LoR: Dreamlit Paths - Review of All New Champions (+ Their Kit!)

The new set, Dreamlit Paths, is finally among us! As usual, I bring you my review of all the new cards in this set, and their ratings.

This article is part 2 of our full review of Dreamlit Paths. We'll discuss all the new champions and their support cards, but we won't comment on variety cards (the cards released to other regions that aren't support cards for the new champions. If you want to see my review of this set's variety cards, click here)!

We'll rate them from ★☆☆☆☆ (one star) to ★★★★★ (five stars):

★☆☆☆☆: Awful Card - This card won't be in any archetype because it currently doesn't fit any, and might even make some decks worse.

★★☆☆☆: Bad Card - This card may show up in a few extremely specific decks, but, in general, won't be relevant to the meta.

★★★☆☆: Good Card - This card will play in meta decks, and might even show up often in games, but it isn't necessarily strong.

★★★★☆: Great Card - This card will play in many meta decks and will certainly be very popular because it's incredibly powerful.

★★★★★: Meta-Defining Card - This card is so strong it might define the meta (you're either playing with it, or answering it).

This article was based entirely on my 4-year experience casting and playing LoR professionally.

Note: I reviewed and rated these cards according to the Standard format. I might even mention the Eternal format here and there, but, otherwise, assume I'm talking about these cards in the context of Standard. We won't discuss Path of Champions because I don't play that game mode.

Tell us in the comment section which cards you think will be the strongest!

Let's get to it!

We listed the new cards according to their regions to make it easier to read this review.

Vex

Rating: ★★★★☆

Even though Vex is strong, unfortunately it is relatively easy to "prepare" yourself to play against her mechanic, which grants Gloom to the strongest enemy when she attacks. This is because she only has Fearsome as a keyword.

You may argue that her entire archetype focuses on granting Gloom to enemy units, which will make it easier to attack with her, as the enemy units won't have enough attack power to block Vex.

However, in practice, you might find it is difficult to attack with her (at least when she's at her level 1) because it is relatively easy to buff your units' attack power in the current meta. Keep in mind that Freljord and Demacia will be extremely relevant next meta, and both are excellent when you want to buff your units' stats.

I believe Vex will be a great addition to Shadow Isles. She will give the region a new face, which is something it has desperately needed for a while now. Even though Mordekaiser tried to do this in December 2023, in the previous expansion, it was still "more of the same" in the sense that Mordekaiser decks are still very similar to old Shadow Isles decks. They even operate in the same way; Mordekaiser just gave this type of deck a new, modern face.

Unfortunately, Vex hasn't pleased me much because, even though she is "a new face for Shadow Isles", she might have the same flaws as another Shadow Isles archetype, Darkness decks. By that, I mean that she might force us to build an extremely "closed" archetype that needs to use Bandle City as a support region.

If you stop to think about it, Riot has been trying out the mechanic that "removes attack power from units" for quite some time in another region: Shurima. It appears as if they've abandoned this idea now that Vex came along, considering half her kit is in Bandle City.

What saved Vex and earned her four stars is the fact that Gloom also removes defensive stats, and may even kill units if you lower their defense stats to zero. This is a great strategy to play against decks that are full of small units.

As I mentioned several times in my last articles as I analyzed the new rotation and the new cards, Riot is apparently prioritizing a different type of strategy for 2024. This strategy is more ambitious; it plays small units on the board early on, even if they're not particularly aggressive. Vex might be a great answer to this game style.

Glare

Rating: ★★★★☆

This card is Vex's signature spell, and it is already a "Gloom" staple. Glare lets you cycle your list while you level up Vex.

Shadow Isles and Bandle City's draw cards have always been a bit expensive, so the fact we can finally draw a card for only 2 mana is incredibly interesting. It is so incredible that, in a near future, this card may even break through this archetype and see play in other decks.

The Iron Conquest

Rating: ★★★★☆

Just like most Story cards, this card is incredibly strong.

What's so strong about this type of card is their cost; for 2 mana, you'll be able to use 3 effects as your turns go on, so it is simply incredible in terms of value.

