Yunara Release Date: Everything About League's New ADC Champion

Yunara Release Date and Latest Details

League of Legends has been releasing 3 to 5 champions per year recently, meaning a new champion approximately every 3-5 months. The release of Yunara (The Devoted Shrine Maiden) in League of Legends is expected on patch 25.13, with the exact release date being June 25th, 2025 (Act II). The PBE release date is expected on June 12th, 2025.

Surprising Role Revelation

Initially, many players expected Yunara to be a support champion. Her name literally translates as "help" or "support" from Japanese, and her visual design and thematic ties to healing, flowers, and tranquility led fans to assume she would fill the enchanter support niche. However, Riot Games surprised the community by confirming that Yunara will actually take on the ADC role.

Yunara will play the ADC role and, according to lore, originates from the Ionian faction. Visually, she's a light-skinned woman in bright Ionian clothes with purple eyes and hair. Typically, the ADC (Attack Damage Carry) role involves dealing high damage from a distance.

Visual Design and Lore Connections

The champion's lore is deeply intertwined with the Spirit Realm. It appears that Yunara is a regular human who was accidentally sealed in the Spirit Realm after passing into a grove in the Spirit Realm. She has been there for quite a long time. Her story becomes particularly interesting in connection with Xin Zhao's narrative. When the veil between the Spirit Realm and Ionia grows thin during the Spirit Blossom festival, the blossoms drifting from her grove lead Xin Zhao, who has returned home to seek peace after the death of Jarvan III, to her.

This creates a compelling mentor-student dynamic. It's likely that Yunara will re-emerge into the Material Realm and be taken under the wing of a pensive and mournful Xin Zhao as his protege.

Yunara's Potential Abilities

From the cinematic footage of the second thematic season, Yunara appeared with mysterious lanterns, which could possibly be part of her abilities. According to Riot Games representatives, Yunara should revitalize bot lane gameplay with unique mechanics and an unconventional style for an ADC.

While Riot hasn't revealed Yunara's complete ability kit, several clues point to her potential gameplay mechanics. Her design and thematic elements suggest that her abilities may incorporate nature-based magic, potentially offering unique mechanics that differentiate her from traditional ADC champions.

Flowers are heavily featured in Yunara's design and video footage. Given the connection to the only other Dream Blossom-focused character, Lillia, who has a sleep effect, one could easily imagine Yunara's ultimate as another AoE sleep setup. This suggests she might possess crowd control abilities unusual for an ADC, potentially making her a more utility-focused marksman.

The champion's connection to spirit magic opens up exciting possibilities for her ability kit. What makes her particularly intriguing is the hint about her special "connection to the spirit blossoms." Could this translate into unique abilities tied to nature, spirits, or perhaps even life and death?

Previous Releases: What to Expect from a New Champion Based on Mel's Example

Every new champion is a major event that changes the balance of power in the game. Recall that the last released champion was Mel Medarda. She is also an important character in the story of Arcane, the popular League of Legends TV show.

The meta game around Mel has already formed. Based on information from ChampSight.com, Mel currently has an extremely high ban rate (39.1%), an average win rate of 48.0%, and has 3 popular lanes (Mid, Support, Bottom). Traditionally, new champions have rough edges upon release and are gradually balanced - some players dislike this and ban such champions, while others use it as an advantage for their own purposes.

Champion release statistics for recent years:

• 2025: Mel, Yunara (June 25th, 2025)
• 2024: 3 champions (Ambessa, Aurora, Smolder)
• 2023: 4 champions (Briar, Hwei, Milio, Naafiri)
• 2022: 5 champions (Bel'Veth, K'Sante, Zeri, Renata Glasc, Nilah)
• 2021: 4 champions (Akshan, Viego, Gwen, Vex)

This makes Yunara the first, and possibly only, ADC addition to League of Legends in 2025. The last time Riot introduced a new marksman to the game was in January 2024 with the release of Smolder.

Impact on the Meta

Yunara's arrival could significantly shake up the current ADC meta. If successful, she could introduce fresh dynamics to the bot lane, potentially challenging established picks like Caitlyn. Her unique combination of traditional marksman gameplay with spirit-based abilities might create new strategic possibilities for bot lane compositions.

The timing of her release is also strategically important. Such release timing would allow them to do so for MSI 2025 as well. Riot Games seems to often intentionally withhold new champions from international play to tune their balance, ensuring that each champion is properly balanced before entering the competitive arena.

Connection to the Spirit Blossom Event

Yunara will definitely be connected to the Spirit Blossom thematic event taking place in Act II. This thematic focus on Ionia represents a major shift from the Noxian themes of the first thematic season. Whether this will be just a Spirit Blossom skin line, or somehow connected to Yunara's main lore, remains unknown. According to the official Riot Games press release, Ashe, Irelia, Bard, Varus, and Zyra will also receive Spirit Blossom skins in this update.

Release Timeline and Integration into the 2nd Thematic Season

The first act of the 2nd thematic season of 2025 has already begun on April 30th. The second act of the 2nd season is scheduled for June 11th (during which Yunara will be released on June 25th).

This delayed release strategy differs from previous seasons. Yunara won't be released immediately (in the first act of the second thematic season), but instead in Act 2. The entire main season lasts a year and is divided into 3 thematic seasons, where each is further divided into 2 acts. This year, the first thematic season was dedicated to Noxus, while the second will be dedicated to the Ionian theme.