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So Aatrox's GU has been updated to VGU. You know what that means?

Over Innsmouth·3/13/2018, 1:02:43 PM·29 votes·3,340 views

Naturally, it's time to ask about Vlad.

As the Varus comic pointed out, blood magic finds its origins in the Darkin. This wasnt explored in depth in the Varus comic beyond mentioning, and it wasnt explored during the Swain VGU/Noxus Update.

Nor was Vlad himself, at all.

Something I personally like a lot is that a lot of the lore - both actual events as well as character interactions/dynamics - is actually revealed through VO updates. People comb through the latest release or re-release for whatever little tidbits of storytelling and insight into certain relationships. It's an interesting approach, to say the least, and I commend Riot for it.

I can only hope they'll extend this to Vladimir, who gets...remarkably little in terms of interaction. There wouldnt be a better time in the foreseeable future (now that Swain has come and gone without any direct quotes to Noxus's haemomancer) to give us some information on blood magic, how it was transferred from the Darkin to humanity, and insight on how Aatrox views the whole ordeal.

and maybe even some characterization for our favourite blood mage

It's something I'll personally be holding out hope for.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/299493047899521024/423103361546584075/Varus_1.PNG

47 Comments

Blood Magicks3/13/2018, 2:19:12 PM12 votes

Alright hear me out.

If you were already considering involving the red mage, you can tie this beautifully.

Major points:

If some of the storyline takes place in Darkin Era Runeterra, then you can:

  • Update Bloodlord, make it a lore skin, it looks quite Darkin anyway

  • Bloodlord becomes who Vlad was during Darkin Era (if he was there back then)

  • It still leaves plenty of freedom for present era Vlad since chances are he changed quite a bit during all these centuries (or he didn't, artistic choice). Think Kain from Legacy of Kain and how he matured from a ravenous conqueror to a wise god-king.

It's the most you can do to give the character some consistent in-world lore without having to update him entirely.

In the end, who doesn't want to see Bloodlord with modern visuals... In League, not in a Blizzard ARPG.

https://i.imgur.com/MNvOdoJ.jpg

Sahn Uzal3/13/2018, 2:04:56 PM9 votes

#VladLivesMatter

Salson3/13/2018, 4:13:57 PM6 votes

Personally, I don't think Darkin gave humans anything.

Humans in fiction have a tendency to reverse-engineer anything used against them, right before wiping the floor with it's original users.

AmazoX3/13/2018, 3:24:44 PM5 votes

#GASPS

Blood magic?!

Points Executioners BEGONE.

Hype level over 9000 for Aatrox VGU! Hype level over infinite for the word BLOOD!

GreenLore3/13/2018, 1:37:59 PM5 votes

Yeah with Aatrox getting a new VO I'd say it is very likely that he'll have new lines for Vlad. Though I doubt that Vlad himself will get a lore update or really any special focus in this update as it will likely remain on the darkins themselves,which is important because right now a common criticism for the darkin champs is that they feel rather one-dimensional in terms of character.

ShishouMatt3/13/2018, 5:05:33 PM4 votes

I want to know how Aatrox was finally defeated...

Was it an army of Teemo's ancestors? Invisible bombs everywhere?

Seriously, he was taken down before Varus was. Did Aatrox go down and the lesser Darkin scattered? Is there a Darkin hierarchy?

Aatrox

Violet Fields3/14/2018, 12:30:56 AM3 votes

Honestly, I think FIddlesticks is in a worse spot than Vladimir.

WubbaLubbaDubDab3/13/2018, 5:11:40 PM3 votes

when did they say that aatrox's gu is changed to vgu?

BeatzBoyFTW3/13/2018, 6:34:41 PM3 votes

Reminder that it's a Shen level "Visual Update", not Sion level. They'll probably give him 10 pecs or something.

Moonboy653/13/2018, 3:42:32 PM2 votes

his update is Fiora sized (but a little bit bigger)

Jaspers3/13/2018, 3:36:35 PM2 votes

I find it weird when anyone takes what champs say as gospel. Rakan says something about Swain having Vastayan blood and suddenly people take it as he's half Vastayan, when it seems more metaphorical. According to the lore, Darkin came to Runeterra because of magic, it's over used and power attracted them to a new world to conquer and they 'gave' them blood magic? Please, why would they give it to them if they wanted to conquer them? Why not just use blood magic to win? Maybe because blood magic weak. If blood magic is all they had before, no wonder they wanted more. :P

Digielf3/13/2018, 3:30:11 PM2 votes

Since Vladimir must become a lot different now to not look like an outdated Swain he can just become one of the 2 last darkin since he is related to them

Shinjusuke3/13/2018, 4:12:04 PM2 votes

You already got your new Vlad, Riot just chose to remove Swain and call this new guy "Swain" instead of Vlad :^)

MYXYN3/13/2018, 9:19:10 PM1 votes

do you have a link to where this was said, im just very interested.

RainbowIcee3/13/2018, 3:56:17 PM1 votes

Aatrox doesn't need a visual update though some other champions do. Have you seen Pantheon ? I wish the visual team would separate a little and update other champions that don't need/get a kit rework. I understand they wanna make the game feel "fresh" but a visual update helps with that too. When Annie and Karthus got theirs their popularity spiked though karthus went down quick because how dangerous it is to play him.