Champion review: Shathra

Greeeeetinngzzz Summonerzzzzz,

A new force has entered the fray in the Contest of Champions, and this isn't just any Champion—this is the newest Summoner's Choice Champion of 2024. Meet Shathra, a formidable and otherworldly addition to the battlegrounds, handpicked by the community to rise as their next champion! We will go over her animations, damage, utility, best matchups and her overall place in the Contest.

Animations: 7/10. Shathra's animations reflect her predatory nature and the eerie elegance of a creature that lurks in shadows before delivering a deadly strike. From her basic attacks to her devastating Special 3, every movement feels fluid, yet filled with menace. Shathra's basic attacks have a very animalistic flair. She leaps and slashes with clawed appendages, delivering blows that feel fast and nimble, much like a spider ambushing its prey. While Shathra’s special attacks may not have the vibrant flair of other Mystic champions, they are fluid and perfectly suit her eerie, predatory style. Her Special 3 stands out from the rest—she conjures a portal and pulls her opponent into an alternate dimension, where she dismembers them with a flurry of precise and lethal slashes.






Damage: 7/10. Shathra's damage output is respectable, but she shines most in short to medium-length fights such as in Battlegrounds or Alliance War. Her Astral Wasp mechanic allows for solid damage over time, but it may take some ramp-up to reach its full potential. In shorter fights, her ability to place loads of Astral Eggs using the Special 1 and quickly hatch them into wasps provides her with a steady flow of energy damage, and her power-stealing mechanics allow for frequent access to her special attacks, maximizing her burst potential in these scenarios. By charging her heavy attack, Shathra sacrifices her Astral Wasps to gain key advantages: she Power steals, taking a portion of a bar from the opponent while gaining a portion of that herself. However she isn’t meant to be a power control champion as her power steal doesn’t drain that much power. Instead she’s more of a power gain champion. Additionally, each wasp sacrificed also grants vulnerability passives, reducing the enemy's resistance to damage. This mechanic, first seen with Absorbing Man, allows for a strategic trade-off between damage output from wasps and control over the enemy's power, making Shathra a versatile champion. One of Shathra’s unique advantages is that no champions are immune to her Astral Wasps, allowing her to consistently apply her damage-over-time effects. However, some champions possess energy resistance, which can reduce the overall damage dealt by her wasps.

Utility: 7/10. Shathra offers a well-rounded utility kit. As mentioned above, she can power steal by sacrificing her Astral Wasp and apply multiple vulnerability passives. Her ability to heal most, if not all, energy damage through her Special 3 gives her strong survivability in matchups against energy-based damage. Her Special 1 inflicts a 70% potency Atrophy passive, reducing the length of buffs. T Additionally, Shathra’s damage output and mechanics don’t rely on debuffs, making her a valuable option in matchups against champions with high purify or tenacity. Since her main damage source, the Astral Wasps, are not affected by debuff-immunity or purify mechanics, she can consistently deal damage without fear of her abilities being cleansed. While Shathra offers solid utility with power steal, vulnerability passives, and atrophy, her versatility doesn’t quite match champions like Enchantress or Kushala. These champions boast a wider array of utility, such as more diverse control mechanisms and defensive options, giving them broader applicability across different scenarios. Shathra excels in matchups focused on energy damage and power control, but lacks some of the more flexible abilities found in top-tier Mystic utility champions. Nonetheless, her unique mechanics make her a strong pick in many situations.

Wasp totem Also another thing I want to talk about is Shathra's wasp totem pre-fight ability. Which not only grants Poison immunity to Spider-Verse champions but also provides various bonuses depending on the specific Spider-Verse champion chosen. By providing immunity and additional buffs, Shathra can create opportunities for her allies, making her a valuable pick for players looking to optimize their team compositions and counter specific threats.

Strengths and Best matchups:

Buff heavy defenders

Serpent: Shathra can effectively reduce Serpent's power gain and negate his death immunity through her Atrophy passive. This allows her to maintain control over his Culforce charges while consistently launching special attacks. While she may not be a hard counter that players may be looking for, she is a decent option if they don’t have a Kushala, America Chavez or another counter.

