League Classic Expands Its Roster With Five of Demacia’s Most Iconic Champions

Demacia has reinforced the League Classic roster with five familiar champions presented through their legacy designs. Poppy, Xin Zhao, Shyvana, Galio and Fiora are now playable in the retro-inspired mode, restoring abilities and playstyles that disappeared from the main game after years of reworks.

The five champions arrive as part of League of Legends Patch 26.18, which Riot Games describes as the largest League Classic content drop released so far. Their addition considerably expands the mode’s frontline, duelling and initiation options while reintroducing several abilities remembered for being exceptionally powerful—and occasionally frustrating to play against.

These are not simply modern champions wearing their original character models. Riot has reconstructed specific versions of their older kits, including Poppy’s Diplomatic Immunity, Fiora’s Blade Waltz and Galio’s Idol of Durand. Players familiar only with their current incarnations will effectively be learning five very different champions.

The term “original versions” also needs some clarification. Riot has not necessarily recreated the exact launch-day configuration of every character. Instead, the developers selected kits from particular periods of League’s history: Classic Shyvana is based on her 2011–2013 design, while the other additions represent broader pre-rework eras ranging from 2010 to 2017.

Poppy brings back one of League’s most notorious ultimates

Classic Poppy may be the most disruptive addition in the entire group. This version, originally available between 2010 and 2015, is built around single-target damage, surprising durability and an ultimate that can temporarily remove most of the enemy team’s ability to interact with her.

Her passive, Valiant Fighter, reduces any portion of incoming damage that exceeds 10% of her current health. This can make finishing Poppy significantly more difficult than her health bar initially suggests, particularly once she combines the passive with defensive statistics and careful target selection.

Devastating Blow empowers her next basic attack with additional damage based on the target’s maximum health. Paragon of Demacia rewards Poppy for exchanging attacks by building additional armour and attack damage, while its activation immediately grants maximum stacks and a temporary movement-speed increase. Heroic Charge retains the recognizable wall-stun mechanic associated with modern Poppy, knocking an enemy backwards and stunning them if they collide with terrain.

Diplomatic Immunity is the defining feature. Poppy selects an enemy champion and, for several seconds, becomes immune to damage and abilities from every other opponent. She also inflicts additional damage on the selected target.

The obvious use is to isolate and kill an important enemy, but the ability’s most infamous application is more calculating. Poppy can cast Diplomatic Immunity on a low-damage opponent and then attack another member of the enemy team while remaining protected from almost every meaningful response. Riot directly acknowledges this tactic in the patch notes, even suggesting that players mark a support before pursuing the opposing carry.

Its return immediately changes how teams must approach fights involving Poppy. Positioning, target selection and the timing of defensive abilities will matter, but certain opponents may simply be unable to stop her during the ultimate’s duration.

Fiora returns to her relentless auto-attacking roots

Classic Fiora covers the champion’s 2012–2015 period, before her modern vital-based duelling system was introduced. This version is more direct, combining rapid basic attacks, short trades and an ultimate that sends her uncontrollably cutting through nearby opponents.

Duelist grants health regeneration whenever Fiora damages an enemy, with the effect stacking when she hits champions. Lunge allows her to dash to a nearby target and can be cast a second time without an additional resource cost, giving her a simple way to engage, chase or reposition.

Riposte is substantially different from the modern ability. Its passive component provides bonus attack damage, while activating it parries the next incoming basic attack and returns damage to the attacker. It does not function as the broad directional counter found in present-day League, making knowledge of opposing attack patterns especially important.

Burst of Speed temporarily increases Fiora’s attack speed. Her attacks and Lunges also build movement speed during the effect, allowing her to stay attached to an opponent once a duel begins.

Blade Waltz completes the kit. Fiora becomes untargetable and dashes repeatedly between nearby enemy champions, applying on-hit effects with every strike. She can hit the same opponent multiple times, although successive strikes against one target deal reduced damage.

The ability becomes especially dangerous when Fiora catches an isolated champion, as fewer available targets allow more strikes to land on the same opponent. Its untargetability also creates opportunities to avoid incoming attacks or disappear from a fight during a crucial moment.

Fiora remains vulnerable to wave-clear limitations, and Riot specifically points players toward Ravenous Hydra as a potential solution. That weakness should help separate players who simply chase kills from those who properly manage side lanes, farming and objective pressure.

Galio is once again a magic-resistant battlemage

Galio’s Classic incarnation comes from his extensive 2010–2017 era. Compared with the modern Colossus, this version is a peculiar mixture of mage, tank, bruiser and support, with an ability kit that converts magic resistance into offensive power.

Runic Skin gives Galio ability power based on a portion of his magic resistance. This creates an unusual build identity: defensive purchases against magic damage can simultaneously strengthen his spells.

Resolute Smite fires a blast that damages and slows enemies in its impact area. Bulwark places bonus armour and magic resistance on Galio or a nearby allied champion. Whenever the protected target receives damage, Galio restores some of his own health, encouraging him to shield teammates who are about to absorb sustained pressure.

Righteous Gust sends a damaging line of wind across the battlefield. The spell leaves behind a directional current that increases the movement speed of allies travelling with it, providing a tool for initiation, disengagement and team-wide repositioning.

