League of Legends’ top lane has always been about give and take, about ebb and flow, of yin and yang. You give some damage to your opponent, he gives some back, and you both perform this merry dance until some asshole ganks you from the jungle. A tale as old as time, really.
In many ways, the top lane is already like a turn-based RPG. You get in a few licks, then your opponent, and then one of you lives or dies. Reddit user Dangerous-Emotion339 decided to showcase this dynamic in an animation that reimagines LoL’s top lane as a classic RPG.
The fight starts with two classic top laners, Mordekaiser and Aatrox, with Mordekaiser going first. We'll note that Mordekaiser appears to be the player character in this animation, and his moves include a regular attack, Nightfall, Iron Shield, and Shadow Realm, which I assume correspond with his League kit of Obliterate, Indestructible, and Realm of Death. Indeed, the animations used in the video seem to support this, and I suspect the names of each move have been translated from League's Brazilian version, given the presence of a random Brazilian flag about halfway through the video.
Both Mordekaiser and Aatrox go through their ability kit one after the other, leaving Mordekaiser dangerously close to death. Dangerous-Emotion339 must be a Mordekaiser fan because the League character performs a stunning come-from-behind victory that leaves Aatrox in the dirt.
While this RPG-like reimagining of League of Legends is pretty cool, we should note that you don't have to imagine it. League of Legends already has a classic RPG courtesy of Airship Syndicate called Ruined King, which stars some lesser-known champions including Braum, Ari, Yasou, and Miss Fortune. Ruined King received some pretty good reviews, so if you like Runeterra and just want to spend more time there, go check it out.