[September CCC] Siberia, the "Hero" of Freljord
*Siberia was always inventive when she was a child. Her overactive imagination entertained her and her friends for years, leading to many frenzied games of make believe by the fire during cold Freljord winters. Over time, however, her friends grew tired of playfighting with sticks and left to pursue more mature interests. *
*Year after year passed, and Siberia still dreamed of being a hero in front of the fire every night. When her parents returned home from town one night with news that the Ice Dervish Lissandra had been an icy witch and practitioner of dark magics, she threw on her fur coats, “borrowed” her father’s sword and sheath from the mantle, and strode out into the snowy night to become the hero she had always envisioned herself as. Using only her wits and her natural quickness, she entered Lissandra’s castle and found a massive block of True Ice in what used to be the ballroom. *
*When she took a swing at the block out of curiosity, her sword became stuck to the hilt in the block of ice. A roaming guard spotted her and summoned Lissandra to the scene. Knowing that her time had run out, she prayed to Averosa for salvation. Deep inside the True Ice, the spirit of the ancient Watchers answered, coating her father’s old blade in True Ice. With her frostforged blade, she escaped Lissandra’s claws and went on the run from her soldiers. *
The long periods of isolation during her flight left Siberia with only her thoughts and those of the Watchers inside the blade only served to fuel her delusion. Bizarrely, the deeper Siberia sank into her illusion of herodom, the stronger she and the sword she dubbed Wynterblade became. She went on a meandering journey across the Freljordian countryside, killing all those she viewed as evildoers, until she was finally brought to her knees by a group of elite soldiers sent by the Tribe of the Frost Archer. When Siberia was dragged before Ashe, the queen of Freljord, she demanded to know what foul tortures Ashe planned to inflict upon her. Instead, the queen told her that although she knew nothing of her bloodline or whether she was a descendant of Averosa, she wasn’t a true hero. Not yet. “For in the end,” Ashe said, “all true heroes join the League of Legends.”
Ever since then, Siberia has brought her own...unique...brand of heroism to the League under Freljord’s banner. However, even with the summoners’ probing questions in combat, she still believed herself to be a hero of destiny. Destiny’s hand will forever remain mysterious, but one thing was for certain: at some point during her journey, Siberia became a hero.
Hello, Champion Concepts browsers and CCC judges! I'm really glad you were forced to chose to open this thread instead of all of the other threads you could have opened.
Siberia is designed to be a melee fighter whose focus is gap-closing into melee range and burying her blessed True Ice sword into her enemies' chests. Notably, she has viable builds for both AD and AP as well, though a hybrid build isn't recommended because of her medium-long cooldowns, low burst, and reliance on autoattacks.
I would explain more, but I'll save that for later. For now, I want to get through her personality, and then go straight into the kit.
#Appearance and Personality
Appearance wise, imagine Fire Emblem: Awakening's Cynthia with blue hair and a Freljord aesthetic similar to that of post-VU Sejuani or Ashe. Her sword is sheathed over the shoulder in a plain brown sheath. The blade of her sword Wynterblade looks like a thin iron blade with a translucent blue coating that's about a quarter of an inch thick all around the blade. The handle and crossguard are plain and more indicative of somebody who bought the sword on a low budget to defend themselves, not an ornamental or royal weapon.
Personality-wise, Siberia is intended to be a parody of the typical swords and sorcery hero (if you've ever played a Fire Emblem game, you know what I'm talking about). She spends most of her time deep in her own delusions of heroism, only emerging with her special quotes below 20% health.
She may not BE a destined hero, but that won't stop her from believing she's one. Hopefully the quotes will help enlighten this more.
Quotes
When selected "A true hero for a true summoner!"
On movement "Let's go!" "My blade is ready!" "sigh Another hero's journey for me..." "That's a long march, but I can handle it." hums a noble-sounding tune to herself "Anything for my lord." (below 20% HP) "This...can't...be..." (below 20% HP) "I'm...getting...tired..."
On autoattack "For Freljord!" "It's gonna be a cold night for them..." "HIYAAH!" "Take that!" "How does it feel to fight a real hero!" (below 20% HP) "I'm...scared..." (below 20% HP) "Maybe I'm not cut out for this..." (below 20% HP) "One more fight..."
Special Champion Interactions (upon attacking Lissandra) "Any last words, foul sorceress?" (upon attacking Sejuani or Tryndamere) "Bandits like you get no sympathy from me." (when a nearby Draven catches an axe) "Ooh! Can you teach me?" (when near Zac) "Me and you should have a hero contest some day! I'd win, but..."
