Viktor was GLORIOUS... in concept || Casual Champion Review

[@wreckwrack3197]

There's something poetic about him explaining how everyone hates Viktor and the toxicity of the Zaunites while his team is acting very in character by being toxic and hating Viktor

[@Hezmarglive]

Morgana was also very in character 😂 very compassionate and human.

[@spooky8358]

4:33 Genuinely think you talking about your teammates flaming you while doing the Viktor impression was one of the funniest moments I've seen. Glorious cinema.

[@jowoman7799]

This is probably already his funniest Casual Champion Review video because of these insufferable teammates and that Viktor impression.

[@spooky8358]

@@jowoman7799100% agree :D

[@ginebravrvr]

the victor impression is SO GOOD, need more please!!

[@CBFlam]

I love how you got flamed all game but the stats showed that, out of your team: -You did the 2nd highest damage -Gained the 2nd highest amount of gold -Had the 2nd highest kill participation -You were tied in less deaths I know stats don't tell the whole story, but they gotta be fr.

[@Sipsy301]

Average Viktor game

[@FizzyPopVevo]

Sir, this is a MOBA, you could be the MVP of the whole match and people would still be pissy with you because they irrationally hate you.

[@kozrak-kai8215]

It's league someone can have 1 more assist than everyone and think they are carrying the whole game

[@imapastaboy7311]

JAYCE... THE GLORIOUS HEXSTRAP IS REQUIRED FOR EVOLUTION...

[@LabRatz-Ivor]

JAYCE!!! HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF RICK AND MORTY? OK, HEAR ME OUT. SO ITS ABOUT THIS GUY NAME RICK. HE'S SCIENTIST THAT TURNS HIMSELF INTO A PICKLE. FUNNIEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN. IN THE EPISODE RICK'S GRANDSON MORTY FLIPS OVER A TALKING PICKLE... AND ITS RICK! FUNNIEST THING!!!

[@sandysutherland-sy3py]

What in the world

[@ghiaccio4179]

sextech confirmed

[@kamusta3446]

Viktor: Jayce i made the Hexstrap on for my ken parts for you

[@redd9818]

Sextech!!!

[@thesolarhunter]

Notice how many times they made mistakes and kept saying “mb” in chat? Yet if you simply took the wrong step they gutted you? Caught more strays than Viktor did in Arcane

[@GizzPill]

the funniest part is the sylas shoving like 12 minions in your tower then lillia blaming you after she tries to kill scuttle for the 20th time and expects you to miss your juicy ass wave just to Help Her lmfao

[@milkae985]

Trying to lvl 2 invade an amumu as a Lilia instead of full clearing was truly one of the plays of all time.

[@GizzPill]

morgana the goat

[@ZekDrake]

Shoutout to the Morgana for not being an asshole

[@mcrlnks5758]

Lore accurate Morgana

[@brunomorseletto1283]

I wish riot still did classic skins, they even could make them legendaries to give some of the old versions animations or voice lines back

[@CrabKFP]

I mean, classic Viktor still exists, but for some reason it's called "PsyOps Viktor" must be a glitch

[@CBFlam]

​@@CrabKFP People were clowning on that skin fot being "Viktor Viktor" on release, now the jokes on them!

[@bosscoolaid1015]

I’m going to miss the goofy hyperrational cyborg anti-supervillain who gives drugs to kids to beat up bullies and had a cyborg cat with a man trapped inside.

[@Sir_SiIent]

I think that the anger at the rework isn't because they are changing the execution but because they are changing the concept which wasn't inherently flawed. People are generally excited by reworks because it is a second attempt to deliver on a concept they liked but if it just results in them changing the concept why should people be excited to lose what they loved?

[@123silverslash]

The concept is still the same: someone who finds fault in humanity and replaces it with metal, hoping to rid himself and others of humanity. The problem is that the old design and lore didn’t execute that concept at all, and the new one does, which old mains hate for some reason

[@frescopino7866]

​@@123silverslashThe concepts couldn't be further apart. Old Viktor's evolution was about augmenting the worst parts out of humanity, new Viktor is just a boring-ass "I know that's best for you" hive mind. The only time he makes people into robots is to use them as pawns. One wanted to elevate humanity, the other wants to unify it within a shared consciousness. And that's not even talking about how they made the machine man into a magic user who just happens to be made of metal. Since season 2 of Arcane he's felt nothing like a scientist, he just touches people and boom, that's done.

[@DeadKraken]

@@frescopino7866 Wasn't just explained in the video how also old Viktor forcibly transformed ppl into robots and at a certain point also wanted more adepts for his cult, despite in some other lore not actually liking it? It's also very clearly told in Arcane that Viktor wants to get rid of humanity in people, the hive mind is a necessity for him to control ppl enough to force them into behaving like he thinks is best. Evolving them into perfect beings is the next step. Like, c'mon, the concept is the f+ckin same, only now Viktor looks more like an eldritch being made of stringy metal, instead of someone wearing a plated armor, and he's more coherent since he doesn't have weird lore that constantly contradicts itself.

[@frescopino7866]

@@DeadKraken Yeah, old Viktor was inconsistent, but he had a base that was entirely scrapped to make this version of him. His aesthetic is entirely different. His story as a Zaunite who kept getting abused and wronged by the system that proclaimed itself superior is different. The source of his transformation is different. The only thing that stayed the same is that he's a metal man who does questionable things to help others, which is basically Blitzcrank if the "questionable" part of his helping was deliberate. Even in his confused lore, at no point did old Viktor want to create a hive mind with him at the center. Old Viktor consistently wanted to give humanity a new start, the glorious evolution was never the goal, it was the starting point. Being just "someone who wears plated armor" was a fault of the visual design, not the story, but at least the old design madr it clesr at a glance that he was a heavily mechanised person who possibly designed his augmentation himself. Look at new Viktor. Look at him real hard. Ignoring the story, what does he convey? He doesn't even look like metal, he's organic looking with some decorations here and there.

[@Jasonwolf1495]

I think the big thing is a lot of people REALLY like cyborgs and wanted to see that done well. After Arcane started reinventing Viktor people looked into him more and wanted to see a high quality version of his current design. I wanted to see him be the one who actually brought about that augmentation culture in zaun. It's classic scifi transhumanism. The new one is just weird abstract nothing magic. The Arcane is honestly really boring cause its just magic nonsense. I think the actual neat thing to explore with viktor is the intersection of all the different technologies developing in the area. He should be combining hextech, chemtech, robotics, and more to try and make something more, but still be grounded in actual science not flavorless bleh magic.

