League of Legends: What Isolde Should Have In Her Kit

From all the rumblings around Reddit and Twitter, it seems like a very high likelihood that the next League of Legends champion to be released will be Isolde. In lore, Isolde is the wife of Viego (the most recent League of Legends champion).

This would be a fitting thematic continuation of the Harrowing event which Riot promised would be ongoing throughout Season 11. In the earlier League of Legends Season 11 kick-off livestream, Riot teased several upcoming champions following the Viego release. Among them was a “tailor-made” AP fighter.

Now, based on leaks and context clues from around the internet, many observers are thinking this AP fighter will be Isolde. While all of this is still pure conjecture and leaks have been wrong before, there are still plenty of hopes players will have about Isolde’s kit. In particular, these three attributes would make Isolde unique, fit thematically, and also make her a viable AP top laner in League of Legends.

1. High Movement, Low CC

All the talk about this AP fighter being “snippy” and “threading her way” through fights invokes a silky smooth, elegant theme. Immediately, players will begin thinking of an AP version of Fiora, or the Mantis Lords from Hollow Knight.

What could Isolde bring to League of Legends?

This is a strong baseline for Isolde’s potential kit, making her a very quick-moving champion who can reposition to attack her enemies with ease. While many players are concerned with the level of “movement creep” in League of Legends currently, giving Isolde some mobility isn’t a bad thing. Especially if it’s balanced by her not having any (or very little) hard crowd control in her kit.

2. Abilities for Damage

If Riot is setting out to create an AP Fiora, they need to be careful to make sure that Isolde is also balanced around her abilities. Even though Fiora, ostensibly, is balanced around having an attack speed steroid and being able to critically strike, since her rework she has mostly been an ability-based fighter with her dashes and Reposte.

Isolde would need to follow that same pattern, being more reliant on dealing damage with her abilities than auto-attacking. Giving her a stab with her (presumed) needle weapon, a dash, and maybe a sweep with her needle would fit thematically. Her play pattern should be similar to Fizz: do your damage and get out.

3. A New Type of CC

Riot will still likely end up giving Isolde some new mechanic to differentiate her from other champions. With her likely seamstress identity, an obvious mechanic could be to allow her to “thread” enemy champions to herself by attacking.

This could operate in several cool, unique ways. Either champions would be slowed while threaded, they might not be able to break the tether until Isolde attacks them, or perhaps they will incur a big damage hit if they break the tether.

This would also fit with the playstyle of an AP fighter. Isolde wants to keep enemies in close to deal damage with her abilities, so keeping them tethered until her next rotation of abilities comes up is a good way to ensure that.

If Isolde is going to be the next League of Legends champion, it will be incredibly fascinating to see how she operates. So far, the only AP fighters League of Legends players have are Mordekaiser and Diana, so adding other AP champion to this roster is sure to get players amped up!