Cornelius, the Gold Miner

Role: AP Mage

Inspiration: I desired to create a champion who used gold as a resource and who could also generate it somehow. This concept eventually borrowed several ability ideas from two other champion concepts, Richter and Nico (who has since been retired).

General Design Philosophy: Cornelius is an aggressive AoE Mage with several sneaky tricks up his sleeve, including a remotely detonated AoE taunt and the ability to generate gold outside of normal means. The hallmark of Cornelius is his ability to ‘save up’ enough gold to either pocket it or spend it on a summonable treasure chest which lures nearby enemies to it before exploding.

Risk Analysis: Moderate. Most of Cornelius’ kit is relatively safe and predictable in terms of proven success and fun. The most glaring concern is obviously his Ultimate, which will either make or break him as a Champion. Furthermore, as he borrows heavily from another one of my concepts, Richter, the League likely only has room for one gold-mining Yordle.

Appearance: A wily old gold miner with a pickaxe, similar in appearance to another concept named Richter. Due to the lack of Yordle reference images available, I have repurposed existing and official League art to show at least a rough idea of what Cornelius might look like. ** I in no way intend for Cornelius to BE the Shopkeeper!**

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/intro-screen-3_zpsmnp5ru7j.jpg

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/shop-keeper-16-9_zps5eekwtek.png

Lore: Missing

Strengths: Powerful AoE and wave clearing, ability to become untargetable, remotely detonated AoE taunt, ability to generate gold outside of normal means

Weaknesses: Entirely skillshot dependent, no gap closers or movement-based escapes, Ultimate requires aggressive laning/dueling and team fights to become available

Plays Most Like...:

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/icons_10175_btn_zpsd8bdj9gq.jpg http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/icons_13042_btn_zpstbhsvznu.jpg Auto Attack: Cornelius throws tiny sticks of dynamite from range, or uses his pick axe when in melee range.

Hidden Passives:

-Cornelius gains one bonus AD when purchasing a and provides a unique line of dialogue when it’s purchased.

-Cornelius has special dialogue when purchasing a or

-Cornelius rides in a mine cart whenever he has 700 or more movement speed (Thanks to Kloip88 for the suggestions!)

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/icons_15688_btn_zpsgkmn9whp.jpg Passive- Gold Rush: Cornelius gains 2 bonus AP for every 100 gold in his bags, up to 100 AP or 5,000 gold. Design Philosophy: A fun, thematically relevant ability that plays off of the term ‘gold rush.’ As a miner, Cornelius becomes more powerful the more gold he possesses. This inherently gives him an edge during drawn-out lane phases where both mid laners have a lot of gold but have not yet returned to base to spend it.

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/icons_9702_btn_zpsjalniyrp.jpg Q- Mining Light (variable cooldown, no less than 5 seconds): Cornelius flashes his mining light, sending a beam of energy in a line that deals magic damage to all enemies it passes through. This ability can be used once every 5 seconds. However, the longer Mining Light remains off cooldown, the longer it can recharge and the more damage it will deal on subsequent uses, up to a cap of roughly 15 seconds. This effect functions similarly to Thresh’s Flay passive. Visually, the mining light itself grows brighter the longer the charge is held. Design Philosophy: The concept of a charging skillshot that gains power the longer it goes unused provides interesting decisions for the Cornelius player to make. Are they more interested in stacking the passive of Fool’s Gold, or dealing more damage with each successful hit in lane?

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/icons_10998_pas_zps5kdjbzkb.jpg http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/icons_11466_pas_zpscvtuflfc.jpg W- Roaring Geyser (12 seconds): First cast- Cornelius summons a small geyser that bursts through the ground at a target location and lasts up to 8 seconds. It is roughly the diameter of a Karthas Lay Waste. Second cast- Cornelius causes the geyser to erupt, dealing magic damage and knocking up enemies directly above it. If Cornelius is above the geyser when he reactivates it, it sends him rocketing straight into the air, where he becomes briefly untargetable. The geyser automatically erupts after 8 seconds. Design Philosophy: This ability is a mashup of Fizz’s Playful/Trickster and Ziggs’ Satchel Charge. Mechanically it allows him to either stop an enemy from reaching him, or evade otherwise lethal damage in a pinch.

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/icons_6431_btn_zps44tdvb6g.jpg E- Boulder-Dash (8 seconds): Cornelius rolls a large boulder in a line at high speeds that damages enemy units as it passes through them. For every unit the boulder collides with, the boulder moves slower, losing the most speed between the first and second collision. The boulder deals magic damage and crumbles upon colliding with an enemy champion. Design Philosophy: This is a powerful lane-clearing ability and a surprisingly fast skillshot to help poke from range. The speed decay helps prevent this ability from being spammed through minions and reaching enemy targets before they can really react.

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/icons_607_btn_zpshkombdis.jpg http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/icons_14817_btn_zpse3m8n1qh.jpg R- Fool’s Gold (no cooldown): Passive: Cornelius generates 10 bonus gold every time one of his spells damages at least one enemy champion, and 2 bonus gold for last hitting a minion, up to a cap of 100 gold. The passive component of this ability is automatically learned at level 1. Active: Once Cornelius has earned 100 gold from this ability, he can cast the ability at a target location to summon a treasure chest. After a brief delay, the chest charms all enemy champions in its range for 2 seconds before exploding, dealing magic damage in a large area. Casting this ability on Cornelius himself causes him to pocket the 100 gold instead. Following either of these activations, the gold counter resets. Cornelius visibly shimmers gold when this ability is ready to be cast. The charm range of the treasure chest is roughly ⅗ that of Galio’s Idol of Durand. Design Philosophy: As a Gold Miner, it was important to capture an actual gold-earning mechanic somewhere within Cornelius’ kit. Tying it to his last hitting and ability to damage enemies enforces aggressive play and is also reminiscent of Twisted Fate’s Passive. The Passive component is learned at level 1 so that players can instantly use their Ultimate upon reaching level 6 without having to manually grant the player a free 100 gold merely for hitting level 6. The active component has two unique functions. Players will likely pocket the gold in early stages of the game in order to accrue a monetary advantage over their opponent, using the Ultimate only when their jungler can help them secure a kill.

Later on in the game, especially if the Cornelius player is already ahead, the Ultimate will likely be activated to help turn the tides of a team fight. There is a lot of power relegated to Cornelius’ Ultimate, which is offset by the prerequisite of constant, aggressive lane play to become usable. Tying gold generation to the player's ability to use their ultimate also prevents gold generation from getting out of control, as it seems to do in many fan concepts that include champions who interact with gold in some way.

If you liked this Champion, you can find over 70 more of my unique concepts HERE!