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Burrowing underground like a landshark, Rek'Sai dominates the map.
Although new ADC Kalista was released just last month and many current champs are undergoing updates, Riot just announced its newest champ, Rek’Sai, the Void Burrower.
The first jungler introduced since Aatrox (or possibly Gnar), Rek’Sai introduces tunneling to League of Legends. The brand new mechanic allows Rek’Sai unique opportunities to move around the map and kill unsuspecting opponents.
One Long Smorgasbord
Rek’Sai hails from Shurima, the home of champions like Xerath and Azir. Her lore spins tales of her patrolling the desert, creeping from the sands below to destroy unsuspecting travelers. Her kit follows a similar theme.
Her passive, Fury of Xer’Sai grants Rek’Sai fury every time she attacks an enemy champion or minion.
Burrow does just what it says; allowing Rek’Sai to tunnel underground, becoming invulnerable and recovering health while consuming accumulated fury. Activating the spell again makes her explode from the ground, knocking up and damaging nearby enemies.
Her basic farming ability is Queen’s Wrath, which grants an area of effect to her next three basic abilities. When Rek’Sai is underground, she instead uses Prey Seeker – a straight-line skillshot that explodes if it hits any enemies.
Another ability that varies whether Rek’Sai is above or below ground is her E. On the surface, Furious Bite is a single-target spell that does increased damage based on how much fury she has. If Rek’Sai is underground, she can dig two tunnels, which last a considerable amount of time and allow her to move between them with only a brief cooldown.
Her ultimate ability Void Rush allows Rek’Sai to quickly dash to any of these pre-established tunnels, gaining attack and movement speed for a short time.
A Pain in the Ground
Rek’Sai continues a recent trend of junglers receiving the most interesting kits. Her mobility will undoubtedly open up countless new strategies relying on her abilities to quickly appear in lane for ganks or split push unsuspecting lanes.
The new champ seems a perfect fit for Riot’s revamped new jungle, which features a new item that encourages counter-jungling. Rek’Sai’s jungle clear time is incredibly fast, as all her abilities are designed to not only let her clear camps quickly, but sustain and move with impunity.
The move that lets her cruise through camps, Queen’s Wrath also allows Rek’Sai to wipe out minion waves, making her perfect for pushing or holding a lane for a teammate.
Not to mention the sheer amount of possibilities for ganks coming out of the jungle. Being able to tunnel under walls, leaving extremely long lasting holes in the ground, Rek’Sai can sneak up on unsuspecting lane champs before they know what happened. If a gank doesn’t go to plan or if she needs to get somewhere else quickly, she can quickly burrow back into her jungle the same way she came.
This amount of utility and mobility means Rek’Sai’s damage is lower than other junglers. Like Lee Sin, she relies on her ability to support high damage teammates through cleverly timed plays.
Already debuting on the PBE, Rek’Sai should hit live game servers in the following weeks. I just can’t wait to see what kind of tunnels the pros can dig.
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