Shyvana

Shyvana plays around a single turning point in the game. This top-laner is a fighter-tank who runs on Fury rather than mana, and once Dragon’s Descent comes online she swaps her human body for a dragon’s, jumping into the fray, knocking enemies aside along her route, and boosting each of her basic abilities. Almost everything about the champion comes down to choosing the right moment to make that shift.

As a human she is simple to pick up and hard to punish: difficulty is rated low, while attack and durability both sit at solid levels. Emberstrike charges her next attack so it hits the target and the ground around it, and recasting it deals additional damage. Inferno Aegis gives her a shield and a burst of movement speed, then erupts around her, which keeps her hard to disengage from during skirmishes. Molten Burst hurls a fireball that detonates on large enemies and applies a slow, a tool that makes her a capable duelist and a very efficient farmer.

Dragon Form changes the rules

Transforming opens up a whole new layer of play: Emberstrike gains an extra recast that deals heavy damage to a single target, Inferno Aegis restores health whenever its blast lands on an enemy champion, and Molten Burst punches through targets and leaves a trail of fire behind. Her Scalemail passive builds up defenses with each takedown, so the more she fights aggressively, the sturdier she becomes.

Her weaknesses are built into the kit: outside of the ultimate’s knockback she has no hard crowd control, and while transformed she lacks a gap-closer, leaving her vulnerable to being kited by ranged teams. Shyvana is best for players who like straightforward, strong mechanics, brawling without managing resources, and the satisfaction of crashing into a teamfight as a dragon.