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The Colossus awakens

We’ve finally got details on the upcoming Galio rework - and boy does it look fun. Our favorite gargoyle is now a massive behemoth made of anti-magic stone who defends Demacia when their need is greatest. In-game, he’s maintained his Warden playstyle while gaining a few new tricks to keep his enemies on their toes.

 

Abilities

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Galio was meant to be a protector in the lore, but his old kit didn’t really lend itself to that. The new Galio, conversely, has plenty of crowd control and supportive abilities to help keep his allies alive.

Galio’s old Q and E have been entirely replaced with a pair of new abilities. His new Q, Winds of War, allows Galio to deal significant damage to enemies that are stuck in a single spot, while his new E, Justice Punch, gives Galio the ability to get into fights and disrupt opponents. Galio’s new W, Shield of Durand is a strange mix of his old W and ultimate - it gives him bonus defenses while it’s active and taunts enemies when Galio releases the button, allowing him to draw aggro for his friends.

Of course, the best part of Galio’s new kit is his ultimate. Hero’s Entrance allows Galio to rescue allies in a semi-global range, and is pretty damn cool to look at. It’s like a Shen ult, but with more knockups and explosions. That being said, since the ability telegraphs his landing point and doesn’t exactly home in on his ally’s location, it’s anyone’s guess how effective it’ll be.

Finally, Galio’s lost his old “AP for MR” passive in favor of a new one, Colossal Smash. It basically just makes him do AoE damage on his autoattacks every few seconds, which is pretty lame compared to Runic Skin.

 

Playstyle

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Previously, Galio’s place in the game was as an anti-mage - he gained bonus damage for building magic resistance and could sponge off basically limitless damage with Bulwark. New Galio, conversely, is a lot less of an anti-mage and more of a generic Warden. His best place to be in a fight is right next to his carries, peeling enemies off of them with Shield of Durand and Justice Punch. As with Shen, Galio is best served if he can enter a fight with his ultimate, as the AoE knockup can give his entire team a chance to escape.

Galio could also act as a serviceable midlane mage. Shield of Durand gives him a small, reliable amount of protection from enemy mages, while Winds of War let him waveclear fairly reliably or poke out the opposition. Midlane also gives Galio plenty of opportunity to save friends with Hero’s Entrance, as the range covers a majority of the map.

Despite this, Galio is more likely to find a home in the toplane, where he can duel enemy tanks with Justice Punch and Colossal Smash and look to roam for midlane ganks.

 

Thematics

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We don’t have many details yet, but it’s clear from the outset that Galio is no longer a simple gargoyle protector. Instead, the Colossus defends Demacia itself, rising to smite her foes in her hour of need. Galio’s entire body is made of an anti-magic stone native to Demacia, making him near-impossible to kill via magical means, and he’s obviously much to large to be killed by swords and axes. Durand’s obviously dreaming a lot bigger than he was in pre-Great Retcon lore.

However, Galio only comes awake in the presence of magic, so he can’t reliably be used as an offensive weapon for Demacia. It might explain why Lux was pictured in Galio’s original teaser image - after all, she’s one of the only mages we know of from the City of Justice.

Interestingly enough, Galio’s voiceover isn’t nearly as high-and-mighty as he was previously. Instead, he sounds like a frat brother - not too smart, but always ready to throw down. It’s a far cry from Garen’s villainy hunts and Jarvan IV’s righteous fury, which means Galio might have some conflict with the rest of the Demacian lineup. I personally just want to see him fight Sion - that’d be a match for the ages.

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