Riot dev reveals secret animation with new League champion Samira
Riot GamesA Riot Games dev has revealed that there is a secret animation in one of the abilities, Blade Whirl, for the new League of Legends champion, Samira.
After Lillia and Yone joined the League of Legends roster in the Spirit Blossom event, Riot quickly teased that the next champion that they were working on would be a flashy “assassin marksman.”
This new champion, Samira, was revealed on August 30 and has since been made available for League fans to try out on Riot’s PBE servers.
However, while many players have already experienced the champion’s flashy playstyle and skillset, there is one detail in her abilities that seems to have gone unnoticed.
Riot GamesRiot Games’ Senior Animator Tom Robbins highlighted the champion’s W ability, which can block all incoming projectiles, similar to Yasuo’s Wind Wall, and said there was more to it than fans initially expected.
The League of Legends dev explained that, although her W is called the “Blade Whirl,” it not actually Samira’s blade that is preventing all the damage, revealing a closer look at the secret animation within her ability.
After sharing a slow-motion clip of an in-game exchange, Robbins revealed that Samira would actually shoot every projectile that comes her way, while still putting out damage with her blade.
Though it may appear Samira slashes projectiles on first glance, she’s really shooting them down out of the air!
Samira’s Blade Whirl was inspired by the “Method Grab” snowboard trick.
I know what DMC fans are thinking but that resemblance was actually a coincidence!#animation pic.twitter.com/98t3gogKWs— Tom (@Tom_Anim) September 4, 2020
“Though it may appear Samira slashes projectiles on first glance, she’s really shooting them down out of the air!” he explained.
While it can be difficult to notice it at first, Samira’s hidden animation looks extremely impressive against abilities like Kai’Sa’s “Icathian Rain,” as seen in the clip above, with Samira showing off her rapid-fire abilities to deal with each missile.
Robbins also revealed that her W animation was inspired by the Method Grab trick, where you grab the heelside of the board while in the air, which is often seen in Snowboarding and Skateboarding.
The clever animation received plenty of support when it was shared to Reddit and it will soon be available for all players to experience, once League patch 10.19 drops on September 16.
