League of Legends fans yearning to test out all the Preseason 2020 changes won’t have to wait long—Patch 9.23 is coming tomorrow.
Riot updated the Service Status on its website yesterday, explaining that ranked queues and servers will shut down tomorrow in preparation for the huge patch.
“On [Nov. 20], starting at [3:30am CT], ranked queues will be disabled in preparation for patch 9.23,” Riot wrote. “At [5am CT], the servers will be shut down and all games currently in progress will end in a draw and stats will not be recorded. We estimate the battlegrounds will be unavailable for 3 hours.”
Riot will begin the patching process by disabling ranked queues, and then move on to shutting servers down for three hours. Fans can then jump into the newly improved Rift around 8am CT.
Patch 9.23 will overhaul Summoner’s Rift, introducing new terrain depending on dragon spawns. Infernal Drakes, for example, will burn bushes and open up the map more. Ocean Drakes, on the other hand, will create more shrubbery to hide in.
The top and bot lanes will be getting a facelift with a new U-shaped alcove that should encourage more gank and ambush opportunities, and Support items will be reconstructed to bring more power to the bot lane.
But there will be no champion buffs or nerfs in the patch, according to Riot lead gameplay designer Mark “Scruffy” Yetter. Developers believe that there are no significant outliers that need to be balanced and will wait for after the huge preseason patch before hotfixing any potential issues.
