LoR: Path of Champions' Powers that would work in Competitive

Did you know what Jinx, Yasuo and Gwen have in common? The three of them got their Path of Champions powers as new cards for their kit or as a buff to their own card text.

When the Labs mode was announced, Riot commented that they would lightly perform this role of being an actual place for development too. From these training grounds, we had the Journey to the Peak mode, in which the player went against the game's A.I., climbing Targon, with either Leona or Diana, which had their own decks and special abilities.

Then we had the Lab of Legends with the same proposal, but with new options for champions and abilities, which then evolved into Lab of Legends: Saltwater Scourge, which had a map and options to choose your battles. Finally, we've reached The Path of Champions, which also used the map, but now you evolved your champion outside the adventure, and it eventually evolved into The Path of Champions 2.0, the version we have now.

But besides being a lab for them to progress the game system against A.I., we could also see some tests happening to champions and the creation of exclusive cards for this mode. For now, three of these tests ended up going to PvP, but we might see others.

For a long time, Legends of Runeterra players said that Yasuo's problem was how dependent the deck was on drawing this champion, as without it, the stuns had no effect besides delaying the opponent's game.

That was until the Forces From Beyond set, in which they released Yasuo's boat, Windswept Hillock. (When Legends of Runeterra players talk about boats, they're talking about cards that automatically draw champions, such as The Syren, The Leviathan and The Tuskraider).

Besides drawing the champion, Windswept Hillock also has an effect of stunning enemies. It stunts the strongest enemy when summoned and when you get the Attack Token. And this is almost exactly Yasuo's 1-star power from The Path of Champions, which stuns the strongest enemy if you have the Attack Token at the start of your turn.

It could be a simple coincidence, but they did something very similar to Gwen. This champion 1-star power in The Path of Champions summons a Ghastly Band at Round Start in case you don't have the Attack Token, and in every round in its 3-star version. It works very similar to the landmark Opulent Foyer, which was this champion's kit addition in the Darkin Saga: Domination.

Just like Windswept Hillock, Opulent Foyer summons a Ghastly Band when it's summoned and then every time you get the Attack Token. This way imitating the champion's power, but in a more offensive version.

Finally, we have Jinx.

Contrary to the other two champions, Jinx didn't get a card that imitates her power. She got her power directly as a level 1 buff. This champion's 2-star buff creates in the player's hand a Super Mega Death Rocket! when a champion levels up.

Though champions like LeBlanc have gotten a similar buff before, it is the first time we could experience this change before it was officialized. This buff was so impactful that it made this champion skyrocket in terms of play rate and win rate, becoming one of the most played champions in the current meta.

Of course Veigar players would like to see his burst Darkness power in the game's competitive mode, but let's be a bit more realistic in this article, even more because we already have Senna to make our Darknesses fast speed.

Bard

Bard was released as a very oppressive champion, and he dominated the meta, and as a result his Origin was nerfed to only activate after the game's round three. His power in Path grants a summoned unit that was buffed a random keyword,

With the new Empower Targon cards that buff cards in the player's hand, a card that reproduces this effect could be released for this region. Besides fitting this champion a lot, it would see play with Freljord and its global buffs or even with Ionia and its hand buffs.

Ekko

One of the biggest complaints about Ekko is how dependent he is on Shurima. Without their Predicts, he has trouble levelling up.

His power of granting +1|+1 to units seen in predictions could become a card in his region that Predicts and has this passive effect.

Garen

Garen is a simple champion, and unfortunately, he is way too simple.

Riot tried changing him to buff allies when summoned, but it wasn't enough for him to see a lot of play in the meta.

An option that can come up is inserting his Path power as a buff in him. His power is increasing an ally's stats in +1|+1 when he strikes. If Garen had this power and increased stats this way, he would be a bigger threat on board.

Diana and Leona

Both champions have the same problem: if you use one of these champions, your deck can't have many cards that don't have Daybreak or Nightfall, as this reduces the champion's effect. Their Path powers make up for this by granting all units a Daybreak or Nightfall effect.

It would be interesting to have a card that mirrored this effect with a simple buff, such as Twilit Protector. This way, you could use less specific cards of these champions' kits and test out combinations with other regions without losing their effects.

Tahm Kench

Tahm Kench always suffered for being too dependent on Soraka. In his own region, Tahm can't survive long enough to use his effects. However, one of his Path powers could help make up for this weakness: Every time you capture a unit, create a copy of it in hand, and it costs 1 mana less.

A card that had this passive effect could help Tahm get into his own region more, as though he might not survive, he can steal cards from the opponent, a la Bilgewater style.

Taliyah

Though she has been used in many different metas and even showed up in 2022 LoR World Championship, Taliyah isn't that strong. She has the problem of depending on a landmark on board to create value. If you don't have a landmark when you play her at level 1, she does nothing.

But her 1-star power can be a good buff for this champion. In Path of Champions, she starts the game with a Hibernating Rockbear on board, so it wouldn't be too crazy to allow this champion to create a Hibernating Rockbear when she is summoned if you don't have a landmark to copy.

Ornn

Ornn came in with equipment, but he never managed to see much play through them. One of the biggest reasons for that is how Freljord is limited when it comes to equipment, with only 3 cards, which are: The Darkin Spear, Combat Cook and Bone Club.

Maybe a card that mirrors his 2-star power would improve his archetype. This power consists in manifesting equipment. This would open up the opportunity of creating varied effects from other regions without Ornn being dependent on Cook for that, and it would take advantage of Ornn's ability to copy equipment.

Vayne

It might be a bit scary to see Vayne here, as she has dominated the meta for a while, but she has a very interesting power which can help a card that hasn't seen much play though it has many fans: Golden Spatula. This equipment used by Urf is created by the card Icathian Myths, but it is a bit expensive.

If it had a random keyword, as it gets with Vayne's 3-star power, maybe would it see more play? This type of RNG matches Urf very well.

Yuumi

Yuumi is a well-balanced champion that never really got much spotlight, even more so because her ability is to spotlight other cards, but one of her Path powers might be interesting in PvP.

At 3-stars, Fated effects grant an extra +1|+1, granting +2|+2 per turn to your units. It seems an effect simple enough to see play in a new card for this archetype.

We can see that many powers that exist in Path of Champions can be used to revive older champions through buffs in them or their archetypes, and they open up the possibility of experimentation with other regions.

Besides powers, in Path of Champions we also have some exclusive cards and relics that grant other powers. All of these might also show up sometime.

With the three champions that already had their powers represented in PvP, there are good chances that we might see this happen again and maybe in a more impactful way. Do you have any power that you wish to see in PvP?