LoL Champions by Release Date: Complete Timeline (2009-2026)

League of Legends has 173 champions as of 2026, released between February 21, 2009 and June 24, 2026. The first 17 were in the alpha, 40 were playable at the official launch on October 27, 2009, and the newest is Locke. Below is every LoL champion by release date, plus a year-by-year count.

How many champions are in League of Legends?

173. Locke arrived on June 24, 2026, after Zaahen on November 19, 2025 and Yunara on July 16, 2025. Our list follows the release dates recorded on the League of Legends Wiki, matched against the champions in Riot’s game data for the current patch, so every name below is playable today.

Release counts have dropped sharply over the years. Riot shipped 24 champions a year in 2010 and 2011, and only three to four a year since 2023. That is not a slowdown in content so much as a change of priorities: more time now goes into reworking older champions than into adding new ones.

LoL champions by release date: year by year

The count for each year, with the running total and the last few champions released that year:

Two numbers explain the shape of this table. The 2009 figure of 42 includes everything from the alpha through the end of the launch year. And the 2010 to 2012 run, 67 champions in three years, is more than Riot released in the whole decade from 2016 to 2025.

Long story short: the roster grew fastest in its first three years.

The first LoL champions by release date: the 2009 alpha

Seventeen champions were in the game on February 21, 2009: Alistar, Annie, Ashe, Fiddlesticks, Jax, Kayle, Master Yi, Morgana, Nunu, Ryze, Sion, Sivir, Soraka, Teemo, Tristana, Twisted Fate and Warwick. Nunu now goes by Nunu & Willump. Most of the others have since had visual or gameplay updates too, some more than once, and a couple are barely recognisable next to their 2009 versions.

By the official launch on October 27, 2009, the roster had grown to 40. Two more followed before the year was out. Funny enough, several of those early kits were simple enough that they still serve as beginner recommendations, which says something about how well the basics held up.

2010 to 2012: the fastest years

Riot released a champion roughly every two weeks in this period. Garen became the 50th champion on April 27, 2010, and Jayce the 100th on July 7, 2012. Many of the most played champions today come from these years, including Ahri, Lee Sin, Zed, Thresh and Vi.

Speed had a cost. To be fair to the designers, the pace was brutal (a new kit every couple of weeks), and balance on release was rough, and plenty of these champions later needed full reworks to fit the modern game. In practice, a lot of what players call “old champion” design (long stuns with little counterplay, kits built around one stat) dates from this window.

2013 to 2019: fewer champions, bigger kits

From 2013 Riot slowed to between three and eight releases a year. Yasuo, Jinx, Lucian, Azir, Bard, Jhin, Kai’Sa and Pyke came out in this stretch, and each arrived with a more complex kit and a defined role than most of the early roster had. The slower pace also left room for big updates of existing champions.

The longest gaps between releases appear later, though. Pyke came out on May 31, 2018 and Neeko only on December 5, 2018, a wait of 188 days. Sett and Lillia, released on January 14 and July 22, 2020, were 190 days apart. Long waits, by early standards.

2020 to 2026: the modern pace

Since 2020 the roster has grown by three to six champions a year. Yone became the 150th champion on August 6, 2020 (an easy milestone to remember). The most recent releases are:

• In 2023 Riot released Milio, Naafiri, Briar and Hwei.
• Smolder, Aurora and Ambessa came out in 2024.
• Mel, Yunara and Zaahen followed in 2025.
• Locke was the first release of 2026.

The 217 days between Zaahen and Locke are the longest gap between two champion releases in the game’s history. Is Riot done with new champions? No sign of that; the gaps are simply longer, and reworks share the calendar. Either way, the new arrivals are a good reason to try something unfamiliar, and our random champion picker draws from the full current roster, Locke included.

Every LoL champion by release date

The full list follows, in order of release, with champions that share a date sorted alphabetically; Ctrl+F jumps straight to a name:

Why LoL champion release dates matter

Why should a date from 2011 matter in a match today? An older champion tends to have more skins, because Riot has had over a decade to make them; a new release usually starts with one or two. Our LoL skins database shows that difference champion by champion. Older champions also tend to have more guides and matchup knowledge around them, while new ones are briefly a mystery to everyone.

Release dates also explain champion prices. In the Blue Essence store, newer champions cost more at first and drop to cheaper tiers over time, which is why a fresh account usually starts with older picks. The Blue Essence calculator adds up what a champion pool costs.

And they help with difficulty expectations. Many recent champions have more mechanics in a single kit than early ones did. Our list of the hardest champions in LoL leans toward newer releases for that reason (honestly, a few 2009 champions are still the easiest way into the game).

How we count release dates

A release date here is the day the champion became available on the live servers, as recorded by the League of Legends Wiki. Reworks and visual updates do not change it: Sion is still a 2009 champion even though his current kit is much newer. Nunu appears under his current name, Nunu & Willump.

Counts in other lists sometimes differ by one or two, usually because they include champions announced but not yet released, or forms like Mega Gnar as separate entries. Ours lists only champions you can pick in a game today. For what it’s worth, that is the number that matters when you plan which LoL champions by release date to try next.

For a breakdown of the strongest picks right now, check our every female LoL champion guide.

FAQ

How many champions are in League of Legends in 2026?

173. The newest is Locke, released on June 24, 2026.

What was the first League of Legends champion?

Seventeen champions were available together in the alpha on February 21, 2009, including Alistar, Annie, Ashe, Ryze, Teemo and Twisted Fate. There is no single first champion.

How many champions did League have at launch?

40 champions were playable when League of Legends officially launched on October 27, 2009.

Which year had the most champion releases?

2010 and 2011, with 24 champions each, apart from 2009, which counts 42 from the alpha through launch.

Who was the 100th LoL champion by release date?

Jayce, released on July 7, 2012. Garen was the 50th and Yone the 150th.

What is the newest LoL champion by release date?

Locke, released on June 24, 2026. Before him came Zaahen in November 2025 and Yunara in July 2025.

Do reworks change a champion’s release date?

No. A rework or visual update changes the kit or look, but the release date stays the original one.