League of Legends 2025 Season 1 trailer confirms new champion & 2 reworks

League of Legends is about to launch headlong into 2025 when Season 1 launches on January 9. As part of that, a new trailer has confirmed the release of a previously rumored champion and reworks for two of the game’s most iconic OG champions.

The first season of 2025 centers the focus on the great empire of Noxus, home to some of the game’s most iconic champions, including Katarina, Elise and Darius (all of whom feature in the trailer).

The increased integration between the League of Legends game and the immensely popular Arcane series shows no signs of slowing down. As well as the immediately apparent art style of Fortiche, the game’s latest addition to the champion pool will be more than familar to those who watched the show.

Mel Medarda makes her League of Legends debut

Riot Games

As several leaks confirmed towards the end of last year, Mel Medarda is the latest champion to be added to League of Legends’ ever-expanding roster. Without dipping too far into spoiler territory, Mel is returning to Noxus after the shocking events at the end of Arcane’s narrative arc.

How exactly she will play is still up in the air, but the aforementioned leaks did provide a potential glimpse, and it’s a safe bet that she will draw on the arcane as she does in the show.

Vladimir and LeBlanc finally get visual reworks

Riot Games/Dexerto

Vladimir and LeBlanc are finally getting visual reworks that bring them closer to parity with the more recent champions. Both characters have been in the game since the back half of 2010 and had very much begun to show their relative age, something which Vlad’s near-immortality couldn’t allow for long.

Details on how far these reworks will go is unclear, with more info almost certainly coming in the developer blog on January 8. Vladimir has already had a small-scale rework in the past, and LeBlanc’s kit has had several major tweaks over the years.

Riot may give both of these champs the Viktor treatment in enhancing their abilities a bit to make them feel fresh but keeping most of their core kit intact.

The new season is set to change the current meta significantly, so make sure to check out our tier list for the best champions in each position. We also have a breakdown of the best champions in the Jungle, Top Lane and at ADC, if you’re looking for something specific to your role.