League of Legends news:

Muay Thai Lee Sin is helping us kick off the Thailand launch of League of Legends by paying homage to the Thai combat sport of the same name. This new skin channels the “Art of Eight Limbs” with Muay Thai-inspired animations, including brutal new attacks on Resonating Strike and Dragon’s Rage. Land precision blows using hands, feet, knees and elbows with this dangerous new take on the Blind Monk!

Parting the brush reveals Zyra, Rise of the Thorns, alongside her fatal floral friends. She’s as ferocious, cunning, and as wild as they come – what’s not to love? Planting seeds and sprouting dangerous plants to aid you in battle is the name of Zyra’s game, as you’ll torment your enemies with the thorny grip of her vines. Use your quick-thinking and the devastating power of nature itself to prove who really belongs at the top of the food chain.

Friends! Acquaintances! Snacks! It is I, Gentleman Cho’Gath. It is my pleasure to welcome you back to my dastardly parlor. As you have probably already surmised, my humble invitation and request for your company was merely a thinly veiled ruse to bring you within Feasting distance. Ah, “range,” as you quaint fellows say. As a gentleman, however, I would never Vorpal Spike a guest in the back. Wait, what?! You don’t want to be eaten? Preposterous!

We are at an impasse, friend. It is in my nature to feast, you see, and no amount of velvet smoking jackets or high-quality cigars can change that very fact. Ah, I have it! A gentlemen’s agreement. If you can present me with a more refined, more distinguished snack option other than your own succulent self, then I shall spare your life. Let’s begin, shall we? Oh ho!

• The first course shall be… Cho’Gath?! How dare you suggest my unrefined, undignified self? I have no choice but to strongly reject your crass attempt at humor and discount my common counterpart to just 292 RP. How embarrassing… for you!
• While I appreciate the suggestion, Orianna would make a delectable delight but-for the very fact that she is made of metal. Do you take my dapper demeanor for that of a fool?! Take her away for 487 RP.
• Ah, Lee Sin, the Blind Monk. An excellent choice to Feast on, assuredly. He would never see it coming! I must decline, however, as he kicks all of the way down. Bad for the digestion, you see. You can have him for just 487 RP.

Welcome to the Zyra Champion Spotlight, summoners! As the very ground beneath you roars with wild ferocity, Zyra is ready to spring traps, plant seeds and put some painful plants in your path. With a varied set of abilities, Zyra can hold her own as a mage, combining plants and abilities to strategically overwhelm the competition. Zyra excels at planning ahead and exploiting an enemy’s weaknesses, bringing the full fury of nature to bear. Get a crash course in botany with the Zyra Champion Spotlight!

When a champion has been germinating in the minds of our developers and designers for as long as Zyra has, you would expect some good stories and lessons to come from the process. For over a year, Zyra was in one stage of production or another, slowly becoming the champion you see today.

Join two of Zyra’s developers, lead champion designer Ryan “Morello” Scott and Bradford “CertainlyT” Wenban, as they take you into the depths of the champion design process, giving you an inside look at how champions are born.

Riot: Start at the beginning. Where did Zyra’s development start?

Morello: We were looking at the archetype for a long time now; maybe a year. We’d just been calling her “plant girl.” Originally, she was a take on the nymph or dryad from traditional fantasy with a distinct League of Legends flair. Dryads are kind of “hey, heal you with nature” and soft and flighty, not the most fleshed out concept. So what is cool in nature? Strangling you with vines, man-eating plants – these were brutal. What if our dryad was focused around this sharper side of nature?

Hello, summoners! Welcome to Malevolent Morsels, my sinful side business. I pride myself on creating delectable delicacies infused with extract of vengeful rage. I recommend feeding a succulent slice of the Fallen Angel Food Cake to those who have wronged you - they’ll enjoy an especially agonizing aftertaste.

Baked goods and vengeance go hand in hand in my book, so it’s no surprise the League’s champions are eager to get their hands on my painful pastries to gift to their enemies. Some customers, however, don’t follow my rules. And for that, they shall suffer a sale.

