How Arcane has totally changed League of Legends meta in Season 12 preseason
Riot GamesArcane, the hit League of Legends show, hasn’t just taken over Netflix — it’s completely changed the game’s meta. As Season 12’s preseason starts, fan-favorite champions from the show like Caitlyn, Jinx, Vi, and Jayce have seen a surge in playrate.
Arcane has been a roaring success for Riot Games, with the Netflix series (set to be the first of many) introducing plenty of new fans to the League of Legends universe.
The show has inspired being inspired to pick up League of Legends for the first time — or restart their journey. Who better to start the journey with than one of the show’s main characters?
The Arcane hype has truly extended Summoner’s Rift now, as Arcane favorites in League of Legends soar in win rate following the show’s November 6 premiere.
Riot GamesAccording to data from LoLalytics, seven of the eight League of Legends champions that appear in Arcane have seen a sharp increase in their playrate since the show’s launch.
Caitlyn is by far the most popular, climbing from 14.99% on November 6 to over 26.1% at the time of publishing. Her overall playrate is now second, behind Demacian mage Lux. The increase is partially due to her recent visual update, but Arcane’s release has played a role too.
Riot giving out Caitlyn, Jinx, Vi, and Jayce for free to players during the show’s launch has also made it easier to access these champions without having to grind for Blue Essence.
Sisters Jinx and Vi have skyrocketed in popularity, doubling or even tripling since the show started. The pair currently sit at 18.38% and 15.4% playrate respectively.
| Champion | Playrate before Arcane | Current playrate | Peak playrate since Arcane |
| Caitlyn | 14.99% | 26.1% | 26.1% |
| Ekko (Jungle) | 7.98% | 6.96% | 8.3% |
| Ekko (Mid) | 3.1% | 3.31% | 3.86% |
| Heimerdinger (Top) | 1.08% | 1.33% | 1.33% |
| Heimderdinger (Mid) | 0.8% | 1.15% | 1.26% |
| Jayce | 3.68% | 8.24% | 11.85% |
| Jinx | 11.85% | 18.38% | 18.38% |
| Singed | 1.37% | 2.3% | 2.3% |
| Vi | 5.74% | 15.4% | 18.14% |
| Viktor | 2.53% | 4.17% | 4.17% |
Jayce’s playrate has nearly tripled from 3.68% to 8.24%, with a peak of 11.85%. His Hextech partner, Viktor, has seen an increase in play from 2.53% to 4.17%.
There is one outlier to the trend of Arcane champions becoming more popular, and that’s Ekko.
The Boy Who Shattered Time didn’t make a name-sake appearance in Act 2, and that could explain why he had a decline in playrate in his main role of jungle — down from 7.98% to 6.96%.
Riot GamesWith Act 3 set to tie up the loose ends, the show’s finale will only inspire more players to log into League of Legends and play their Arcane favorites — all while testing the new Season 12 changes.