[Champ Concept] Herod, The Madman of Freljord (WIP)

Herod, the Madman of Freljord “I... am... cold...”

Years ago, Herod was once a man. The proud and charismatic leader of the explorer's league known as Herod's Heroes, he led expeditions to nearly every corner of the known world, and even beyond. His luck ran out, however, on a fateful mission to chart the furthest reaches or northern Freljord. Hostile locals, hungry animals, and the soul-rending bite of the cold itself tore his expedition team apart, until only Herod himself remained. To the outside world, Herod and his Heroes were laid to rest, their journey finally ended. But among the nomadic tribes Freljord, a new legend was was being told of a madman who stalks the glacial wastes, unburdened by the wind and cold, with a bloody pick in his hand, and a terrible hunger in his eyes.

Herod is a juggernaut champion who excels at ambushing his enemies and fighting them on his terms. The sheer amount of CC that Herod brings means that anyone foolhardy enough to wander into Herod's territory will quickly find themselves in a desperate fight for survival. However, if the enemy team can coordinate and prepare in order to draw the Madman into the open, his winter will easily thaw. A successful Herod will have a keen understanding of enemy pathing and vision control, knowing exactly when to strike at enemies when they think they're invulnerable.

Passive: Frostbitten Will – Years spent in the bitter cold have only emboldened Herod's willpower, and he is never more determined than when his blood is nearly frozen. While under any movement impairing effects, Herod gains bonus Armor and Magic Resist, scaling with the strength of the effect, maxing out at Stun.

> Herod's passive is intended to MITIGATE one of the biggest weaknesses all juggernauts face: kiting. That's not to say that kiting is not an option for Herod's opponents--it's certainly the most effective way to escape his clutches!--but in doing so they have to make the decision to let Herod live, or drag the fight out and give Herod more opportunities to capitalize on their mistakes. Alternatively, coordinated fire from teammates is still effective despite Herod's bonus defenses, further emphasizing the gameplay of Herod catching enemies off guard and out of position, and his enemies grouping up and trying to draw him out.

Q: Rip and Tear! – Herod throws his climbing ax at a targeted location, dealing damage to all enemies in its path and remaining on the ground for up to 6 seconds, or until Herod picks it up. If the ax hits an enemy Champion, it becomes embedded in them, and Herod's next basic attack on them in the next 6 seconds deals bonus %health damage and slows them for a few seconds.

While Herod is not holding his ax, he goes into a frenzy, gaining increased attack speed and restoring a small amount of life whenever he kills an enemy.

> Rip and Tear is a very important ability for Herod, because it is his only way of engaging on enemies in the open, outside of his ultimate. It still requires him to land another auto to activate the slow, however, meaning it works best when Herod already has an enemy cornered, or is following up on a teammate's CC. Besides that, however, the AS boost from his frenzy gives Herod some more objective-focused strength, helping him clear camps, clear waves, or tear down towers. He could even use it in a teamfight, tagging one enemy with his ax, then ripping and tearing at another one, before jumping back on his tagged target to rip out his ax and get that juicy %health bonus damage.

W: Howl of Terror – Herod lets loose a maniacal yell like the wind itself. Nearby enemies take magic damage and are very briefly slowed. If an enemy is already slowed, OR if they do not have vision of Herod, they instead run in terror for 1 sec.

> Howl of Terror is a pretty simple ability, but it perfectly encapsulates what I think Herod is meant for. The threat of this ability alone makes his enemies even more terrified of face-checking brush, allowing Herod to exert pressure all over the map with just the IMPLICATION of his presence. It also offers up some rather neat interactions with champs like Graves and Ivern who can create on-demand vision denial to proc Herod's fear even more often.

E: Cannibalize – In the frigid north, maddening hunger led Herod to see almost anything—or anyone—as a tasty meal. 
* Passive: Herod gains a resource called Hunger, which gradually increases over time. As his Hunger increases, his natural HP regeneration decreases. Cannibalizing a minion or monster resets his Hunger to zero and heals him based on the amount of Hunger spent.
* Active: Herod executes a nearby minion or monster with less than 50% health. If his Hunger is higher than 50%, he can also target allied minions, gaining a small amount of gold for himself, and denying all gold and experience to enemies.

>This ability makes me excited, because League has never really had a minion denial mechanic and I think it really deserves one. In the general use, Cannibalize is a simple but effective way for Herod to stay healthy whether in lane or in the jungle. Because it's an active ability, he can also save it for when he needs it most, such as gobbling up a cannon minion before running to safety, or denying the enemy jungler of a crucial monster. The Hunger meter also makes it apparent to the opponent when Herod will be looking for something to eat, how much he stands to gain, and what he wants to target. For instance, if I see an enemy Herod has just hit 50% hunger in the middle of a cannon wave, I want to make sure he can't deny me that tasty minion. I may even want to spend a damaging ability to burst down the minion before Herod can get to it, or I could just take advantage of his reduced HP regeneration and try to bully him off the wave itself.

R: The Winds of Winter – Herod conjures ferocious winds at a targeted location in any direction. ALL units are slowed and take damage while moving against the wind, but receive a corresponding speed boost when moving with it. At higher ranks, allied Champions are slowed less when moving against the wind, and their speed boost lingers for a few seconds after leaving the storm.

>This is an ultimate which can provide a huge amount of utility, but because its effect is mostly symmetrical, Herod will need to be very discerning about exactly when and how he wants to bring the blizzard. He can throw it straight down on his team to give them a Sivir-like boost, but doing so will also close off an escape route if they suddenly have to retreat. Likewise, he can use it to trap his enemies, but if they can break out of the storm in time, they're effectively gone. Proper use of this ult will require good coordination and game sense to know exactly which way the winds will need to blow. Also worth noting: because the storm slows allies as well, it trigger's Herod's passive. This actually makes it an extremely strong tool for level 6 all-ins, as not only does he force his opponent to stay and fight, but he gains bonus defenses as long as he's moving against the wind. Such a fight could quickly become a nuanced battle for positioning, as Herod and his opponents try to maneuver around each other to best take advantage of the unique change in their environment.