League of Legends is kickstarting 2022 with a spunky new champion soon to join its roster. Fans first got a glimpse of the new champion back in the Netflix trailer for Riot's hit animated series Arcane. Hailing from Zaun, Zeri will be making her debut on Summoner's Rift very soon. Here's what we know so far about the new marksman champion.
Arcane has enjoyed a surging popularity, featuring a whole host of fan-favorite characters. As such, Riot confirmed that they were planning to bring those characters to life as new champions. The first character announced to be jumping from TV show to game world, though, didn't end up on Summoner's Rift. Instead, Silco will be arriving in Teamfight Tactics.
Riot probably had not intended to let the world know about Zeri's release just yet. When developers dropped the League Patch 12.1 notes ahead of Season 12 officially going live, they also accidentally—or not—published a new champion lore page. Though Riot quickly took down the post, the ripple effect has proven marvelous. It has led to a flurry of excitement as players got a first glimpse of Zeri, with many speculating about her abilities and even likening her to the new VALORANT agent, Neon, since they have similar lightning-fast characteristics.
Zeri: Lore and hinted theme
In Zaun, chem-barons were funding underground excavations, later triggering an earthquake to shake up the rotten undercity. Several buildings collapsed, with Zeri attempting to save as many people as possible. Later, the story reveals that she also goes toe-to-toe with these chem-barons to prevent more mining incidents. Zeri also fights on the side of those who are too weak to stand on their own.
Unlike the chem-barons, Zeri belongs to the working class. But that doesn't mean she can't pack a punch in a fight. According to the lore, Zeri has a “unique relationship with electricity.” The sparky character carries a rifle charged with electric magic. Zeri's mom built the weapon so that she could wielding her electrical powers as ammunition.
From the lore, we can already expect that most of Zeri's abilities will be electricity-themed. We might also see in the future some stuff that's more tech related, just like with Ekko's kit. Besides that, Zeri will be carrying a gun, and this will probably form the basis of her attacks.
She could also be more of a long-range carry, given the more magic-oriented descriptions from the lore and the lightning theme of other champions like Kennen, Xerath, and Viktor's Chaos Storm. Statikk Shiv also sounds like it'll be a great item on her. After all, it keeps with the electric theme, plus she serves as an AD Carry. (Side note: It would be a shame if her kit doesn't actually synergize well with that item, since it has all the makings already for lore and in-game play to be aligned).
Zeri: Speculated abilities, playstyle
This also ties into the League of Legends roadmap that Riot released back in September 2021. Back then, the devs had revealed that the new marksman “has been charging up and is rearing to finally get on Summoner's Rift.” Riot originally planned for the character to be released in late 2021. However, they opted to push back the timeline to further finetune the champion's development. We could see Zeri debut within the next few patches—maybe even as early as patch 12.2, given the timing of the “leak”.
Another notable description from the roadmap shares this: “We wanted to create a kinetic marksman who’s always on the move, pulsing with sparky determination. A champ who plays the game at a machine-gun pace and brings the feeling of a shooter game to the roster.”
Besides confirming that Zeri will be focused on gun-based moves, it also highlights another aspect: speed. We might be able to expect a highly mobile carry with dashes. Moreover, the gun itself might be more similar to Jinx's rapid-firing artillery than to Jhin's slower, reload-reliant attacks.
However, the game designers also hinted at “more unique basic attack concepts.” What that might entail, we can't really be sure of just yet. It might mean that we see the “shooter game” concept come to life, making the autos possibly more skill-reliant than normal. Whatever the case, fans are already hyped up about Zeri, and we won't have to wait long before the Spark of Zaun hits Summoner's Rift.
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