Riot opens up about Viego’s state of play and how it wants him to be a “viable jungler” in League of Legends

August "August" Browning, League of Legends' principal champion designer, recently discussed Viego's laning status in a Reddit post.

Many players have been pointing to the various "broken" states of Viego, be it his R-resetting or multi-lane flexing. He should ideally stand out as a beast in League of Legends.

Viego’s breadth and depth are still holding pretty strong a patch later, his win rate in the jungle is looking fine, 50ish, but his mid lane win rate is still pretty high and top lane win rate is looking quite poor post hotfix.

— Spideraxe (@Spideraxe30) February 7, 2021

League of Legends player, ElaborateRuseman, questioned the current state of Viego in lane.

He also asked if Riot was planning to cut some of Viego's minion-sustains considering his overpowering nature. August provided a detailed explanation for the same.

The designer mentioned that Viego's present win rate in the mid lane is “1-1.5%” higher than in the jungle. While that isn’t necessarily a problem, Riot wants to avoid a potential flex pick issue in pro play.

"We're keeping an eye on lane Viego and will adjust if necessary. We primarily want him to be a viable jungler, but hopefully we can also let him lane as there are quite a few players who enjoy him there (assuming we can still make jungle good and he isn't a flex problem in pro-play). If we needed to nerf lane further we'd likely hit the minion sustain again," said August.

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Riot wants Viego to be a jungler in League of Legends

Image via Riot Games - League of Legends

Frequently flexing champions like Pantheon or Sett can be difficult to balance. This creates major problems for opponents, especially in pro play, since it provides some undue advantage for flexors during the draft phase.

We just micropatched a nerf to Viego’s solo laneQDouble attack healing on minions:: 150% >>>100%We’d still like lanes to be viable, but Mid Viego was looking a bit too strong. Jungle Viego has grown to 49% winrate. Will see if he keeps growing throughout patch.

— August (@RiotAugust) February 4, 2021

It is very difficult for an opponent to choose a counter when the champion's intended position in the game remains unknown. Since Viego is a very strong laner in the current meta, he's definitely a part of Riot's checklist.

Screengrab from Reddit - League of Legends

As clarified by Viego's designer August, Riot's primary intention is for the Ruined King" to be a jungler.

According to Champion.gg, his jungle win rate in Patch 11.3 floats below 48 percent (Platinum+), compared to his 51% win rate in the mid lane. So fans might expect some balance-changes for Viego in a future patch.

Viego's latest hotfix (Image via Riot Games - League of Legends)

Riot already targeted Viego’s lane sustain in a February 3rd hotfix. Riotdropped Q’s healing versus minions from 150 to 100 percent. If the Ruined King’s laning presence needs more tweaking, Riot will target his healing.