[@TheRozenKnight]

As a general fan of magic i wouldnt call it just bland magic more formless eldrich one but Arcane Victor is a completly different character and lets be honest League of Legends Victors kit doesnt even suit this new version of the character. But besides that its not surprising the Rework is...divisive considering it very much removed basicly everything old people liked on Victor.

[@kogamustard7717]

Kinda hard when piltover and zaun already has cyborg people...

[@potatosummoner6296]

The thing that confuses me with Arcane hextech (specifically S2) is that it was more "hex" than "tech". It focused on the magic so much that it lost its original identity as technology using magic as a power source. It's why I also dislike the new Viktor design. It's just hex, barely any tech.

[@Jasonwolf1495]

@@TheRozenKnight I like magic too, but "the arcane" felt so overextendedly bland. Especially since it felt so alone, we only see mages in the final third of s2 and they have much more enjoyable direct magic instead of "guess viktor just randomly can do this now".

[@Jasonwolf1495]

@@kogamustard7717 There clearly werent in Viktor's original lore. They coulda just followed that. Urgot would make a great end game antagonist to Viktor who sees his dreams corrupted with that kind of monster.

[@flynnberryngp6385]

tbh my only problem on the new viktor in league is how bright his colors on his in-game model are, and how they lazed up on making a whole new splash art for creator and psyops. viktor is by now like the only champion that got slimmer compared to their previous version, so they should have taken it into consideration that editing old splash arts will make a lot of viktor lovers fume.

[@dr.stronk9857]

He also doesn’t look very much like he did in the show, was honestly kind of disappointed

[@averagegoogleenjoyer6861]

Also his VA is not an arcane one. A shame.

[@DeadKraken]

@@dr.stronk9857 Like, the splash art is nice even tho the design is different, but the in-game model....oh not so good. In Arcane Viktor is a creepy eldritch jesus, he really looks inhuman, but Riot decided to give him abs and an ugly ass palette in-game for some reason😂

[@eldritchleviathan]

I know it’s not the focus of the video, but at 12:56 the Caitlyn just reveals that they aren’t even properly paying attention to the game but they still ping missing on Nicky, ADC players everyone. Also, assuming Nicky is playing casual draft, why do some people take casual games so seriously? I get winning is fun but it’s a casual game, just relax

[@astracontritus1209]

I thought that too lol. Like no wonder you’re having problems you’re half watching football and half pinging someone else instead of paying attention to your own game

[@frozenburrito2.087]

Most sane ADC player:

[@jacobmach6308]

I'm an adc but I see when I miss a ping for mid on either stretch

[@vividele6323]

ngl i find more tryhardy people in casual than ranked

[@MeechieFiftySixty]

So a couple complaints. Viktor mains have been worried about the rework. But you have to remember Riot did keep it under wraps, while everyone expected it, Viktor mains were very worried about it. Some were optimistic some weren't. But there wasn't any transparency for obvious spoiler reasons. His gameplay didn't really need any changing and his design was okay (I still think Zilean takes priority over everyone right now but w/e). It's weirder to say that nobody was gonna complain about the rework... when there were barely any details about the rework before a few weeks ago. I agree with you that the rework should've fully committed, but they didn't fully commit. Not just design-wise but gameplay wise. His abilities barely make any sense currently, they should've drew from the abilities he had in the show for inspiration. Riot should've went hard with making him this arcane herald. Not keep basically all his abilities the same. Because design matters just as much as gameplay. They alienate current Viktor mains by changing up a design that they like but Riot also alienates any chance of new Viktor players because if people liked Viktor gameplay, they'd be playing him. It's not even a reimagining of his current abilities or update. They're just all the same. And you say he doesn't commit the machine herald, but he's never been an addict to just upgrades. "Function over form" he replaces what he needs to replace. Not replacing or adding body parts for the sake of replacing or adding body parts. And it's not like Riot is planning to commit with the new arcane herald. I can't explain it well, but he doesn't feel like this new self-made mage using this mix of technology and magic. His ingame model only kinda looks like his arcane version, but there's enough differences to make me feel like there was a miscommunication issue between the game designers and the arcane designers. You can feel that they just phoned it in. It's sloppy at best, and at worst it's a sign for what we can expect with future reworks. He's not the machine or the arcane herald. He's the herald of corporate laziness, and if this is acceptable to people, then we deserve future "reworks". Don't get me started on the twinkifying and lazy "redesigns" of all the skins.

[@matcompost8582]

1000% agreed. I’m happy that NickyBoi likes the rework, but if he doesn’t love the gameplay, why would he want to try the new version? The VGU also bothers me because Arcane Act III did not do a good job of getting me invested in “magic rune alien Viktor”. The way he got to that point felt super rushed and a bit confusing, and non-LoL friends I know just found his transformation kind of weird and off putting.

[@simplestickland3367]

​@@matcompost8582Funny how you said that, I just keep remembering old Viktor when Arcane Viktor is on screen.

[@p_n4tts]

​​@@matcompost8582 agree, Viktor has very good emotional moment throughout the film. But I don't realy like seeing him talking about his ideals about perfection and such, when the power he got was obtained instantly using jayce help, and then being helped again by singed. it doesn't feel like it was his own vision that he struggle for, and just do magic stuff because he can.

[@BoinkadelicJones]

​@p_n4tts I'm an Ekko main, and I argued against other Ekko players about the Z-drive. It made sense for Ekko to have a team to help him build it. For Viktor though? Eh, it's shaky at best.

[@justinjakeashton]

Arcane 2 clearly took inspiration from Marvel. How else would you explain Viktor going from working hard to repair his own health with technology to getting superpowers against his will from a freak accident? And it wasn't even his action that caused it. Jayce did that to him. Marvel ass backstory.

[@Rendenward]

If there is anything you're missing about old Viktor, it is in his short stories. In there, it is made clear that the contradictions in his characterization are a feature not a bug. He is a hypocrite, but in a way where he's convinced that he isn't. He has an emotional soft spot for kids and a fervent anger about the class disparity in Zaun, despite his claims of removing his emotions. Sure, he'll send people to kill Jayce like a batman villain, but when the tables turn, Jayce is happy to try to kill him too. It's not perfect storytelling by any stretch, but I feel like more is lost in the update than will be gained. I also have a bit of an axe to grind with how Arcane portrayed Viktor, and how the story stripped him of much of his agency. He was made into what he became by others, instead of remaking himself, and that feels a lot less cool as someone who has enjoyed the stories around Viktor in the past.

