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Let me open this by prefacing that I am only talking about lore of this event. Not the skins, not the game mode, not the champion release, etc.
Initially, I was very excited for this year-long event when it was announced back in January. We would get a Runeterra-wide event that would push the stories of all regions of Runeterra forward at once. Now that we're in the thick of it, it just feels like an eye roll because the champion selection for this lore-advancing event is so heavily and obviously affected by who will sell skins for it.
How convenient that the saviors are Runeterra are popular assassins and marksmen; including, for some reason, a thief and gambler like Graves, a murderous feral jungle cat like Rengar, and a vengeful, hateful reincarnation like Pyke. Also convenient that the one "unpopular" sentinel champion who sticks out like a sore thumb in terms of champion popularity has its skin sales going to charity and not Riot, but that's a discussion for another day. No matter what Riot wants to write off as reasons for why these champions want to join Senna's team of sentinels, even if they are good reasons, it doesn't make sense that other champions -- champions that wanted to protect Runeterra pre-Viego -- like Soraka, Taric, Braum are nowhere to be found right now. Does it make sense that champions like Graves, Pyke, Rengar are going to step up and save the world, and champions like Soraka and Taric aren't? It makes even less sense that other Shadow Isles champions like f*cking Yorick, Maokai, Elise are nowhere to be found right now. Why is Yorick not a main character in this event? The Black Mist comes and Vayne and Graves are main characters and Yorick and Maokai are MIA. Why should skin politics affect the canon lore of Runeterra? This event just doesn't feel believable. Like, I don't believe that this is the story that the writers would have picked to push Runeterra's lore forward. This feels like what the writers threw together when given a list of champion names that would get skins.
Another thought... what happens after this event? Pyke goes back to murdering everyone that's crossed him? Graves goes back to being a thief and an outlaw? Or do these champions suddenly have completely different lore post-event because they needed to sell a skin for a big event? The first option isn't really logical (Is outlaw -> savior -> outlaw a believable story arc?) and the second option may piss off some hardcore mains as the character essentially has a new personality.
I also don't think the choices for the Ruined champions are particularly great either. Two of the mentally strongest champions in Runeterra -- Karma and Pantheon -- are able to be ruined by Viego, but mere mortals like Graves, Vayne, aren't? It's kind of a blow to Karma's and Pantheon's characters as they were so easily corrupted by Viego. Furthermore, these mortals are gonna take them on and win? That's an even bigger blow to Karma and Pantheon. Karma, who is supposed to have the mental strength of all of the Karmas that came before her, and Pantheon, the unbreakable spear fueled by will, get corrupted by an evil twink and then gets their ass beat by a mortal like Vayne or Graves? Ouch.
Honestly, I think the event is cool for all other aspects outside of lore, but this is not the way to push Runeterra's lore forward.
TL;DR: We already know that naturally benevolent champions like Soraka, Braum, and Taric or major Shadow Isles champions like Elise, Maokai, and Yorick aren't going to sell as many skins as Pyke, Rengar, Graves, Riven, Diana, etc. But if Riot wants to make a big event that affects Runeterra's canon lore, Riot needs to stick to their guns, use logic, and give attention to champions that make the most sense -- regardless of who will bring in the most profits. If Riot's not willing to do that, just have the big events affect the lore of alternate universes like Spirit Blossom.
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