Meet Rell: The Newest League of Legends Champion

            League of Legends has a grand total of 153 champions, which is more than triple the initial 40 that appeared in the game at launch. Obviously, not all champions are made equal. Even if you take into account strategy, play-style, and the time it takes players to adapt and anticipate new champions, there are simply going to be ones that are better than others at winning. With powerhouses like Sett and Lillia coming out in 2020 how does the final hero released this year, Rell, measure up? 

            Rell’s backstory deals with her being trained and honed as a weapon from a very young age. Born with an innate talent for feromancy, the magical manipulation of metal, she drew the attention of the Black Rose, who taught her to fight by using her classmates as opponents. What she didn’t know for years was that every time she defeated a classmate, they were drained of their magical energy (leaving them comatose) and that energy was imparted onto Rell in the form of a sigil. Now she uses this unwanted strength to defend the innocent people that the villains who created her wished to exploit.

            So this translates to her in-game abilities being tied to metal and magnetism. We also know from discussions regarding her character development that the goal with this character was to create a darker tank support type character, so this is what fuels her thematic as well as the mindset around her abilities. This is really apparent when you take a closer look.

            Her innate passive ability is Break the Mold. With each attack, Break the Mold steals some of her enemies’ armor and magic resist and gives it to Rell. Additionally, she deals bonus damage based on the amount stolen, which is the kind of stacking double gain that we always like to see in these abilities. Rell is already doing additional damage since the enemy lacks the armor it once had, but now she does bonus damage on top of that. The damage is certainly nice, but the armor theft is what ties into the build.

            Now before we talk about her Q we actually want to talk about her E, Attract and Repel. Attract and Repel is a buff in the form of a piece of armor that Rell can give a nearby ally, giving them bonus armor and magic resist. It has a secondary effect, where the armor piece can be recalled, which then stuns all enemies around Rell and the buffed ally. This starts to speak to one of Rell’s real strengths, versatility. The buff and stun are separate effects entirely and have their time and place, and Rell can provide both.

            Moving back to Rell’s Q, which is called Shattering Strike. Shattering Strike is a spear thrust that charges through enemies and destroys all shields. This ability in its current form can destroy an impressive array of shields, including some champions’ special abilities. Additionally, if Attract and Repel is attached at the time of use, Rell and the affected ally both heal for each enemy hit by the attack. Not an amazing addition, but a good way towards some helpful combos. Additionally, this touches on Rell’s versatility. She often can find ways to help her allies and hurt her enemies at the same time. She seems to be more of a jack of all trades than a master of anything. But as any LoL player knows, that can be a real mixed blessing.

            Rell’s W continues this trend of mixed abilities, specifically having two separate abilities based on the form that she is currently in. The W ability is also the way that Rell transitions between these two forms. When Rell is in her heavy armor form, she can cast Mount Up to turn her armor into a horse, giving her a bonus to knockback and damage against the first enemy she strikes after Mount Up. When mounted, her W ability becomes Crash Down. Crash Down performs a knockback attack that turns the horse back into armor and gives Rell her heavy armor form and a sturdy shield. She can cast both her Q and E abilities mid-transformation, for even more combo potential.

            Last but not least, we have Rell’s ultimate, Magnate Storm. Magnate storm creates an area around Rell that draws enemies towards her and prevents them from moving away. This ability will not interrupt any action of your enemies outside of their movement. So while this does not pack a lot of punch, it continues with the theme of making Rell disruptive and versatile without giving her a lot of singular strengths. That being said, Magnate Storm is great for keeping enemies away from your allies or peeling away singular opponents in order to take them down. And that is just what it can do by itself. It’s potential to create interesting combos with Rell’s other abilities is obvious, especially when you consider how many abilities she has that are based on area proximity. Even Shattering Strike, which is a forward thrust attack, as a small AoE effect on the enemies directly next to her, making a great ability to combo with her ultimate.

            Rell is a very mobile tank, even when one of her forms restricts her movement speed, and we see her support potential being valuable on the front lines but not in the realm of aggression. She can bring down the shields slowing down your heavy hitters as well as properly tank and slow down your enemy progression with stuns and magnetism.

            How effective Rell will be is yet to be seen, as of the writing she has only been in play for a short time. We are sure that Rell will see some buffs and nerfs before the start of the next season of play. That aside, we think Rell, at her core, has a lot of potential to be a fun and interesting character. In the right hands, she could very possibly have some effective rank play potential. At the very least she will be someone you certainly won’t regret popping up in a solo queue.  Regardless of your thoughts on Rell, buying League of Legendsaccounts with a high number of champions will greatly improve your experience with this game.