Listen to the audio version of this article (generated by AI).
Riot Games has revealed new League of Legends champion Mel Medarda, from its animated Netflix show Arcane, as part of its Noxus-themed LoL Season One 2025 kickoff.
From January 9th 2025, League of Legends kicks off its first themed season as a part of its brand new LoL seasonal model for 2025, with Noxus leading the charge.
New art, music, structures and a new in-game objective, Atakhan, Bringer of Ruin, are being added to the game.
New runes, items, changes to Teleport, and a system called Feats of Strength, which grants access to newer, more powerful boots, will also be added.
As announced in November, this year will have only one Ranked reset, which will take place on January 9th at 12:00pm local time across regions. Season One will span eight patches and is split into two Acts that will each have their own Battle Pass with various Act-themed rewards, including skins, borders, and more.
Mel Medarda added as playable LoL champion
Mel Medarda, who players may have first seen in Arcane, will join the game’s roster of playable champions in this season’s next patch. She’s known as Mel, The Soul’s Reflection, and will drop in patch 25.S1.2.
Mel arrives with a new, Noxian-inspired appearance, reflecting her embrace of her Noxian roots and heritage at the end of the final season of Arcane.
She brings a new type of gameplay to the roster: projectile reflection. Her Rebuttal ability enables her to reflect targeted abilities back at their original caster and non-targeted abilities back in the enemy’s direction.
In celebration of the launch of the Season of Noxus, Mel will be unlockable for free through one of the seasonal missions.
Players can explore her backstory further in the upcoming novel Ambessa: Chosen of the Wolf, releasing in February.
Mel is added to the game after her mother, Ambessa, The Matriarch of War, dropped into LoL late last year.
There will also be an Arcane Councilor Mel skin:
According to a blurb from Riot, “Mel Medarda is the presumed heir of the Medarda family, once one of the most powerful in Noxus. In appearance she is a graceful aristocrat, but beneath the surface lies a skilled politician who makes it her business to know everything about everyone she meets.
“After an encounter with the mysterious Black Rose, Mel discovered the depths of her mother’s deception and, for once, faced a situation potentially beyond her control. With newly awakened magical abilities, she sailed home in search of answers—and though many still seek to temper the light within her, Mel’s soul remains forever defiant.”
Mel Medarda abilities
Passive – Searing Brilliance
Whenever Mel uses an Ability she gains three bonus projectiles on her next Attack, up to nine maximum.
When Mel deals damage through an Ability or Attack she applies Overwhelm which stacks up damage to execute the enemy. If the enemy is hit by Mel with enough Overwhelm damage to kill them, the stacks are consumed executing them.
Q – Radiant Volley
Mel fires a barrage of projectiles that explode around a target location dealing damage repeatedly to enemies within the area.
W – Rebuttal
Mel gains Move Speed, forms a barrier around herself that reflects enemy projectiles back at the attacker, and prevents taking damage.
E – Solar Snare
Mel fires a radiant orb, Rooting enemies in the center while dealing damage over time and Slowing in an area around it.
R – Golden Eclipse
Mel strikes all enemies marked with Overwhelm regardless of range, dealing additional damage for each stack of Overwhelm.
Ranks of Golden Eclipse increase Overwhelm’s damage.
Narrative Expansions
As Season One progresses, more in-game thematic narrative expressions, like the Reckoning Pits of Noxus, will make their way into League of Legends like in the game mode Arena in Act Two, as well as out-of-game media like motion comics and mini-games.
A new mini-game will debut later this season, aiming to continue bringing the world of Runeterra to life and connecting in-game and out-of-game experiences. A visual update for LeBlanc will also be released this season and will be followed by another champion update later this year.
The League of Legends team also revealed that season thematics will be open to alternate universes in addition to the core Runeterra universe.
Cosmetics include Black Rose skins
Season One will release many skins focused on Noxus, with the first set being the Masque of the Black Rose skins: Masque of the Black Rose Samira, Masque of the Black Rose Renata Glasc, Masque of the Black Rose Ezreal, Masque of the Black Rose Vladimir, Masque of the Black Rose Elise, and Prestige Masque of the Black Rose Katarina.
These will be the first Battle Pass reward skins of the Season.
Elise will be earnable with the free pass. Samira, Renata Glasc, and Vladimir will be earnable with the paid version, with Katarina as the Prestige capstone for the paid Act One Battle Pass. Ezreal will be available through direct purchase.
The Prestige skins for Katarina and Darius will be available through their Battle Pass, while upcoming Prestige skins for Cassiopeia and Qiyana will be available for Mythic Essence. Beyond skins tied to Season One, fan-favourite skin thematics, such as Cafe Cuties, will return and completely new thematics for skins will make their debut.T hree Victorious skins will release this year, remaining their own thematic outside of the Season to which they’re tied.
Radiant Serpent Sett will release as the first Exalted skin of the season to celebrate the Year of the Snake. The second Exalted skin of the season will be for Mordekaiser, with its specific theme to be announced at a later date.
Esports updates
Full Fearless Draft, which bans champions used in previous games in a best-of series, will debut in Split 1 to encourage creativity and adaptability.
The First Stand Tournament, held March 10-16 at LoL Park in Seoul, Korea, will feature best-of matches between the top teams from Split 1, showcasing the best international play of the early season of LoL Esports.
The winning team will secure a second bye for their region at MSI 2025, allowing them to advance directly to the bracket stage.MSI 2025 will be held in Vancouver, Canada, from June 27 to July 12, while Worlds 2025 will be hosted across iconic cities in China, starting with Play-Ins and the Swiss Stage in Beijing, Quarterfinals and Semifinals in Shanghai, and Finals in Chengdu.
In 2026, First Stand will be hosted in Brazil, MSI in Korea, and Worlds in North America. In 2027, First Stand will be hosted in Southeast Asia, MSI will return to Europe, and Worlds will be in Korea.
Game Modes
All Random URF will be active during Act One, and Act Two will bring back Arena with a Noxian update, featuring a Noxus map themed after the gladiator pits with its own map-specific mechanic. Additionally, a system called Guests of Honor will be introduced across all Arena maps, where players will vote on which famous Noxian they would like to alter the rules of each game. New items and augments will also be added to Arena, along with changes to maps like Koi Pond, based on player feedback.
LoL Season One 2025 kickoff cinematic, ‘Welcome to Noxus’
The new trailer features Trundle, Mel, LeBlance and more, and adopts a style from the League of Legends animated Netflix show Arcane, which recently dropped its second season.
It’s set to the original song ‘Bite Marks’ featuring Teya.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
