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Dot Esports

Jerome Heath

Every League of Legends champion released in 2009

League League of Legends Riot Games

League of Legends launched with a very different champion pool from the one players know today. There were no 170-plus champions, no decade of reworks to keep track of, and no massive esports history behind every pick.

Turning back the clock, here are all of the League champions that were released in 2009.

Every 2009 champion in League of Legends

Ashe's OG splash art. — The first marksman. Image via Riot Games

How many champions were released in 2009?

League of Legends launched its beta back in 2009, and over the year, Riot Games released 42 champions. The first 17 arrived with the game’s launch roster on Feb. 21, while the rest followed over the course of the year. The starting roster was barely enough to fill all the roles on both teams. But back then, roles were barely defined, Ashe players were building Thornmail and going mid, as the tutorial suggested, the map was ugly, and itemization was simpler. Many of them became League staples down the line, like the first-ever tank, Alistar, first support, Soraka, or first assassin, Master Yi.

Original 17 League of Legends champions

Alistar
Annie
Ashe
Fiddlesticks
Jax
Kayle
Master Yi
Morgana
Nunu & Willump
Ryze
Sion
Sivir
Soraka
Teemo
Tristana
Twisted Fate
Warwick

2009 League champions by role

Mages

Mages made up a major part of League’s first year, with Annie, Ryze, Morgana, Zilean, Karthus, Anivia, Veigar, Heimerdinger, and others helping define early mid lane and utility play.

Champion	Lane	Release date	Best known for
Annie	Mid	Feb. 21	League’s easiest champion with a huge burst potential.
Fiddlesticks	Jungle	Feb. 21	His ultimate used to be able to turn entire games. Still does.
Kayle	Top/Mid	Feb. 21	Late-game scaling and invulnerability.
Morgana	Mid/Bot	Feb. 21	The first midlane champion that started to get picked in the support role.
Ryze	Mid	Feb. 21	Several reworks over the decade since his release.
Twisted Fate	Mid	Feb. 21	Pro players were messing up the core mechanic of stunning with the gold card after the teleport.
Zilean	Mid/Bot	April 18	Annoying guaranteed damage with point-and-click bombs.
Karthus	Mid	June 12	Global ultimate damage with Requiem and super fast farming.
Anivia	Mid	July 10	Wall control, zone control, and turning into the egg upon death.
Veigar	Mid	July 24	Infinite stacks and being the de facto anti-mage pick, as his ultimate used to scale with the opponent’s AP.
Heimerdinger	Mid	Oct. 10	Peak of annoyance with the turret zone control.
Nidalee	Mid/Top	Dec. 17	Long-range spears that scaled with distance traveled and hit like a freight train.

Tanks

Tanks also had a strong start. Sion, Amumu, Cho’Gath, Rammus, Malphite, and Dr. Mundo gave early League several durable front-line options before the class design became more structured.

Champion	Lane	Release date	Best known for
Nunu & Willump	Jungle	Feb. 21	An iconic ultimate called “Empire” was coined in pro play.
Sion	Top/Mid	Feb. 21	A massive tank that was more popular as an AP assassin on mid.
Singed	Top	April 18	League rule #1: Never chase Singed.
Amumu	Jungle	June 26	Teamfight-warping ultimates.
Cho’Gath	Top	June 26	The quintessential infinite-stacking fantasy.
Rammus	Jungle	July 10	“Ok.”
Malphite	Top/Mid	Sept. 2	League’s premier anti-AD tank. Being one of the easiest champions to pilot, he also became popular on mid.
Dr. Mundo	Top	Sept. 2	“Mundo goes where he pleases!”

Assassins

Assassins were already part of the game’s DNA, even before League’s most iconic assassin, Zed, was even planned. Master Yi, Evelynn, Kassadin, Katarina, and Shaco all gave players ways to delete targets quickly, though several of those champions changed heavily over the years.

