First Impressions: Varus, Seraphine and Vayne

Domination season comes with three new champions: Varus, Seraphine and Vayne.

The first is our newest Darkin and Runeterra champion, whereas the other two will represent Piltover & Zaun and Demacia, respectively. Though they don't bring anything exclusively new, this expansion is elevating the potential of the Awakening cards a lot.

Varus started out as a Shurima warrior, an excellent archer who was named guardian of a temple in the West part of the kingdom. During the war against Icathia, Varus kept his position in the temple as other soldiers left to protect the villages around. He fought and slayed all Icathian invaders, but in the process he also lost his family, who ended up unprotected. Impressed by him and even scared of his new acquired indifference, the Ascendants of Shurima accepted him as one of them. After that, he kept fighting against Icathia and the Void beings, eventually going mad after seeking revenge against them. This and the fall of the Shuriman Empire made him insensitive and sadistic, just like any other Darkin.

During the Darkin war, Varus was defeated by a golden-armored Queen, a very important figure in the war, whose identity unfortunately isn't revealed. She manages to detain him in his bow and uses it as a powerful weapon to end the war. However, the corruption in the bow consumes her after a while and, as her final act, she orders her followers to bury her alive in a lightless well in Ionia. Regarding this well, a temple was built on top of it to keep the bow protected.

However, with Noxus' invasion, Pallas, the city where Varus was, is attacked. In the Village, a couple of hunters named Valmar and Kai fight against the invaders and manage to scare them off. Kai is mortally wounded and Valmar carries him to the temple, hoping that the power sealed inside can save his love. Varus, inside the bow, offers to heal Kai in exchange for Valmar's body, who accepts and gets into the well, but Kai throws himself after him too. With that, all three are fused together in one body and from the well Varus emerges as we know him, the most humane of the Darkin due to the presence of the two Ionian warriors inside him. The three then start to battle for control of the new body while Varus tries to corrupt the two and they try to use all of their humanity to calm down Varus' thirst for revenge against all of Runeterra.

Throughout the cards presented in Legends of Runeterra, we find out that Valmar and Kai's plan work and they can remind Varus of all his humanity. This way, he no longer seeks revenge on all of Runeterra, but just seemingly against Xolaani.

In League of Legends, Varus is a marksman. He torments his opponents from a distance, weakening them before getting into battle. His passive is Living Vengeance, which increases his attack speed when he slays a target.

Besides that, his skills are Piercing Arrow, which allows him to pull back an arrow to increase its range till it is released, Blighted Quiver, which makes his attacks create marks which are consumed by abilities to deal extra damage, and Hail of Arrows, which deals AoE damage and creates an area which weakens enemies. His ultimate is Chain of Corruption, which ensnares an enemy and, after a while, spreads out to those who are close to that enemy.

In Legends of Runeterra, this champion came representing an archer who prepares a precise and powerful attack. He autoequips with The Darkin Bow, which increases his power at each spell or equipment played.

After leveling up when you've targeted 8 allies, Varus increases his lethality by acquiring Overwhelm and doubling the bow's potential to go till 10 extra power points. This way, his Piercing Arrow was very well represented. Besides that, his ultimate, Chain of Corruption, came as his champion spell. He can grant enemies the vulnerable status and increase the power of an ally and, as in the original game, this ability can spread out as this card creates a copy of itself when used.

As a Runeterran champion, Varus has his Origin: ability The Arrow of Retribution which, just like Kayn, allows any cultist cards to be added in the deck at the time of deckbuilding. Besides that, the use of three spells with the cultist subtype makes the player draw a Varus.

It's the first time we have a champion with the same kit as another, so besides those cards that already came with Kayn, we also have some new cards which are more focused on Varus this time.

Among them we have The Expanse's Protection which offers protection in the form of Spellshield temporarily, The Unending Wave which has card draw and The Violent Dischord which, just like Momentous Choice, has a double cast effect, which activates The Darkin Bow twice. As for followers, the only one which has a direct relationship with this champion is the Lunari Cultist, which creates gems in order to help this champion level up with his bow.

Varus will probably see play alongside champions which also prioritize targeting allies: Akshan and Pantheon. Including Varus in your decks will allow you to add Momentous Choice, which targets twice, and The Unforgiving Cold, which is excellent in matches against Midrange decks. Besides that, Shurima and Targon are the two best regions for Darkin equipment: The Darkin Bloodletters and The Darkin Lodestone.