[@justinjakeashton]

Are you surprised that the Arcane fanboy doesn't know League lore?

[@123silverslash]

That seems more like "oh shit theres a bug better patch it" than "feature".

[@samuelhadjaissa5201]

I totally agree with your stance on Viktor. He kind of becomes a plot device that moves the story into a specific direction. And in turn removes all of the political intrigue of the show. And to be honest I kind of wished that Arcane Viktor was more close to the Viktor you described .

[@justinjakeashton]

@samuelhadjaissa5201 And Warwick. And Isha. All non characters.

[@samuelhadjaissa5201]

@@justinjakeashton OH Don't get me started on Warwick. He was set up as this cool reintroduction to Vander.and having some good angste for Vi and Jinx. However for the most part he is just a tool that used to move the plot forward. Isha I argue had a lot more going for her and there were some great moments however because of dense the story was she didn't really leave a great impression.

[@DylanGosseye]

I think old Viktor used to fill a niche. If you are a warhammer fan, the Adeptus Mechanicus is also a cult of priests who worship machine over flesh. And their fanbase is huge. If they leaned more in that design with Viktor, i think less people would have been upset.

[@professionalcrotchgoblin6019]

This is exactly what attracted me to him, Glory to the omnissiah

[@wonderboy5509]

its not that Viktor mains or enjoyers suddenly love his subparly executed design. In fact, we wanted something more and better. Hence, we really needed VGU to up his design. Its the idea who Viktor is and what he represents to them. The machine man, the cyborg, the revolutionist, the inventor, the engineer, the SCIENTIST. He may not look like someone i want him to be looked like but he still represents what i enjoy about his archetype is. Seeing thae only man who uses technologies to cast magic amongst many mage champions getting erased is something i just cant accept

[@dubwubwubstek244]

As an electrical engineering nerd, all I can say is "look at how they massacred my boy"... What made Viktor cool is that he was just a normal human being who became a Wizard through the power of STEM. Considering how nerdy LoL's playerbase probably leans I am so baffled as to why they didn't just stay on course. It was all right there, thematically: Shimmer wrecked his city, the hexcore unalived Sky, why would they be his saving grace??? They put him in stasis, then magically healed him, then took away all his agency, then made him the Holy Mary who performs miracles on the sick, then made him spend the whole season damn near floating in space, consider they did this to a disabled and chronically ill guy, not to get WOKE or whatever on here but that's several dumb patronising ableist tropes in one package and I hate it man... narratively: "You have to destroy it... the hexcore" hinting to a possible change of course "Yes- you have to Crank it!" "You think hextech can Learn?" BUILDING BLITZCRANK!!! "They're dangerous!" "I'm from the Undercity." a rift between Jayce and Viktor, totally building to a heated arguement down the line and all we got was a "bye baby boo" ahh farewell scene. visually: Viktor's ORANGE eyes, his one gloved hand, the flaps on his suit vest, his metal leg brace, the strap on his back brace matching up with his shoulder pauldron... Listen, the new design IS cool. But it simply isn't the same character. Two skins would have sufficed. Rito why...

[@blacktigerpaw1]

"Bye baby boo" holy f.uck is this accurate. Not to mention that his Glorious Evolution was stopped by Jayce calling him pretty .

[@DeadKraken]

Listen I LOVE Viktor's story in Arcane BUT.....well you're right lol I was indeed expecting a big ugly divorce with Jayce, not a 3 seconds scene. And I was indeed expecting him to attempt to cure his disease by becoming Hextech(like in season 1) but not the Hextech Jesus we see. And at a certain point before the first act I did theorize that Viktor would play a big role(or be a villain) but not in the eldritch horror Jesus way. In the entirety of season 2 he doesn't build sh1t, doesn't tinker, doesn't invent, he doesn't do any of the things he was known for in season 1. He's deprived of his agency by Jayce, but then it's also unclear if he regains it or is still deprived of it until the last episode. By the end he's literally not himself anymore, and I sort of miss the possibility of him being a scientist cyborg in Zaun, building things for the people(and teaming up with Jinx, my god why did we not get more interactions with her). There are plenty of concept artworks of a cyborg form, much more similar to LoL's, some of them as old as season 1 pre-production, so it's obvious Riot\Fortiche at least thought going that way, before changing idea. I really like the choices they made with him and the amazing design they gave him, they make sense to me and they clearly wanted to go more into the "Hex" than the "Tech", but I feel like a less lovecraftian take would've benefited the pace of the season.

[@DeadKraken]

@@blacktigerpaw1 Who Would Win: 1 gloriously evolved lovecraftian Jesus VS 1 hunk calling him pretty

[@blacktigerpaw1]

@@DeadKraken The mask needed work. It looks like the Reddit upvote button.

[@blacktigerpaw1]

@@DeadKraken Steven Universe

[@thatrainbowquickie8395]

it's the loss of the archetype that is annoying to me, i don't care about the design it's butt ugly, but i've seen really quick redesigns of the new viktor that preserve the character fantasy of cyborg inventor dr doom perfectly while also giving off messiah vibes

[@justinjakeashton]

We went from giant magic crystal scorpion to game's 4th earthbender thanks to Arcane.

[@123silverslash]

@@justinjakeashtonthis kind of comment is hilarious considering nobody gave a single fuck about skarner until he was getting reworked

[@justinjakeashton]

@@123silverslash I played Skarner every URF and ARURF. No one plays Shen either and yet I bet people would be pissed if he got written out of the lore.

[@Trevan2412]

Nicky: You can type "/pingmute all" if you want to mute everyone's pings while keeping the chat itself

[@PigeonEfficient]

But where is the fun in that?