Champion	Lane	Release date	Best known for
Master Yi	Jungle/Mid	Feb. 21	Master Yi was always a carry jungler, but also had a phase as a reset-heavy AP assassin on midlane.
Evelynn	Mid/Jungle	May 1	Back when you could buy multiples of the same item, she cooked enemies from stealth.
Kassadin	Mid	Aug. 7	Spent the entire 3rd season being permabanned, and became synonymous with backdoor wins.
Katarina	Mid	Sept. 19	The champion who used to get the most Pentakills.
Shaco	Jungle	Oct. 10	Still doesn’t have any meaningful lore.

Marksmen

ADC players had much fewer options than they do now, but Ashe, Sivir, Tristana, Twitch, and Corki were already laying the foundations for the role, and some of them remain meta to this day.

Champion	Lane	Release date	Best known for
Ashe	Bot	Feb. 21	Every ADC player’s dream was to kill a low-health opponent with the cross-map Arrow hit.
Sivir	Bot	Feb. 21	One of the more annoying Marksmen to face due to Q spam.
Teemo	Top	Feb. 21	League’s most hated character to this very day.
Tristana	Bot/Mid	Feb. 21	Used to have incredible AP scaling, so she was popular as a DoT-dealing Mid assassin.
Twitch	Bot	May 1	Teamfight-deleting power on his ultimate.
Corki	Bot	Sept. 19	One of the strangest marksmen as a caster hybrid.

Fighters

Fighters were more known as off-tanks back in the day, before Riot Games defined the roles in a better and clearer way. In 2009, we didn’t see many fighter releases, but some of the ones we got, like Jax and Nasus, became staples for more than a decade.

Champion	Lane	Release date	Best known for
Jax	Top	Feb. 21	Lategame Jax used to be one of the biggest bogeymen the newer players were scared of.
Warwick	Jungle	Feb. 21	Beginner-friendly jungler that got reworked a decade later.
Tryndamere	Top	May 1	One of the original “unfair” champions due to his invulnerability on the Ultimate.
Gangplank	Top	Aug. 19	Character with possibly the most build variations: Tankplank, Bankplank, Korean Gangplank, Critplank.
Nasus	Top/Jungle	Oct. 1	QQQQQQQQQ.
Udyr	Top	Dec. 2	Popularized the “Opening the Gates” strategy by the streamer Trick2G.

Supports

Supports were simpler but already important, and Soraka, Taric, Blitzcrank, and Janna all shaped the role archetypes for every support that followed.

Champion	Lane	Release date	Best known for
Alistar	Bot	Feb. 21	One of the tankiest early characters in League of Legends.
Soraka	Bot	Feb. 21	She used to be able not only to heal her ADC, but also to replenish their mana.
Taric	Bot	Aug. 19	Main character of most steamy League fanfics.
Blitzcrank	Bot	Sept. 2	Became synonymous with the Korean pro player MadLife. Good players to this day are being called that/
Janna	Bot	Sept. 2	The only character in the game that can shield allied structures.

Why League feels so different now

The 2009 League of Legends is almost a different game in hindsight. League had a smaller roster, a rougher Summoner’s Rift, fewer defined role expectations, and a much less rigid meta. Champions could easily build in unexpected ways, as Riot was much more loose with ability scalings. That’s how we got infamous AP Master Yi and Sion, DFG Tristana, Bankplank, and 6 Sunfire Cape Evelynn.

Although they are classic picks from League’s first year, many of these champions have remained key pieces for team compositions through the last decade. Picks like Gangplank, Twisted Fate, and Ryze continue to affect the competitive meta at the highest levels, while other champions like Blitzcrank and Malphite are two of the best champions for beginner players who need to learn the game.

Now vs. then

Most of the champions from 2009 have also undergone major visual and gameplay reworks over the game’s history, especially with how modernized the newer champions look and feel in terms of gameplay. As a result, these champions have needed a bit of a refresher to keep up with the new age of League, or else they’d risk being left behind by the meta and the player base.

Most of the early champions also received new splash arts over the years; here’s the comparison of the original 17.

Alistar