Nidalee, Neeko and The Poro King: First Impressions of the New Champions

The Heart of the Huntress brings us 3 new champions, all connected to nature and animals: Nidalee, Neeko and The Poro King, the new exclusive champions. Be it to fight against hunters or coming from the imagination of a child, the three have come for us to build new decks and revive old ones.

In the newest expansion, we have Neeko and Nidalee facing Piltovan hunters which are invading the Shurima jungle and capturing the local fauna, but both champions are able to free many of the captured animals, including creatures from other regions. Meanwhile, in Freljord, we can get to know the local stories and lore a bit more through Ingvar the Younger, the local specialist in Yetis, Poros and Elnuks, who tells us all about the adventures of The Poro King.

The main idea of this expansion will be to focus on the bluffing skills in the game with the Ambush and Disguise mechanics which are brought by two of the new champions.

Nidalee was found alone in the eastern Shurima jungles as a cub, in her animal form. She was raised by Paakas, dangerous cats from this region, which taught her how to survive and hunt. Even though she was a skilled hunter, Nidalee sometimes lost control of her own body and swapped her paws for feet, fangs for teeth, and claws for nails. She only really trusted two ethereal figures in the jungle who would call her by an affectionate name, who she knew she could trust, even though they were strangers.

Despite all her differences, Nidalee grew alongside her pack. Until one day, the group's matriarch found herself with hunters, alone. Nidalee arrived just before the final blow, and, in her anger, fought against the hunters. In the middle of the fight, she felt another part of her awakening, becoming something more human instead of Paaka, but keeping her cat-like reflexes, and using one of the hunters' spears against them. Besides that, she realized she could understand what they said while they cursed her and ran.

Unfortunately, the matriarch didn't survive and Nidalee took her place, swearing to protect the group against any invader using her feline powers and her human skills.

The Champion

In League of Legends, Nidalee is a Mage Assassin, who comes out of the jungle to attack unaware opponents. Her game style consists of lurking while she waits for the right moment to throw her spear and prowl.

Her passive is Prowl, which increases her movement speed in the bushes and while she moves towards enemy champions, besides marking those hit by her spear and traps. Nidalee doesn't have an ultimate; instead, she has the ability Aspect of the Cougar, which allows her to transform into her cougar form and use another set of skills.

Her human skills are Javelin Toss, which allows her to throw a long-range spear, which deals damage according to the distance travelled; Bushwhack, which allows her to place a trap on the ground; and Primal Surge, which heals her or an ally and increases an ally's attack speed. Her cougar skills are Takedown, which makes her next attack deal extra damage; Pounce, which allows her to leap in a direction or against targets marked by her spear, or by the Bushwhack; and Swipe, which strikes enemies in an area in front of her.

In Legends of Runeterra, Nidalee got a well-needed redesign. Her human form is much more feral, presenting animal traits, green tattoos, and even clothes more animal-like. Even her spear now has more details, looking like a more natural and magic weapon. Her feline form was also enhanced, showing she isn't a simple cougar, but a magical Paaka.

Nidalee brings the new Ambush mechanic, which consists of playing the card as a generic unit called Shadow in the Brush. By doing so, you create a spell with an equal cost to the Ambush value which transforms your Shadow into your unit, usually bringing an effect during the transformation. That allows you to bluff your unit, as even a 6-cost unit can hide in the 2-cost brush.

The champion herself can ambush, but she doesn't offer any effect when transforming. However, this also has its benefits. At level 1, Nidalee is a 5|3 with Quick Attack, something dangerous to block, as her keyword allows for favorable trades or considerable damage if she isn't blocked.

To level up, Nidalee needs to see 4 other units being summoned or transformed, but it is important to know that when she is in the Shadow in the Brush form she doesn't gain points towards her level up.

At level 2 she gets Overwhelm and creates a Javelin Toss when she strikes the enemy Nexus, something easy to do with 6 attack. As she strikes the Nexus, she also swaps back into her human form, allowing her more transformations if she stays on board and more Tosses, which is a great removal spell.

Other Cards

The other cards in Nidalee's kit work with the Ambush mechanic, acting as hybrids between spells and units. It is important to have a variety of them in your deck, as, if they are just a few copies, your opponent can know what you're playing as decks get more popular. We have simple units, such as Bristlehog, which benefits from Transformations just like Chip does with landmarks; Towering Pairofant, which is a big Overwhelm unit; Aurora Hallunatis, which summons a copy of itself when transforming; and Big Game Tycoon, which doubles the stats of your units that transform and will serve as the deck's win condition. We also have Bushwhack Trap, as a removal tool, allowing you to use transformations proactively, and Prowl, Nidalee's champion spell which allows you to bluff the Shadows for just 1 cost, a very powerful effect to protect your units.

