She’s super popular, super fun to play, and is seeing play at all skill brackets.
I definitely think she needs some fine tuning – she somehow STILL has a 52/53% winrate in low/mid elo despite REPEATED nerfs patch after patch – but unlike champs like Zeri or K’Sante I don’t think she’s inherently unbalanceable.
She’s had a positive effect on the jungle meta, and obtained a bunch of new OTPs. To me at least, she’s a highlight of 2023, which otherwise had the very forgettable Milio and Naafiri, the latter of which is actively OP at low elo and yet hardly anyone plays her (3% pickrate in silver/gold even with a 54% winrate last patch).
Is she the most positive champion release since Renata?
I’m just not sure that’s true. Two other junglers that are very similar to her (but for different reasons) are Nocturne and Warwick, both of which maintain very good play rates at mid and low elo even when they’re sub 50% winrate (like WW is right now - he’s still in the top 10 most played junglers all the way up to gold, despite a 48% winrate).
Briar probably will be received better than Bel’veth but she doesn’t come anywhere near the success of Viego tbh