There’s a new tank top laner in town.
Lead producer Ryan “Reav3” Mireles revealed in the latest episode of LoL Pls—Riot Games’ very own developer blog—the next champion coming to the Summoner’s Rift will be a tank hailing from the Shurima desert. K’Sante, known as the Pride of Nazumah, was already hinted at for release in April 2022’s Champion Roadmap. He’s League of Legends’ 162nd champion to enter the Rift and will join the Shurima’s current roster lineup, including Azir, Xerath, Sivir, Skarner, Rammus, Amumu, Renekton, and Nasus.
The developers have still not divulged the details of K’Sante or when LoL account owners can unlock him, but tidbits about his background, lore, and where his role will be on the Rift give us enough to be excited for what’s to come for his development.
K’Sante the Tank Top Laner
Reav3 stated that with K’Sante, the idea was the bring a high-complexity and skill tank to the lineup of champions in League of Legends. As such, you can expect that you would have to play hundreds of matches before you can somewhat master the Pride of Nazumah. Reav3 also characterized K’Sante as “a new high-skill top lane tank from Shurima,” which suggests that the upcoming 162nd champion would be for players with LoL accounts who want to add some flair to their gameplay all the while being nearly unkillable.
We’ve touched upon the Ntofos and how it’s a special weapon with a sharp blade and a protective “skin.” Many believe combining the Ntofos and K’Sante as the wielder would allow for simultaneous usage of offense and defense. This would effectively transform K’Sante into a dual-class champion who can act as a skirmisher and a tank.
Developer Daniel “Maxw3ll” Emmons, also in charge of the development for K’Sante, noted that the champion would be more resource-intensive than the other top-lane tanks in the current roster. This means that K’Sante might be vulnerable if he has low gold in a match. Maxw3ll then commented that the current tank roster in League of Legends has many easier-to-follow approaches and tendencies to fight, making them all comparable/similar in some ways. With K’Sante, they wanted to make a tank that appeals to players who enjoy using characters that put their skills to approach fights in unique ways to a test and a deep learning curve—similar to what Reav3 stated earlier.
K’Sante’s Lore
According to Reav3, K’Sante hails from the Nazumah, an oasis city located on the southern outskirts of the desert. Interestingly, they’re one of the few locations in Shurima that don’t worship Azir. The oasis where Nazumah was built is one of the few precious water sources within the area. In the old days, people that resided in Nazumah had no choice but to compete with monsters for resources to survive. The city was far from thriving—the people were barely surviving, getting whatever water and food they could gather just to live.
After the struggle, the human residents were able to claim the oasis as theirs and were able to build a society around it. K’Sante’s story begins 500 years after this, and he becomes a hunter that leads his people against the monsters that walk among their landscape. K’Sante’s unique weapon—the Ntofos—is made from a regenerative hide he got while fighting one of the most formidable monsters in the outskirts of the desert. The Ntofos is a blunt weapon that, when shattered, would reveal sharp blades within. The hide from the Ntofos also regenerates back to its blunt form when it’s not being used.
What Will Be K’Sante’s Abilities?
Riot still hasn’t spilled the beans on K’Sante’s abilities, but a few speculations and leaks are running amuck on the internet. The LoL community thinks that K’Sante will have the ability to alternate between offense and defense—this is thanks to the parts of monsters he used to devise a weapon that can switch between what’s essentially a shield and a sword. The developers explained that K’Sante’s weapon is extremely deadly; you can use it defensively, but it can also bludgeon the crap out of you.
So far, the only thing we know that’s concrete is that the Pride of Nazumah can become an unkillable, defensive tank that can quickly end the life of other champions like Teemo in the Rift.
Coming Soon
There’s no telling when is the release for K’Sante as of yet, nor has it been revealed. The only thing the leader producer has told us is that he’ll be coming ‘later this year’. As a result, you’ll have to wait a couple more months before you can use K’Sante in Summoner’s Rift. But since we already have patch 12.16 in the pipeline, it won’t be long before Riot Games schedules a date soon, and we could try the latest champion out on PBE with PBE account & League accounts.
