The Nexus is the most important structure in League of Legends, with the outcome of a match being determined by which side destroys the Nexus first. According to the description on LoLpedia, the Nexus possesses a massive crystal that serves as the energy source to spawn minions, the essential force that helps players secure victory in the match.
Throughout the development of League of Legends, the mechanics of the Nexus have not changed much, mostly just visual upgrades. However, just a few hours ago, after the PBE server was updated, a very strange phenomenon appeared.
As seen in the video above, at the start of the match, a mysterious white veil envelops the Nexus, more specifically the crystal inside, which seems to protect this structure. The important question here is why it appears and what its purpose is? Gamers have made their guesses, most of which relate to a “new” Volibear or a visual update for the Nexus.
Oh my god, Volibear’s new ultimate will create a super huge snowball.
Riot is about to introduce an anti-backdoor mechanic: Volibear’s passive will give the Nexus an effect similar to Nunu’s ultimate, causing a snow explosion if the enemy attacks.
I want to believe this is a visual upgrade for the Nexus. I quite like the visual similarity to explain why you cannot attack the Nexus without destroying the protective towers first.
Anti-backdoor is a mechanic that originated from DotA Allstar and still exists today in DOTA2, simply put, it protects your towers and structures from enemy attacks if there are no minions attacking alongside (essentially preventing sneaky destruction of the Nexus). When League of Legends was born, Riot Games did not incorporate this into their game to simplify what players needed to know, which has always been a core principle of this game.
However, with the appearance of this visual effect, it is very likely that this signals a major change regarding the mechanics of this structure, and it could also be another easter egg hinting at the arrival of Volibear, perhaps?