Top 5 Preseason Changes in League of Legends

5. SUNSETTING CLUBS: Clubs were something Riot at one point put a lot of stock in, but it never really panned out. For the last several years, Clubs were just there, mostly so you can have a club tag next to your name. They will be dropped with the 10.25 patch expected in early December. While communication among teams now often happens in Discord servers and Riot Games has helped set up easy LoL-themed templates, the tags appear to be gone for now. Pressing F may indeed be warranted. Image credit: Riot Games.

4. RUNES AND RULES: Several core mechanics of the game have been subtly tweaked. From the changes in many runes and the inclusion of new ones, to the introduction of new (well, kinda) mechanics like omnivamp and a new stat called ability haste to replace Cooldown Reduction, the off-season has made us cautiously pore through our rune pages. There will be many small ways to tweak your champion to be the best they can be on the Rift. Image Credit; Riot Games

3. CHANGES IN RANKED PLAY: For many players, ranked game was the core of League of Legends - and everyone who has ever played ranked knows the rollercoaster that promo series are. Well, good news - as of this pre-season, promo series are a thing of the past. The developers also promised that matchmaking will better fit your rank and role. Finally, while previously Duo Queue was disabled only in Challenger, it is now enabled only until Diamond 1. If you want to wear that Grandmaster title, you will have to earn it. Image credit: Riot Games

2. THE SHOP CHANGES: The storekeeper (who may or may not be called Boris) has been a familiar figure for a long time, but using his services looks a lot different in the preseason. You will now have different tabs of items depending on the role you select and the menu is significantly more interactive. After the initial changes, the shop recommendations are quite handy, as legendary items now come with role descriptions and recommendations what enemy champions they are good against. Image credit: Riot Games

1. ITEM CHANGES: While the shop rework might have shaken how the shop looks, the newly introduced Mythic item tier has caused an earthquake of changes in how items work. These new items form a cornerstone of item builds, not only very powerful in their own right but providing key upgrades to other legendary items in your arsenal. Their inclusion requires a champion to pick the right one for their role, but at the same time the abilities they bring allow some champions to be shockingly versatile in what roles they can do well. We have yet to see the full breadth of changes that mythic items introduce, but they will be vast. Image Credit: Riot Games