League of Legends kicks off their 2024 season by releasing a detailed preview of what players can expect

League of Legends has officially kicked off their 2024 season and to celebrate Riot Games has released an in-depth preview of what players can expect from League of Legends, Arcane Season 2, LoL Esports, and more in 2024. The entire exhaustive press release can be found below, but a few stand out bits of information include details on a wide-range of Arcane inspired gameplay and characters, changes to the Champion Mastery system, the return of Arena, a new game-mode, new LoL Esports rules for upcoming global tournaments, and the game’s newest Champion, Smolder the Fiery Fledgling. You can read the entire in-depth update below:

LOS ANGELES – JANUARY 5, 2024 – Today, leading video game publisher and developer Riot Games kicked off Season 2024 in “League of Legends” (League), the world’s most popular MOBA and #1 PC game, and LoL Esports with a video outlining what’s to come in 2024, including a preview of the second season of “Arcane”. The event acts as the official beginning of the League Ranked and tournament season for both everyday and professional players, respectively, and also serves as a moment to update players on upcoming content for the year.

“Season Start is a moment to set the stage for the weeks and months ahead and provide a sneak peek at some of the content the team has been working on,” said Andrei van Roon, Head of League Studio. “We hope you’re excited about what you’ve seen so far for 2024. This year is also extra special because we’ll be celebrating League’s 15th birthday in October! Best of luck on your climbs, and welcome to Season 2024.”

In 2024, players can expect a wide range of updates including Arcane-inspired gameplay and characters, changes to the Champion Mastery system, the return of Arena, a brand new game mode, and more. In addition, LoL Esports revealed changes to the qualification rules for their two global tournaments, the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) and the League of Legends World Championships (Worlds) and introduced the LoL Esports Hall of Legends, League’s version of a Hall of Fame.

A long-awaited cinematic in the style of The Call, Ruination, and Warriors will commence the new season on January 10. Details on the upcoming content and updates can be found below.

Arcane Season 2 

As previously announced, Arcane Season 2 will be released globally in November. In celebration of the new season, Ambessa Medarda who was first seen in Season 1 will be coming to the Rift (alongside the aforementioned Arcane champion VGU) later this year. Additionally, Arcane-inspired gameplay, an in-game update to a beloved champion in the show, and new skins will also be released in League of Legends at the same time. In the meantime, a preview of the new season can be viewed on YouTube.

Champions in 2024 

*Skarner’s visual gameplay update (VGU) is finishing up and will be heading to the Rift in the first half of the year!

*After Skarner, the team will work on two other champion updates: a champion featured in Arcane which will be updated to better match their depiction in the show and Shyvana who will be receiving special attention around her gameplay.

*Smolder the Fiery Fledgling will be going to PBE on January 9! More details on Smolder can be found here.

*After Smolder, players can expect a Vastayan, solo-laning, mid-range mage as the next champion.

Skins in 2024 

*In 2024, Rammus and Olaf will be getting skins!

*The first half of 2024’s Prestige skins will be for Rakan, Ezreal, Kindred, Evelynn, and Kayle (in that order).

*The team is working through Lee Sin’s skin catalog now and his art and sustainability update (ASU) will be available to players in early May.

*Teemo’s ASU is taking the team longer than intended and will have an updated timeline to be shared later this year.

*Lunar Revel, the first event of the year, will feature new skinline Heavenscale and returning thematic Porcelain. Players can look forward to the following skins in patch 14.3 and 14.4:

*Heavenscale Lee Sin
*Prestige Heavenscale Ezreal
*Heavenscale Ezreal
*Heavenscale Kai’Sa
*Heavenscale Master Yi
*Heavenscale Diana
*Heavenscale Janna
*Heavenscale Smolder
*Prestige Porcelain Kindred
*Porcelain Graves
*Porcelain Darius
*Porcelain Miss Fortune
*Porcelain Morgana
*Porcelain Irelia
*Porcelain Aurelion Sol

*Other skinlines returning in the first half of 2024 are Porcelain, Faerie Court, PROJECT, and Blood Moon.

*Older Legendary skins will receive borders (Brolaf, Corporate Mundo, Dragon Trainer Tristana). Systems in 2024

The team will focus on making improvements to how the Ranked system evaluates player skill, reducing situations where a player is matched up with someone in a vastly different rank, and how much LP a player loses LP in relation to how much they gain in the new season.