Another interesting combination might be Varus with Jax. The cultist spells can complement Jax's style while the Weaponmasters provide the equipment to easily activate the cultists' effect. It's also worth mentioning that Varus has great synergy with two other champions and some experimentation is fated to happen with them: Seraphine, as all your equipment synergy makes all your spells cost 2 and this songstress works well with 2 or less cost spells when leveled, and Vayne, which targets and equips allies with her Tumbles, besides making it possible to free attack with Varus in his level 2 form with Overwhelm, which is always dangerous for your enemies. Check out decks with Varus here.

Varus might fall into the same meta spot as Kayn: a reliable champion, but with no real impact in the game. Anyway, he will probably see play, as he matches Pantheon and Akshan a lot, both champions that were never pushed out of the meta.

Seraphine is one of the most polemic champions in League of Legends. She was born in Piltover, daughter to Zaunite parents who moved to the City of Progress looking for a better life. Ever since she was a kid, she was fascinated by music, first introduced to it by her father singing her lullabies. She grew up singing the songs she heard in town and with time she realized she could hear songs coming from inside people, in the form of beautiful melodies or cruel cacophonies. This sensory overload started to overwhelm her and her parents found it necessary to buy her a sound muffler, which was energized by a hextech crystal.

Enjoying her new found silence, Seraphine was able to calm down until she heard a song coming from the crystal itself, a wise Brakern voice, a Shuriman crystal being from millennia ago. The voice explained to Seraphine that all beings are made out of interaction among themselves and it helped her control the sounds that she heard. Besides that, this also taught her how to communicate on a more intimate level with everyone. It was so that Seraphine started to sing out in public in Piltover, attracting more and more people to her fan club over the time. But she missed sharing her music with the Zaunites.

Her story in Legends of Runeterra shows the moment she started being known in Zaun: Seraphine decides to go to battle in a musical duel in the city. She brings her legion of Piltovan fans there and duels with The Zaun Diva. During the battle, Seraphine gets what she wants from the start: she creates a union between Zaunites and Piltovans, two peoples that are very wary of each other. She knows it is only the first step and starts to dedicate herself to unite both towns in harmony.

In League of Legends, Seraphine is a mage who uses her skills to disable enemies and help out her allies. Her passive, Stage Presence, allows her to double each third skill she uses. Her other skills are High Note, which deals damage in an area, Surround Sound, which creates shields and healing for her close allies and Beat Drop, which slows down or ensnares enemies. Her ultimate is Encore, which charms enemies, which then forces them to slowly drift towards her.

When she was released, Seraphine was a target for criticism, due to her Popstar theme not really matching Runeterra at all and also her visual theme being incoherent with her context in the universe. We can see Riot payed attention to that, as in Legends of Runeterra, she carries a more Piltovan style, and they also had the trouble of really grounding her as a city inhabitant, and also showed her effort in developing her instruments, lyrics and anxieties when preparing for a show.

As a champion, Seraphine will be a value engine when you use new cards, and that means, cards that haven't been played yet in a match.

Her first level doesn't have any passive skills, but she does create a new 2 mana spell in hand when she is summoned. However, when you use 6 new spells, Seraphine levels up and transforms into a mini Karma, as she starts to double all new 2 cost spells.

Her kit brings flow to Piltover and Zaun so you can take advantage of Seraphine's double casting and also of the new spells that will be used. The best spells with her are Drum Solo, which you will probably see played in all decks within Piltover&Zaun, and Crowd Pleaser, which allows for a favorable trade in combat as well as a potential card creation.

We also have the card creation tools such as Inspired Plans and Fanclub President to give Seraphine some value. Besides that, we have High Note and The Zaun Diva, as a reward for using 6 new spells and finally, Acorn, the Hextechnician as an excellent unit for spell cost reduction.

As all cards seem very strong, with Diva being the most situational, so for sure they will be used both in decks with this champion and also in any other deck which brings Piltover&Zaun.

Seraphine was clearly made to be Master Yi's pair, with her double casts and cheap spell creation, but as it was said before, she has the potential to work alongside Varus too. Regarding older champions, she can work with anyone who takes advantage of multiple cheap spells: Akshan is a great pair as she has lots of chances to double Relic of Power and Sentinel's Hoard, and also Nami, which will spread out double the buffs when paired with the songstress.

Another promising partnership is Viktor who is already inside her own region and has synergy with card creation. Finally, another one of many examples is Riven, who got the excellent card Rune Squire, as every time you Reforge, you will create a new card, making it 4 cards. Check out lists with Seraphine here.

Seraphine has great potential as a champion. Most of her strength comes from 2 cost spells, which tend to be strong, so the random creation won't be a problem. If you like playing Karma or Nami, you will enjoy this champion a lot.

