Zyra

Zyra did not develop over time; she appeared all at once from an ancient magical disaster in Ixtal, the cut-off jungle nation that keeps its elemental sorcery hidden from the rest of Runeterra.

Part plant, part human, she leaves fresh growth in her wake, sparked by her mere presence. In her eyes, people are simply raw material for the offspring she sows, and she has no qualms about shredding anyone who gets in the way with volleys of lethal spines. What she ultimately wants remains unclear; the one thing that’s obvious is her urge to claim new territory and smother any rival life trying to take root there.

Her abilities translate that urge into gameplay. Garden of Thorns, her passive, scatters seeds around her, and they sprout more quickly as she gains levels. Casting Deadly Spines or Grasping Roots close to one of these seeds summons a plant that battles beside her. Deadly Spines blasts vines outward across an area, and if cast near a seed it produces a Thorn Spitter. Rampant Growth places a seed directly on the ground, and she can bank several for later. Grasping Roots tunnels beneath the surface to lash and harm whatever it reaches, producing a Vine Lasher under the same seed condition. Her ultimate, Stranglethorns, summons a warped thicket that hurts foes as it grows and hurls them skyward as it closes in, while enraging any plants trapped within.

Players who take her up tend to favor ambushes: they seed a patch of brush and draw enemies into the trap, because planting a seed right where a spell has just landed gives the best shot at a plant appearing precisely where it’s useful. Opponents should go after that setup head-on. Her seeds are destroyed the instant someone walks over them, before she can grow them. The plants themselves absorb a fixed amount of damage, much like wards, and die off by themselves after a while. Pulling the fight to another corner of the map wipes out whatever seeds she has already collected. Champions like Malphite and Nidalee share the same general circle of nature-linked characters she’s often grouped with.