This morning League’s newest champion was revealed. His name is Sylas, the Unshackled, and he looks like one of the most hardcore champions we’ve seen. There have been teasers dropped recently but now people can see his abilities and how he fits into the lore. There are two main aspects of the character released, the lore and the abilities. These are more than enough to see how badass Sylas is going to be!
Sylas yearning to break free. Photo via Riot Games.
Sylas’ trailer begins in a dark chamber of sorts. Outside is a bright light and Sylas himself narrating. He speaks about the shackles he has, and about those Demacia has. The lofty principles of Demacia: honor, justice and tradition he sees as tools by the rulers to subjugate the people. Throughout his narration it is clear he isn’t fighting for his own freedom. Above all, he’s fighting for the freedom of his fellow Demacians and clearly has ambitions to overthrow their grand kingdom.
The Unshackled has the potential to have a huge impact on Runeterra. If a fight did ensue between him and Garen, as depicted in the trailer, the outcome could be devastating to Demacia. In fact, the whole kingdom could be in jeopardy if Sylas’ ideology spread.
At the very end Sylas talks about only needing a single spark to start a fire. Meanwhile, Lux stands in front of the door of his prison chamber. He appears to be taking some of her power in his hand as the trailer cuts out. There are two possibilities with this interaction. The first is that Lux was simply watching him, and he saw the opportunity to steal her power.
Sylas taking Lux’s magic. Photo via Riot Games.
The second is more intriguing. Because magic in Demacia is forbidden, and likely the reason Sylas is imprisoned, Lux may feel a link towards Sylas. Its hard to tell what this relationship could be, but there is a decent chance one exists because of their magical abilities. Furthermore, if a relationship does exist, is Lux really letting Sylas borrow her powers to help him escape? Its hard to tell so early on, but his story has great potential.
Sylas standing over a defeated Fiora. Photo via Riot Games.
Sylas boasts a pretty cool set of abilities and looks like a high skill cap champion. The full details of these are released on SkinSpotlights’ YouTube channel. His Passive is Petricite Burst, which is a simple ability similar to Galio’s passive. After Sylas uses an ability, his next basic attack does AOE damage.
His Q is called Chain Lash. This ability smacks both chains on the ground in front of him, doing damage, slowing enemies and creating a small rift. Like Vel’Koz’s Void Rift (W), the area again detonates to do damage and also slows again.
Kingslayer is his W and is quite interesting. Sylas lunges at an enemy and upon impact does damage and heals himself. The interesting part is that if he is low on health the heal is increased, but if the enemy is on low health it does more damage. With this, this double edged passive could mean life or death in close duels.
Sylas’ E is named Abscond/ Abduct. Upon first activation he uses a short dash and receives a shield. The second activation gives him what is similar to Thresh’s Death Sentence (Q). He throws out his chains and if they hit an enemy it stuns them, does damage and Sylas pulls himself right to the target.
Sylas using Judgement on Garen. Photo via Riot Games.
The most unique ability in his kit is his ultimate, Hijack. This ability is shown numerous times in the trailer and looks crazy. Sylas throws out his chains and he steals the ultimate of whatever champion he hits. He can use this ultimate for his own use and can Hijack ultimates that are on Cooldown. Because there is a Cooldown to Hijacking individuals, Sylas can’t take an ultimate from the same person for some time after.
Unnamed skin for Sylas. Photo via Riot Games and SkinSpotlights.
Overall Sylas has a fast paced kit with tools to completely turn around any fight. His dueling seems to be decent and has great gank assist. His Hijack has the potential to win games at crucial moments turn the tides of team fights and skirmishes. He has a lot of skillshots and intricacies to his kit that may be difficult to fully utilize when first playing him, but will certainly be threat once mastered.
Sylas will have a huge effect on Demacia, Runeterra and the lore in general. Because he is a rebel in the conformist society of Demacia, one can feel rebellion in the air and the stability of Demacia shaking. Garen and Lux will both most impacted by Sylas, but there are many other sure to feel the power of the Unshackled.
When Sylas’ lore is fully fleshed out and he is introduced to the game players will surely be attracted to him. With so much potential for his lore and kit, it’s going to be difficult to just wait until then. But for now players will have to do exactly that, as they wait what feels like “15 years in the dark” for Sylas to arrive.
Featured image via Riot Games and SkinSpotlights.
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