<Ayaka, Maiden of Blossoms> Champion Concept - Kanacho

Concept By - Kanacho

Ayaka, Maiden of the Blossoms

Appearance: Ayaka is a female ninja wearing traditional shinobi garb but styalized in a feminine way sporting a mosaic of pink blossoms on the garb. Ayaka is wielding kunai knives and a katana. The lower part of her face is covered with a mask, but what someone does see of her face, is beautiful and elegant. She is a force to be reckoned with.

A Link to the Original Post: http://forums.na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=4365371&highlight=kanacho This was originally posted on the old forums, so if you are interested, the link is above.

Lore: "In the life of the Blossom, the power of death also lays. The Maiden of the Blossom will strike down all evil who comes against her people."

The land of Ionia is stained with blood. Ayaka just a young woman, had been a victim of the evil that rose against her people. Her father was killed, and now Ayaka seeks justice by finding the one who slew her father.

Noxus had invaded the the land of Ionia. With no option but for war, her people stood against the Noxian threat, and fought to preserve their freedom. Her father, an Ionian Elder, had been regarded as a possible target by the invading enemy forces. As such, her father was given a personal guard. However, the thrill of the battle enticed the guard into aiding those engaged in the conflict, so he had left his post protecting her father.

It was then, that an assassin had snuck in, and with a quick strike, slew her father where he stood. Struck with grief, Ayaka cried many tears over her dead father. Although the appointed guard had not upheld his duty, she did not blame him, but rather the assassin by whose hand her father was struck dead. This however, was not how the Ionian council saw it, rather the Guard was accused of the murder itself.

Although he escaped, all of Ionian had turned against the man. Ayaka thought it impossible for him to have committed the murder. She knew the man was kind, showing this kindness when he had protected her from a group of Noxian assassins during the invasion. Although he was a master of the wind technique that was used to kill her father, she knew it had not been him that had killed someone whom she loved greatly. Ayaka knew there was another who had also mastered the fearsome technique, and she sought out to seek justice for her father's death.

Giving a brief good-bye to her mother and village, Ayaka left her home and set out for the Ionian isles. It was there, that an ancient order renowned for its warriors and training lay. The Kinkou welcomed Ayaka with opened arms, being the daughter of a beloved elder.

Ayaka sought the training of these masters. It was soon discovered that Ayaka had a natural ability that very few had ever been known to have. It was revealed that this ability was attributed to that fact that Ayaka was a Blossom Maiden: a legendary warrior with exceeding natural skill and ability that surpassed even the most trained of Runettera's soldiers. Ayaka was trained to harness this ability, reaching her full potential as a warrior.

After her training, Ayaka set out to find the one who had killed her father. Knowing all she needed to know in order to find the assassin, she sought to bring justice wherever fate may take her, clearing the innocent man's name and bringing justice before her true father's killer.

Alignment: Good

Allegiance: Ionia, Kinkou

Enemies: Noxus

Concept Behind the Champion: Ninja are pretty cool, and I thought it would be about time we got a new one. I like making unique kits, combining things not found in the standard set of abilities for most characters, and making up new abilities we haven't seen in League of Legends before! I put quite a bit of thought into this champion, so I hope you enjoy it By the way, I don't like overly simple characters, so prepare yourself for some high skill demand!

Ability Resource - Ayaka uses energy like the other shinobi in League of Legends. She has 200 base energy that does not scale on level.

Base Stats - Health: 425 (+87 per level) Health Regen: 5.3 (+0.8 per level) Energy: 200 Energy Regen: 50 Range: 125 (melee) Attack Damage: 50 (+3.2 per level) Attack Speed: 0.68 (+3.2% per level) Armor: 17.5 (+3.5 per level) Magic Resistance: 30 (+1.25 per level) Movement Speed: 350

A Few Tips for Playing Ayaka: Ayaka can be seen as a straight-forward champion for those who are not experts with her. The variation on her simple 3 abilities comes from her ultimate. Like Leblanc, Ayaka's ultimate opens up a vast number of possibilities and choices. There are many possible attack combinations that someone could implement, each of which will determine the skill of an Ayaka player. An example of a highly effective combo could be the following.

Ayaka activates her stealth inside of a bush or outside of enemy sight. Ayaka then moves within range of her enemy and activates her dash to close the gap dealing high damage with her Shadow Thorn ability. Ayaka then uses her Thorn's Edge to leash the enemy champion, and then she reactivates Thousand Blossoms knocking her target up, stealthing Ayaka, and then beginning to swing her chain kunai. Ayaka activates her shadow snare ability, holding the enemy in place temporarily and dealing a small amount of damage removing her stealth. Ayaka then uses her petal kick to create distance between her and the enemy champion, and then strikes with a chain kunai auto-attack. Since Ayaka used her ultimate at close range after landing her Thorn's Edge, the target had become marked which then allows Ayaka to gain the bonus damage from her Kunai Strike's additional effect when she throws them at her target from a safe range.

