In November of 2021, Riot added a new game mode to their League of Leagues (LoL) spin-off game, Legends of Runeterra (LoR), called Path of Champions (PoC). PoC is a rogue-like game mode in which players use a premade deck built around a specific champion to fight various Adventure Paths. Each featured champion also has its own special set of powers that are tied specifically to their deck. As of now, there are 69 different champions to choose from. Despite this extensive list of options, however, there are still a few gaps that need to be filled.
Qiyana, Empress of the Elements
Why Qiyana? Introduced into LoL in 2019, Qiyana is an assassin who draws on the elements around her to gain various buffs. As of yet, Qiyana has not been added to the list of champions in LoR. However, not only should she be added to the game overall, but she should also be given her own deck in PoC.
Within LoR, there is a subset of cards known as elemental spell cards. This subtype provides the card with no additional benefits, leaving the door open for potential future development. Qiyana, as LoL’s primary elementalist, is perfectly positioned to be the main focus of expansion.
Not only could they introduce a variety of cards that alter or are affected by elemental spells in the main game, but they could also add some new powers to PoC that interact with elemental spells. Currently, there is only 1 General Power that is related to elemental spells. 1 out of 88! These cards are desperately in need of some attention.
How She Could Work in Path of Champions?
Regarding Qiyana’s level-up requirements, they could be based around how many elemental cards have been played and her champion ability can give her a number of buff options after an elemental card is played.
As for a champion power in PoC, they could have it so that she can recreate the last elemental spell that was played in the round previously, thus providing some level of skill expression from the player since they had to decide which cards to play and in what order.
Galio, The Colossus
Why Galio? Unlike Qiyana, Galio is already a card in the LoR roster. He is even a final boss in one of the Adventure Paths of PoC. He does, however, not have a playable deck in PoC.
True to his defensive nature in LoL, Galio’s main attribute is the keyword Formidable, which means that instead of using their Power stat to deal damage, cards with this keyword use their Health instead.
The obvious issue with this particular keyword is that as a card takes damage, it loses its ability to deal significant damage. Also, it will, of course, die if its Health reaches 0, but that’s almost all cards. In any event, there are various ways to alleviate this drawback so that the player does not feel as though they are fighting an uphill battle.
How Could He Work in Path of Champions?
Effects like Toughness (cards take 1 less damage), Barrier (block on instances of damage), Regenerate (restore Health to full at the end of the turn), and Healing are all already in the game. The developers could easily create champion powers centered around them.
Alternatively, they could create a new power such as, “If you are attacking and would kill a unit without dying yourself, you take no damage”. This provides skill expression for the players without being overpowered as the power would only activate when the player is the primary attacker, as opposed to when they are defending.
Ultimately, though a Galio deck would be rather niche and slightly complicated to build, it is nonetheless worth the attempt for, if nothing else, the sake of variety.