This landmark is a support card for Mordekaiser - with it, we'll be able to keep the value of our units much better throughout the match. One of the issues this archetype has is that you run out of cards fast. So, having a tool that helps you create more units may be essential for this archetype.

Existential Dread

Rating: ★★★★☆

Existential Dread may, potentially, level up your Vex immediately.

This spell might also, just like Glare, burst through the Gloom archetype and see play in another control deck in the future.

It is quite simple and direct, which makes it extremely strong. Its only flaw is that it may be dead in your hand, depending on the matchup. If your opponent is playing a slow deck that doesn't play any units, this card becomes a bit too weak.

The Beautiful Disaster

Rating: ★★★★★

This landmark is Shadow Isles' new "toolbox"; It will probably see play in most decks with this region from now on.

With it, you can: control your opponent's board, heal your Nexus, and enable insane combos with its act III, which copies units.

You can copy Vex with this spell, for instance - as we'll see next as we analyze her support cards, the possibilities are endless.

Not to mention, we can also copy a unit that is not part of Vex's archetype, such as, for instance, a level 2 Hecarim, if we feel adventurous. To sum up, this card will be incredibly strong and relevant to the meta.

Shadow

Rating: ★★★★☆

Shadow is Vex's "boat", and also works as a finisher. It may, even though its effect is relatively mediocre (because historically this type of effect - stack attack power - isn't too strong in Shadow Isles), be incredibly powerful for several reasons:

First, it draws Vex. Secondly, it has 5 life, and costs 5 mana. This means that, if you levelled your Vex, Shadow will always be at least a 7/5 unit with Fearsome that costs 5 mana. This is strong enough to see play.

Grimm

Rating: ★★★★★

This unit is incredibly strong.

He can kill practically any card with 4 health or less with its effect, which might be incredibly relevant for the meta next season. As we mentioned before, small units that are "engines" in their respective decks should be more popular in the meta - even more so now that Ballistic Bot has returned to Standard.

6 mana doesn't feel like too expensive for its effect; the only problem this card has is health. 3 health is a bit too little for a 6 mana unit, but I'd argue it is a fair statline for the effect it has.

Kharox

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Kharox is an interesting unit that makes me believe Riot also wants us to play bench units in 2024. It might not be that appealing in Mordekaiser decks because one of the greatest issues this archetype has is board space, particularly after we start to play the combo. Kharox, then, may become a nuisance to this archetype because it creates an additional unit on board.

In an ideal world, you'll create a gigantic Tentacle as you kill your units on the board. However, in practice, this isn't as efficient as the strategies that already exist in Shadow Isles.

Gloomsprites

Rating: ★★★☆☆

This unit is also quite interesting, considering we can use it in many aggressive Bandle City decks that would take full advantage of its keyword, Impact.

The idea behind Gloomsprites is to give aggressive decks a card that lets them snowball the game early on. Unfortunately, we all know that a 2-health unit will hardly live long enough to deal a significant amount of damage through Impact.

I'd say that if you manage to deal damage through its Impact twice, this would already be atypical for this card. In any case, this unit is quite solid and respectable - I just don't think it will affect the meta too much.

The Family Reunion

Rating: ★★★☆☆

This is another strong Story, but, so far, it is the weakest of the bunch.

This card is very flexible because it lets you play both offensively and defensively. You can both Boost an enemy unit with Gloom, or Boost an allied unit that has Impact. But it doesn't go much beyond that.

It might be a bit too dependent on Vex's archetypes, considering it doesn't fit other strategies that aren't Gloom or Impact - this is why it deserves an average rating.

Grotesque Gift

Rating: ★★★★☆

In addition to having the best illustration in the entire expansion, this card will carry the early turns of Gloom archetypes on its back.

It is a very simple unit: it punishes your opponent for playing the game. It'll force them to play a removal on it immediately, or sacrifice a unit to its effect, which will grant Gloom to the first unit your opponent summoned after it enters play.

