What To Expect From League of Legends’ Spirit Blossom Event?

League of Legends is filled with rich and magical lore where the developers draw out inspiration to create new events that feature new game modes, skins, or even champions. This July, Riot Games’ will introduce the Spirit Blossom event which is the biggest event to introduce features never seen before in League of Legends’ history. As the days go by, new features included in this event get introduced, but what is there to expect in this grand event that people are so hyped-up to see what’s in store for them?

The Season for Spirit Blossoms

Ionia represents the region in Runeterra where the residents are the most in tune with nature and the world. Every year, Ionia celebrates the Spirit Blossom festival where the residents pay their respects and connect to the people that have departed this world and passed on. The residents visit temples and light up lanterns in honor of their loved ones to ensure that those who have left this world have found their way to the other side.

However, the Spirit Blossom festival isn’t only about the passing of the deceased as this is also the season where the flowers called Spirit Blossoms get to bloom. These flowers represent every soul in Ionia that are trying to pass to the next world. This is modeled after the Japanese Cherry Blossom festival where the people will enjoy a serene day watching the cherry blossoms pass by. The flowers are represented in the new skin lines.

The Tragedy of the Last Festival and It’s Grand Return

When Noxus arrived to try and conquer Ionia after 1st Noxian Invasion, deadly chemicals used for warfare made the soils of Ionia tainted with corrupt magic and harmful chemicals which made both organic and magical beings being unable to grow. This event lead to the Spirit Blossoms being unable to bud, leaving Ionia without a Spirit Blossom festival to celebrate as all the trees were too corrupted by the weapons of Noxus.

Eventually, like all things in nature, life inside of the Spirit Blossoms are destined to flourish once again. Now, after a very long time, the citizens of Ionia are set on preparing for the Festival that was denied from them for so very long. While a few Noxian immigrants have made their homes in areas where the Spirit Blossoms bloom, they are invited to join in the festivities as they are part of the world as well. Although, with some unease.

League of Legends’ Spirit Blossom Features In The Game

As the League of Legends’ developers synchronizes the progression of the lore with projects within the game, this event is set to be the biggest project Riot Games’ will be working on since it has a ridiculous amount of features that will be added to the game. Aside from the return of a Spirit Blossom-themed Nexus Blitz, announced are also an entirely new skinline along with the introduction of not one, but two new champions in the game.

This will be incorporated with elements and characters native to Ionia in the lore with other characters being featured related to what happens within the event. New characters will be added to League of Legends ever-expanding List of League of Legends Champions which will make it in time for the next World Championships. With those in mind, let’s find out what is being added or returned to the League of Legends client this July.

Nexus Blitz Spirit Blossom Theme

The Nexus Blitz is an alternate game mode to League of Legends and is a shortened version of the traditional 5v5 map, Summoner’s Rift. First introduced alongside the Cosmic Skin Lineup, Nexus Blitz was made available for alpha playtesting but is now fully available. However, the map in Nexus Blitz is now modeled to fit the event and has more of an Ionian vibe to it compared to the original design.

Much like other alternative game modes, Nexus Blitz features fun features not present in the main game mode. For example, during the game, a random event taken from other popular game titles will appear as mini-games throughout the match. This includes Push the Cart, Bardle Royale, and King of the Hill. After winning these mini-games, you will get a random reward which will help your team win the game faster.

Spirit Blossom Skin Line

The Spirit Blossom Skin Line features certain characters with a reimagine lore which takes place in an alternate version of Runeterra. They are modeled after certain figures in Ionian mythology such as The Collector (Thresh) and The Trickster (Teemo). While these characters aren’t in any way canon to the main storyline, it recreates the image each character has which brings an entirely new perspective into their persona’s

1. Spirit Blossom Teemo

The Trickster is described in the story as a playful spirit who likes to summon images that aim to disturb any passerby who gets to see it. However, while the trickster is described as mischievous, it is not evil nor harbors any ill-intent towards others. This character is best fit by Teemo who also has a playful demeanor.

2. Spirit Blossom Yasuo

The tale of the two brothers who were once loyal to each other but were corrupted by curse of Jealousy and Obsession from the Two Blades made by The Collector. Yasuo represents one of these brothers while Yone represents the other. Their tale fit the mythos perfectly in this rivalry.

3. Spirit Blossom Thresh

Thresh represents both The Collector who is filled with an influx of Jealousy and Obsession over the more beloved Gatekeeper. He lures spirits trying to pass the afterlife by baiting them with memories from their previous life that they regret, thus entrapping those spirits in an afterlife of pain.