His ultimate, Idol of Durand, is the centrepiece. Galio channels an area-wide taunt that forces nearby opponents to attack him while he receives reduced damage. At the end of the channel, he releases an explosion whose power increases according to how many times he was struck.

This version of Galio must place himself directly inside the enemy formation to achieve maximum value. Successful casts can control an entire team fight, but mistimed engagements may leave him exposed before his allies are ready to follow. The interaction between Bulwark, magic-resistance scaling and Idol of Durand makes him considerably more defensive and team-oriented than a conventional burst mage.

Xin Zhao restores a straightforward early-era fighter

Classic Xin Zhao uses the version of his kit that existed between 2012 and 2017. Riot describes him as an uncomplicated champion for players who want to engage and continue attacking until either Xin or his target is dead.

His Challenge passive marks the most recent opponent hit by a basic attack and reduces that target’s armour. Three Talon Strike empowers his next three attacks, adds damage, reduces his other cooldowns and knocks the target into the air with the third strike.

Battle Cry combines sustain with offensive tempo. Every third basic attack heals Xin Zhao, while activating the ability temporarily increases his attack speed. Audacious Charge sends him directly to an enemy, applies Challenge and damages and slows nearby targets.

Crescent Sweep strikes every opponent surrounding Xin Zhao and increases his armour and magic resistance for each enemy hit. All affected opponents except his Challenged target are knocked away.

That exception creates the key tactical interaction in his kit. Xin can designate one enemy, charge into a group and use Crescent Sweep to separate that target from their teammates. It is a simple combination mechanically, but its effectiveness depends on choosing the correct opponent and engaging at a moment when the displaced enemy team cannot immediately collapse again.

This version retains the aggressive identity that made early Xin Zhao memorable. He can begin fights, isolate opponents and sustain himself through repeated attacks, but his commitment-heavy approach provides limited room for retreat once he has charged into the enemy formation.

Shyvana returns as a basic-attack-driven dragon

Riot has selected Shyvana’s 2011–2013 configuration for League Classic. It is the oldest and most historically specific version among the five additions, built around close-range damage, repeated attacks and frequent transformations rather than the ranged artillery patterns associated with some modern Shyvana builds.

Fury of the Dragonborn causes her basic attacks to enhance every basic ability. Attacking reduces the cooldown of Twin Bite, extends Burnout, adds damage connected to Flame Breath and generates Fury for Dragon’s Descent.

Twin Bite makes Shyvana’s next attack strike twice. While transformed, the ability hits enemies in a cone. Burnout provides movement speed and continuous area damage, leaving a damaging trail of fire behind Shyvana while she is in dragon form.

Classic Flame Breath launches a projectile that damages the first enemy struck and reduces their armour. Its dragon-form version becomes a cone capable of hitting several targets. This is notably different from the persistent explosive marks and large ground zones associated with later versions of the ability.

Dragon’s Descent passively grants armour and magic resistance, with those bonuses doubling during the transformation. Activating it turns Shyvana into a dragon and sends her flying forwards, damaging and knocking enemies encountered along the path.

The overall design rewards Shyvana for remaining in melee range long enough to repeatedly trigger her attack-based bonuses. Riot’s own historical recommendation is Frozen Mallet, using its slowing effect to prevent enemies from escaping her sustained damage. That item-and-champion combination captures the less mobile, more stat-driven combat style at the heart of League Classic.

Five additions that should meaningfully reshape Classic matches

The new champions introduce more than visual nostalgia. Each restores mechanics that can materially alter drafting and team-fight decisions.

Poppy threatens protected dives through Diplomatic Immunity. Galio adds a durable anti-magic frontline with ally protection and large-area crowd control. Xin Zhao provides direct initiation and target isolation. Shyvana introduces another sustained melee threat built around transformation timing, while Fiora offers a dedicated duellist capable of pressuring isolated enemies.

Their arrival also increases the knowledge burden for players accustomed to contemporary League of Legends. Modern instincts will not always apply. Fiora’s Riposte cannot answer every ability, Galio cannot cross the map with Hero’s Entrance, and Poppy’s ultimate does not launch an opponent away. The names and visual identities may be familiar, but their strategic functions have changed dramatically.

Patch 26.18 also adjusts the existing Classic roster. Gangplank, Heimerdinger and Kayle receive buffs, while Anivia, Malzahar and Warwick are nerfed. Nasus receives several corrections and period-appropriate changes, including the removal of critical strikes from the accumulated damage of Siphoning Strike.

The update additionally reports the results of League Classic’s first Council vote. Players supported the future return of three proposed items, the introduction of modern jungle timers and the addition of a turtle to the top river and a duck to the bottom river. These decisions reinforce Riot’s intention to develop Classic as an evolving game shaped by community input, rather than preserving one historical patch without alteration.

For returning veterans, the Demacian reunion restores some of the most recognizable—and controversial—abilities from League’s earlier years. For newer players, it offers an opportunity to experience why these champions were eventually redesigned. Either way, Poppy, Xin Zhao, Shyvana, Galio and Fiora give League Classic its most significant roster expansion yet.