Protecting this unit may be a bit difficult because of its statline (just 1/1), but its cheap cost makes up for this problem. You can either play it very early in the match, when your opponent doesn't have mana to answer it, or later on to try to stop them from developing another unit. If they do risk it and play a unit, this card will compromise that unit's stats as soon as it hits the board because of Gloom.

Even though this card is directly connected to Vex's archetype, I believe it won't only see play with her. Grotesque Gift will likely have a very long shelf-life in Legends of Runeterra, and players will explore it quite a lot in several decks that won't necessarily play Vex.

Uncle Milty

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Uncle Milty may, unfortunately, be too slow for the next meta, regardless of its effect, which grants him 2 Spirit once you complete a Story. Keep in mind that you'll complete Stories in three turns usually (two at the very least), which means you'll have to wait at least three turns to drop him safely on the board as a 2-mana 4/4. At that point in the game, it might not be worth it to spend your resources on him.

Not to mention, he doesn't have any relevant keywords or other effects, so it's not like he's similar to Smash & Dash in this regard.

Another point against him is that he's in the mana curve in which you want to play the Stories themselves - which means you'll prefer to play a Story on turn 2, instead of Uncle Milty. This forces you to play him on turn 3 or 4, which is a bit clunky for the type of unit he is.

The Wingsgiving

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Attention, Timelines lovers: this card came to replace Concurrent Timelines.

The Wingsgiving will give a new face to this very-fun effect, besides making it much less toxic, as it is now much more interactive. Now, to Transform a unit, you need to spend 3 mana to summon this landmark, and then play your unit on the board. Only after that, you'll be able to Transform your unit into a more expensive one.

Then, you'll pass priority to your opponent multiple times as you play your combo, which allows them ample time to answer The Wingsgiving.

Note: cards like Rissu, The Silent Storm and Banana Blaster have returned to Standard. These cards were part of the champless Timelines deck in Eternal.

Monstrous Eruption

Rating: ★★★☆☆

This spell might be great to protect your units if you're playing with a Gloom list or other control archetypes. In the future, it might be viable

in aggressive Bandle City decks as well.

I can see Monstrous Eruption surviving a long time in the meta - it might even become better as time goes on.

Allay

Rating: ★★★★☆

This unit is flexible and solid, so it will probably stand out in lists because it lets you target an enemy while developing a unit on the board.

This is relevant because she will always enter play either as a great aggressive unit with Impact or as an interactive unit that will deal with the enemy board (and, on top of it all, you'll level up your Vex with her too).

Allay might also burst the bubble of the Gloom archetype and, in the future, see play in aggressive decks.

Tree Sprites

Rating: ★★★★★

This unit is extremely relevant for the next meta, as it matches both the Gloom archetype and the Spirit archetype with Lux: Illuminated.

You'll see it a lot in the upcoming months in several archetypes. It will be an extremely cheap finisher with an incredibly impactful ability for the meta.

For its cost alone (4 mana), this card already deserves 5 stars. This is far too cheap for the effect it has.

Obviously, its effect is a bit of a "win more condition", and, if you don't have any units on the board, it won't work. Still, considering it will be quite easy to put units on the board in the next meta, Tree Sprites will likely be extremely efficient in most situations.

Beefcake Mayor

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Even though this unit really fits the new Gloom and Spirit archetypes, it might be too slow, and maybe even a bit too optimistic for the next meta.

Vex lists also might not be looking for a unit that scales on the board this slowly, at every Round Start. Lux: Illuminated decks might not even want to play Bandle City all that much.

For these reasons, Beefcake Mayor, despite its great stats (which were the only reason I gave him 3 stars), will struggle to find its place in the sun.

Lux: Illuminated

Rating: ★★★★☆

Lux: Illuminated is an incredibly solid champion. She'll revive Demacia's "swarm" archetypes in the meta maybe even a bit too much - she might be too strong.

Lux's 2.0 version does what every Support unit should do: she protects itself with something when she attacks. This automatically makes Lux: Illuminated the best Support unit in the entire game - which means Lux will always be great at her mana curve, turn 3, and may even be a consistent, aggressive unit.

