Two very different characters
In my attempts to keep up to date weekly with Heroes of the Storm‘s meta and getting back up to speed with Dota 2‘s recent talent overhaul, it’s been tough to stay on top of League of Legends, but I still make time for all three.
Each game in that trinity provides something different, which is definitely the case for the two latest League Champions.
Ivern actually arrived in October, and is one of the weirdest characters in the game. Not able to break free of his aesthetic, Ivern, the giant tree, is in fact a jungler. But instead of roaming around camps and taking them out with attacks, he can’t actually kill them. Instead, he plants “groves” on jungle spots, which grow over time and allow him to “free” each monster for gold and XP.
Once he reaches level five, he can bestow the group with buffs. He’s also surprisingly good at rushing down and finishing off enemy Champions, with his Q that allows him to root and chase (or phase through walls to escape or easily move from jungle to jungle, Tim Allen style), but has several defensive and vision options as well, like his E ally shield and W brush creator respectively. His ultimate is pretty great too, calling out his pal Daisy to fight with him as a summon (that can be micro-managed) that sports a popup stun. She’s really fun to gank with, as she can soak turret damage as he backdoors in easily with his Q to finish off enemies.
With the benefit of hindsight, I can also say that Ivern is a viable jungler, having had success with him in unranked games. He’s also sitting on a roughly 54% winrate with his jungle build, though he does suffer a much lower success rate as a support at 42%. I love just about everything the team dreamed up for Ivern, including his backstory. He used to live as a cruel warlord of sorts, and as a result of a last-ditch effort to destroy a magical artifact (a giant willow tree), he was cursed and turned into a treant. He then had a change of heart, seeing all life as sacred — flip-flopping into a hippy-like creature with hilarious animations (he happily skips around) and voicework.
Camille was released just several weeks ago, and isn’t faring nearly as well, but still seems viable. She’s currently hovering around a 50% winrate while being played in the top lane, which helps augment her sturdiness and mobility. Her passive grants her shields while she attacks (like Kerrigan from Heroes of the Storm), and several of her abilities (Q, E) grant her dashes to either rushdown enemy Champions or escape. Her W (a sweep) provides a decent waveclear option, but it also applies a slow, which is useful for the aforementioned kill potential. I especially dig that her Q can be rapidly used twice in succession to cover a lot of ground.
Her Ultimate is bred for one-on-one Champion killing, as it leaps into a foe and creates an impenetrable barrier (and it really is impenetrable, as no ability, even killing her, will remove it) for four seconds. It’s a mechanic found in many MOBAs (even in League, with Jarvan), but as always, the League team was able to make it look unique to the character with a flashy color scheme that suits her. And Camille is unique in general, as she looks like a cross between Gazelle from Kingsman: The Secret Service, and Vergil from Devil May Cry. Her backstory involves her employ in an elite operations squad, which she is so dedicated to that she gave over her body to be turned into a hextech cyborg of sorts. Hence, her blade appendages.
Camille definitely has a presence on the field and when played with the right team, she can slice and dice nearly anyone in a one-on-one situation. She reminds me a lot of Riven when she was first released, but a lot more exciting. She wouldn’t be my first choice for the Fighter role, but I’m glad I picked her up all the same.
