Firstly this isn't a rant or a critique, it's a just question.
I've seen various people on here say Karma's theme is "spiritual leader" which seems way to broad and vague to actually be a theme, especially since Illaoi could also be taken as exactly that. I know prior to her rework she had a bit too much going on with her Fans, duality, Karma etc... but what was it actually narrowed down to?
GreenLore9 votesOverall I'd say it is about her being "the enlightened one",she uses spiritual power(which is likely supposed to be kinda different than regular magic),but honestly I feel that this is kind of a weak theme,or that at least the execution is very lackluster.
IxtaliKing2 votesI think being an Enlightened One could be interesting as a theme, even though it gives no real clues as to what that might look like. I agree that if this is indeed meant to be her theme, it's poorly executed. You would think a champ designed around enlightenment would be a lot less linear than she is.
GreenLore1 votesYeah I think she might get a big rework during an Enchanter or Controller class update,maybe that can help her to sell her theme a bit better(and make her gameplay a bit cooler in general)
IxtaliKing1 votesYeah Meddler said she'd be a good candidate for an Enchanter update or an Ionian event. Both of those could be years off though. Best case scenario would be Enchanters becoming such a mess this year that they end up taking priority over Divers for preseason.
Edit: Actually that's negative. Best case scenario would be Divers being in a better position after the Tank items and stuff are updated.
GreenLore2 votesI think enchanters getting an update in the next year seems pretty likely. After all we are likely going to get divers and tanks this year(tanks already being confirmed),but supports are also known to need a class update and a lot of supports are enchanters.
Ultîma4 votesI think "Spirit Mage" is a pretty solid pillar for Karma as an overall theme. She wields ancient Ionian magic and is a spiritual leader to Ionia, and is largely recognized as an ascended one - whether that's due to her wisdom or power is up to interpretation. Reminds me a little bit of Korra from the Avatar series, albeit with a more refined temperament.
Another way to think about it is where Ionian magic comes from; from the lore we've seen, we know that Ionians are in tune with the world and nature like few other nations. It's possible that Karma is able to manifest energies from Runeterra itself.
If anything, I think her theme has so many open-ended possibilities that it's a shame we don't know exactly what she is.
SilverSquid9 votesShe throws green blobs of.... magic? I dunno. Without her baiting passive she lost her karmic touch. Without mantra giving her opposite effects she lost her dualistic touch. I just... don't....know?
Is continuously "mantra E" on your allies justifying being a leader? Isn't a leader someone who LEADS people into battle, not someone standing in the back shouting "you do that"? Isn't that rather, what a boss does, not a leader? Is repeatedly lobbing RQs at enemies providing anything thematicly that Lux or other champs don't already provide? And what the hell is tank Karma supposed to be?
I have so many questions and so few answers.
IxtaliKing3 votesIs continuously "mantra E" on your allies justifying being a leader?
Lol and is being a leader really even a theme? There are so many different leaders in the game: 
and they all offer so much more thematically than just "leader". Even if someone were to say "but Karma is a spiritual leader", so is 
. It doesn't look like we're going to get any kind of official answer, as I expected really.
logic3011 votesI play karma mid a lot, it's not just mantra e, it's poking and healing. You can 2v1 easily with manta w and there is lots of outplay potential with her kit
SilverSquid3 votesPoking and healing has nothing to do with "being a leader". Being able to 2v1 is not a theme.
And no, her outplay potential is minimal, since she has no mechanically deep abilities, no dashes or instant/hard CC, nor does she have unpredictable combos.
logic3011 votesShe has plenty of outplay potential, because you she could heal and shield and stun and slow, you can't touch her
SilverSquid2 votesYou lost me at "stun"
And no, "not being able to touch her" is not outplay either. It's unhealthy at worst and predictable at best.
Placentas4 votesI thought she was supposed to represent balance, specifically the balance of violence vs peace. Maybe her lore changed, but the last time I read it, the lore went something like how she killed a bunch of Noxian soldiers despite her believing in non-violent peace. She realized the world needs a balance of righteous and evil violence in the world.
I guuuuuesssss her kit kind of resembles that? She has the option to do damage or protect. But I agree with just about everyone else in this thread that her theme is a bit weak.
Valor Bot3 votesI'm curious too, though if I had to venture a guess I'd say it's something along the lines of "battle priest" or "soul mage", with a strong leaning towards the latter since "battle priest" could potentially apply to Soraka as well.
AMYS GRAVE3 votesOverall i have to say i'm a fan of this thread.
IxtaliKing2 votesAyyy xD
Hige1 votesI think Karma is simply some sort of... idol of Ionia, someone who through her choices has been recognized as a wise but powerful woman, in short, the enlighted one.
She has a sentence that I think defines her "trope": I've seen two paths and made another between
She isn't much of an spiritual leader but just some sort of pacifist that leads through example, I say pacifist because she is heavily against violence but she is also heavily against sitting idle, she fights with calm resolve and overpowers her foes through sheer willpower, hence why drain tank Karma seems to work wonders lol
edit: I wanted to add that, most of her kit is in fact very reactive with the exception of Q, this is because Karma's theme is in fact the willpower pacifist, you can hit her all you want but you won't get anywhere (in theory) she will stand there (drain tank + shield) taking a beating until you tire yourself out and then she'll slap you and tell you: see? I told you, you can't win. And then she'll burst you out of her temple with a Q in the face
IxtaliKing1 votesKarma's theme is in fact the willpower pacifist, you can hit her all you want but you won't get anywhere (in theory) she will stand there (drain tank + shield) taking a beating until you tire yourself out and then she'll slap you and tell you: see? I told you, you can't win.
Do you genuinely believe this?
Hige1 votesyup, that was the general objective for her rework according to her lore
IxtaliKing1 votesSo you think her theme really shines through her Tank build?
Hige1 votesNot particularly, considering that an AP build would have a similar approach to "tanking", remember that her heal and her shield both scales off of AP, mid Karma also appears to be more durable than most mid laners because of her shields, heal and ms boost.
It just so happen that defensive items and the defensive system in general is currently flawed as it's been acknowledged by Riot and Karma can take advantage of it.
Currently she can tank a lot but if she builds like this she lacks the slap on the face (Q), so the answer is no, tank build only shows one side of her
IxtaliKing3 votesWell her heal scales primarily off of missing HP, so her tank build is more about abusing HP and heal amplifying items, rather than the flawed defensive system. You have an interesting take on Karma though.
Ralanr1 votesEffectively she's League's Buddha/Gandhi. She's a spiritual leader of Ionia, a land that is now more divided than ever after the Noxian invasion (despite a common enemy, many in Ionia have a different idea on just how they should progress to the future).
She's trying to find a balance between peaceful unity and military force, because extremes of either are going to leave to their downfall.
