The Cowardly Lion

The Cowardly Lion is a DEF-based damage-dealer who specialises both with and against Fear/True Fear debuffs, and against the Fire Knight boss in PvE and the Mercurial set in PvP. DEF-based damage dealers are fairly unusual, so he should be easier to gear without needing to steal gear off your other ATK and HP-based damage champions. The Cowardly Lion is the Fusion champion for August 2026 and the Echoes of Oz campaign event.

His passive ability to always have skills activate when under Fear is a strong counter to champions like Fabian or Ozilda who regularly place Fears–something which has been relevant for a surprising number of Event Dungeon bosses in particular. His A1 damage scaling could be powerful, but likely needs long fights like Hydra Clan Boss or Faction Wars stages to ramp up.

His 2 turn True Fear on his A2, paired with his passive which increases the chance of Fears activating by 15%, gives him very strong and consistent control against waves, in PvP, and even against the Chimera Ram Form (though note that this boss gains significant turn meter if Fear activates against it).

His A3 is very unique, and he stands out as an insanely accessible way for players to get a team Counterattack champion (these have historically been incredibly rare, and newer champions who do it have been Mythical or Void Legendary). This buff was once considered so powerful that Plarium said they would never release another champion who did it; things have changed now in 2026 though, and while the buff is still very strong for utility, the damage potential falls off later in the game when your damage output becomes more focused into hyper-carry damage-dealers.

Regardless, the extra Counterattack hits plus Reflect Damage procs will be incredible for taking down the Fire Knight shield stacks or Total Guard stacks from Mercurial gear in PvP.

Additionally, you can use the Faultless Defence Blessing for extra damage reflection through his A2 Increase DEF: this works against Fire Knight shield stacks but not against Total Guard. All these damage reflection effects are typically very weak in all other PvE content (though they are needed for one particular Chimera Trial) but they can be pretty powerful in PvP. His Fervor buff is a very new and rare buff too, giving you 10% more damage done and 10% reduced damage taken; it’s not an exciting buff to play around, but it does make a difference.

All in all, The Cowardly Lion looks like an incredibly strong and versatile DEF-based damage dealer who brings a strong mix of control, damage, and some very hard-to-get buffs for his team. We’re always excited to see more counters to Mercurial gear and newer players will love him for Fire Knight, Chimera… and basically every other boss fight in the game!