If you’ve ever blown up an enemy backline with a perfectly charged Vault Breaker, or teared up watching Vi and Jinx’s story play out in Arcane, you’ve probably wondered when was vi released league of legends. As a long-time Vi main with over 300k mastery points on the champion, I’ve dug through all the old Riot release notes, community forums, and patch updates to put together everything you need to know about her launch, evolution, and place in the current LoL meta. Whether you’re a new player just trying out the champion for the first time, or a long-time fan curious about her origins, this guide has all the facts you’re looking for.
When Was Vi Released in League of Legends? Exact Date & Context
Vi officially launched in League of Legends on December 19, 2012, as the game’s 112th playable champion. Riot first teased her two weeks prior with a series of cryptic posts about a "new Piltover enforcer" who played by her own rules, a stark contrast to the more serious, by-the-book champions associated with the region at the time. Back then, Piltover and Zaun were still relatively underdeveloped regions in LoL lore, with only a handful of champions tied to the area, so Vi’s release was marketed as a big step forward for Runeterra worldbuilding.
Her original launch trailer showed her punching through walls, taking out Zaunite thugs, and cracking jokes the whole time, with the tagline "Piltover’s Finest" that’s still associated with her today. Original launch events for Vi included a limited-time login screen with her iconic punk-rock theme song, and a discount on all Piltover champion skins for the first week of her release. I still remember staying up until 2 AM on launch night just to be one of the first people to play her, and I promptly fed four games in a row because I had no idea how to time her Q charge. It was worth it, though, because her punchy playstyle felt completely different from every other champion in the game at the time.
Riot originally designed Vi to fill a gap in the jungler roster, as there were very few brawler-style junglers with reliable engage at the time. She was also one of the first champions to have a fully voice-acted interaction system with other related champions, including Caitlyn, who was released two years prior as her official work partner.
Vi's Original Kit vs. Modern Reworks: What Changed?
For the most part, Vi’s core kit has stayed consistent since her release, which is rare for a champion that’s been around for over a decade. Her Q (Vault Breaker) is still a charged dash that deals damage and knocks up enemies, her W (Denting Blows) still applies armor shred on three consecutive hits, her E (Excessive Force) still gives her two stacked AoE auto attacks, and her R (Assault and Battery) is still a point-and-click ultimate that locks onto a single target and knocks up everyone in the path. That said, there have been a handful of key changes that have shifted her viability over the years.
The most impactful update to Vi was the 2020 mid-scope rework that brought her back from near-obscurity. Before that rework, Vi was only picked in low-elo lobbies, as she lacked survivability and fell off extremely hard in the late game. The rework added a shield on her W third hit, which scaled with her max health, and reduced her Q charge time to make it less punishing to miss. That one change made her viable in high-elo ranked play and even professional tournaments for the first time since her first year of release.
Some of the other most notable changes to Vi since her release include:
- 2013: Base armor increased by 12 to reduce her early jungle clear health loss, removing the need for dedicated armor rune pages to play her effectively
- 2017: E damage ratios adjusted to favor bruiser builds over full assassin builds, which Riot said was intended to keep her from one-shotting squishy targets too early in the game
- 2020 mid-scope update: R cast range increased slightly, and the knock-up on surrounding targets when she hits her ultimate was extended by 0.25 seconds
- 2024: E cooldown reduction per auto attack increased to 1 second from 0.75, cutting her full jungle clear time by almost 10 seconds
Her original intended role was exclusively jungler, but players discovered within two months of her release that she was an extremely strong top lane bruiser, as she could trade favorably with almost every other melee top laner at the time. Riot has made small adjustments over the years to balance her between both roles, and she’s still a viable pick in either lane today.
How Arcane Changed Vi's Popularity Years After Release
For the first 9 years after her release, Vi was a solid mid-tier pick with a small, dedicated fanbase, but she was never one of the most popular champions in the game. That all changed in November 2021, when the first season of Arcane dropped on Netflix. The show focused heavily on Vi and Jinx’s backstory, turning them into two of the most recognizable characters in the entire Riot Games ecosystem almost overnight.
Riot reported that Vi’s pick rate spiked by 210% in the two weeks after Arcane’s release, making her one of the most played champions in the game for months. A huge number of new players even made League of Legends accounts just to play as Vi, after watching her story in the show. Riot leaned into this popularity hard, releasing the Arcane Vi skin for free to all players who logged in during the show’s launch window, alongside free Arcane skins for Jinx, Caitlyn, Jayce, and Viktor. That skin is still one of the most commonly used Vi skins today, with over 60% of Vi players using it as their default skin according to recent Riot metrics.
The show also led to small retcons to Vi’s official lore, to better align with her Arcane backstory. Her original release lore mentioned she had a troubled past in Zaun, but there was no explicit mention of Jinx being her sister, or her time spent in a Zaunite prison. Those elements were added to her official Runeterra lore after Arcane’s release, to make the game’s canon match the show’s story for new fans. I noticed a huge difference in my ranked lobbies during that time, with so many first-time Vi players locking her in without knowing how her kit works. I ended up banning her for almost two months just to avoid having a feeding Vi on my team, though I don’t blame new players for wanting to try her out after the show.
Is Vi a Good Pick for New and Returning LoL Players Today?
Vi is consistently rated one of the best champions for new players, and for good reason. Her kit is extremely straightforward, with no complex combos or ability interactions to memorize, so you can focus on learning core game mechanics like jungle pathing, wave management, and team fight positioning instead of mastering fancy button sequences. Her ultimate is also point-and-click, so you don’t have to worry about missing your most important engage ability in high-stakes team fights.
That said, she has some clear weaknesses you need to be aware of before you pick her up. She falls off hard in the late game if you get behind, as her damage drops off significantly compared to other bruisers and assassins. Her Q can also be interrupted by any hard crowd control, so you have to learn to time your charges carefully so you don’t get stunned out of your main engage ability. The ideal rank range for Vi is Iron to Platinum, where players usually don’t have the coordination to counter her engages or shut her down early in the game.
If you’re new to playing Vi, I recommend starting in the jungle, as that’s where she’s strongest right now. Build Divine Sunderer as your first item, followed by Death’s Dance and Plated Steelcaps, to get the right mix of damage and survivability. You don’t need to pull off fancy plays to be effective with her: just charge Q to catch out overextended enemies, use your R to lock down high-priority enemy carries, and use your W shield to survive team fights. She’s one of the few champions that’s just as fun to play today as she was on her release date, which is a big part of why she’s remained a fan favorite for so long.
Now you know exactly when was Vi released in League of Legends, plus all the context around her launch, the biggest changes to her kit over the years, and why she’s still a popular pick for new and veteran players alike. Even if you only started playing League after watching Arcane, Vi’s simple, satisfying playstyle and deep emotional backstory make her a great pick no matter what your skill level is. If you’ve been looking for a low-stakes, high-fun champion to add to your roster, you can’t go wrong with Piltover’s Finest.