If you’ve ever sat in champion select panicking because you can’t remember if you own the right counter for the enemy top laner, you’ve probably wondered how many legends in League of Legends there are at some point. I’ve been playing LoL since season 3, and I still lose track of the roster every time Riot drops a new champion or reworks an old favorite. Whether you’re a new player just finishing your first placement games or a veteran climbing to Master, knowing the full scope of the champion roster can help you plan your grind, learn counters faster, and even impress your friends with random lore facts. This guide breaks down the current count, how Riot manages the roster, and everything else you need to know about LoL’s growing list of legends.
How Many Legends in League of Legends Are Playable Right Now?
As of the latest champion release, there are 167 playable legends in League of Legends across all servers, including both the main Summoner’s Rift mode and rotating game modes like ARAM. That number doesn’t count retired champions, like the original Aatrox or pre-rework Sion, that Riot has completely overhauled to fit modern gameplay standards. I remember when the roster hit 100 champions back in 2012, and it felt like we’d never run out of new playstyles to test. Now, with Riot releasing roughly 3 to 4 new champions every year, that count will keep climbing for the foreseeable future. It’s worth noting that not all champions are available in every region at the exact same time—new releases usually roll out to North America and Europe first, then hit other servers within 24 to 48 hours. You also don’t have to own every champion to play ranked, but having at least 20 champions unlocked is a requirement to enter the ranked queue, so new players should plan to grind blue essence early to build out their roster. A common mistake new players make is spending all their blue essence on random champion shards as soon as they get them, but if you save shards for champions you actually want to play, you can cut the cost of unlocking new legends by 60% on average. You can also get free champion shards from event passes, daily login rewards, and even ranked split rewards, so you don’t have to spend real money to build a solid roster.
How Riot Breaks Down LoL’s Legend Roster by Class
When you’re first learning how many legends in League of Legends there are, sorting by class is the easiest way to make sense of the huge roster. All of LoL’s legends are sorted into 6 core classes, each with a specific role and playstyle that fits different lanes and team compositions. If you’re new to the game, picking one class to master first can cut your learning curve in half, instead of bouncing between random champions every game. The official class breakdown is:
- Tanks: High health, high crowd control, and low damage output, designed to absorb damage for their team and lock down enemy carries. Popular tanks include Malphite, Leona, and Sion.
- Mages: Ranged ability-based damage dealers that usually play mid lane or support, with high burst damage or sustained area-of-effect damage. Common mages are Ahri, Syndra, and Vel’Koz.
- Assassins: High mobility, high burst damage, and low health, built to delete enemy carries quickly before escaping. Fan favorite assassins include Zed, Katarina, and Talon.
- Marksmen: Also called ADCs, these ranged auto-attack based damage dealers are the main carry of most team compositions, played in the bot lane. Popular marksmen are Jinx, Caitlyn, and Ezreal.
- Fighters: Also called bruisers, these balanced champions have a mix of health and damage, usually played top lane or jungle. Common fighters include Darius, Garen, and Irelia.
- Supports: Designed to heal, shield, and buff their team, usually played in the bot lane alongside the marksman. Popular supports include Thresh, Lulu, and Soraka.
Why Riot Keeps Adding New Legends to the Roster
A lot of long-time players complain that Riot adds too many new champions too fast, but there’s a clear strategy behind the constant roster updates. First, new legends bring new players to the game, and give existing players a reason to log back in and test something new, instead of sticking to the same 3 champions every game. Riot also uses new champion releases to fill gaps in the roster, like when they released Milio, the first enchanter support with a team-wide cleanse, to give support players more options for countering heavy crowd control comps. Another big reason is lore expansion—every new champion adds more depth to the world of Runeterra, and ties into existing stories for other champions. For example, Mel Medarda, a character from the Arcane animated series, was added as a playable champion years after the first season of Arcane aired, to tie the show’s lore directly into the game. Riot does slow down releases occasionally to rework older champions that feel outdated, so they don’t end up with a roster full of unbalanced or forgotten legends. That means even if you haven’t played in a year, you’ll probably find a few old favorites that feel completely new when you log back in. Riot has also said they have no plans to stop adding new champions anytime soon, as long as they can find unique playstyles and lore hooks that don’t overlap with existing legends.
Fun Facts About LoL’s Legend Roster Most Players Don’t Know
Even if you’ve been playing LoL for years, there are a lot of little details about the champion roster that fly under the radar. For example, the oldest playable legend in the game is Singed, who was one of the 17 original champions released when the game first launched back in 2009. He’s never had a full rework, just small balance updates, so his core playstyle is almost identical to what it was 15 years ago. Another fun fact: Garen is the most played champion in the history of the game, with over 1.5 billion matches played across all servers as of the latest player data. His simple kit and low skill floor make him a go-to for new players, and a surprisingly strong pick even in high elo ranks. You might also not know that there are 12 pairs of related champions in the game, from siblings like Garen and Lux to married couples like Ashe and Tryndamere. Some of these relationships even have in-game effects, like extra damage or special voice lines when the two champions are on opposite teams. If you’re someone who loves lore, you can unlock special short stories and voice lines for every champion by leveling up their mastery rank to 5 or higher, which is a fun side grind if you’re bored of climbing ranked. There are also 9 champions that have more than 10 different skins each, with Lux holding the record for the most skins at 22 total, including holiday, event, and prestige variants.
At the end of the day, the exact count of champions will change every few months, but understanding how the roster works will make your time playing LoL a lot more fun, no matter what rank you are. If you were wondering how many legends in League of Legends there are right now, you can use that 167 number to impress your friends in queue, or to plan out how many more champions you need to unlock to hit that 20 required for ranked. Don’t feel pressured to learn every single champion right away—even pro players only master a small handful of the roster to climb. Take your time, test different classes, and you’ll find your main before you know it.