League of Legends’ new mid-laner Hwei: Expected abilities, release date, and more

League of Legends' upcoming mid-lane champion, Hwei, is set to make his arrival on Summoners Rift soon ahead of the 2024 preseason. The Ionian-based champion is reportedly a mage connected to the Primordial Demons, such as Fiddlesticks and Nilah, through her deal with Ashlesh, the Lord of Joy. Hwei is also rumored to be a humanoid champion with a youthful look, which could mean he has a similar backstory to Nilah's.

Ahead of his impending release, here's everything we know about the upcoming champion, including the expected playstyle and his likely release window

---

Expected abilities of new League of Legends mid-laner Hwei

Hwei will be the second mid-lane-focused League of Legends champion in 2023 after Naafiri's arrival earlier this year. The Ionian mage's ability kit is expected to revolve around paintings and bringing them to life through his primordial powers. He is also rumored to wield a massive paintbrush as a weapon and a tool to bring his musings to life.

Fans can expect Hwei to be either a control or artillery mage focused on dealing lots of damage through his paintings. It will be interesting to see how well this champion slots into the current mid-lane mage meta, as behemoths such as Syndra, Orianna, and Neeko have typically dominated in this role.

---

Release date of new League of Legends mid-laner Hwei

The upcoming League of Legends Winterblessed skins provide a major hint on Hwei's expected release date. The description of Winterblessed Sylas mentions his name, which means he will arrive alongside the skin on Patch 13.24 on PBE servers. The patch is expected to hit the live servers on December 6, 2023.

The champion has received a couple of teasers on the PBE server, like many others before him. Fans can be excited about Hwei's debut, as he will be available for testing on the PBE servers in a couple of weeks.

---

Overall, Hwei can bring a unique playstyle to the mid-lane pool thanks to his potential abilities revolving around paintings and primordial magic. As with the latest champion, Hwei will probably be quite overtuned upon release, which will make him a highly sought pick. This could also result in plenty of bans in the first few weeks.

Optimal builds and rune setups are yet to be deciphered, as little information is available regarding his damage type and scaling power. However, fans can stay quite optimistic as Hwei represents a splash of rejuvenation and originality in the League of Legends 2024 preseason.