Taunt (without breathing)"You scared? Well, you better be, because YOU DON'T STAND A CHANCE! MY BLADE IS COLDER THEN A FRELJORD WINTER, MY BODY IS TOUGHER THEN BRAUM'S SHIELD, AND I ONCE SLEW THIRTY URSINE WITH MY BEAR HANDS!!! (spelling intentional) I AM UNSTOPPABLE! I AM AVEROSA'S TRUE--" (collapses on the ground, gasping for breath) "My blade. Your face. Pray they never meet." (when near Riven) "You're so tense all the time! Real heroes SMILE>" (stands still grinning for a second) (when near Shyvana) "I've been looking for a dragon to slay. You're it!"
Jokes "My sword hand hungers...hungers for..." (laughs for a few seconds). "I can't keep a straight face..." (tapers off into laughter) (Does Aether on an imaginary target.) "So impractical..." (spins around, almost but not quite like Garen) "FRELLLLLJORRRRRRRRD!!!!!!!"
#The Kit
Passive: Averosa's Blessings Every X autoattack effects!
As Siberia grows stronger, her sword gains bonus magical effects. Each of these effects can be upgraded twice, with the first upgrade activating the effect and the second improving it.
Q: Averosa’s Light: Every 5th autoattack heals Siberia for 30/50% of the damage it deals, including damage dealt by other blessings of Averosa. W: Averosa’s Fury: Every 3rd autoattack deals bonus magic damage equal to the higher value of 30/70 or (0.5/0.75 AP) on hit. E: Averosa’s Ice: Every 7th autoattack slows the target by 30/60% for 2 seconds, decaying after 1 second.
Mechanical info:
-Upgrade points are gained every 3rd level starting with 1 point at level 1 (1/4/7/10/13/16). It works by a similar mechanism to Kha'Zix's evolutions, except that she always gets 6 upgrades maximum. -stacks will clear upon death or returning to the fountain. This can help to sync up the three procs. -all three procs have their own counter. Multiple blessings can be procced at once-for example, Averosa’s Fury stacks with Averosa’s Ice every 21st attack and procs both effects. -proc attacks CAN critically hit and apply lifesteal/on-hits as normal. They do NOT trigger on-spell effects like Liandries, Rylai’s, or Tear of the Goddess, and will NOT apply their effects to a Ravenous Hydra AoE.
Q: Aurora Vector-targeted AoE. 80 mana. 15/14/13/12/11 second cooldown.
Siberia lights up the targeted line. After a brief delay, all enemies within the line take 40/80/120/160/200 (+0.6 AP) magic damage and are marked with Aurora for 3 seconds.
Autoattacking an enemy marked with Aurora will cause Siberia to dash to the target unit if they are within Aurora’s normal casting range.
Mechanical info:
-400 cast range (the beginning of the Aurora line must be inside 400 range). The line’s length is another 400 units and its width is 150. The delay between the line appearing and damage being dealt is 0.5 seconds. The dash range is also 400. -If you hit multiple targets with Aurora's first cast, you still only get one dash. Use it well! -applies Spell Vamp, Rylai’s, and Liandries as an AoE spell -The second portion of the attack is counted as an autoattack and can crit/lifesteal/proc Averosa’s Blessings like any autoattack.
W: Retaliate self-centered AoE Counterattack-0 mana, 20/18/16/14/12 second cooldown
Siberia slashes at enemies within melee range, dealing physical damage equal to 60/70/80/90/100% of the damage she has taken from non-tower sources in the last 1.5 seconds (max damage: 100/175/250/325/400). Each enemy champion struck reduces the cooldown by 1.5 seconds.
Mechanical info:
-Range is slightly longer than autoattack range (~200). -This spell may be cast even when the damage would exceed 400, but it will be capped off at 400. -procs Spell Vamp as an AoE.
E: Flurries Moving AoE DoT+Slow-80/90/100/110/120 mana, 10 second cooldown
Siberia channels for 0.75 seconds, then releases a cloud of whirling snow and ice that slowly moves in the cast direction for 4 seconds. All enemies in the cloud have drastically reduced vision and take 30/40/50/60/70 (+0.2 AP) magic damage per second while they remain in the cloud.
Mechanical info
-The cloud’s radius is 300 units. It starts directly over Siberia moving at about 600 units per second in the target direction, but rapidly falls off until it is moving about 100 units per second immediately before it disappears. -Procs Spell Vamp, Liandries, and Rylais as an AoE spell. -Enemies inside the cloud have full normal vision everywhere inside the cloud and no vision outside the cloud.