[@timlonghaul4756]

Or just change the game in settings to party chat only. This way you dont have to type the command each game

[@Trevan2412]

@@timlonghaul4756 If you only keep the party chat you miss out on the funny messages

[@youngdecoteaau]

​@@timlonghaul4756you still get their pings

[@photograhy]

As an OG Viktor main I like the new direction and his rework, the only thing I hate about his rework is that it's a rushed unfinished mess. Skins like Deathsworn are complete downgrade in all aspects. Bright color palette, removed effects and details like cape, mask, eye that's only visible briefly during ult. He went from having 4 different laughs while using E skill to JUST ONE for crying out loud. Do you know how many times you use E during a match? And you have to listen to the same laugh EVERY SINGLE TIME. Yeah, a rushed unfinished MESS. But I do like the new direction.

[@Oscar97o]

I haven't seen the updated skins but I really like his new design. He looks like some kind of undead monster with how emasciated he is and the weird mask replacing his face. He's a completely different character, but a neat one. I read that the skins now suck ass though.

[@TheIron_Stomach]

​@@Oscar97o the skins really do. Prototype Viktor looks strange, Deathsworn got fully twinkifyed, and high noon lost a lot of the extravagant clothing. A lot of the problems stem from how skinny the new Viktor is.

[@DannS-rj1xz]

I liked Full Metal and Creator skins. I wish Prototype skin was his season 1 look showing the hexclaw, Death Sworn had no need for a complete new splash art and just lack the details from the original version and Creator deserved more a new splash art.

[@protectbabysif]

Only one laugh on his E that doesn't even play all the time is such a huge loss, as well as the fact that he never runs only walks even when buying boots and using empowered Q....

[@alexursu4403]

Nicky swearing with a russian accent is without a doubt one of the most amusing things to come out of a Casual Champion Review.

[@bosscoolaid1015]

Although old Viktor’s third arm was just there to shoot lasers, people saw it as a repurposed welding tool which makes sense for a crazed engineer scientist. I just don’t get his third arm in Arcane. He should’ve had multiple due to him literally puppeting a hive mind and his story in Arcane reading like a character who couldn’t dictate anything in his life. But that’s my opinion.

[@Oscar97o]

He needs a third arm because he already uses his right arm to hold his sceptre.

[@matcompost8582]

I think Arcane Viktor uses it to configure runes? It forms a halo behind him in the TV show which honestly is really cool, but I wish the halo was more visible in game.

[@СэмюелСтоун]

When i saw third arm of Arcane Viktor i feel the same, but then i realize that maybe it's only weapon-instrument he know how to use properly, cause he used it for work

[@DeadKraken]

In Arcane, it looks like he made it to permanently activate\configure runes, so his hands are free to bitchslap Jayce lol. I thought it was much cooler than in the og design tbh, in which it was just odd and kinda goofy looking thing that shot lasers.

[@Intelligencer44]

I was a viktor main during my league years and I just hoped Viktor's fantasy was enhanced with the eventual rework, not entirely replaced because arcane made tons of money. Arcane Viktor is great, but I would rather have it be a legendary/definitive skin than the new baseline. Funny how they also had to add the human version to bait even more show watchers in.

[@LazyLee]

the hardest part about these casual champion reviews isnt remembering all the lore off the top of your head it's the teammates

[@z34567890123456]

Seriously, wish he’d just mute all and talk without having to deal with all the pings and stupid messages in chat.

[@tamarbaas]

I think my problem is that I was hoping for an Udyr and not a Skarner type VGU. More of a rewrite than an overhaul. Even in Arcane there was plenty of setup for Viktor to still become the machine herald, but they took it in a completely different direction. The Arcane Herald is interesting! But it's not my Viktor, and I _will_ miss him, no matter how janky.

[@yurikadry4721]

Quite ironic how Viktor's thing is that emotion is the root of all evil, and this Caitlyn can't stop dying because she is a dumb angry gremlin. They should add this incident to his lore.

[@swamptoad7030]

I think a lot of the criticism come from it feeling like the vgu was made for the upcoming skin while the rest are straight up downgrades

[@Morfe02]

The other way around The VGU was first with the Pink Arcane skin saviour Then they made the rework of the base skin and the other ones with less time, money or creativity since they put all the effort in a selling skin

[@doriangray8032]

@@Morfe02 They made it like that so you buy legendary skin because other are mostly meh

[@basedleafeon3221]

League Viktor lore: viktor: im good :) zaun: :D viktor: i lied im evil >:) zaun: D: viktor: jk im good :) zaun: :D viktor: jk im evil >:) zaun: D: Rinse and repeat.

[@bosscoolaid1015]

Term is anti-villain

[@gambit5667]

and yet some people think somehow cultist magic machine is better than just being a little bit more consistent on original lore

[@Morfe02]

You mean Arcane Lore now ?

[@Schwibzik]

@@Morfe02 no, in Arcane he is consistent

[@basedleafeon3221]

@@bosscoolaid1015 Anti-Villains don't flip flop into an Anti-Hero, nor do Anti-Heroes flip flop into an Anti-Villain either.

[@tsugu9146]

I understand that the old design isn't much of a robot, but the new one doesn't isn't a robot either. I kinda love the new design but i would much rather they fixed the problems the old design had rather than replace it with something completely different

[@otterfire4712]

I mean, Hextech isn't quite robotics, but rather arcane constructs. The rework puts him more in line with that idea by making him almost entirely an arcane construct with an ascended enlightenment of the arcane

[@Plight_]

​​@@otterfire4712 Viktor's goal was human evolution through robotics, the hexcore was his pet project. It's nothing really mad scientist with death ray about this Viktor at all. he's such a far shift the Viktor fans on r/Viktormains call him Vincent

[@hatsngoggles1366]

⁠​⁠@@otterfire4712Hextech is more mechanical machines powered by and casts magic compared to other arcane/magic constructs (half of the appeal is mechanical parts moving around). Malphite is a rock/ascendant magic construct, Galio is a petricide magic construct, Briar is a blood magic construct, etc. and they are very different from Hextect.

[@otterfire4712]

@hatsngoggles1366 Viktor's Hexcore is a magic construct that was tapping into the whole of their universe, creating and transmuting matter. To boot hextech is still solely dependent on the crystal to move and power, not to mention use special abilities. Jayce's hammer producing energy blasts and shields, Vi's gauntlets having an energy barrier and being effectively weightless is magic, there isn't a propulsion system or electromagnets mentioned for why they can be so lightweight.

[@hatsngoggles1366]

@@otterfire4712 Special powers comes from the runes drawn on mechanisms inside the Hextech devices, not the crystal. These runes are activated through physical actions like how Jayce controls his hammer, Vi's hand movements, Caitlyn's special trigger, Ekko's pulley system, etc. It's the machine that makes the magic, the crystals only power them. They are ordinary metals creating magic thanks to human craftsmanship instead of magic and mages doing everything like Petricide or Sion.

