After just one day, the new runes system is a success——here’s why

The new runes system went live yesterday in League of Legends, and it’s quickly become the center of attention in the game’s community. We’ve seen several iterations of masteries and the old rune pages since League’s inception, so, naturally, it was a big deal to see them both completely removed and replaced with something new.

Within the game forums and League Reddit community, players have been complaining nonstop about Blue Essence. More specifically, they’ve been complaining about how much longer it will take to acquire new champions using BE as opposed to IP. Despite all that, though, everyone seems to be in agreement on one thing—the new runes rock.

It’s only been one day, sure, and there will likely be so many balance changes to the new runes before the season starts that our heads will spin. The core goals of the system succeeded though—to make rune selection engaging, meaningful, and most importantly, fun.

When you enter a rune page, you can now consider each and every rune, how well they work together, and how well they work with your favorite champion. This is a very different experience from the old rune system, which was a glorified stat boost. Sure, we have to learn and remember more about the game, but the experience is better all around.

The meta will probably take a very long time to settle, if it ever does. There are thousands of possible rune page combinations, and it seems like each type of champion has benefited in some way from the new runes. Not to mention—each type of champion has several possible builds to better suit themselves for any situation.

This will have a lasting, rippling effect on the professional meta, too, and opens the door for limitless possibilities for team comps. It’s shaping up to be the most exciting season yet.