User blog comment:AtheistUntoDeath/Which of these champions would win? part 9/@comment-24946635-20140629053320

These are reasons why Nocturne has a really good chance.

1. Nocturne should be able to affect Hecarim using his magical abilities. Nocturne "consumes magic". Now, the lore shows that this is magic that is rippling through the souls of summoners, but the fact remains that he can consume magic. Also, there's not much of an indication here that Nocturne can only consume magic that's linked to a soul, that's just where this magic happens to be. It is possible that Nocturne can feed off of Hecarim's magical ability to grow stronger (although this is not an in-game ability, it's clearly indicated in the lore.)

2. Nocturne's fear can affect people who are awake. The key point of contact is their consciousness, which Hecarim probably has.

3. Hecarim can make somebody so afraid that they go insane or stop defending themselves. Nocturne can fear somebody so bad they try to kill themselves and then they die from the fear itself. So if it's a question of the strength of the fear, then Nocturne's variety is more intense.

4. "Nocturne felt a group of humans rush up from behind" - Nocturne can sense people without using normal senses. This has to be useful in a misty environment.

5. Nocturne's ultimate disables the use of magic, in the 'real world'. "Spell incantations decayed on their lips as the magical energies refused to heed their call." So Hecarim might not be able to suck life from Nocturne, even assuming that his brand of magic would work on something that's not living (at least not the conventional life. Nocturne doesn't eat or sleep or anything. For the world's sake we'd better hope he can't reproduce.)

6. Nocturne's blades are freaking beastly. He impales a guy through his entire body.

7. The League's head summoners weren't sure that killing Nocturne would actually harm his essence, but instead just free him to another level of existence. So it's possible that Hecarim might kill Nocturne's physical body only to enable Nocturne to attack more freely from the astral plane, or wherever it is that Nocturne used to dwell.

8. To date, not a single physical weapon has been shown to harm Nocturne. If this is because physical weapons can't harm Nocturne, not simply meaning that they have never been successfully used to harm Nocturne, then it's game over, no question.

In Hecarim's favor:

1. His axe thingy has more reach than Nocturne

2. It is possible that his consciousness can't be feared. That would be huge.

3. He's way faster.

4. He appears harder to kill. Let's be honest, Nocturne is skinny, and Hecarim is this big, buff fighter.