enemies and it also allows him to gain a free cast of his ultimate once it becomes available.
A jungler wouldn’t be complete without at least one form of crowd control, and Viego has that with his spectral maw ability. After charging up his maw (W), Viego launches himself forward hurling a blast of mist that stuns opponents that come into contact with it. The longer the charge, the longer the duration of the stun, which can allow for some cheeky plays from the fog of war if enemy champions aren’t aware of Viego’s positioning.
The Ruined King Playstyle & Interactions
Based on his ratios of damage, it seems more than likely that most Viego’s will opt for attack damage and AD bruiser builds that will enable his passive damage on Q abilities but also maintain a tanky enough build that keeps him alive in the late game. Based on PBE builds thus far, most Ruined King builds focus around Trinity Force, Blade of the Ruined King and even Ravenous Hydra have been thrown into the mix to make the most use of his auto attack reset.
Viego benefits from having an ability that locks onto an opponent like Pyke’s Down From Below, but in Viego’s case, the ultimate can be used at any point of the opponent’s health bar as it auto-locks onto the enemy that you select. This ultimate also benefits from the fact that it knocks out surrounding enemies from within the ult’s range, which will make Viego an ideal candidate for singling out carry threats in mid-to-late game team fights.
