The first new League champion of 2024 has been revealed as Smolder, the Fiery Fledgling, in an epic trailer showcasing his gameplay and in-game model, meaning his release must be imminent.

While he initially got some complaints about his human-like face, Riot Games has already taken player critiques into account and given this adorable baby dragon a draconic makeover, making his eyes more reptilian and adding scales to his face and body.

Smolder will be a solid new addition to the ADC line-up, bringing fire back to Bot Lane. He has only just been announced, meaning he’ll likely debut on Summoner’s Rift around LoL patch 14.3, which goes live on February 8.

Let’s take a look at League of Legends’ upcoming champion, Smolder, and all of his abilities.

LoL New Champion Smolder: Release Date

It’s 2024, and only two months since Hwei the Visionary dropped, but eyes are already turning towards Smolder, the next upcoming champion on the League of Legends roster in Season 14.

Since Smolder will still need time and testing on the Public Beta Environment (PBE), we can guess that Smolder’s release date will be around patch 14.3 or patch 14.4, both being released in February.

LoL New Champion Smolder: All Abilities

Smolder’s abilities all scale alongside his passive and revolve around fire. Like all ADCs, his gameplay will revolve around farming gold, correct positioning, killing enemies, and steadily scaling in his damage. If he’s paired with Milio the Gentle Flame as his support, you’ll have an unstoppable flaming duo!

Check out Smolder's leaked gameplay trailer below!

Passive: Dragon Practice

If Smolder targets enemies with his abilities and gets a champion takedown with his Q, Super Scorcher Breath, he gains a stack of Dragon Practice. Stacking this increases Smolder’s basic ability damage.

Q: Super Scorcher Breath

Smolder belches flame at enemy champions. This ability evolves as it stacks during the game, each significant stat gaining a new visual icon:

  • 25 Stacks: Damages all enemies surrounding the target.
  • 125 Stacks: Smolder attacks and Sends explosions behind the target that deal 75% of Super Scorcher Breath’s damage.
  • 225 Stacks: Smolder burns the target, dealing max health true damage over three seconds. Any enemy champions that drop below a total health threshold while burning to this attack are killed instantly.

W: Achooo!

Smolder lets out an adorable, fiery sneeze, damaging and slowing enemies hit. Hitting champions causes an additional explosion, dealing AoE damage.

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E: Flap, Flap, Flap

Smolder takes flight, gaining Movement Speed for 1.25 seconds. During Flap, Flap, Flap, he also ignores terrain for the same amount of time, granting him the ability to fly over walls. While flying, Smolder automatically attacks the lowest health enemy.

R: MMOOMMMM!

Smolder cries. Then, Smolder’s Mom breathes fire from above, dealing extra AoE damage and slowing enemies caught in the center of her fire. Smolder’s Mom also heals Smolder if she hits him in her blast.

Overall, Smolder features characteristics of a typical ADC and has been described as “super easy to play,” making him an excellent champion for beginners to Riot Games’ MOBA. It’ll be interesting to see how Smolder impacts the meta and if he’ll be a staple in every game or fade into the background. Only time will tell.

Final Thoughts

New LoL champion

Smolder looks like a hearty dose of fun and fire added to the mix in League of Legends. Since Smolder’s basic abilities revolve around fire, maybe we’ll see some ticking damage-over-time as his abilities burn through enemies? Either way, we can’t wait for his official release date on the Rift soon in Season 14.

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