In an announcement by Riot Games, the VGU update poll for Season 12 has been won by Skarner, the Crystal Vanguard. The VGU global poll, which was held from Jan. 7th-19th, saw Skarner win the vote by 33.4% — almost twice the percentage of any other available champions. Those also available for vote were Kog'Maw, Nocturne, Tryndamere,  and Shyvana. The latter was considered a favorite, with the Half-Dragon finishing in second place for the third time in a row. 

Ryan “Reav3” Mireles, the Lead Producer of Champions at Riot Games, showed his enthusiasm for the winner. "We’re super excited that Skarner won the VGU vote, as we think he has tons of potential to be something truly special on the League roster. We’ve tried smaller reworks of Skarner’s kit in the past, but it never really increased his playrate, so we’ll be looking to do a massive reboot of his kit, theme, and visuals (similar to Sion and Urgot) ", Reav3 stated. 

Originally released in late 2011, Skarner is one of the oldest champions in League of Legends. Recently he hasn't seen much love — in Season 12 having one of the lowest pick rates on Summoner's Rift.  Reav3 later gave details on the rework, saying, "We’ll look to keep his kidnapping ult in some form, but otherwise we’ll be rebuilding him from the ground up." 

Skarner's ultimate, Impale, is a longstanding ability in the game. Its description reads, "Skarner suppresses an enemy champion for 1.75 seconds, dealing 60% of his total Attack Damage as physical damage and 20 / 60 / 100 (+50% of ability power) magic damage to them. During this time, Skarner can move freely and will drag his helpless victim around with him. When the effect ends, Skarner's target will be dealt the same amount of magic and physical damage again."

Reav3 was also sympathetic to Shyvana fans, saying "As you know we don’t do votes for every VGU, like with Mundo. So while we can’t promise that Shyvana will be the next big VGU we do, she is a pretty strong contender for the next one we explore outside of a VGU vote." When that will be has not been determined.