Her level up condition seems a bit slow or challenging, but, in practice, it isn't that difficult: it is a fair cost. Cards like Cithria the Bold have returned to Standard to help Lux and her new archetype.

Her strength might be precisely just how simple she is, and how linear and easy to understand her game style is. She'll be incredibly popular and strong.

Incandescence

Rating: ★★★★☆

This is Lux: Illuminated's signature spell. Incandescence is a great tool to level her up, and also accelerate your game rhythm.

It is incredibly powerful because you can use it in combat as a fast-speed spell, and this way grant all your units lots of stats. This means your opponent won't be able to prepare themselves for your attacks all that well - you may just play Incandescence after they block and ruin their plans.

Even though this card is reasonably strong, it is a bit clunky to play it, considering a Lux: Illuminated deck will focus heavily on playing units on curve and respecting its mana curve as much as it can. For this reason, 2 copies of this spell instead of 3 may be a bit better.

Spritelings

Rating: ★★★☆☆

You can summon this unit in several ways through a few new cards from this expansion, but it is also a collectible unit.

Yeah, you'll use Spritelings on your Lux lists, but, apart from them, you'll hardly use them for anything else, considering they're 2/2s with no other effects. With this in mind, they don't deserve a rating higher than 3 stars.

Jarro Lightfeather

Rating: ★★★★☆

Ezreal… I mean, Jarro Lightfeather will be a "staple" in Lux decks just because he is extremely cheap.

Just by having Spirit, he'll automatically help her level up, and, as he gives Spirit to another unit in your hand, he'll help you maintain an aggressive game style.

It is a bit challenging to analyze this card. He is not that impactful on the board on turn 1, the turn you should play him. However, he is essential for this archetype because he doesn't compete in mana curve with any other card in this list. Additionally, with him, you'll always have a unit on the board early on to dominate the game, and keep up the pressure at all times.

Basically, he deserves 4 stars because he is too cheap for the effect he has.

Luminosprite

Rating: ★★★★☆

This is the "snowball" card in the Spirit archetype. The main idea behind it is to stack Spirit on it to copy it onto the ally it will Support.

The most ideal turn progression in the Spirit archetype would be: Jarro Lightfeather on turn 1 granting Spirit to your Luminosprite in hand, then Luminosprite on turn 2, and then on turn 3 Lux: Illuminated.

This progression is great whether you're attacking on odds or evens. Considering Luminosprite is critical for this strong early game, it will probably be a very consistent card next meta.

The Light of Demacia

Rating: ★★★★★

This Story can easily take Lux: Illuminated's place if you don't have her on turn 3, and might even be a safer play overall.

The Spirit archetype focuses on "growing the stats of allied units in a sort of unstoppable snowball style", and this card, undoubtedly, is the most consistent card to do this.

Until you get to act III, you'll probably have already built yourself an extensive board. So, you will also be able to use The Light of Demacia as a finisher as well as the main engine in your list.

It is impossible to imagine a Spirit deck without this card. For these reasons, it deserves 5 stars.

The Petricite Hall

Rating: ★★★☆☆

I gave this card an average rating because Demacia might not be in need of its game style - Capturing units and playing Suppression might not be that interesting to this region next season.

Not to mention, its act III, which Obliterates all Captured units, is extremely mediocre and, in general, not very useful.

Demacia won't support many control styles next meta, if any. The Petricite Hall only managed to earn 3 stars at all because Suppression is a strong Curse, and this landmark might be useful in future metas when Demacia is more prepared to support a slower play style again.

Aberrant Mageseeker

Rating: ★★★☆☆

It was extremely difficult to analyze this card because its stats are terrible, but its effect is quite strong.

As the Spirit archetype is a "swarm" archetype, it won't care that this card has terrible stats, but it is still expensive to invest our resources to summon this card, not to mention the slot it occupies in our lists.

I would rather not give it a rating that is too high, so, for now, it gets 3 stars, which is fair. In all honesty, it was difficult to fit it in the Spirit deck, and then also find situations in which it was powerful there.

