Malphite is the latest addition to the ever-growing Legends of Runeterra champion roster and, by the looks of it, he’ll definitely pack a punch! The “Shard of the Monolith” has been given a “new lease on life” in LoR, and boy have the folks over at Riot done an amazing job at capturing the very essence of this seemingly forgotten top lane behemoth!
In League, he’s nothing more than a humanoid pile of rocks who can throw himself with reckless abandon — there’s very little role-playing involved as his design leaves no room for it. The fantasy of playing a mountainous champion who’s more akin to a force majeure hasn’t been realized, which is why we’re so glad to see Malphite in this entirely new (and much more appropriate) light!
Legends of Runeterra | Malphite Makes An Appearance
“Malphite” is a 7 mana champion from Targon with 6 | 10 and Tough. To level him up, you’ll need to summon landmarks that are worth at least 12 mana in total. Quite a beefy frontline, to say the least! Getting him removed from the board will require a bit of effort, which is only appropriate lore-wise.
The most interesting aspect about this whole thing is that landmarks summoned from spells and abilities also count towards that aforementioned 12+ mana tally, which means you can level him up surprisingly quickly if you get the right cards early on — not to mention Taliyah’s ability to copy allied landmarks with ease!
Once leveled up, he’ll grow to 7 | 11 and gain a Round Start passive (which will also proc whenever he’s summoned or leveled up). At the start of each round, if you happen to have an attack token, you’ll get “Unstoppable Force” in your hand as well
“Unstoppable Force” is a 2 mana Slow spell that’s also Fleeting. Once activated, all opposing units will be stunned. This, in short, is simply amazing. Perhaps “overpowered” would be the most apt way to describe it! And, frankly, it needs no explanation as to why that’s so.
“Malphite’s Ground Slam” is a 4 mana Fast spell that’ll stun a unit and then deal 3 damage to it if you’ve summoned a landmark during the game. It’ll also create a Malphite in your deck.
“Stonebreaker” is a 6 mana unit from Targon with 6 | 4. Once played, if you’ve summoned at least four landmarks during the game, “Stonebreaker” will deal 4 damage to an enemy unit and 2 to the enemy Nexus. An interesting stat line paired with an equally alluring passive — one that shouldn’t be too hard to proc, given the way all upcoming Malphite deck will be structured.
Closing Remarks
The “Guardians of the Ancient” expansion is shaping up to be quite an interesting addition to the game. There’s a lot of potential, although it’s still too early to predict how big of a splash it’ll eventually make. Still, with three new champions — and a boatload of interesting support cards thrown into the mix — it’s fair to say that the game will change considerably come May 5th!
Either way, spoiler season is still in full effect, so stay tuned for more coverage!