League of Legends news » Sejuani, the Winter's Wrath Revealed

As some of our more discerning lore-hounds may have anticipated, Sejauni, the Winter’s Wrath, is charging in as our next upcoming champion. We wanted to take a moment to talk to you about her gameplay, and what you can expect to see.

Hailing from the Freljord, Sejuani combines raw, physical might with the chilling ice of her homeland. After slowing enemies with her Frost passive on auto-attacks, she can activate her Permafrost ability to drastically increase the slow and inflict damage. This allows her to continuously disrupt enemy movements and create a threatening presence – a necessity of any primary tank.

Sejuani’s initiation ability comes from two sources: the powerful skillshot charge from her boar and her Glacial Prison ultimate. The former tramples enemies and applies Frost, while the latter flings a giant ice shard from her flail, stunning anything it hits by encasing it in ice. Enemies near that target get stunned for a shorter durartion. This makes accurate skillshots important, as Sejuani needs move into the right position to maximize the stun duration on her intended target. If used correctly, this ability can change the outcome of a teamfight. If used on a sub-optimal target, however, it will be partially wasted on a tank or lower-value target.

This being our first mounted champion, we’re happy to release not only an epic barbarian woman on a giant boar, but also a tank who can use continuous soft disruption with bursts of big, ultimate initiation!

Abilities:

• Frost (Passive) - Sejuani's basic attacks apply Frost, reducing enemy Movement Speed by 10% for 3 seconds.
• Arctic Assault - Sejuani charges forward to deal magic damage and apply Frost to enemies. Sejuani stops upon colliding with an enemy champion.
• Northern Winds - Sejuani summons an arctic storm around her which deals magic damage to nearby enemies every second. Damage is increased against enemies affected by Frost or Permafrost.
• Permafrost - Sejuani converts Frost on nearby enemies to Permafrost, dealing magic damage and increasing the Movement Speed reduction dramatically.
• Glacial Prison (Ultimate) - Sejuani throws her weapon, stunning the first enemy champion hit. Nearby enemies are stunned for a shorter duration. All targets take magic damage and are affected by Frost.

Lore:

When Sejuani was born, the mystics of her tribe foretold that she would be the one to unite and lead the divided territories of Freljord. Her people had suffered for centuries, as a losing war on the frozen tundra pushed them farther and farther from Freljord's limited food supplies. Sejuani grew up surrounded by this misery, and it fueled her desire to fulfill her destiny. She pushed herself to extremes, walking out into blizzards without food or furs and training while frigid winds raked her flesh. She sparred with the strongest warriors of her tribe, one after another, until her legs would give out beneath her. She sustained injuries that would have killed any other member of the tribe, but she would only rise again, driven by sheer force of will and what her tribe took to calling her "heart of the blizzard."

On her twentieth birthday, Sejuani declared that she would lead her people out of their remote isolation to conquer the lands of their enemies. She had completed her training and she was ready to face the leaders of the opposing tribes. Her feats had already become legend and soldiers in her company were inspired to new heights of strength and resolve. However, before she struck out on her campaign, Ashe began campaigning for peace in Freljord, joining the League of Legends to demonstrate how the people could be spared violence. To Sejuani, this was a violation of tradition – a coward’s ruse to hoard Freljord's precious few resources. She saw the confidence of her people wane as it seemed they would never be delivered from their plight. She decided that to truly prove herself as the rightful ruler of Freljord, she must defeat Ashe completely and unquestionably on the world’s stage in the League of Legends.

"Freljord provides for the few. For the others, 'peace' means only death." - Sejuani