4. Spirit Blossom Vayne

Representing the character of Tsetsegua, who is a demon hunter dead-set on taking revenge on the demons which destroyed her village, Vayne portays a character who is doomed to hunt a demon in the afterlife but due to the curse of The Collector, will always result in her failing to catch it.

5. Spirit Blossom Lillia

Lillia represents a young fawn who is very shy. However, after her grove was set into flames, she now wanders the afterlife reliving the deaths of those she loved dearly over and over again for all eternity.

Unrevealed Skins Rumors (No Official Announcement Yet)

• Spirit Blossom Ahri (The Gatekeeper)
• Spirit Blossom Cassiopea
• Spirit Blossom Kindred
• Spirit Blossom Yone (The Brother)
• Spirit Blossom Riven

Two New Champions: Lillia and Yone

League of Legends hasn’t released two new champions simultaneously since Xayah and Rakan back on April 19, 2017. To be honest, there’s no guarantee that Yone will be released alongside Lillia since he has been absent in the PBE scene, unlike Lillia who has been up for playtesting. Perhaps Yone will arrive sometime later in the event but players should expect the slain brother to make an appearance sometime soon.

Lillia, The Bashful Bloom

Lillia is League of Legends’ newest character and will be released on July 22, 2020 alongside the Spirit Blossom Event. She’s already released in the PBE to tweak her a bit more before she’s fully made available on the main League of Legends regions. However, you can already watch gameplay videos on other League of Legends Youtube Channels to see how she is played (which will not be covered in this article since it’s not a guide).

Lillia is born from the dreams of humans through The Dreaming Tree’s buds. She had lived a life tending to her mother tree and admiring the wonderful dreams that arrive in their realm. She wanted to meet the dreamers who had made such wonderful dreams but was disappointed to see a different side to the humans who she had initially admired for being so filled with wonder now corrupted with greed and anger.

One day, when the humans’ war had arrived inside the forest, the tree lost the branch containing Lillia’s dream. As she put the intruders to sleep, she saw that one of the humans still had a dream despite what she initially saw. Now, Lillia aims on bringing her dream to fruition as she teaches the humans to dream once more and stop all the evil that is plaguing the world so that both the humans and the mother tree can thrive once more.

Yone, Windchaser

Yone is one of League of Legends’ characters which has been mentioned for a very long time. He is the elder brother of Yasuo who aimed to stop him from taking a path he thought would lead Yasuo into darkness. Very much like Senna, he is one of the few characters who is mentioned in the lore for a very long time but is finally getting their character introduced as a playable character in the game the same way they were described.

Yone is thought to have been dead according to the League of Legends lore but has, for some reason, been brought back to life (perhaps in search of his brother). In a last ditch effort to “save” his brother from the path that he has taken, Yone took on Yasuo in a duel to the death. However, Yasuo managed to get the upper hand and slay his brother in the duel, something that still haunts him until this day.

Expectations for the Spirit Blossom Event

The Spirit Blossom Event will definitely be the biggest event in League of Legends this year outside of the World Championships. This event has introduced a great addition in the League of Legends storyline, that which will definitely feed the interest of those who follow the lore very closely. Also, with prestige editions made available on some of these skins, players who like to collect the rarest of skins definitely want to tune in.

However, with the lack of an original game mode native to this event, some people might not be able to appreciate what the event brings to the players. Not being able to immerse the beauty of the Spirit Blossom first-hand is definitely something that will leave you a bit empty. Although, the skins and champions that are introduced will definitely give you a chance to feel this even in other ways aside from alternate game modes.

The Future of League of Legends and the Lore

With the addition of the details of the Spirit Blossom storyline, new bits and pieces are coming into place which clarify some points such as the tension between Ionia and Noxus. After reading the Perennial Storyline Chapter VIII, it is hinted that Noxus will definitely come back for a second invasion on Ionia. While it is already shown in the Awaken music video, it is not fully expanded yet so we’ll get to see characters like Irelia or maybe even Sona back in action.

As even more wars start breaking out in Runeterra, it is only a matter of time until Demacia and Freljord take matters into their own hands and start some sort of World War within Valoran. As an action-packed RPG, this is something a lot of fans want to see to find out once and for all which region will emerge victorious in the much awaited conclusion of the League of Legends storyline. Perhaps, even forgotten regions like Shurima or the Shadow Isles will get entangled in this growing epic.