Shauna Vayne was born into a rich Demacian family. She grew up happy and was very dedicated to studying, until on her sixteenth birthday, when she arrived home, she stumbled upon her dead parents on the ground and a beautiful woman, Evelynn, who smiled at her and disappeared. No one believed Vayne, as in Demacia that kind of magic wouldn't be possible, but she knew the truth. And the anger and the lust for revenge consumed her heart. Remembering stories from her father, she went to Freljord to meet people who fought against the Ice Queen, Lissandra.

In Freljord, she fell in a trap and was almost attacked by a troll, but was saved by a middle aged woman named Frey. Frey told her she spent years fighting against the Queen after losing her family to her troops and Vayne asked to be taken in as her apprentice. After much thought and debate, Frey ends up accepting her when she sees how determined Vayne is. For many years, Frey teaches her everything she knows about magic and dark rituals and how to hunt monsters. During their hunts, Vayne discovers she takes pleasure in hunting and killing dark creatures and realizes also that she sees Frey as a mother figure, someone she loves very much.

As they were travelling Runeterra in search of monsters, they hear rumors of a beautiful demon woman and her cult and start their hunt. However, they are ambushed by cult priests and Frey is forced to reveal her shapeshifter powers to Vayne, as she had become a shaman to protect people from the Witch. Vayne doesn't hesitate and shoots a bolt directly in Frey's heart, all love she had for her ended in an instant. After that, Vayne returns to hunting.

During The Ruination event, Vayne helps protect Demacia against Shyvana and Viego's attack and ends up meeting Lucian and Senna. At first she was hostile towards Senna because she was an apparition, but both end up getting closer to this huntress and they invite her to be a Sentinel of Light. After the group manages to prevent Viego, they go their separate ways again, but the Legends of Runeterra cards show that she kept herself as a Sentinel, and, apparently, doesn't hunt any person who has a connection to darkness, instead focusing more around actual monsters. Her interactions with the Bloodcursed Harpy indicate that she is more interested in purifying the Harpy and free her from her current life in torment, and also show that she no longer hunts just for the pleasure of slaying monsters.

In League of Legends, Vayne is an expert single target markswoman. She has a relatively weak early game compared to other markspeople, but late game she is a great threat.

Besides that, she is known for her great mobility and being able to protect herself alone. Her passive, Night Hunter, increases her movement speed when she is moving towards enemies. Her skills are Tumble, which allows her to tumble in a direction and deal extra damage later, Silver Bolts, which passively increase the damage of her third attack against a target and Condemn, which deals a powerful bolt to enemies which pushes them back, potentially stunning them against terrain. Her ultimate, Final Hour, increases her damage and tumbles, which also make her invisible for some time.

In Legends of Runeterra, Tumble kept her trait of being an offensive markswoman. She creates Tumbles to allow her allies to continuously attack and, at the same time, equip weapons. In this aspect she lost a bit compared to her original mechanic, but this allowed her to adapt better as a huntress who is always ready for a hunt.

She levels up after seeing four attacks happen and then her Tumbles start out costing 0 mana. Besides that, her champion spell Vayne's Condemn, represents her original skill with the same name. It is possible to argue that the Silver Bolts also became adapted by her equipment interaction.

Her followers are all centered around maintaining the offensive, and all have bonuses when attacking or when being equipped. Zealous Ranger-Knight and Kind-hearted Recruit offer defensive options that reward good attacks with equipped allies.

Faithful Wolfdog and Bloodcursed Harpy equip a weapon when played and allow for this deck to have a really great mana management even without Vayne. Besides that, we have the highlighted striking spells Condemn and Fish Fight which work really well with this champion by using the free attack synergy and unequiping when needed, respectively.

Vayne matches Pantheon a lot, as her Tumbles target and start free attacks that will be used on gigantic overwhelm units. We can see she was also designed around Ornn, as he also likes equipment and big units attacking. Getting to use Tumble on a level 2 Ornn produces a very strong effect, though this champion is getting worse and worse at each expansion due to the increase in equipment destruction. Check out decks with Vayne here.

Another probable pair will be Jax, who allows for the creation of many weapons with the Weaponmasters and can become a threat with Overwhelm and his level 2 skill of increasing his own power when attacking. Other possible matches might be Shurima for Azir or Shadow Isles for Hecarim, or, more likely, Gwen, which takes advantage of free attacks.

Vayne seems to be a very strong champion, though she looks to be a support engine for other win conditions. She won't need to level up to show her power, so she will be very reliable. For sure she will see a lot of play, and even allow for many possibilities.

With the end of the Domination reveals we may now explore the creation of new decks using the new cards. Besides that, we can already start new theorycrafting about the future expansion which will end the Darkin Saga.

We know Aatrox will be there, but which other champions do you think we will have? And regarding the Domination champions, which are you most excited to try out?