The League of Legends World Championship signals the end of the 2019 season. This year had its ups and its downs, but after all the back and forth action, it’s finally coming to a close.
The 2020 preseason, Rise of the Elements, will introduce tons of new changes and transform Summoner’s Rift.
Rather than creating new gameplay mechanics or meddling with the rune system, Riot has put its focus on Elemental Drakes. In the preseason, instead of giving their regular buffs and helping snowball a lead, they’ll quite literally change the landscape of the map.
What to expect in the preseason
The Infernal Drake buff will burn through the jungle, creating new pathways, while the Ocean Drake will do the opposite by expanding it. The Cloud Drake, on the other hand, will create slipstreams across the map, speeding up champions, while the Mountain Drake will add to the terrain, constructing chokepoints and points of contention.
But these aren’t just visual changes coming to Summoner’s Rift. The drake buffs will also be substantially different. Infernal Might will grant attack damage and ability power, Oceanic Will will regenerate missing health, Cloudbringer’s Grace will give ultimate cooldown reduction, and Mountainous Vigor will increase armor and magic resistance.
Once a team has claimed all four drakes, instead of stacking their elemental buff, they’ll gain a powerful Dragon Soul from the dominant drake. This effect persists through death and lasts for the remainder of the game.
Other than the changes to Summoner’s Rift, junglers will be receiving XP and gold changes to open up more diverse pathing options and strategies. And solo laners will get a slight boost, increasing base minion XP. Additionally, bot lane XP is taking a cut, preventing marksmen from snowballing, while support players will have more options with item paths and earning gold.
When does the preseason start?
League’s 2020 preseason is expected to kick off in mid-November with Patch 9.23.
This article will be updated when the specific date has been revealed.
