Irelia's new Ability Names
Riot has revealed the new Irelia and she looks fantastic. Her animations and design are beautiful, she looks really fun to play, and that Aviator Irelia splash is exquisite. Overall, so far she's great. I have a few complaints though....and they are kind of weird complaints.
Her Ability names are weak. Let me cover them quickly to try and explain what I mean:
Ionian Fervor - This was her old passive name, and its fine, but its weird that this was one of the ability names they decided to keep. Irelia has close ties to Ionia, especially during the war, so including it in an ability name makes sense. But "Fervor" to me feels like one of those generic words they just tack onto any passive ability. Like Kayle has "Holy Fervor" and Trynd has "Battle Fury" which, while at least different, is a similar word and meaning. Her new passive isn't even similar to her old, unlike Bladsurge, so they made the deliberate choice to keep this ability in-name-only.
Bladesurge - Obviously her best ability, practically identical to her old Q so keeping the name is sensible. We have a million abilities with "Blade" in them, but the "surge" part really gives it a feeling of movement while also perfectly describing the ability itself.
Defiant Dance - I guess Rakan is actually almost a year old, but it feels like we JUST got an ability called "Battle Dance". To be fair, since Irelia is now a dancer initially that applies her craft to battle (similar to Rakan), it makes sense, and I must express how overall I like this character change. Still, it seems strange that they didn't implement "Hiten Style" here. I mean "Ionian Fervor" is completely different now, why not Hiten Style? It could be her style of dance instead of her blade style like it was previously. And now she makes it her own.
Flawless Duet - I'll admit, this one is ok, and reflects how she was initially an artist. I must once again point out that "Equilibrium Strike" actually could have worked here, too (equilibrium between two blades, stuns which is similar to the old skill), but I won't harp on it. Mainly, I think "duet" is out of place considering she's a dancer and generally "duet" is associated with instruments and singing. There are so many dance terms, why pick one that is often more closely associated with music performances?
Vanguard's Edge - THIS is the one that prompted me to mention something about the names. This ability could belong to nearly ANYBODY. How is it unique to Irelia? The "Edge" part? "Ionian Fervor's" generic-ness I let slide since it was a hold-over from old Irelia, but old Irelia's ultimate was "Transcendent Blades". The old ult had this great, beautiful, serene name; sure the ult itself didn't really earn the name, but it would have suited this new Irelia and her ult quite well. "Vanguard" can mean "the leading ideas" which might have been what they were going for, but in a game like League people will most likely think "front of the army". Which, again, can work too, but it could work on basically any military Champion in the League. Garen, Darius...hell all I can think of when I hear "Vanguard" is Leona's one line with the word. I shouldn't think of Leona when I hear Irelia's ultimate name. It wouldn't be so bad if it was just some normal ability, but this is her ultimate. It has to be a zinger.
If it were up to me, I would have kept "Transcendent Blades" as her ultimate name. Sure the ability is functionally different, but the name doesn't give specific function indication. And she's still a character that the word "Transcendent" can apply to, someone who is both "tempest and tranquil" at the same time, beyond a normal warrior. Find a better name for her passive (I suggest "Hiten Style" but a new name would be fine, too) and then Q - Bladesurge, W - Defiant Dance and E - Flawless Duet all work ok.
I know not every ability is going to be a homerun in terms of names (I mean we have names like "Boomerang Throw", not great), but considering she previously had really cool ability names like "Transcendent Blades" or the unique "Hiten Style", these feel like they could have been better. It may seem trivial, but I have a feeling Riot thinks about these ability names more than we realize, because they want it to be part of the character, exemplify them in some way, but also give some indication of what the ability actually does.
To leave off, I want to mention a few ability names I really like and perfectly suit the character.
An Acquired Taste - This one is just fun, and even helps describe what the passive does. As you hit champions, Tahm tastes them (by attacking), starts to like the flavor and is then able to eat them.
The Quickness - I don't love this name, but it definitely sounds like something Rakan came up with himself, so it suits him. And it helps to describe the ability's function.
Condemn - A really simple ability name that both captures the character and sort of describes the ability. To condemn can mean "to completely disapprove of" which clearly Vayne's whole character is about being against dark magic. Comdemn can also mean "to sentence to death" which could quite possibly be true if you're shot into a wall.
Anyways, that's my take, feel free to comment with your own thoughts. Do you like Irelia's ability names? Or maybe comment with another of your favorite ability names. Thanks for reading!