[@warlocke1894]

10:00 I think what people are complaining about isn't really that they love the old Viktor but rather they love the archetype of it. I don't like old Viktor but I liked the archetype of 'A guy slowly becoming robot' and it was a disappointment for me that they didn't really reflect on that on his Rework and rather just have Arcane be the default. But also what annoys me is that they didn't even do a VGU rather they did an ASU with a mid-scope update on one ability and thats it. It frustrates me since his kit doesn't really synergize well enough and to put that fantasy together with his new look isn't really hitting home. I'd rather like Viktor to receive a full VGU and expand his thematic of robot guy with his gameplay and just give him a free Arcane skin or have a VGU centered around his Arcane fantasy and just give him a free traditional skin.

[@TheWabbaGhoul]

I don't understand the "hypocrite" take on Viktor, I suppose he looks like he has armor, but at least the way I see it, he cannot remove any of the "armor" it is his skin now, his organs are just contained within his metal body, maybe his right hand is still flesh, but his legs don't have "braces" they have hinges. So if people think he doesnt look fully mechanical, then then should push him to look more robotic, but I personally hate his redesign and always loved his base model and story. Also, I imagine his face is metal now, that isn't a mask he can remove. The hair is a little silly, but I like the look lol.

[@simplestickland3367]

Same honestly, but I suppose people only cared about cyberpunk, when Viktor is actually biopunk.

[@DeadKraken]

I think I can explain that, as person that is a concept artist. The problem is that design-wise, base Viktor never looked enough of a cyborg, I understand that between Piltover's clean tech designs and Zaun's raggedy chemtech designs, he's supposed to be the secret third option, but it doesn't really work. His whole concept is eliminating humanity in people, to make society more efficient, and he's robotizing himself to make himself more efficient, yet his own character design has tons of useless, goofy additions(the third arm, the pauldrons, the cape, the hair) and looks like some plated armor placed on a very human body, instead of something that substitutes flesh. If you look closely, he doesn't have hinges on his legs, he only has them on the one with the brace(the brace is the hinge btw, not his real leg), but the other is a normal human leg with some armor on it. What I'm saying is that his design seems to be expressing that he's trying to hide his mechanized parts under armor and capes, not showing them off as a true herald would. He looks like a human cosplaying as Dr.Doom, that attached a third arm to his plated armor. Which would not be a bad thing if his lore embraced this utter hypocrisy, but it never does, he's always supposed to be a cyborg, proudly selling the idea of being a robot as the next step in evolution. To compare, Arcane Viktor is completely naked, lost human proportions, even lost human features, and his augmented body is in full display. The only human part left in him is the repurposed blanked that Jayce gave him, which makes complete sense within the story. You may not like the design, but concept wise, he's very coherent this time.

[@DeadKraken]

@@simplestickland3367 Arcane Viktor is more biopunk than anything the OG ever could be tbh

[@KarmaTheNarrator23]

Brother no one is saying current Viktor is a great design, we are saying that the new one is worts, people wanted a BETTER technopriest, instead they are getting an ugly lanky generic mage. Viktors entire deal is machines and turning himself more into a robot, his current design doesnt sell that duh but thats more reason for a rework. Instead they are replacing him for something most people find to be worse.

[@KarmaTheNarrator23]

We already have a fuck ton of mages that use magic, we dont need another one, people want a transhumanist robot man that runs around shooting people with lazers and throwing mechanical gadgets, instead we got Malzahar with blue magic autoattacks and blue magic orb for his Q and a blue magic W and... You get it. Its generic, he looks cool in the show but that simply doesn't work with the character in the game, and his abilities dont help at all, they half-assed him, made him look bad, didnt change his kit and downgraded his best skins.

[@mikonyx7712]

​@@KarmaTheNarrator23 With Victor, they prioritized Show over the game....

[@Morfe02]

People dont get you can take the design and made It HD VERSIÓN People say is like "CHOOSE the Slenderman or the PlayStation 2 character" Nah i choose the power fantasy of Evil Cyborg better than "Twink bromance with a White dude" what is funny or cool of Viktor now if they dont even know what lore has after Arcane Is Evil is a worldthreat ? Is good ? Idk

[@Schwibzik]

"Viktors entire deal is machines", no it's not, his deal is evolution and constant improvement "turning himself more into a robot", but he doesn't do that watch the video, NickyBoi literally says this and I agree with him

[@hypnus2447]

@@Schwibzik so why didn't they do that with the rework , rather they made him a scuffed ryze/ malzahar love child

[@jynxed66six54]

To the point of him being a hypocrit, i dont think theres anything wrong with that. tbh its a lot harder to do surgery on yourself than someone else, even without the pain its an issue of reach and vision. but the new viktor lore isnt any better on the hypocrit angle. dude doubted his entire plan because of a vision where.... it went exactly as expected? i mean seriously, there wasnt a twist of "oh how could i be so blind to not think of the consequences" its what he wants to do. make people into mindless puppets. but somehow seeing it work he suddenly doubted the whole thing? did the guy not take 5 seconds to think this through?

[@QuartzJones]

In his colour story, Viktor casually holds a conversation while having his own wrist splayed open on his work table. In his own words, he doesn't fear pain, which makes it insignificant to him. The whole "hypocrite" angle is a fan rationalization and in no way supported by the lore. It's a simple matter of Viktor's lore being updated while his character design wasn't.

[@burning2]

You're understating how popular Viktor's old character design is, he's never been as unpopular as skarner. Skarner was legitimately sub 1% pickrate, Viktor has had a healthy 2-4% pickrate for like 2 years even though he hasn't been particularly strong. I agree that the way riot has portrayed him up until the VGU hasn't been great and he did deserve a VGU, but his character has always been about machinery and metal. Death ray is a cool ass ability and now its being replaced with a generic magic beam. I liked the way his abilities felt metallic/roboty. The noise Q makes when it bounces off the target, the sound of the shield itself, the sound of the gravity field, the sound of the death ray, the electric pulsing of Chaos storm are all entirely unique to viktor. We have like 10+ echoey magic champions. I know "Arcane magic" and asol's magic aren't the same but we already have a cosmic being with a bunch of reverb-filled abilities. We're losing a cool robotic character that uses a blend of science and magic for another generic mage champion.

