Summoners, please take note! The wait for the new patch will soon be over. Ezreal is joining the League of Legends, and he brought his friend Highland Tryndamere to the party. And they're in good company... at least if you consider ghosts to be good company!


Nottingham Ezreal Bundle

We'll be releasing a new champion, and you'll have the opportunity to pick up the first skin for this new champ at 50% off. Snag the always fashionable Ezrael along with his Nottingham threads at a reduced price. But remember: this offer will be available for a limited time only.

Ezreal Champion + Nottingham Ezreal skin (normally 1495 RP), will be only 1235 RP!

This bundle will be available only until Sunday, March 14, so don't miss out! Click on the Bundles tab in the Store to purchase this Ezreal bundle.


Ghost Skins Have Arrived!

If you've ever played a game as either Gangplank or Fiddlesticks, you might have noticed two particular phantom skins at the champion selection that exhibit a conspicuous lack of availability. Well, the wait is over. The Spooky Gangplank and Spectral Fiddlesticks skins are on their way!

To celebrate the coming of the ghosts, these skins will be available for 20% off through the weekend. After this Sunday, March 14, the ghost skins will return to their regular price. Oh, it's a good day to be a Runeterran… unless of course you're afraid of ghosts. Click on the Skins tab in the Store to purchase these ghost skins.


Highland Tryndamere

Also in the new patch, the Barbarian King will have some sweet Scottish digs available. If you’ve ever caught yourself humming bagpipe music, experiencing a craving for haggis, or wishing you had more occasions to wear that kilt you’ve got hung up in your closet, this one is going to be a must have for you. So shout your favorite battle cry, sharpen your claymore, and click on the Skins tab in the Store to purchase the Highland Tryndamere skin. The pipes, the pipes are calling!

Ezreal, the Prodigal Explorer

Abilities:

Mystic Shot: Ezreal fires a bolt of energy. If it strikes an enemy unit, it reduces all of Ezreal's cooldowns.

Essence Flux: Ezreal fires a fluctuating wave of energy, damaging enemies and reducing their attack speed. This also heals allies and increases their attack speed.

Arcane Shift: Ezreal teleports to a nearby target location and fires a homing arrow which strikes the nearest enemy unit.

Trueshot Barrage: Ezreal channels to fire a powerful barrage of energy missiles, which do massive damage to each unit they pass through (barrage deals less damage to each successive unit it passes through).

Rising Spell Force (passive): Hitting a target with any of Ezreal's abilities increases his attack speed for several seconds.

Lore:

Ezreal was born with the gift of magic flowing through his veins. However, Ezreal was also born with a much stronger sense of wanderlust. Though enrolled in Piltover's most acclaimed school for skilled young techmaturgists, Ezreal quickly became bored with magical studies. By the time the boy genius was eight years old, he had fully mapped out the underground tunnels of Piltover. The quality of his work was so remarkable that the government of Piltover purchased his maps and commissioned his services as the city-state's Master Pathfinder. This sealed the deal for Ezreal's true calling – he would eschew the arcane arts in favor of archaeology. Since then, countless adventures of his have been romanticized and published.

One of Ezreal's more recent adventures brought him face-to-face with his other legacy – his latent magical power. While exploring the pyramids of the Shurima Desert, Ezreal uncovered an amulet of inestimable power. He barely managed to extract it from its sandy abode due to its sheer magnitude (it was made for a being easily twice Ezreal’s size). After fervent investigation, he found that it allowed the wielder to control and shape magical energy – provided there was a source of magic nearby. This permitted Ezreal to tap into his latent magical abilities without having to put any serious effort into it – a “big win”, as the young prodigy notes. The lingering drawback is that, for some unknown reason, the amulet is highly attuned to summoning magic. This means that without warning, Ezreal may find himself acting as a champion for, as he puts it, “a summoner hell-bent on resolving some irrelevant world-shattering League conflict.” Still, Ezreal feels that being summoned to a Field of Justice on occasion is a small price to pay for his prized artifact.

"There’s little time to study ancient, musty tomes when you’re busy trying to find them."

Mordekaiser, the Master of Metal

Hero Type: Fighter

Ability Descriptions

Mace of Spades
On next hit, Mordekaiser swings his mace with such force that it echoes out, striking up to three nearby targets, dealing his attack damage plus bonus damage. If the target is alone, the bonus damage is doubled.

Creeping Death
Unleashes a protective cloud of metal shards to surround an ally, increasing their armor and magic resistance, and dealing damage per second to enemies caught in the cloud.

