Riot Games was about to give Udyr his ability icons update and a mini rework but didn’t push the changes into the live servers.
Udyr has been around in League of Legends since season 1, but even in these 10 years, he is one of the few champions who still have their old model. Fans have been calling out Riot Games to give Udyr VGU as some of them feel without the Spirit Guard Udyr skin he is not viable to play in season 10.
A-League of Legends player even said it is an embarrassment to League that Udyr’s 10-year-old base model is still in the game.
But, someone pointed out on Reddit that back in 2013, Riot did update Udyr’s ability icons but they never pushed it into the live servers. They even used the icons in the old League of Legends login client to showcase the Spirit Guard Udyr.
In season 7, when Udyr’s kit was started to feel outdated, Riot Games released some big changes or a mini rework in the patch 7.15 PBE. But unfortunately, they were not satisfied with the changes and its outcome, thus, they ditched the update entirely.
Based on Zotwi‘s Reddit post, Udyr’s passive was reworked and the changes were: when Udyr changes stances during combat, he gains a 4% attack speed, 4% cooldown reduction, and 6% base attack damage for 7 seconds (effect stacks up to 5 times).
His Q had increased attack speed with more damage, W had more shield early on, E with more movement speed, and Phoenix Stance R with longer active duration.
Although we might never see these changes ever again, League of Legends’ lead champion producer Ryan “Reav3” Mireles gives some hope for future Udry rework.
“While it’s true Udyr would be expensive, that doesn’t mean we won’t ever VGU him,” he said. “We still discuss him a lot when we discuss VGU candidates. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up on the next VGU poll.”
Riot Games already announced Dr. Mundo’s rework for 2021, the champion roadmap for 2020, so, even if Udyr wins the next VGU poll, Udyr mains have to wait a little bit longer.