[@Blu_Moon_Owl]

I’ve been playing Viktor for a few months now and he’s pretty fun. Big damage, working your way to upgrade your abilities and fully being an AP hyper carry, BUT this is where it’s a double edged sword since if you are behind you offer almost no help and it feels bad at times So seeing Viktor’s VGU essentially being an ASU but with one pretty cool change kinda sucks. Was hoping for something more or just better in terms of gameplay.

[@huggelion]

i think the victor lore was good when he wasnt just being pure evil but his kit sucks i like the lazer and the ult is nice, I think a lot of people like the concept of victor outside of arcane more than they like victor

[@medicinevender]

i have been playing lol for 6 years now and viktor is one of my most played. I hate the new design despite him desperately needing a new one. Ofc i will "come out of the woodwork" to critique riot for a rushed and horribly messed up "rework"

[@channelorsomething218]

the grievance that most people seem to have with the ASU is basically that the new one is too much Hex with too little Tech, if that makes sense

[@cds7012]

Remembering someone you fought in a previous game; flaming them now that they're on your team. League at its finest folks.

[@kraftyevan]

Idk I've always liked the robot adeptus mechanicus vibe. The Machine herald vibe was always a thing I liked. To be fair, Arcane season 2 was a complete mess narratively too so I just don't like the new Viktor VGU.

[@matcompost8582]

I’m on the same page here. If Arcane did a better job of selling the new Viktor to me through a clear, emotionally engaging story, I would be down for the VGU. But Viktor’s story is kind of a mess in Act III and the whole time, I Just wanted OG human Viktor back… not a weird runic space alien.

[@tortoisesoup16]

I agree. I also didn't like Arcane S2 nearly as much as I liked S1. Also as someone who likes Mechanicus vibes I hate where they went with Viktor and Hex crystals. There are a lot of Mages and stories about magic on Runeterra but this was the only character they could've done a transhumanist tech herald and they didn't do it. Like why? This was your chance, Viktor was THE machine guy.

[@samuelhadjaissa5201]

Yeah I totally agree with you here. Arcane used Viktor as a scape goat to avoid dealing with the political tension that season 1 established so well.

[@sasaki8765]

"300 is the greatest number. Now that I've reached 300 my evolution is compete. I'm perfect and I'll stop right here." - Viktor probably

[@wigglybimbly]

I feel like people upset about the rework, because it kills old Viktor instead of improving it like Ahri and Teemo ASUs. New Arcane Viktor is kind of boring. He is in his final stage, supposedly void of all emotions and there is literally no where to go after that. While old Viktor invoked speculations about Will he be good? Or will he be a villain? Does he actually help people or not? Arcane Viktor just kills all of that, making him very one sided villain.

[@annica321]

As someone who likes both designs I get both sides, og Viktor is better in showing the whole "reject humanity, embrace cool robot body" but as you said some parts really do look more like armor than actual robot parts. Arcane Viktor looks cool as fuck with the rune halo and the mask is sick but then you lose any robotic part aside from the claw. I feel like a middle ground would have been way better, have Viktor build himself a new body that actually looks like a robot while also adding the whole hex core magic stuff. Heck you could make it so that his actual soul is in the trippy hex core space and he just pilots the Machine Herald similar to how he controls those bots in Arcane.

[@vitoraugusto8254]

When I saw the new design I thought it was a character from Ionia.

[@Divock]

14:03 "YOU FOOLS, YOU ARE WASTING YOUR FULL POTENTIAL BY CLINGING TO THE WEAKNESSES OF FLESH" *punk walks by and flips him the double bird with two mechanical arms* "SUCH FLESHY FRAILTY" Also that fucking ending my sides

[@Ay_Lando]

This is not coming from a place of malice, simply understanding. I don’t think it’s a valid argument to criticize people coming out of the woodwork to defend Viktor’s cyborg character now that he’s getting changed. It’s something obvious people can really enjoy about a character without needing to mention it. When Graves lost his cigar people freaked out because it was a nice feature and a nice touch to a character. You don’t need to openly voice appreciation for everything at every moment. Same thing with Skarner becoming a normal scorpion compared a crystal one. It’s a key aspect to Skarners character that has been lost, same with Viktor being a machine herold. His identity is being erased and replaced

[@LabRatz-Ivor]

JAYCE!!! HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF RICK AND MORTY? OK, HEAR ME OUT. SO ITS ABOUT THIS GUY NAME RICK. HE'S SCIENTIST THAT TURNS HIMSELF INTO A PICKLE. FUNNIEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN. IN THE EPISODE RICK'S GRANDSON MORTY FLIPS OVER A TALKING PICKLE... AND ITS RICK! FUNNIEST THING!!!

[@frozenburrito2.087]

0:14 subtle foreshadowing

[@ANGGELAful]

The reason why people don't want the change is because the new direction changes his fantasy. He is supposed to be a self made cyborg; not a pseudo ascended mage. His previous execution of the concept is very flawed BUT now they are getting rid of the concept

[@nate9078]

the people who actually play viktor dont want this change...

[@rances4418]

Your outnumbered by arcane fans and people that don’t care

[@mrdiux411]

The new one looks like an ant, why is his hair spiky 😭

[@darkmannight1]

Getting flamed and doing better than everyone flaming you, truly a Zaunite experience

[@inktob]

10:25 i read a thread by a viktor main that explained that viktor is and will always be a human. Not being able to change things from his body is the whole point, he can try but he scientifically just can't change the fact that he has flesh. That's why he hides behind a mask and armor, bc he sees being human as a vulnerability. I really like that he's just a guy working and creating things to modify himself and others, in the other hand in Arcane he... isn't human anymore, so why the mask in that case? Season 2 was too short tho, so maybe that's why it feels that Viktor just did mighty things with magic and that's it, cause we never even saw him making his hexclaw

[@Ultima1134]

9:30 You only need to fight for something when someone is threatening to take it away. There's no reason to cry about it when it's not in danger. That's why people only talk about this when it's happening. People didn't talk about 9/11 before it happened.

[@riakaraofficial]

I personally like all 3 of Viktor's characters. The Anapologetic Robo-villain, the misunderstood genius and the pure hexcore controlled machine herald of arcane. And I feel like one can't replace another. So that's why people might not like the change as well as the visual they have grown accustomed to. I also admit I really like the cartoony villain of the week design of the past because it was maybe the only one left in the game. And now it's gone.