Siphon of Destruction
Mordekaiser deals damage to enemies in a cone-shaped area in front of him. For each unit hit, Mordekaiser’s shield absorbs energy.

Children of the Grave
Mordekaiser curses an enemy, stealing a percent of their life each second. If the target dies while under the effect of the curse, their soul is enslaved and will follow Mordekaiser for 30 seconds. During this time, Mordekaiser gains some of their ability power, attack damage, and health.

Iron Man (passive)
20% of the damage dealt from abilities is converted into a temporary shield, absorbing incoming damage.

Lore

During the winter solstice, on the darkest day of the year, a being like no other emerged from the forgotten alleyways of Noxus. Standing eight feet tall, and concealed within a razor-sharp armored shell, he came to be known only as Mordekaiser. The nature of what lies beneath his carbonized carapace is a popular subject of speculation. Many allege that he is a mortal man with a heart that has hardened to iron. Others insist that he is a dark specimen of the undead. But there are some who whisper warnings that he is merely a foreshadowing of something terrible and unprecedented yet to come. Despite the public conjecture and curiosity, none have discovered what lies beneath his alloyed exterior. What is known is this: Mordekaiser arrived unannounced at the Institute one day and, with a rasp that crept ice up the spines of all within earshot, requested to join the League of Legends.

Upon glimpsing his fearful visage, most keep their distance, fortunately unaware that his touch bears a sinister scourge. Those who stumble within his grasp fall victim to incurable maladies. In fact, Mordekaiser seems mystically attuned to sickness, as if it feeds and comprises part of his chilling essence. He now stalks the slums of Noxus, drawn to the plague-ridden and diseased. However, there is something in his clever tactics, something in his noble stance, something in the tone of his unearthly commands that has led many to believe that Mordekaiser is more than just a foot soldier. Some see the distinguishing characteristics of a general. While many have learned to accept the evidence of this unsettling possibility, a lingering question keeps them wary at the witching hour: If Mordekaiser is a general, what nightmarish legion lurks at his command?

"The common perception is that the encompassing armor protects him, I fear that -- for the fragile time being -- it actually protects us."

Valentine's Day is fast approaching, so celebrate the romance with Twisted Fate's dashing new skin:

The Jack of Hearts

This skin was designed in commemoration of Valentine’s Day, but will be available in the store indefinitely. Click on the Skins tab in the Store to purchase and unlock this skin.

To celebrate the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games, Riot is excited to kick off a two week long event with limited edition Winter Games content. The Winter Games is a global event which brings countries from all over the world together in the spirit of competition and sportsmanship. In honor of this event, we are proud to introduce content that players from all countries can enjoy. We will introduce several additions to the game and store items that will be available for this limited time only (February 12 - March 2).

Champion skins: We will release eight new skins on Day 1 of the Winter Games event. These skins will be available for purchase throughout the entirety of the Winter Games celebration:

    * The Mighty Jax
    * Curling Veigar
    * Vancouver Amumu
    * Ice Toboggan Corki
    * Whistler Village Twitch
    * Team Spirit Anivia
    * Festival Kassadin
    * Union Jack Fiddlesticks


To kick off the Winter Games event, the following four skins will be available for 30% off during the opening weekend (February 12 - 15). After this sale period ends, the skins will return to their regular prices:

    * The Mighty Jax
    * Curling Veigar
    * Vancouver Amumu
    * Ice Toboggan Corki


Runes: We will release six special Winter Games runes that will only be available during this event (February 12 - March 2). Three of the runes will be Tier 1.5, and the other three will be Tier 2.5:

    * Mark of the Combatant (Tier 2.5, critical damage)
    * Lesser Mark of Alpine Alacrity (Tier 1.5, attack speed)
    * Seal of the Extreme (Tier 2.5, dodge)
    * Lesser Seal of the Medalist (Tier 1.5, health)
    * Glyph of the Soaring Slalom (Tier 2.5, cooldown reduction)
    * Lesser Glyph of the Challenger (Tier 1.5, AP per level)


Map: On the second weekend of the event, we will replace the winter map with the Winter Games map, a variant of the winter version of Summoner’s Rift that includes many Winter Games elements and decorations.

As with the holiday skins and runes from our Snowdown Showdown event, you will still be able to use this content after the Winter Games event has ended, but only if you have purchased them from the Store, so be sure to grab this limited edition content while you still can. In the spirit of competition and sportsmanship of the games, we at Riot wish everyone a happy 2010 Vancouver Winter Games and we look forward to battling with you during the League of Legends 2010 Winter Games celebration!