Smoldering Smirk

Rating: ★★★★☆

Smoldering Smirk was everything Demacia needed right now. Because Concerted Strike rotated to Eternal, this region had lost the ability to deal with the enemy board directly in Standard. That's why Smoldering Smirk is so good: it may revive this game style in Demacia.

You might have realized that it is a bit complex to play this card in your Spirit deck with precision. Typically, you'll prefer to play units on curve and prioritize developing them instead of playing spells.

However, the secret with these decks is to know when is the right time to bank mana so you can play spells like this one, which might literally win you games.

Forgotten Artifact

Rating: ★★★☆☆

No, this is not a Shurima card.

When I discussed this spell with my friends, I heard the following argument: "Demacia doesn't need it, it has several units with Challenger already, so it's a redundant spell."

However, the Spirit archetype doesn't have any units with Challenger, and may need them to end some games by pulling a few blockers out of the way.

Still, this spell is still a bit expensive for what it does and doesn't deserve more than 3 stars. I believe one copy of it, at most, will be useful in the Spirit archetype.

Rising Light

Rating: ★★★★☆

Unlike Incandescence, Rising Light has the potential to be the finisher of Spirit archetypes, even though it is a slow speed spell that you can't play when you attack (which doesn't match Lux: Illuminated's game style). As you'll Boost your units 3 times, it is almost as if you played a For Demacia!. Actually, treat this card as if it were a For Demacia! that only works in Spirit decks.

With this in mind, I also believe that only 2 copies of this spell in your deck is optimal. More than that and it will be a bit too heavy for your deck's mana curve.

Dreamlight Alina

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Unfortunately, this card is too expensive for the Spirit deck.

On turn 8, you're either ending the game or setting up a turn with a combo of spells like Rising Light + some other card. At this point of the game, you probably don't want to play a unit with ridiculously weak stats and an arguably mediocre effect as well.

You can argue that it may, potentially, buff your weakest ally considerably, or fill your board when you need it to. However, as true as this is, there are more efficient ways to do this with the new cards that released in this very expansion, like some Ionia cards we'll see next.

Lillia

Rating: ★★★★★

Lillia is a very versatile champion who might see play in several archetypes just because her card package has aggressive and responsive elements. Even though she is incredibly specific and peculiar, Lillia may potentially break out of her archetype and venture into other game styles, maybe even combo game styles.

This champion works with a new mechanic introduced in this set: Sleep. When you put a unit to Sleep, you'll put it into a landmark, and summon it again on the board when its countdown reaches 0. As these landmarks always have countdown 1, your unit will return to the board after one turn.

This mechanic opens up a lot of possibilities. You can put enemy units to Sleep, then destroy their landmark. Or put allies to Sleep to force them to activate their summon effects another time (this is mostly what a Lillia deck wants to do). She is so versatile that she can play with both other champions, Lux and Vex, as well as play alone.

She will put Ionia back on the map as a region that is relevant competitively, something it hasn't been since the Glory in Navori expansion.

Blooming Bud

Rating: ★★★★☆

Lillia's signature spell is the only card in her package that lets you Sleep any unit, enemy or allied, and therefore it is the best Ionia card in Standard, as Concussive Palm has rotated.

This card is practically a spiritual successor to Concussive Palm because they do the same thing in your matches - "stop your opponent from attacking with a strong unit".

However, Blooming Bud goes beyond this because it might also be great to reactivate your units' summon effects, particularly in the Sleep archetype.

In Eternal, it will probably be broken in Karma Sett Piltover & Zaun decks because, for 6 mana, you'll be able to remove any unit just by turning it into a landmark and then playing Aftershock (it's 7 mana if you created an Aftershock through a Piltovan Tellstones).

The Dewdrop Harvest

Rating: ★★★★☆

This card will be a staple in Lillia or Spirit lists.

This is one of the few Story that only has two acts, but, still, it is incredibly powerful.

With it, you can fix your mana curve if you happen not to draw any units on your initial hand - just summon Spritelings with The Dewdrop Harvest. Not to mention that, considering you'll summon a unit and a landmark on the same turn, this means you'll level up your Lillia as well.