[@warninja288]

Been playing Viktor since S5, and I agree with a lot of your takes. I feel like the reason why people are coming out of the woodwork to complain about his new design is because he's like an Orianna or Syndra. A mage with a small amount of mains but many midlaners play him occasionally because he's a decent first pick. So that might be why many people have an opinion on it. Personally, I think they missed the mark with his new design. I liked Viktor because he's a steampunk cyborg, that concept drew me to the character and I stayed for the gameplay. It wasn't a perfect design, but funny enough his new design still leaves him as the most human of his followers.

[@oliverarmstrong9194]

THE HEXWOMB IS COMPLETE JAYCE... WE CAN FINALLY HAVE OUR CHILD TOGETHER. THEIR NAME WILL BE... ARCANE!!!

[@lore_wa]

Thank you for this video, I was growing nostalgic of playing LoL but you reminded me why it's not worth it. Although I miss my Bard moments.

[@innisl]

Brother wanted to tell us the Lore of Viktor but got Paperbag Mates with a Gamesense less than Azir's win rate in Bronze.

[@robokatze2073]

As a Viktor-Main: Iam very disappionted in the Arcane Version. I was hoping they would fix him and remove this Human side and make him forcefully get rid of Human weakness. The Jesus-Typ Design is interesting, but I prefered my Russian-Cyrborg

[@mr.g1672]

New Viktor: Fantasy Jesus. Old Viktor: *From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh... It disgusted me*

[@ArminaticsVoiceArtist]

I think the concept of full maschine Viktor shown in the Bridging the Rift was great

[@NoclafPain]

old viktor was soo cool, he could been the Dr Doom of league but arcane took a very different path.

[@SquidSushi_]

That's sort of part of the issue, Viktor is 90% Dr Doom all the way down to his name

[@Plight_]

​@@SquidSushi_that was never a problem, people liked him for being a James Bond villain laughing as he shoots a death laser

[@meh4294]

Yeah ,I hate the erasure of cartoonish Victor with delulu victor, even when I saw him in arcane I didn't like the direction of the design, he became twinkerton the 300th out of many many twinks in the game

[@DannS-rj1xz]

@@Plight_ Honestly, Riot was so inconsistent with Viktor that i dont really know if we can call him James Bond Villain. Its like LoL Lines, LoL Lore, comic, LoR are really different characters.

[@DannS-rj1xz]

@@meh4294 To be fair, kind of make sense to be slim, the guy was terminally ill. But i think that abs on his new body are just weird.

[@thetrueduality]

i played against you in one of the games you were playing for this vid, you shit stomped us it wasn't even close, thank you for not including that game, in that your lane opponent was a swain, i was the teemo bot (i got filled and was too stubborn to play a different character)

[@fruity_lou]

i feel like most people are less upset about an updated visual design, and more about the fact that his entire character has been changed. he's no longer mechanical, he's Arcane. His evolution was less by his own genius and innovation, and more by magic taking over his body. And same with the 'full villain vs misunderstood heroic figure' thing, fans wanted his lore to finally iron out the inconsistencies. as a viktor fan, i wanted his lore to be refined, but it's like riot just threw out everything viktor had by making arcane canon -- and arguably, arcane introduced it's own inconsistencies to viktor's character, so it's not like it even fixed any of the issues with him in league. (edit was almost immediately after posting, fixed a phrase)

[@axeburningfire2507]

I think reworks like Galio, Warwick, Nunu are so beloved because they take the original idea and remake it with the means riot didn't have when they came out. For Viktor they just threw the original in the bin and just made a new idea entirely. This wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't also entirely because unified canon means that now the show and the game have to be beholden to each other. Post-Rework Viktor is nothing like arcane Viktor anyways, Arcane Viktor doesn't shoot lasers and throw out flying tesla coils, so what's the point? Also, damn, i liked the story where he made milk for the little kid.

[@daftpunk58]

thing about Viktor is while his current model suffers from mentioned problems, they had the opportunity to fix those but they just made a skinny magician instead of a machine harold

[@dasstan9876]

I don't why some people say that viktor was not popular before. He is really popular among control mages

[@joelfazio1702]

My biggest issue with the lore rework is that the best parts of his lore here are that he comes to conclusion of the machine revolution on his own which gives him significantly more agency than in the show where he legit just gets corrupted. The arcane aspect also clashes with the emotional loss of the character since magic has always been a chaotic and emotional force unlike machines which are cold and calculating.

[@zergling2621]

League of Smooth-brains in this vid

[@CelioHogane]

I still don't understand why people find the new Skarner design good, it's just a generic scorpion now.

[@mohammedbaig9569]

Also on your point about how everyone is only coming out of the woodworks now...well yeah people arent going to be praising viktors design 24/7 because they were content with it. What are they supposed to make constant posts about how much they love viktors design? We were optimistic that riot would make improvements based on their previous track record so for them to absolutely butcher his new design like this? Yeah of course people are going to complain!

[@fallenjay888]

With vgu on not popular champs, both of the mains get angry. New Viktor he looks like void took him, and them spit him out like I dont want to play with you any more

[@joelfazio1702]

I also want to add that that during the skarner rework there was an argument to be made for changing his design from purple scorpion to so something different because people would get him confused with the void. This is exactly the opposite of viktor, he went from robot design which there isn't that many off to mage and void looking design which makes him lose that individuality. I also want to point out that focusing on the whole herald thing in a religious manner such as in arcane is so much more generic since we already have that in malzahar. Viktor evokes more of a russian revolutionary vibe.

[@voistar5387]

To be fair, based on the interview Necrit had with one of the develipers of Arcane who is also heavily involved (I almost typed evolved out of habit) in the lore, there may be a reason as to why he has voidish qualities to him And I personally found it suspicious how some of the environment and plant life in the bad future Jayce went to had some convinently purple deep sea like appearences to them

[@HighlandHellboy]

The one part of Viktor's background I don't want to see completely removed is The House on Emberflit Alley short story, its just so sweet and wholesome, and personality wise still fits our new Viktor.

[@starzilla624]

Man those people flaming you were uncool.

[@colebarber8485]

The issue is that the machine part and how cool Viktor is thats the reason many were drawn to him. Viktor was a cool machine man who lasered people. His original appeal was a robot villain man. Now he's more twinkified and lost the badass factor he had.