Ultimate: Hailstorm Short stun+500 range dash through-100 mana-120/105/90 second cooldown
Siberia rapidly slashes her target four times in 0.66 seconds, dealing 50/66/75% damage and applying critical hits, lifesteal, and on-hit effects with each strike. After the barrage of slashes, Siberia runs her target through with her True Ice blade, dealing 75/125/175 (+1.0 AP) magic damage and stunning them for 1/1.25/1.5 seconds.
Mechanical Info
-The last hit applies Spellvamp, Rylais, and Liandries as an AoE spell. -Each strike is counted as an autoattack that deals half of normal damage. Crits, lifesteal, and on hits apply normally. -If a crit occurs, only THAT autoattack actually ends up critting. Effectively, there are 4 crit rolls, one for each attack that is part of the combo. -Sheen procs are not readied until AFTER the final strike that applies the stun.
#Doom Version
Luckily, Siberia's kit lends itself well to Doom mode. I've prepared both a Bonus Doom (that other champions can have in Doom levels 2 and 5) and a normal Doom kit modifier.
Bonus Doom: Retaliation This champion will automatically counterattack every 10 seconds, dealing massive damage to enemies in melee range.
And of course, the regular Doom buff:
Doom Siberia Siberia has gotten the blessing of Averosa for REAL this time. Her ranged spells have been fragmented, and her Averosa’s Blessing attacks now take 2 less attacks to proc each!
Aurora shoots 3 beams parallel to each other. Flurries shoots 3 clouds in 3 different directions. Averosa's Fury procs every autoattack, Averosa's Light procs every third autoattack, and Averosa's Ice procs every 5th autoattack.
#Playstyle and Builds
Siberia can be played as both an AP bruiser and as an AD light fighter/melee carry. I'll go over both playstyles separately.
As an AP bruiser, Siberia functions extremely well in top lane. She can harass enemy top laners from range with Aurora and Flurries while she builds up farm and Averosa's Blessing procs. When her Retaliation is maxed first, she makes an extremely strong duelist thanks to her ability to turn any bruiser's combo back on them so long as she survived and they're still in melee range; maxing Aurora first gives her better waveclear and engage at the cost of Retaliation's potentially massive damage output against other melee champions. Her Averosa's Blessing on hits only make her a stronger duelist, allowing her to remain sustained and gain threat potential the longer a fight goes on. However, without a high damage Retaliation proc, her burst damage is not very high, limiting her snowballing potential so she isn't worthless when she's behind and doesn't outright win when she's ahead.
In teamfights, AP bruiser Siberia functions as a bulky front liner, and will usually be either the second one in due to her Aurora dash's low range. However, she may gain greater advantage by using it mid-fight to attempt to dive onto a high value target and force them out of the fight with her ultimate. Her Averosa's Blessing procs here serve to help her dish out damage and hold her own on the front line, while Flurries allows her to disrupt the back line even if a diving opportunity doesn't present itself.
As an AD melee carry, Siberia is slightly worse because her burst is even lower then in her AP build and because her Averosa's Fury proc is not very useful. However, the much greater availability of attack speed items and on-hit effects in an AD build mostly makes up for these weaknesses. In lane, she will probably max Aurora first to allow easy gap closing opportunities, while choosing Averosa's Light to keep her sustained in lane. She can also jungle fairly well with this build, and makes great use of both Feral Flare and Spirit of the Elder Lizard. Her Hailstorm becomes much more powerful with this build, allowing her to easily deal massive damage with the press of a button once she gets crit chance. However, she suffers from the lack of a true steroid like Master Yi, Yasuo, and Fiora have, making her damage somewhat lower then your average melee carry's.
In teamfights, melee carry Siberia will usually be one of the last people to commit to a teamfight. She will usually use Flurries to attempt to disorient the front line so she can slip around and dive the back line with Aurora into Hailstorm. If she fails to land Aurora on the backline, however, she must either get a speed boost from a teammate or capitalize on a positional mistake to engage the backline. Melee carry itemization does not provide Siberia with the tools to survive very long on the front line.
#Final Words
Thanks again for reading this whole post. I appreciate your time, and I can't wait to see my score in the September CCC!
changelog:
-9/2/2014: Version 1 posted. -9/3/2014: Formatting cleaned up throughout the post. Appearance info added. Champion interaction lines added. Doom section expanded. Clarified that Aurora grants one dash to one marked target.