Gragas, the Rabblerouser

Abilities:
Barrel Roll: Gragas rolls his cask to a location, which can be activated to explode or will explode on its own after 5 seconds.

Drunken Rage: Gragas guzzles down brew from his cask for several seconds, restoring his mana. After finishing, he becomes drunkenly empowered, increasing his damage dealt and reducing damage received.

Body Slam: Gragas charges to a location and collides with the first enemy unit he comes across, dealing damage to all nearby enemy units and slowing them for several seconds. Damage is split amongst units hit.

Explosive Cask: Gragas hurls his cask to a location, which explodes on impact, dealing damage and knocking back enemies caught in the blast radius. Enemies struck by the blast have their attack speed lowered.

Happy Hour (passive): On ability use, Gragas takes a drink restoring a small percentage of his max health over 4 seconds.

Lore

The foothills of the Great Barrier are home to the hardiest people found anywhere on Valoran. Only those with great fortitude and endurance dwell in what is perhaps the most rugged and unforgiving environment anywhere on the face of Runeterra. It is here that the mighty Gragas keeps permanent residence, living south of Noxus. This behemoth of a man has long eschewed the rigors of civilization for what he calls his slice of paradise; he has no neighbors to bother him and plenty of space to pursue his life's ambition - brewing. Grogs, ales, meads, and wine - nothing is beyond his skill to brew. What makes Gragas a truly special brewmaster, however, is his proximity to a large and powerful nexus. The magic of this nexus has seeped into his fermented creations, and Gragas has consumed enough of his own poison over the years to slake the thirst of an army. This arcane alcohol has caused Gragas to swell both in height and girth; he looms over the tallest of men and boasts nearly twice their width. To complement his immoderate size, Gragas has developed an ornery temper - one fueled by liquor and raw magic. His infrequent sojourns into Nexus for supplies always unfold the same way: Gragas enters a Noxian tavern, Gragas gets into several fights, Gragas lays out countless citizens, and finally Gragas flees for the foothills with Noxian constables in hot - though reluctant - pursuit.

His misadventures have garnered him the attention of several summoners in the League of Legends, and he is now a willing champion in the arenas... doling out hard liquor and harder fists.

Pantheon, the Artisan of War

Champion Type: Fighter

Abilities

Spear Shot: Pantheon hurls his spear at an opponent.

Aegis of Zeonia: Pantheon leaps at an enemy and bashes them with his shield, stunning them in the process. After finishing the attack, Pantheon readies himself to block the next attack.

Heartseeker Strike: Pantheon unleashes 6 swift strikes to the area in front of him. Pantheon also becomes more aware of his enemy's vital spots, allowing him to always critical strike enemies below 20% health.

Grand Skyfall: Pantheon composes himself, and then leaps into the air to a target location, striking all enemy units in an area. This damage is split amongst enemy champions caught in the strike. Enemy champions caught alone take the full force of this blow.

Certain Death (passive): Pantheon gains 100% critical strike chance on targets below 20% health.

Lore

Far above the clouds on Mount Gargantuan resides a stalwart tribe of people known as the Stanpar who still revere combat and war as penultimate art forms. They remember the Runewars of Runeterra and know that the League of Legends can only repress the rising tides of violence for so long. Each member of the tribe is bred to be a disciplined and vicious warrior, preferring to battle soldiers of either the Noxian or Demacian armies only when outnumbered at least ten to one.

Stanpar warriors are trained not only to be as lethal with their bare hands as the most capable martial artists, but also to fiercely wield the many relic-weapons of the tribe. Such treasures have been handed down from generation to generation, and have harnessed the mystical nature of Runeterra in their very cores. These relic-weapons are among the most dangerous in existence – and it comes as no surprise that they have found their way to the League of Legends in the hands of Pantheon.

This stone-faced warrior is a paragon of his people, his very existence an anthem of exultation to the art of combat. Pantheon found it insulting that the people of Valoran would install an organization to replace war, complete with so-called champions, without including the Stanpar. Gathering the blessings of his tribe and armed with the relics of his ancestors, he has descended on the League to show the world a true warrior. He cares not who he fights, cares nothing for the pageantry or prestige of a League champion, but lives only for the austere glory of battle. As long as Pantheon breathes, he thirsts for another foe to vanquish.