Udyr

 is a ground breaking new champion in League of Legends. Instead of usual compliment of three standard abilities, one passive, and an ultimate, Udyr will employ a passive ability and four stances. All stances will be available at level 1 and will provide Udyr with a different passive bonus while toggled on. In addition, each time Udyr changes stances, he will receive an immediate bonus.

He is the first Champion launch since the October 27 launch of the Game.

Background
The mystics of Ionia delve into the deepest mysteries of Valoran, pioneering the most inner depths of spirituality. Their adepts are some of the most devout proponents of enlightenment and harmony...but as is always the case, there are those who follow a very different path. Born in a grassy clearing under a red moon, Udyr has always been compelled by the primal drive within him. His will was not untempered, simply undomesticated. As a boy, he toiled on his father's farm, but he felt a much deeper connection with the mustangs that would graze in the distant fields than with the townsfolk who would visit. Oftentimes he was dragged into the house at night with a swat and a scolding when his parents would find him sleeping beneath the stars.

On the day of his sixteenth birthday, Udyr bade his family farewell and struck a path to the east, determined to shed the trappings of civilized society. Freed of the shackles of cultural expectations, Udyr tapped into a well of inner ferocity he hadn't known before. His feral senses roiled to the surface and he let them overcome him. It was at this point in his life that Udyr truly lost his humanity. Poachers and travelers who entered his territory did so at terrible risk, and rarely managed to leave it.

A monk on a long journey passed through his woods one day, and Udyr decided to scare him, leaping from a nearby brush. The monk casually turned and redirected Udyr to one side. Udyr, enraged, tried time and time again to best him, but the monk was unassailable. When Udyr was exhausted, the monk wordlessly beckoned him to follow, and together they walked in silence to the Hirana Monastery. The monks there took him in, and taught him to harness and control his animalistic fury...most of the time.

The mystics of Ionia delve into many mysteries, pioneering the very depths of spirituality. While many of them devote themselves to the pursuit of peace and light, there are those who walk different paths. Some pursue the beauty of perpetual sorrow, some the excitement of darkness, some the vitality of the primal. To this latter group belongs Udyr, a man who has devoted his life to harnessing the spirit of the beast within him. Even as a young boy, Udyr heeded the call of the wild; he felt more at home with the pets and beasts on his father’s farm than with his classmates or the people of his town. As soon as he came of age, he left home to find his place in the world, and he discovered it in the Hirana Monastery. The monks there taught him to commune with the primal spirits of nature, releasing the beast within. Now, wearing the pelt of a vicious dire wolf, which he killed with his own teeth (or so it is said), Udyr has come to unleash his fury on the Fields as a champion of Ionia.

Udyr is a savage warrior, channeling animalistic powers from the Ionian Zodiac. Do not attempt to reason with Udyr. The song of his bestial rage is all he hears.

Abilities
Udyr is a martial arts champion based around 4 fighting stances: Tiger, Turtle, Bear, and Phoenix. Each form has an activation effect and a persistent effect. The persistent effects ensure that each stance fulfills a different role, while the activation effects encourage Udyr to constantly switch as the battlefield changes. Udyr is a champion with 4 basic abilities, and no ultimate (a groundbreaking skillset in the League of Legends!), allowing players to choose which abilities are worth maxing out based on how the game has evolved.

Strategy
Many people who play Udyr do not recognize what makes him special: his passive. To be effective, it is needed to 'stance dance' and take advantage of 'Monkey Agility", which gives attack speed bonuses that stack every time a stance is changed.

Trivia

 * He is named as one developer in the Riot Games