Additionally, there will be changes coming to the Champion Mastery system in the first half of the year. More information on that can be found here.

Vanguard is coming to League as a response to the feedback around high number of bots in games, disruptive smurfs in Ranked, and an increase in scripting. The implementation will allow for live match termination and will refund LP to players in games with/against detected cheaters and bots.

Modes in 2024 

*Arena will be coming back in the first half of the year with more improvements: ○ The number of teams in a game of Arena will increase from four teams of two, to eight (for a total of 16 players)

*Changes to the UI will be made accordingly and there will be new Augments, maps, and other improvements.

*URF will be back for Lunar Revel in patch 14.3 and 14.4, and One-For-All after that. ● A new game mode coming later this year will be a different take on core League gameplay and will be a more relaxed way to spend time with friends.

LoL Esports in 2024 

LoL Esports will continue to increase the stakes around MSI and strengthen its connection to Worlds. To that effect, in 2024, the winning team at MSI will be awarded a guaranteed spot at Worlds, which also counts as an additional slot for their region. The second best performing region will secure an additional seed for their region as well.

This season, there will be a base of three Worlds slots for the LEC, LCS, LCK, and LPL. The PCS and VCS will each retain two Worlds slots, and the LLA and CBLOL will each retain one Worlds slot.

And as previously announced, MSI 2024 will be held May 1-19, 2024 in Chengdu, China. Worlds 2024 will be held September 25 to November 2, 2024 and take place in Berlin for Play-Ins and Swiss Stages at the Riot Games Arena, Paris for Quarterfinals and Semifinals at the Adidas Arena, and London at the O2 Arena for Finals.

Finally, to celebrate those who have made a lasting impact on the game, the sport, and the community, LoL Esports is proud to introduce the LoL Esports Hall of Legends, League’s version of a Hall of Fame. An independent voting panel of esports industry veterans and experts from every region will vote to select the very first inductee. Those inducted will be celebrated both in- and out-of-game. More details will be shared at a later date.

Season 2024 Merch 

On January 11, 2024, players can purchase new merch in celebration of the new season at the Riot Games Merch store:

*Jimei Palace Aatrox 1/6 Scale Statue
*Samira Unlocked Statue

For more information on League of Legends and LoL Esports, visit leagueoflegends.com and lolesports.com.

SMOLDER THE FIERY FLEDGLING BLAZES HIS WAY TO BATTLE IN PATCH 14.3

After Noxian beastmasters led several expeditions to the fallen kingdom of Camavor in search of imperial dragons, they finally discovered and stole a hatchling. Despite the hatchling’s mother setting the ship ablaze to save him, he was lost in the chaos. Washing ashore to the craggy islands south of the capital, the hatchling was found by a young boy who named him Smolder.

“My name’s ‘Ignacarious Gigantareno Rex Le Spes Offerentis,’ but my human friend named me Smolder!”

One day while playing around, Smolder started a fire that burned through an entire forest. Upon seeing the smoke, Smolder’s mother descended on the

island, finally reuniting with her son. Now under the watchful eyes of his mother, Smolder is learning what it means to be heir to the Camavoran imperial dragon lineage. Playful and keen to grow up, he is eager for any excuse to practice his burgeoning abilities. Though still a fledgling, Smolder’s skills are nothing to sneeze at, setting fire to anything that burns.

Abilities 

Passive – Dragon Practice 

Hitting champions with Abilities and killing enemies with Super Scorcher Breath grants Smolder a stack of Dragon Practice.

Stacks increase the damage of Smolder’s basic Abilities.

Q – Super Scorcher Breath 

Smolder belches flame at his enemies. This Ability evolves with stacks gaining the following:

*25: Damages all enemies surrounding the target.
*125: Sends explosions behind the target that deal 75% of this spell’s damage.
*225: Burns the target dealing max Health true damage over 3 seconds. Enemy champions that drop below a total health

threshold while burning are killed instantly

W – Achooo! 

Smolder lets out an adorable flaming sneeze, damaging and

slowing enemies hit.

Hitting champions causes an additional explosion.

E – Flap, Flap, Flap 

Smolder takes flight, gaining Move Speed and ignoring terrain for 1.25 seconds.

While flying, Smolder attacks the lowest health enemy.

R – MMOOOMMMM! 

Smolder’s mom breathes fire from above, dealing extra damage and slowing enemies in the center of her fire.

Smolder’s mom also heals her son if she hits him.

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