• Maokai tried to steal a cookie from the oven and set his branches on fire; no mercy for the insipid, so take him for 487 RP.
• Zilean and his meddlesome clocks interfered with my baking timers and all my cookies are ruined; reap my revenge and fast-forward him to another time zone for 292 RP.
• Ziggs deflated my sinister soufflé with his hostile hexplosives; don’t dally and take his bombs away for 487 RP.

Summoners!

As this year’s Challenger Circuit comes to a close, the Regional Finals at Gamescom and PAX Prime are on the horizon! The top eight teams from each regional Challenger Circuit will compete for $150,000 in prizing and three spots at the Season Two World Championships. This year’s tournament structure is similar to last year: teams will be seeded into a single elimination tournament based on their rank in the Challenger Circuit. Check out the graphic below to see how the tournament works.

Summoners!

It’s been two weeks since our last showcase and we’ve spent the time gathering a plethora of fan creations for your viewing pleasure. Brace yourselves, summoners, because you’re in for yet another awesome episode!

With the launch of League of Legends in Greece, we’re celebrating with a skin that’s truly Hellenic. This bold, mythical take on Cassiopeia evokes the ancient monster, Medusa, gracing The Serpent’s Embrace with a new model, gorgeous gold accents, regal laurel leaves and new effects on her ultimate ability, Petrifying Gaze. Along with her new look, Cassiopeia’s getting brand new particle effects for all of her skins!

The road to create a champion occasionally has some bumps along the way. Zyra, Rise of the Thorns, is no exception. Originally, the concept of a plant-based champion was in our designer’s heads for over a year. Try after try, it just never felt perfect. Different concept art, multiple kits, loads of designers – Zyra saw it all. Finally, the brush parted to reveal the final concept that just kicked ass and worked on all levels.

But don’t take our word for it: Katie "RiotTeaTime" De Sousa, Sam King, and Marco "OCRAM818" Bustos are here to dish out the inside dirt on Zyra, from the style of her splash art and abilities to the challenge of creating the soundscape for a plant person.

New Skins in the Store

• Mythic Cassiopeia
• Muay Thai Lee Sin

• New Matchmaking Upgrades
  • Players who are under Level 30 are far less likely to face Level 30s
  • Greatly improved matchmaking for premade groups of 4
  • Matchmaking improved for highly skilled players trying to queue with lower skilled friends
  • Matchmaking in Ranked Solo/Duo Queue now restricts the number of duo queue pairings on each team to 1 per team
• Improved initial seeding for Ranked Teams composed of skilled Ranked Solo/Duo players
• Summoner Profiles now display the highest Ranked Team rating, instead of Arranged Team ratings

The long awaited Twitch ability remake is here! To get an in-depth view of how the Plague Rat functions now, check out the video!

Summoners!

It’s our pleasure to once again present premier featured streamer, Guardsman Bob. Renowned for being both an excellent player and true class act, this gentleman of style and grace is also a highly erudite and informative virtuoso in all matters League of Legends.

The long awaited Evelynn ability remake is here! To get an in-depth view of how the Widowmaker functions now, check out the video!

Ten hut! Stand at attention, soldiers. You are in the presence of Commando Jarvan IV, elite member of the Demacian Commandos, here to see if you’ve got what it takes to join our ranks. Come on, yordle, climb that wall! You won’t get anywhere up in top lane if you don’t move move MOVE! I’ve seen legs covered in Singed’s Mega Adhesive run through this course faster than this sad bunch. I was airlifted straight from Garen’s elite Brush Training Facility to recruit and all I’ve got to work with are these wash-outs and comedians whose egos are writing checks that their bodies can’t cash!

• Leona’s heavy armor and shield weighed her down pretty bad out on the course. Non-Commando-regulation PT gear puts this Solari out of the running. Pick her up for 487 RP.
• Kassadin doesn’t seem to understand that he’s supposed to climb the wall, not teleport through it. You think you’re funny, void-man? Drop and give me twenty! You can grab him for 487 RP.
• Dr. Mundo is what we call in the Commandos a “liability.” During target practice he was just as likely to throw a cleaver at the man next to him as he was to throw it down range. Maybe he’ll have more luck in the corporate world. Take him away for just 292 RP.

