Legends of Runeterra | Nasus and New Keyword Slay Confirmed for Empires of the Ascended

Nasus is the latest addition to the ever-growing Legends of Runeterra champion roster! Riot sure has kicked things into overdrive recently, as we’re now talking about the fifth champion that has been revealed thus far! Jarvan, Renekton, Taliyah, Lissandra, and now Nasus will all be shipping to live servers on March 3rd as a part of the Empires of the Ascended expansion and, by the looks of it, we’ll be in for quite a ride!

There’s also a brand-new keyword as well: Slay. It’ll provide you with a bonus if you slay an “ally or enemy if one of your cards kills it via damage, strikes, or direct kill effect.” It’s an interesting mechanic (albeit far from earth-shattering), and is at the core of Nasus’ identity as a champion.

Anyway, we have a metric ton of new cards to go over, so let’s get to work!

Legends of Runeterra | Nasus Officially Revealed

Nasus is a 6 mana champion from Shurima with 2 | 2 and Fearsome. He’ll gain +1 | +1 for each unit you’ve slain during the game. So, in other words, by the time you get him onto the board, he’ll be far stronger than his base stats would imply. To level him up, he’ll need to strike for 10+ damage. Once leveled up, he’ll grow to 3 | 3, gain the Spell Shield keyword, and all opposing units will have -1 | 0. All in all, quite an interesting champion that’ll surely pack a punch.

Much like Renekton, you’ll be able to upgrade him even further, if you manage to restore the Sun Disc. In his third and final form, he’ll grow to 10 | 10, and all of his enemies will have -3 | 0. With a Spell Shield as well, he’ll definitely have the potential to end the game with ease.

New Shurima Units

Baccai Reaper is a 1 mana unit from Shurima with 1 | 2 and Fearsome. Whenever you slay a unit, Baccai Reaper will gain +1 | 0.

Rampaging Baccai is a 5 mana unit from Shurima with 4 | 6 and Overwhelm. Once you play him — and have managed to slay at least 4 units during the game — an enemy and Rampaging Baccai will strike each other.

Sanctum Conservator is an 8 mana unit from Shurima with 8 | 5 and the Fearsome keyword. Once played, if you’ve slain 13+ units during the game, Sanctum Conservator will automatically kill all enemy followers and then summon yet another copy of himself. A powerful effect, especially if harnessed at the right time!

New Shurima Spells

Nasus’ Siphoning Strike is a 5 mana Slow spell from Shurima that will make an ally strike a unit. If it dies, all allied champions everywhere will gain +2 | +2, and you’ll get an extra copy of Nasus in your deck.

Spirit Fire is a 7 mana Burst spell that’ll give all enemies -2 | 0 along with a Round End effect that’ll damage them for 2 at the end of that one round.

Rite of Calling is a 0 mana Slow spell that’ll kill an ally or destroy one of your mana gems and allow you to draw a champion in return.

Weight of Judgment is a 4 mana Slow spell that’ll deal 2 damage to a champion or 7 to a follower.

Ruinous Path is a 2 mana Slow spell that’ll allow you to draw a card and then, if you’ve slain a unit during the round, you’ll drain 2 from the enemy Nexus. Quick and simple!

Closing Remarks

By the looks of it, Empires of the Ascended has the potential to be one of the best and most entertaining LoR expansions yet! And that’s really saying something. Either way, March 3rd can’t come soon enough! We’ll be back with more coverage in the coming days and weeks, so stay tuned!