Catching up with League of Legends’ Kayn, Ornn, and Zoe

A roundup of Champions

As always, I like to keep up with League of Legends despite the fact that I also play several other MOBAs.

It just consistently delivers when it comes to new characters, even if it becomes increasingly difficult to balance them all. With Zoe’s appearance in the Rift, there are now a whopping 139 Champions to choose from.

Here’s a look at a few recent additions.

Kayn’s lore spills over into the way he works in-game. He’s constantly at odds with the duality of a good and evil spirit, and depending on what types of Champions he attacks (dark for ranged or light for melee), he can power up into a new form and gain one of two passives. Going back to base will initiate the form that “won,” and you can swap later on. Think of his trait, and his overall gimmick, like a quest.

Depending on what form he’s in, it modifies his abilities. As a rule, his Q is an area-of-effect slice for waveclear, his W is a line skillshot, and his E shadow steps through walls. Kayn’s ultimate involves jumping into an enemy Champion with a possession event of sorts (even though he has no direct control over them), with a damaging skillshot exit. Kayn sports a massive amount of movement if you include his ult to warp around, which makes him very sneaky.

Kayne is a Jungler, and has a high usage rate right now because he’s a lot of fun to play, even if his winrate isn’t particularly great.

I love everything about Ornn’s aesthetic, including his prim and proper, bellowing vocal presence. He’s a blacksmith at heart, which is shown in his kit as he’s allowed to craft non-consumables on the battlefield (with a gold cost, of sorts, and from a limited pool) for himself or teammates. That doesn’t take up the spot of any ability, it’s just built in.

Ornn’s skillshot is mixed up a bit by a fissure that appears at the targeted area, and the same goes for his frontal cone W breath, which debuffs an enemy with the brittle effect if the last flame hits (which increases the effectiveness of immobilizing effects. His massive waveclear charge E gels well with his fluff, especially since he creates a shockwave if it collides against terrain. His ultimate, a charging lava ram (which you target in a huge line and comes into the arena behind your enemies), also causes brittle, which makes him an amazing combo Champion with the right team.

If you’re going to play Ornn you’ll be heading into the top lane, and he’s mostly viable at lower levels. Out of these three he’s easily my favorite.

Zoe, the Aspect of Twilight, is an over-the-top silly character meant to bring some levity back after a series of ultra-serious Champions. Unlike Jinx though, which I feel strikes that unique League balance, Zoe is meant to be ultra-cute. Although her dialogue is a bit generic, I love that she skips a celestial rope occasionally when walking — Riot’s fantastic art department strikes again.

Her kit involves a Q skillshot that can be re-positioned after it’s been casted, a sleep bubble that doubles as a trap if it misses, a spell-stealing passive, and a portal-jumping blink ultimate that can go through walls. Her passive, which buffs auto-attacks after casting a spell, encourages constantly use of her abilities. It’s not as fun as it sounds though because of her high cooldowns, and the faint effect of the buffed auto (it’s there, just a little muted).

That said, she’s entertaining enough to play, and can be rather tricky, especially with her 11-second cooldown ultimate. She has one of the best escapes in the game without having to resort to any items, so she can poke effectively, dive out, and dive back in with ease.

It’s too early to tell where Zoe is going to end up so I won’t even try to speculate!