Over 300 teams have been battling it out for the honor of appearing at the finals of the League of Legends launch tournament in Greece. The final two teams, inSpot Gaming and Test your Limits, will battle it out in Athens at the Gazi Music Hall.

Riots own Phreak will be casting the game live from Athens along with Studio (recent MLG caster). The best of 3 final will start at 17:00 CET on Saturday, 14th of July.

Tune in for the awesome finals that will determine the winner of the first official tournament in Greece from Riot Games. 

Welcome to the Patch Preview, summoners! In this episode we’ll discuss our changes for Sona, Malzahar, Jax, Xin Zhao, Evelynn, and Twitch! For more information about these updates, take a look at the video above!

If you’ve been waiting for that new Xerath skin that really gets you all hot and bothered, your long wait is over. Scorched Earth Xerath is exploding onto the Fields of Justice for all you budding pyrotechnicians, fireworks enthusiasts and anybody else who thinks the process of combustion is really, really cool. Featuring an appropriately incendiary complement of new spell effects befitting his fiery new look, this is one take on the Magus Ascendant you won’t want to miss.

Are you ready to meet one of the fiercest and deadliest champions ever to step foot out of the Valoran wilds? Meet Zyra, Rise of the Thorns. This floral femme fatale packs a lot of petals and punch, planting seeds directly on the battlefield and springing them to life into deadly plant allies.

As a plant mage, Zyra’s kit revolves around her ability to sow and transform seeds through Rampant Growth. Zyra can store up seeds using an ammo system, dropping these seemingly-harmless buds on the ground to grant limited vision while they remain active. Seeds aren’t too threatening on their own, and enemies can even move over a seed to stomp it out of existence at only the cost of revealing their position on the map for a few seconds. Zyra’s full fury blooms, however, when you use her other abilities to interact with her seeds.

Mundo unhappy with crime rate in corporate town! Burglars break into restaurant where chef prepare food at table. MUNDO LIKE ONION VOLCANO! Town council say Mundo “contribute to problem with growing unemployment.” Mundo show them. Appoint new sheriff to deal with troublemakers.

Howdy, summoners!

Some of your favorite champions have been busy little bees this week and wound up on the most wanted list. These regular scoundrels have been very bad indeed! Unfortunately, I’m a bit under the gun, so any information on the whereabouts of these dangerous fugitives would make me a very happy sheriff. You might even score a cupcake for your trouble.

So many bad guys, so little time.

• Sandstorm Katarina thinks that she can shake me off by going to ground in rough terrain. Luckily for me, I love a good chase. You can get hot on her trail for 487 RP.
• Nightblade Irelia tried to break into the sheriff’s office last night. Unfortunately for her, I can spot form-fitting leather in low light conditions. You can get the cuffs on her for 260 RP.
• Hextech Singed is wanted in connection with a whole slew of environmental crimes. You can put a stopper in his schemes for 487 RP.

Capturing the ferocity and primal allure of Zyra was no easy task for our art department, especially when this natural beauty emerged from the wilderness equipped with weaponized thorns, vines and the deadly thicket itself. Watch as our artist breathes life into Zyra, Rise of the Thorns, while she unleashes floral fury upon her enemies.

Take a walk on the wild side with this high-speed capture of Zyra, Rise of the Thorns.

In an upcoming patch we’ll be revisiting one of our original classic champions: Twitch, the Plague Rat. Twitch’s Ambush ability will be seeing some changes to shift him toward a more aggressive role on the battlefield. Since this ability allowed Twitch to remain invisible for significant periods of time, enemy players were forced to adopt an extremely cautious and defensive playstyle in response. Since we want League of Legends to be a fun, fast-paced experience, we decided to update Twitch with a new version of Ambush.

Ability Remake: Evelynn, the Widowmaker

You’ll be pleased to know that the next skin to arrive in the League of Legends is so cool that it is, in fact, ice cold. Meet Glacial Malphite, a frozen new take on Shard of the Monolith. Featuring thermometer-dropping new spell effects befitting his frosty theme, this is one new skin that’s sure to leave your enemies shaking in their boots.