Legends of Runeterra Hecarim changes pump Ephemeral synergy

Several adjustments were made to Hecarim and his Ephemeral crew in the upcoming Legends of Runeterra 0.9.2 update.

Hecarim may seem broken in the LoR meta, but in truth, only two decks at the Master level are using him as a champion: Fearsome Rally and SI (Ephemeral) Midrange. The problem with Hecarim, according to the LoR team, is that he’s sometimes used as a finisher in a variety of decks. Rather than nerfing the Angry Horse completely, Riot has tweaked Hecarim to function with less “generic power” while being a “bomb” in Ephemeral builds. 

“We’re looking to shift Hecarim’s power deeper into his Ephemeral synergy while leaving him a viable, but weaker, option for Shadow Isles decks in general,” Riot said. To accomplish this, Hecarim’s health at both levels has been reduced by one and his text has been changed. 

 Hecarim (level 1)

• Health decreased from six to five.
• Old level up: You’ve attacked with 8+ [Ephemeral] units.
• New level up: You’ve attacked with 7+ [Ephemeral] units.

Hecarim (level two)

• Health decreased from seven to six.
• Old text: Attack: Summon two attacking [Spectral Rider]. [Ephemeral] allies have +2|+0.
• New text: Summon two attacking [Spectral Rider]. [Ephemeral] allies have +3|+0.

Additional changes were also applied to Hecarim, reducing the power level of Ephemeral Spectral Riders by one, from 3/2 to 2/2, while also reducing the cost of Onslaught of Shadows. But when leveled up, the Spectral Riders and other Ephemeral units now gain three power when Hecarim attacks as opposed to a previous plus two. 

Ephemeral units are most prominent within Shadow Isles and Ionia regions. Ephemeral Midrange already uses these two regions and is considered a top-tier build by Mobalytics and Decks of Runeterra. And with the LoR 0.9.2 patch changes to Hecarim and his crew, it may improve even more. But expect to see tweaks in the build, possibly including Kalista and units like Shadow Fiend, Silent Shadowseer, and Iron Harbinger.