As you can see, there are quite a few choices that Ayaka makes during the fight, that lead to an effective high-damage combo in this circumstance. The implementation of many choices and abilities creates a high skill cap for this champion. NOTE: Ayaka's only constraint to her combos will be her Energy resource (the normal purpose of a resource). This prevents Ayaka from essentially creating infinite combos, or combos with almost no down-time, although the energy restoration on her ultimate helps to extend her combos a bit.

(Passive) - Falling Blossoms: Ayaka generates 1 Petal Stack each time she hits an enemy champion with an auto attack or ability (maximum 1 stack per attack). Ayaka can have up to 5 Petal Stacks at a time giving her 1.25%/1.5%/1.75%/2.0% Spell Vamp. and Additional Damage per stack at levels 1/6/11/16. This effect is doubled while Ayaka is in stealth (using an ability or basic attack in stealth will apply the doubled Spell Vamp. effect). Petal Stacks last for 7 seconds and their duration is refreshed upon hitting an enemy champion with an auto attack or ability.

Petal Stack Duration: 7 seconds Petal Stack Buff: +1.25%/1.5%/1.75%/2.0% Spell Vamp. and Additional Damage per stack Maximum Petal Stacks: 5 Aesthetic: Each stack Ayaka gains causes progressively more petals to start falling around her.

This ability is a great passive to stack up in lane by attacking enemy champions. It's also great for engaging enemies and performing extended combos to build max stacks quickly. It's a powerful ability and rewards players for being more aggressive and engaging enemies to wear them out. This ability is also powerful in team fights to gain sustainability to help you endure the fight longer or until the end of the fight. Using her stealth gives her a powerful option for sustainability, and rewards more aggressive plays.

(Q) - Kunai Strike/Blossom Dance: Ayaka throws three kunai knives a great distance in a small cone in front of her, going through and striking any enemies hit and dealing additional magic damage to enemies who are affected by debuffs. Blossom Dance: Ayaka bursts from the shadows sending out razor sharp petals and kunai knives all around her, dealing magic damage to enemies hit and silencing them.

Cooldown: 12/11/10/9/8 Cost: 75 Energy Kunai Damage: 50/70/90/110/130 (+0.6 AD) (+0.35 AP) Kunai Bonus Damage: 20/30/40/50/60 (+0.45 AP) Cone Width: Small 45 Degrees Kunai Range: Large (725) Blossom Dance Cooldown: 10/9/8 (scales with the level of Thousand Blossoms) Blossom Dance Radius: 300 units Blossom Dance Damage: 70/95/120/145/170 (+0.75 AP) Silence Duration: 1.0 second Aesthetic: Kunai strike causes ayaka to throw a long-ranged small spray of 3 kunai knives. These knives cause a cutting particle effect as they pass through each enemy. When Ayaka uses Blossom Dance, Ayaka sends out a spray of petals and kunai all around her.

This is a great ability in Ayaka's kit. When Ayaka is not stealthed, this ability grants a good-ranged poke attack that does great damage which is then increased when used against a debuffed target. When Ayaka uses this ability while stealthed, it becomes an effective way to clear many minions and regenerate life through spell vamp, or deal decent AOE damage during a fight applying a small silence debuff to enemies struck. This ability gives Ayaka more flexibility during team fights, to allow her to focus more on single-target damage, or spread damage amongst many enemies.

(W) - Petal Kick/Shadow Snare: Ayaka does a back flip dealing damage and knocking back any enemy hit in front of her while also dashing a short distance backward. Shadow Snare: Ayaka does a quick strike from the shadows, kicking a target enemy champion and snaring them in place temporarily.

Cooldown: 14/13/12/11/10 seconds Cost: 55 Energy Petal Kick Damage: 70/85/100/115/130 (+ 0.35 AP) Kick Range: Small (225) In front of Ayaka Backwards Dash Range: Small (300) Knock-back Range: Small (250) Shadow Snare Cooldown: 16/15/14 seconds (scales with the level of Thousand Blossoms) Shadow Snare Damage: 80/90/100/110/120 (+ 0.55 AP) Shadow Snare Range: Melee (125) Snare Duration: 1.5 second Aesthetic: When Ayaka does petal kick, she does a back-flip combined with a kick which makes her jump high into the air and lands a small distance back. Shadow Snare causes a few shadowy chains to latch on to the affected target.

Ayaka's options here are pretty straight forward. Her petal kick is great a disengaging move that does pretty good damage. Try to land it so that she gets the energy return and creates good spacing as well. Shadow Snare is a good CC option for snare targets you either want to get away from, or want to make a sitting target. A good combination would be to do shadow snare which will hold her target in place, then do a petal kick to disengage a good distance from her target, offering a safe distance to use ranged attacks at (either her chain kunai, or her kunai strike).

