Since a Red is here, we need an answer to this question:

Why did Syndra join the League?

WW:
1. Does he still have a background in chemical warfare/WMDs?
2. Is the whole "kidnapped and tortured by someone he really pissed off" event still canon?
3. Would you say that he's generally just completely uncaring and amoral or an outright sadist?
4. Just how far over the edge has he gone? Is he like Sabretooth where he has bestial urges that he's mostly in control of, or is he more like Killer Croc, where his sanity is slipping by the day? Basically, is he more of a man with the predictable instincts of a beast or a dangerously unstable and unpredictable madman?
5. What does he think of Twitch and Viktor?

Soraka:
1. Is the pseudo-satyr form still her true form, or is it a devolved form? I could see her having a true form akin to the faun from Pan's Labyrinth.
2. Are celestials independent beings akin to fae or djinn, or are they spiritual intermediaries akin to the loa of Vodou?
3. Since she is not of this world, how does she view those born of the Void?
4. Exactly how powerful is she? I'd assume that a cosmic being could be capable of incredible feats if they so wished.
5. How does she feel like Xerath, who is more or less her counterpart (mortal who willingly achieved something close to godhood as opposed to a godlike being who unwilling became mortal)?

I like the warwick lore, but not the soraka lore. For one thing, the warwick lore makes no mention of how he sets up the trap for soraka (presumably the people that beset warwick were in on his plan). Presumably this was done to make conflict between the stories, with Warwick protesting innocence to the worst accusations in soraka's lore, but I would assume that Warwick, being the sadistic person that he is, would want to take full credit for coming up with a devious plan and bringing it to fruition.

For another, it isn't clear why warwick would need her to descend from her celestial form in order to get her blood. Presumably the whole ploy with the people fighting him was a trick designed specifically to cause Soraka to intervene and lose her celestial form, otherwise why bother? But neither lore makes mention of the fact that a celestial being needs to be in a mortal body in order to be able to shed blood. The fact that singed's potion requires the blood of a celestial being sort of leads us to the assumption that celestial beings don't need to be in a mortal body in order to shed blood. Singed potion doesn't call for, say, the blood of a celestial being's mortal body.

Finally, I find the whole beset by robbers thing a little forced. It was all done to make Soraka pity Warwick, which made the whole wife thing redundant. If the story had just been this:

Warwick goes to soraka for help, cradling a body in his arms claiming it's his dying wife and pleading for soraka to heal her, but as she gets close he lunges on her to cut her. She pushes him away with violent force, and it's the act of retaliating against warwick, or possibly that she used an unnecessary amount of force, that brings her to her mortal form.

then that would make more sense. After all, warwick and his robbers weren't mentioned at all in warwick's lore, and as mentioned before warwick would want to take credit for such a fiendish plan.

Ok, so WW stabs Soraka, and gets blood on his knife... but that's not enough for the potion. Seems a bit sketch to me, but I can accept that.

What I can't really accept is that this new story adds tension between WW and Soraka. I know that PvP battles aren't exactly considered canon but... as someone else mentioned, these two see each other on the fields of justice all the time. Heck, WW ganking Soraka bot lane happens very often. If the two run into each other, WW is going to kill her (unless he is controlled by an unskilled summoner). This, in my opinion, completely removes any tension this story is supposed to give to the two characters, because their meeting is completely inevitable, and the outcome very obvious. I found it much more interesting before where WW has a love-hate relationship with Soraka, because she cursed him with a monsterous form, but he loves being a monster. The fact that the spell used to transform him into a monster cost Soraka her deity not only makes WW seem more bad-ass (so strong and dangerous she was willing to become mortal to curse him), but also adds characterization and depth to Soraka's character. That's ongoing tension, because we don't know where it'll lead exactly.

This story is pretty childish in complexity. WW wants to kill Soraka, or he loses his mind. Ok... so when WW kills Soraka in a game, why don't we see anything happen? What changes? Further, if he fails to kill Soraka... what would change? Wouldn't he still be a feral monster? Why should I care? How does that change WW or the LoL universe at large?

It also seems to me that Soraka doesn't really have any business to deal with when she meets WW. Yeah, he betrayed her... but what does she have to gain by fighting him, on a personal level? She doesn't seem the vengeful type to me, so that's out. She isn't motivated by money, or power. So what's left? Really all that's left is the "Defending my friends!" angle... which is fine, but you don't get any deep characterization going that route, which seems to be the point of this retcon.

So I have to ask... how do these story changes make WW and Soraka better, or at least more interesting, characters?

Are there any plans to rename the "Divine Soraka" skin to something more along the lines of "Human Soraka" now that it no longer represents her appearance before falling from grace?

the loss of warwick's chemist background is really disappointing to me, but i like details like this that you don't particularly expect based on what you see in the game. (zaun's greatest chemist was in fact warwick, and singed was his apprentice? Neat!)

i'm guess i'm kinda weird and i feel that stuff like this adds depth, i was a bit disappointed with the important role of blitz's creator being taken away from the insignificant out of game figure and given to viktor as well, though having his creation outright stolen by his mentor certainly makes him more interesting!

the new lore is great and certainly makes soraka look cooler, and warwick more interesting, but i kind of miss WW as mad scientist war criminal, though its kinda weak for singed's to be, oh that stuff WW did? I did it all just as much!

not having every champion be right out there in the spotlight in their respective area, and have a huge impact on other champions and not constantly encountering other champions prior to joining the league might be a bit more realistic and unique and suggest a deep world where things are not always what is typically expected, which i like, but in the grand scheme of things this probably should take a back seat to having each champion shine

the new lore is cooler, and probably better, but alot of the old stuff had a humbleness about it that i kinda like

Hi Runaan. If you want my 2 cents on this, all I'd have to say is

Warwick: If you're the best on your field. then you're the one establishing the rules, not your clients. He should not be pressured by them, but seek to catch a much bigger prey out of a personal challenge or increase the range of his business; so the "they wanted them sooner" part seems out of context with the description given for him.

Soraka: This one is a little tricky since she's supposed to have an art rework soon™, so her appearance might change. Basically the new lore says that Soraka retains all her powers upon losing her divinity, but says nothing about the curse that turned her into that goat-unicorn hybrid form we all know and love. This takes greather relevance when you consider the Divine Soraka skin, which proves she once had a more human form. Did she still get cursed for losing her divinity?

EDIT: One more question: How did Soraka get to be in the Ionian side of the war back then? Let's remember she raised Irelia from the death as a psychokinetic zombie at some point.

So is "'balefire' dire wolves" a reference to The Wheel Of Time?

I am surprisingly OK with this lore change. I didnt think i would like it at all, but somehow its not bad.

The big issue for me is going to be the art and skillset reworks. most people wont give a damn either way cause they hate soraka. but for those of us that enjoy her ... if it feels wrong all hell is going to break loose on these forums. There was the Valkyrie Diana indecent, there was Lux's ult name and her new arts face indecent .. if you though those were heated fights .... You better pray the ones who actually play Soraka, like Sorakas new art or there WILL be pitchforks.