We also have units with more elaborate effects which will catch your opponent off guard if you can bluff them. Avenging Vastaya will be an important unit to play against control decks; Blimp-Pack Poacher allows you to remove enemy units, but offers a certain risk for that; and All-Terrain Trooper offers a powerful combo with Nidalee and Towering Pairofant.

Possible Decks

Nidalee on its own can fulfill a role similar to Sivir's in Midrange decks as a removal tool for vulnerable units and creating favorable trades, but without the safety of Spellshield. However, she, with her deck, has the advantage of creating surprising moments and having card protection such as Avenging Vastaya

An obvious combination for this champion is with Bandle City and Gnar, with cards such as Chief Nakotak and Curious Changelings. Currently, the transformation archetype suffers as it depends on End of Round effects to transform, but with Ambush you can transform immediately and get immediate effects. Besides, she can work well with Neeko, but I'll talk a bit more about that when I talk about Neeko.

Demacia is a possibility, using cards such as Laurent Duelist to grant Nidalee Challenger and take full advantage of her keywords. Besides, any deck that enjoys summoning several units can take advantage of her level up condition, so Aggro decks or Norra decks can come up with her.

In the Eternal format, Nidalee will work well with Concurrent Timelines, as close to all units in your deck will be transformed. But then we'll have the problem of not having as many impactful units in Shurima as we'd like.

Nidalee should appear in Shurima Midrange decks, as she can be played as an almost unbeatable unit on turn 3 and create board advantage or health advantage. She is a unit that needs to be removed before she levels up; otherwise she can end up dealing a lot of damage with her attack and her Javelin. It is quite likely that she sees a lot of play as she is easy to use, but also because she has that bluffing aspect to her.

Neeko is from a vastayan tribe called Oovi-Kat, descending very closely from the vastayashai'rei, the original ancestors of the race. They lived isolated on a remote island east of Runeterra. They have incredible empathy skills, being able to mix and relate to the spiritual energy of other beings, which they call sho'ma, and also acquire new forms. Neeko was very close to the other Oovi-Kat and was very curious and energetic.

However, one day there was a big mysterious cataclysm which wiped the whole tribe out along with the island, but with a sacrifice made by the ancient ones in the tribe, she managed to survive, transforming herself into a bird and flying until she got tired and fell into the sea, floating up to a ship and hiding in it. When they reached the coast, Neeko had trouble communicating with the people, as they only used words to communicate and didn't use sho'ma, so she had to escape again.

Fortunately, she managed to reach the jungle, where she met a group of felines with which she identified with and was reminded of home. One of them revealed themselves as a woman, Nidalee, with which Neeko got very close and told her whole story to. Though she fit into the group well, Neeko was still very curious and wanted to explore the world more. Besides, she would get dreams of her ancestors showing her native land and saying she needed to go on a new journey. She asked Nidalee to go with her, but she refused. So, Neeko decided to go alone, determined to create a tribe of her own of people who loved each other.

The Champion

In League of Legends, Neeko is a mage that camouflages herself to distract and trick enemies, while she spreads effects on them. She recently got an update to her skills to enhance this aspect of her kit.

Her passive is Inherent Glamour, which allows her to transform into ally champions, monsters, minions or objects. Her skills are Blooming Burst, which deals multiple explosions in an area; Shapesplitter, which creates a clone of herself as she becomes invisible; and Tangle-Barbs, which throws a projectile which damages and roots enemies.

Her ultimate is Pop Blossom, which creates an explosion of stunning colors after Neeko channels this ability.

In Legends of Runeterra, Neeko was created around her desire to create a tribe and get closer to animals (and people). As a Runeterra champion, she allows you to add followers with the subtype Bird, Cat, Dog, Elnuk, Fae, Reptile and Spider to your deck.

At level 1, she can disguise herself as a 2-cost follower from her origin, working exactly as the original unit does (including Play and Summon effects), until she leaves the board or levels up. To level up, you need to attack with allies of 6 different subtypes. At level 2, she becomes a huge threat, granting +1+1 globally to allies with a subtype, which will probably be all the units in your deck.

They did a wonderful job at her level 1 with Neeko disguising herself and transforming herself and causing a big effect. Besides that, her champion spell allows you to protect your units, reactivating very useful summoning effects, which represents her skill of the same name pretty well.

Other Cards

As a Runeterra champion, Neeko doesn't have units of her own, but rather units of her own origin, and it is important to have a bit of every subtype. As part of her kit, we have many creatures from many regions thought to be activated considering other subtypes.

