Smolder

Smolder is the ultimate scaler among scalers: a Marksman-Mage hybrid that plays ADC or mid and gets its strength from stacks more than from items. Each time he lands an ability hit on a champion, or finishes an enemy with Super Scorcher Breath, Dragon Practice adds a stack, and every stack boosts his basic abilities. He begins the game fragile but becomes nearly unstoppable if left alone.

Every part of his kit serves that stacking engine. Super Scorcher Breath is the centerpiece, gaining new power at distinct thresholds as stacks build, growing from a modest single-target blast into a real teamfight threat. Achooo! is a fiery sneeze that bursts on enemy champions, giving him poke and a dependable way to collect stacks. MMOOOMMMM! summons his mother for an area strike that hits for bonus damage and slows whoever stands in its center.

Flight as a defense

For staying alive, he relies on Flap, Flap, Flap, which carries him over terrain while it automatically bombards the nearest low-health enemy. Jungle walls don’t stop him from escaping, and it opens kiting routes that most 550-range marksmen simply don’t have. Still, his defense rating of 2 is blunt about the risk: if someone reaches Smolder before he can take flight, he goes down as easily as any other dragonling.

He suits players who enjoy carries that take time to pay off, the ones who keep an eye on stack counts, get through a rough early game and savor the moment the enemy team notices this small dragon now clears waves in a single hit and finishes off carries. Players who want lane kills to matter right away will be happier choosing someone else.