A second champion is set to join Legends of Runeterra in the game’s upcoming mini-expansion—and it’s a champ that was just revealed today for League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics, too.
Akshan, the Rogue Sentinel is coming to LoR, Riot Games revealed today. He’ll be joining Shurima.
Akshan is a two-mana champion with 2/2 combat stats and the Quick Attack keyword. In addition, he has an ability that triggers when summoned or when Akshan successfully strikes where he summons an uncollectible Warlord’s Palace Countdown Landmark. If the Palace is already on your side of the board, the ability advances its timer forward by one. Akshan levels up after the Warlord’s Palace completes its countdown. After Akshan levels up, a Warlord’s Hoard is summoned to your side of the board.
Warlord’s Palace is a Landmark with a Countdown timer of eight and provides you a Relic of Power once it successfully reaches its conclusion. The Relic of Power is a Fleeting zero-mana Focus spell that has you select between one of three options to perform. You can either Predict and draw one immediately after, summon a 5/2 Ephemeral Sandstone Charger, or grant your allies on your board a permanent +1/+0.
Aside from natural counting and summoning or striking with Akshan, you can advance the timer on Warlord’s Palace by one each time you target an ally with spells or abilities.
Once Akshan reaches his second level, he gains +1/+1 in combat stats and alters his summon and strike ability to summon or advance a Warlord’s Hoard instead of a Warlord’s Palace.
When compared to the Palace, the Warlord’s Hoard is much more potent in the rewards it provides. Once the countdown on this empowered Landmark is completed, you’re given a Sentinel’s Hoard zero-mana Fleeting spell.
Similar to the Relic of Power, Sentinel’s Hoard will force you to pick between one of three options. You can either grant all of your allied champions everywhere a permanent +2/+2 buff and the SpellShield keyword, give all enemies on the board a permanent Vulnerable debuff, create a copy of the strongest ally that died this game, and reduce their cost to zero, or draw two cards from your deck in addition to making all of your cards cost one mana this round.
In addition to Akshan’s reveal, Grappling Hook and The Absolver were also shown off. Grappling Hook, aside from being Akshan’s champion spell, is a rare three-mana Slow spell that has one of your allied units strike an enemy, with the notable requirement for activation that your selected ally needs to be targeted by you this round. The Absolver is a common two-mana Burst spell that gives an ally a temporary +2/+1 stat buff for the round. On top of that, if you leveled up a champion at an earlier stage in the game, you also create an Absolver’s Return in your hand. The bonus spell created is a Fleeting two-mana Burst spell that gives an ally a +2/+1 combat stat buff and the Overwhelm keyword for a single round.
Akshan and his plethora of support revealed today offer plenty of utility options for players looking to use the new champion. Since you need to target allies with abilities to advance his Landmarks, this means going into regions with supportive spells like Targon, Ionia, and Noxus through Riven’s Reforge will help Akshan succeed.
On his own, Akshan has a below-average stat line when compared to other units of a similar cost, like Lucian. Despite this, if you manage to build your deck in a way that helps level up Akshan, the treasures provided can turn the tide of a match and put the game in your favor.
Out of all the choices provided with Sentinel’s Hoard, knowing which one is the best in each scenario will help seal a victory. Giving your champions a permanent stat boost and SpellShield with Shield of the Sentinels will make them difficult to remove for your opponent. If you go with The Absolver’s Resurrection, reviving a high-value unit, champion, or follower can give you the chance to make a comeback if your opponent exhausted all of your resources. If you need to perform a ridiculous combo, then The Fount of Power will provide a refuel with drawing, allowing you to play multiple cards in one turn due to the mana costs of your hand being reduced to one.
Out of the surrounding support revealed today, The Absolver is a potent tool that brings game-breaking implications with its second Absolver’s Return spell. Since you can add Overwhelm to an ally at Burst speed, this means you can perform some ridiculous open attacks and combos (like Lee Sin) and surprise your opponent as long as you leveled up a champion at an earlier stage in the game.
Akshan will join the Shurima champion roster when LoR’s next event starts on July 14.