Maestro: Shathra is a near-hard counter to Maestro and she can handle his challenging abilities, including pierce, glancing, and cosmic radiation ISO-8 buffs. Her Special 1 applies atrophy, effectively lowering the duration of these buffs, Additionally when Maestro is inflicted with atrophy, his cosmic radiation damage is reduced by 50%, his Neutronium charges expire 50% faster, plus he won’t Root the opponent on special attacks when in Superior Rage.

Sersi and Gorr: Shathra is a strong counter to Sersi and Gorr due to her ability to reduce the duration of key buffs like Fury, Glancing, and Regeneration. Against Sersi, her atrophy effect weakens Sersi’s main buff-based mechanics, cutting down the effectiveness of her glancing and regeneration buffs. Similarly, against Gorr, Shathra diminishes his Shadow Magic buffs and regeneration, making her an effective choice in these encounters where buff-heavy champions rely on extended durations for their strength.

Future Ant-Man: Another bug themed champion, (FAM) poses a tough challenge due to his reliance on Nano Armors, which enable attacks to glance, reducing their damage and increasing his survivability. His armor also makes him tankier and allows him to activate his Surging Swarm ability, enhancing his offensive capabilities. Shathra’s ability to reduce buff durations, however, gives her an advantage in countering his temporary Nano Armors, mitigating his damage reduction and allowing her to bypass some of his defensive mechanics.

Energy Damage Matchups:

Domino: Shathra can handle Domino's energy damage from critical failures with her Special 3, healing most of the damage taken from these effects. But beware that she isn’t immune to ability accuracy reduction.
Iceman's Cold Snap

Mephisto's aura of incineration,

Magik’s Limbo energy damage.

Weaknesses:

Unable to Counter-Evade or Miss: Shathra lacks the mechanics to deal with champions that can evade or miss attacks, making her vulnerable to skilled opponents who can avoid her damage.

No Immunities: Her lack of immunities means she can be affected by standard debuffs, increasing her risk in various matchups.

Energy Resistance: Opponents with energy resistance can mitigate her damage output, especially against champions like Bishop and Photon.

Opponents Without Buffs: Her ramp-up can slow significantly against champions who do not generate or rely on buffs, limiting her effectiveness.


What I would change:
One thing I do want to say about her kit, though, that is also related to utility, is that she has zero immunities, which makes her more vulnerable in matchups where damaging debuffs can play a significant role. While her offensive capabilities and healing from energy damage are strong, her inability to resist standard debuffs means she requires more strategic play and careful matchups, especially when facing champions or nodes that inflict these debuffs consistently, like Hazard shift in Alliance War or any bleed nodes, etc. If I were to add an immunity to her kit, Poison immunity would align well with her wasp and spider background, especially considering her wasp totem pre-fight ability. Additionally, making her specials grant 0 power to the defender could smooth out her gameplay, preventing opponents from gaining power. At the same time, she applies her damage and control mechanics, leading to a more consistent offensive flow. Another change I suggest (but is optional) is implementing a mechanism for Shathra to counter Spider-Verse champions directly, despite her Mystic classification. For instance, her wasps could prevent evading or missing mechanics, enhancing her matchups and aligning with her background as a Totem Hunter. This adjustment would expand her utility against a wider range of opponents and reinforce her thematic connection to the Spider-Verse. While Shathra is a decent champion, implementing these changes would significantly enhance her effectiveness in the long run, especially given her status as the Summoner's Choice champion.




Conclusion: As the first female Mystic Summoner's Choice champion, Shathra brings a unique blend of offensive capabilities and thematic depth to the Contest of Champions. While she has robust utility and healing mechanics, addressing her vulnerabilities and enhancing her kit with immunities and countermeasures against Spider-Verse champions would significantly improve her effectiveness. Overall, Shathra is an exciting, yet unique addition to the contest.
Thoughts? Questions?