(E) - Thorn's Edge/Shadow Thorn: Ayaka strikes with her kunai in a wide arch, dealing damage to enemies struck and leashing a chain kunai on enemy champions struck in an area in front of her. Ayaka can activate this ability again to cause the chain to explode, dealing damage to all leashed targets. If Ayaka enters stealth while a target is leashed, she instead whips her chain knocking up leashed enemies for 0.75 seconds and pulls it back to her releasing her target. Ayaka then begins swinging her chain kunai causing her next auto attack from stealth to be ranged and do additional magic damage. She will stop swinging her chain kunai if the time expires. If targets move outside of the range of her leashed chain, the chain is broken and this ability enters cool down. Shadow Thorn: Ayaka quickly dashes from the shadows to a target enemy slashing them with her katana and dealing high damage. If Ayaka activates shadow thorn while swinging her chain kunai, the dash range is doubled. Ayaka will then stop swinging her chain after dashing to her target.

Cooldown: 16/14/12/10/8 Cost: 85 Energy Thorn's Edge Damage: 60/75/90/105/120 (+0.75 AD) (+0.55 AP) Arch Width: 140 degrees Arch Radius: 200 units Chain Range: Medium (550) Chain Explosion Damage: 45/60/75/90/105 (+0.70 AP) Chain Kunai Additional Attack Range: 480 Chain Kunai Duration: 8 seconds or 1 auto-attack Chain Kunai Damage: 50/70/90/110/130 (+0.55 AP) Shadow Thorn Cooldown: 14/13/12 seconds (scales with level of Thousand Blossoms) Shadow Thorn Damage: 85/120/155/190/225 + (0.60 AP) + (0.90 AD) Shadow Thorn Dash Distance: Small (400)

Aesthetics: Ayaka swings her kunai in an arch upon first activation of this ability. Activating it again will cause her chains to create an explosion effect. If Ayaka enters stealth while targets are leashed she will whip her chain and pull it back to her beginning to swing it. If Ayaka auto attacks while swinging her chain, she throws it out, quickly striking an opponent.

With basically 4 possible options, this is by far Ayaka's most complicated ability. Ayaka's other abilities are either extremely simple, or have many passively applied effects that you don't have to focus too much on (unless you want to be an expert playing her). The complexity of this ability adds a high skill cap to Ayaka. Her E normally, is a standard arching attack in front of her, which does good damage. The unique part, is that when she hits an enemy (either minion or champion) she leashes all the hit targets and can activate her E again to create an explosion to do additional damage. The more complex part, comes when Ayaka gets her ultimate. Effective use of Ayaka's ultimate is important in becoming an expert with her. If Ayaka enters stealth while targets are still leashed, she will knock up targets, then stealth and start swinging her chain kunai. At this point, she has a few options.

Ayaka can reactivate her E to gain additional dash range to escape from enemies or close gaps between them. Because Ayaka will only swing her chain if she enters stealth while a target is leashed, a possible choice for a player, would be to leash a minion and then enter stealth to gain the additional dash range to close a gap or distance yourself.

(R) - Thousand Blossoms: Ayaka uses a Petal Essence to enter stealth dashing a short distance in the target direction and sending a spray of petals outward all around her marking enemy champions struck by the petals. Marked targets lose magic resistance temporarily. Ayaka also has some of her energy restored and temporarily gains access to new abilities until she leaves stealth. These new abilities have a separate cooldown and do not trigger the cool down on Ayaka's base abilities. Attacking an enemy will cause Ayaka to leave stealth. Additionally, Ayaka gains Petal Essence periodically up to a maximum of 3, which is affected by cool down reduction. Champion kills and assists will also restore a Petal Essence.

Cooldown: 5/4/3 seconds Energy Cost: 0 Mark AOE: Small (350) Mark Debuff: 10%/15%/20% Magic Resistance Shred. Mark Duration: 5 Seconds Stealth Duration: 1 second Dash Distance: 325 Units New Petal Essence: 30/25/20 seconds Energy restored: 25/40/55

Aesthetic: Ayaka sends a small burst of blossoms outwards as she becomes stealthed. Marked enemies will display a Blossom emblem over their head.

This ability is quite self explanatory. It is one of Ayaka's core abilities. Ayaka gains double the bonus from her passive while stealthed making attacks during stealth a great choice for sustainability. This functions like Akali's, requiring stacks that are acquired over time (although they regenerate naturally a bit slower) or on champion kill/assist. Because the range on marking her targets is small, players will not only have to make the best choice of when to use this ability, but also at what range to use it. Keep in mind that the origin of the petal mark AOE is the location she is standing in before she dashes.

Note that the Mark applied also counts as debuff on enemy champions making it good for bonus damage on Ayaka's Kunai.

THANKS A TON TO ZEDDICUS4 FOR HIS AWESOME ART. SEARCH UP HIS CHAMPIONS, FOR MORE COOL CONCEPTS AND EVEN MORE ART!

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