After days of teasers and leaks, League of Legends’ newest champions have finally been revealed today.
Xayah, the rebel, and Rakan, the charmer, are a pair of animalesque champions, much like Ahri, that are passionate towards one another. They share special interactions with voice lines and even gain some bonus effects from spells when they are near one another in the game. Oh, and they also have a very unique recall animation when they recall close to each other.
Xayah and Rakan were pushed onto the Public Beta Environment (PBE) today—League’s test client that players can use to leave feedback on new features before they go live. After seeing their abilities and testing them out ourselves, we can confidently say that these two champions are gorgeous.
Oh, that’s right, they are two champions, as in, two separate champs being released together. Previously, we had thought that maybe you would buy them together as one purchase but could only play one at a time, but they will instead be unique champions that can be played separate of one another.
Xayah
Xayah will play a bit different from other marksman champions. She is played best by skating along the outskirts of a fight, and zoning her victims by placing feathers and dancing around to avoid danger. She plays like a cross between Taliyah and Kalista in that regard.
Passive: Clean Cuts
After she uses an ability, Xayah’s basic attacks pierce through all enemies in a line from where she launches them, dealing reduced damage to all targets behind the first enemy struck. This is a weaker version of Twitch’s ult, but should have similar strengths. It will make her teamfighting power stronger than most other ADCs. Attacks leave behind a feather where they end.
Q: Double Daggers
Xayah throws two daggers in a line when she activates this spell. The daggers deal moderate damage, and pierce through all targets, leaving behind more feathers where they land. Xayah’s AoE-heavy kit should make harassing her enemies in lane fairly easy. In teamfights, she’ll work best when enemies are clumped together.
W: Deadly Plumage
This ability will aid Xayah in her dueling power. When she activates the W, a storm of feathers whirls around her and causes her next few attacks to deal more damage and fly faster. If she casts it near her lover, Rakan, he gains the buff as well.
E: Bladecaller
When Xayah activates Bladecaller, all feathers on the battlefield near her return to her, dealing damage to any enemy they pass through along the way. If more than one strikes an enemy, the victim is rooted in place. She doesn’t have much CC in her kit, but this small amount should let her contest the likes of Jhin, Caitlyn, and Varus.
R: Featherstorm
Xayah’s ultimate causes her to leap into the air. While leaping, she’s invulnerable for a brief moment, and then she launches blades out in a cone in front of her. Each blade leaves behind another feather. Her ultimate can be used to dodge big, incoming abilities and attacks, adding a bit more strategy to her kit. Great players will be able to use the ability to dodge while at the same time gaining the most from the damage it deals.
Rakan
Rakan may be League’s most mechanically challenging support yet. He excels by darting in and out of combat, disrupting and distracting victims while at the same time using his shield and heals to grant allies protection in a pinch. If you main support as opposed to other roles because you’re weak mechanically, Rakan may not be the best choice. If you’ve been avoiding support because you’re strong mechanically but lack map knowledge, Rakan may be what you need to try out the role.
Passive: Fey Feathers
Rakan’s passive grants him a shield every so often, which has obvious uses for deflecting damage. Using abilities reduces the cooldown of the shield, so players can use that mechanic to bait enemies into fights and gain an advantage by surprising them with a shield.
Q: Gleaming Quill
He throws a magic feather forward. If it connects with an enemy champion, magic surges through Rakan for a brief moment before triggering a heal to any ally near him. If he throws the feather at an ally, it immediately heals them on contact. This is the first ability in the game that can damage an enemy and heal an ally to rival Nami’s Ebb and Flow.
W: Grand Entrance
Rakan dashes forward and leaps into the air, knocking up enemies with him as he jumps. It’s rare to see a support with ranged poke and heals have melee disruptions, but here we are. Rakan will take serious skill to balance hanging back and healing with diving in for crowd control. It would be best to use this ability when your shield is about to appear.
E: Battle Dance
Activating his E on an ally causes Rakan to dash to their side and give them a shield. The ability allows him to cast it again for a few second after the first cast, even if it’s on the same target. Targeting Xayah will allow him to cover a greater distance. Casting E after using W to engage would be a good tool for getting yourself out of fights as well.
R: The Quickness
When Rakan uses his ultimate, he turns into a spirit and flies through the air. As he passes through enemies, he charms them, granting Rakan a huge burst of speed when hitting the first enemy champion. He can only charm each victim once. This has obvious uses in teamfights, but only if he positions himself correctly.
With the pair being pushed into the PBE today, we can expect to see them in patch 7.8. Patch 7.7 goes live tomorrow, so 7.8 should only be a few weeks away.