Mister Root

Rating: ★★★★★

This card is incredible. Ionia was in dire need of good card draw, and this card certainly fits that definition.

As this region has always wanted this type of card, Mister Root might go a lot further than Lillia and Spirit archetypes, and see play in practically every Ionia deck.

This card will have a stupidly long shelf-life, and will be relevant until Riot creates another card that is better than this one. It is on the path to be the same as Time Trick is to Piltover & Zaun, only to Ionia instead.

Petal Pixie

Rating: ★★★★★

Remember when I said that Ionia got remarkable, cheap cards that fill your board fast? Well, this card is exactly that.

This unit is like the new Marai Warden, but for Lillia and Spirit archetypes.

Ionia has always struggled with board presence. Units in this region used to have weak stats and strong effects - now you can play Ionia and still put pressure on the board because of Spirit.

Sprite Dance

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Even though the effect in this card really matches Lillia decks, it is a bit clunky in them, and it's difficult to make it work exactly like you want it to.

As much as anyone will enjoy the idea of reactivating your allies' summon effects by replaying them on the board after recalling them, Sleeping them is just much better.

Sprite Dance is apparently a bit redundant for Lillia's archetype, so it might not see much play. Even more so if we consider into the equation that there are Recall cards that are much better in Ionia and Standard, like Recall.)

Ophelis Gardener

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Its effect is not that great. However, it costs 3 mana and has decent stats and a Sleep effect, so it is automatically considered a good unit. It will definitely see play in Lillia lists.

Nothing beyond that, however. This is a solid unit that deserves 3 stars because of its stats and because it is a bit too dependent on this archetype.

Sprite Mother

Rating: ★★★★★

You must be thinking: "so far, I still don't see which cards I should Sleep to reactivate their summon effects". One of those cards is Sprite Mother.

This will be the main unit in Spirit and Lillia lists because she will give you that "unstoppable snowball" effect. The endless stats she'll grant globally to herself and Spritelings, if you summon her multiple times, will be too much for your most of your opponents to handle.

Sprite Mother will be the main win condition in most decks that focus on the new expansion and bring Lux and Lillia. We'll probably see her all the time.

Steel Gale

Rating: ★★★★★★

Yes, that's correct - I gave this card 6 stars.

Yasuo, who has just returned to Standard, also just got a gift from his brother, Yone.

This spell is one of the best spells in the game right now just because it simply destroys all strategies that are popular in the meta. As most decks currently focus on playing several units one after the other, Stunning them, twice, for 3 mana, is absurdly strong right now.

Yasuo is currently strong enough to revive even Malphite in this expansion, so prepare to see a lot of this archetype.

The Rootbound Path

Rating: ★★★★☆

Even though this card's effect, which draws cards and reduces the cost of the cards in your hand, is incredible, I don't think it deserves 5 stars. Spending 4 mana to draw 1 card on turn 4 is not that efficient.

Apart from that, this landmark has a lot of potential, and, if you manage to survive after not doing anything on turn 4, you can be sure that in 2 turns you'll have a lot of value just because you'll reduce the cost of your entire hand. Not to mention, this card really matches Taliyah, which may enable a few broken combos in this meta.

The Heart of the Tree

Rating: ★★★☆☆

This landmark's effects are a bit too optimistic. You'll spend 7 mana to summon a single unit on the board, and then, after that, gain a lot of value with the next acts.

I'd like to compare it to Back Alley Bar because they work somewhat similarly. Both are an extremely slow play on turn 7, but, if you stick them to the board at least for a couple of turns, you'll create so much value the game might as well have ended on the spot.

The Heart of The Tree, however, might not create as much value as Back Alley Bar did in Seraphine decks - that's why I can't give it a rating higher than 3 stars. It appears to be too slow, and, despite its strong effects, the earliest you can use its act III is on turn 9, a turn in which the game should have ended a long time before.

If you read this far, thank you! I hope you liked reading this article.

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See you next time!