Maokai, the Shadow Isles, and the rise of an Anti-Hero
I've been enjoying the storylines that come out from time to time, and I've been imagining here and there how I'd like to see other zones turn out. After giving it some thought, the Shadow Isles story should be less about Mordekaiser and more about Maokai. This should be the case for three reasons:
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We don't have a substantial amount of Nature in the current wars. The void, the ascended, the Darkin, Noxus and Demacia...It's all fine. But where is the army of the elements? Maokai should lead it.
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He could be the first real Anti-Hero. Maokai isn't a hero or a villan, he's an agenda driven Balance seeker who, depending on the issue could be either hero or villan. At the end of the day, he's not taking sides. You're either pro-Nature or you aren't, and if you aren't, you're getting eliminated.
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It would open the door for creative direction. If Maokai seems the world is for or against, he could rally any number of new champions or races to the cause because, again, this is a faction we don't really see that often. He's neither god not king, and he fights for a decentralized system (nature) rather than order.
The idea that an oppressed and persecuted entity rises up and becomes hellbent on the end of the enemy, making him a tyrant himself, is a story arc that has been missing from LoL and I think Maokai has the best chance to bring it into play.