Among the biggest highlights, we have Deck Hunter, which manifests a card to level up Neeko; Anura & Froop, which allow you to speed up the game; and Glacial Saurian, which buffs and draws cards. We also have Bonehide Tri-Tail and Ferocious Fluffs, which act as finishers and threats for the end game.

As spiders, we have Tufted Webspinner, which can allow good attacks, and Necrotic Arachnoid, which will get stronger as soon as the Spider subtype is added to Necrotic Nestling, something that has already been confirmed to come by Riot.

Possible Decks

Neeko seems to be an aggressive champion, centering around filling the board with units with subtypes and constantly attacking. Her Origin seems powerful enough on its own, which will allow many combinations. But, she doesn't have a very strong finisher if she can't keep units on board.

The best regions for Neeko will be those which have varied options of subtypes. Freljord has Yetis, Weaponmasters and Poros, besides Warden of the Tribes, which is an excellent finisher which should grant at least +6|+6 to your units. Demacia has access to Elites, Weapon masters, Birds and Dragons, besides cards to Rally your buffed units. Another option is Bandle City, to have access to Yordles and Mecha-yordles, besides Norra, which can create many different subtypes.

Shurima can be an option with Nidalee, which benefits a lot from the many creatures summoned to level her up, and at the same time, this champion herself has a subtype, which gets buffed by Neeko.

It might take some time before the ideal Neeko deck appears, but she should have several different options for her region. It seems she will be a very aggressive champion that is dependent on board, so, if this is your type of game style, it will be a good investment, as she seems powerful.

The Poro King is a mythological figure in the Runeterra universe. He came up in a game mode in League of Legends called The Legend of the Poro King. In this mode, players could launch Poros at each other and, after 10 hits, the Poro King was summoned to your team, and it was a powerful unit that helped you win the game. The success of Poros and the Poro King guaranteed its spot as a champion in Legends of Runeterra.

In Legends of Runeterra, The Poro King shows up as part of the imagination of Ingvar the Younger, a freljordian girl who creates stories for her stuffed animals and other toys. She already appeared in the game ever since its launch, through the Yeti cards which mentioned her, and we also know that she is Babbling Bjerg's niece. She would probably be a great friend to Nunu, so she might be a clue that he is coming in the future.

The Champion

Poros have always been close to their Poro Snax, an item that also first appeared in League of Legends. The Poro King isn't an exception, being particularly connected to them and to his subjects.

As a Runeterra champion, he allows you to add any card that has Poro in its name. His level 1 creates a Poro Snax at the first time you summon a Poro each round, allowing you to grant many stats to your Poros, including his Majesty.

To level up, you need to summon 6 different Poros, which isn't hard, considering the variety that exists and how easy it is to create random Poros. At level 2, he creates a special Poro Snax which, besides buffing Poros, grants them a special effect.

His champion spell, Council Call, allows you to draw 2 Poros and buffs them.

Other Cards

The Poro King, just like Neeko, didn't bring many new cards, but he uses the old ones pretty well.

Of the new cards, Ingvar the Younger has the biggest highlight, as she can buff all Poros on board when played or create new Poros, if necessary. Dragon Prince Grinzo and Chemtech Catermobile grant benefits if you play Poros in their respective regions, but are not very impressive with the Poro King deck. Maybe Grinzo is a bit more interesting, as the region is also getting Siren Song, which works well with the 1-cost Poros.

Possible Decks

Surprisingly, The Poro King should have many possible pairs. He will work as a value unit to buff Poros, which will grow exponentially with his presence on board. But, besides that, he is also a threat, as he will get big stats in time and won't be easy to remove without something like Vengeance.

The Poro King region is very independent, getting everything it needs from Freljord, and adding other strong cards such as Poro Stories, which will create many units for you, and Poro Cannon, which will create two elusive threats. As a result, any region can work with the King, depending on what you want.

Shurima can work, with Kai'Sa taking advantage of Poros getting many keywords with the Fabled Poro. Demacia can protect them with Form Up! and Rally. Ionia disrupts the opponent's game plan as you protect your important units. Targon can use cards such as Kayle and Xolaani the Bloodweaver, which benefit from buffed allies and big boards.

I believe The Poro King will be very present in the game. In the past, Poro decks have already shown up at certain times and their main weakness was depending on drawing Poro Snaxs and depending on Freljord, but both things are solved by the King.

Though this was a simple expansion with specific kits, but many varied cards, I believe we'll see many changes in the game. Nidalee and Neeko allow you to express new game skills, and The Poro King re-releases an archetype which is beloved by many players. And, besides the champions, we have many diverse new cards which will create new decks or change the old ones.

Which champion are you most excited to play? Tell us in the comment section!