[@colebarber8485]

Heck the reason I started playing viktor was because he was the coolest champ in the game at the time to me.

[@MarshallCubed]

While one guy is doing a casual review on his champ, talking about the lore and stuff, another was tryharding and failing and then proceeding to blame others. The art of normal matches

[@noahhightower8222]

I LOVED your Viktor impression! 😆 I’d love to hear you do even more impressions of the champs you play each week!

[@DeToxin-Toxy]

Funniest thing is if you look on mobalytics the Caitlyn flaming you was on a LOSS STREAK, I guess when he went ‘literal dog’ he was talking about himself lol.

[@chmesie]

I do agree that his old design had a lot of room for improvement, I think what a lot of people are angry about is not really about his old design but rather the change to his power fantasy, his rework is just no longer a cyborg and that's just a shame imo. What I personnally like about old Viktor was that aspect of him as well as the somewhat down to earth idea that all his hextech parts and spells are fruit of his labor as a zaunite which is completely lost in the very ethereal arcane design and story. I think there was definitely room to make him more interesting as a machine herald (we've seen concept art for arcane that explored that idea very interstingly) rather than abandon that part of his concept, although i did think it worked quite well within the context of Arcane. I do hope we atleast get a proper "traditional" skin and some adjustments to the less fortunates of his reworked skins (Battlecast and Death Sworn really took quite a hit in the translation imo)

[@lowgahn69]

6:49 "Will you? Is this good use of it?" "AAAA-" *Glorious Cinema*

[@BassWakil]

My analogy for how Viktor turned out in Arcane is imagine if they did a Noxus prequel with Sahn-Uzal and after 4 years of teasing him as a king of the dead, he turns out to be Viego. Doesn’t matter how awesome Viego is, it will feel like Mordekaiser is lost forever. It’ll feel like he’s been… replaced with a new versio-Huh. It’s pretty ironic that happened to old Viktor.

[@gamma_0216]

"I still have my thesis to do" truer words have not been spoken that I relate to. As a uni student in fourth year, I feel you, you are heard XD

[@ugalikenshin1427]

The side show of the chat with your monologue is actually hilarious to watch

[@Headchrusherdeth]

Oh so you think your life is hard? Try saying "I prefer the new Viktor" see how the "tolerant left" reacts.

[@amfibian0079]

This is especially hilarious after seeing multiple comments about Viktor being 'woke-ified'

[@jowoman7799]

​@@amfibian0079geT TWinK aNd WoKe gO bRoKe

[@x-nimator9997]

I swear some old viktor apologists are rude as all hell. Not even old skarner mains were this rancid and rabid

[@pikaquetepincho]

Well I don't like the new one, it looks really ugly to me but if people like it then good for them, I don't play Viktor anyways.

[@Chiniko]

​@@x-nimator9997No, but fr and they always say something like "nO, YOu dOn'T uNDeRStaND-" like, I get the affection for the character, his lore and gameplay, but there's no need to be rude either.

[@reno9821]

I'll say about people suddenly missing old Viktor's and Skarner's design, it's not about missing the design itself it's about missing the general theme. The idea of a scorpion made of crystal is pretty solid, the idea of a champion all about augmentation and technology is a classic and it'd be great to get a more unique take on that from league. I still like new Viktor, but yeah.

[@DerelictSong]

New Viktor sucks, he's just another generic skinny mage, they should have gone for the 40k adeptus mechanicus route that is true transhumanist and body horror not this emaciated imitation.

[@holydoggo4822]

Viktor Nation.... how we feeling?

[@chublin9227]

Angry

[@i_melancholy8756]

The fact that the team is flaming him makes this video hella entertaining for some reason😂

[@FatalityPWN]

I always loved what Viktors design could be if it were improved upon. I wanted his rework to see him become more machine-like and control robots and machines as part of his kit. Maybe even completely abandon his humanity as a progression of old Viktor and become like a cyborg from Dragon Ball where he truly beleives he is the peak of human technology. The fact that the rework changed him so much while just keeping the old kit which doesn't even fit him besides the arcane laser arm it's like wtf was the point of this.

[@aetriandimitri190]

Also with the talk about people coming out of nowhere with viktor and skarner praising those old designs, I was one of those people along with a bunch of others that loved designs and story we just hated the fucking gameplay so none of us used the champion, so our appreciation and love for the design wasn't really going to be vocal until they change is, since you aren't just constantly seeing people say stuff like "oh my god, i love annies design so much!", but if they rework her and completely change it to something entirely different you will maybe see a few (her design is bad tho)

[@arkangyal8024]

Whoever did the Christian Viktor fanart, kudos, it is hilarious

[@E-0n-exe]

Thank you so so so so so so SO VERY MUCH For the massive FULL SCREEN BOLD TEXT "WARNING : MINOR ARCANE SPOILERS AHEAD" I have paused it literally 1 second in. This is one of the Episodes I can not watch until I get home to watch Arcane with my Parents (Its literally the first ever Adult animated series they have gotten interested in so I dont want to watch it without them)

[@basementhomie2674]

You are gonna have a blast

[@kriskappakeepo3991]

I don't think Viktor's current design is praised. It's the fact that they went a completely different way with his new one. People liked Viktor for his cyber-parts and complained that they didn't commit enough to it. Now he's just a mage who uses techno magic, and it shows in his skins. They weren't made for a slim magician who moves elegantly. They were made for a clunky robot man who shoots lasers and random cyberbullshit.

[@jasonlinton8755]

No mention of Dr. Doom when talking about his design

[@IgnitionArt]

Hey Nicky, so I've been on break from League for over a year now, and I did have a bit of a craving for some Vi gameplay again after so long, thank you for uploading this video that reminded me of how exactly playing League is gonna be like, I have been snapped out of my delusions 😀👍

[@hundredsg]

Watching the game reflecting the narration is a cherry on top.

[@voistar5387]

I like how new Viktor embodies the famous Arthur C. Clarke quote. I believe the direct quote is: " Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." New Viktor is basically that on steroids to where his technology advanced so much he became indistingushable from a god. Edit: I should have excepted the extremely toxic/entitled vocal minority to appear after the show ended (always happens with shows these day), but damn. Some of you are seriously lacking in cognitetive thinking and basic comprehensive abilities.