Riot Games revealed a new keyword today via two followers in the new Legends of Runeterra spoilers for the Shadows Isles region.
A new champion has been added to the Shadow Isles and with the arrival of Maokai comes a self-mill strategy that could break the LoR meta. But for a self-mill strategy to pop off correctly, there has to be a proper supporting cast to help Maokai level up.
The new LoR keyword, Toss, “obliterates cards from the bottom of your deck.” A self-mill strategy via Toss also works in conjunction with “units that have died” to level up Maokai and destroy all but four non-champions in your opponent’s deck. There are two new followers that fuel Toss: Thorny Toad and Deadbloom Wanderer.
Thorny Toad is a cheap 1/4 that will Toss two and heal your Nexus two when it dies, providing Maokai with three “notches” out of the 25 needed to level up. It stalls early-game Aggro strategies, only costs two mana to summon, and is an ideal self-kill target when just a few notches shy of leveling up Maokai.
Deadbloom Wanderer is similar to Thorny Toad in that it stalls the game out and fuels Toss. It accomplishes this by obliterating three cards upon being summoned and using Lifesteal to heal your Nexus. An ideal follower to combo with Deadbloom Wanderer is Chronicler of Ruin, who kills a unit and then revives it.
And then there is Overgrown Snipe, a seven mana 4/3 who kills a follower when summoned to summon itself. Thorny Toad is an ideal target, as is The Undying and Cursed Keeper. Any follower with “Last Breath,” though, could work.
A deck crafted around Maokai and the new LoR self-mill strategy will likely be built with a bunch of low-cost units that are easily disposable while fueling Toss via the new followers revealed today. This allows a player to easily hit the goal of 25 units either killed or obliterated, thus essentially ending the game for your opponent.
