Hey everybody I’m Riot Brightmoon, here for the Gameplay team on League of Legends,
and I am thrilled to welcome you all to Season 2022.
Let’s get things started with a quick recap of the changes we made this Preseason.
Over the last few years, we’ve usually used Preseason to make big changes
to one of League’s underlying systems, such as items, Runes, or the Elemental Rift.
But this Preseason, we wanted to look at all of our systems and make smaller,
targeted improvements across the board.
So, we added some items, like a new tank Mythic for supports
who want to dive into the action
and a new mage Mythic for champs who need some help surviving burst damage.
There are also new Legendaries for tanks, mages, and assassins.
You’ll see some adjustments to Keystone runes, including Lethal Tempo,
which now grants ramping attack speed and increases your attack range.
Glacial Augment fires multiple slow rays that also reduce enemy damage.
And Prototype: Omnistone has retired.
Taking its place is a brand new Keystone, First Strike,
which amplifies your damage and grants gold if you're the one to
well...strike first.
Beyond items and runes, we've also expanded the Bounty system
with the addition of Objective Bounties.
These give your team additional gold for taking Epic monsters or turrets
if you fall behind.
And finally, my personal favorite, dragons.
First up is the new Hextech Dragon,
whose soul gives your autos and abilities a chain-slow effect.
When she takes over the Rift, Hextech Gates appear in set locations
that transport you around the map.
And then there’s her sister, the Chemtech dragon.
This dragon’s soul lets you keep on fighting even after death.
And when she putrefies the Rift, camouflage zones appear in the jungle.
While these changes are expanding systems rather than overhauling them,
they should still have an impact on your games.
We're excited to see your new outplays and big brain strategies,
especially now that LPs back on the line and pro play is kicking off soon.
As always, we’ll be keeping an eye on things
and will continue making adjustments in the months ahead.
Now, let’s talk about some of the new changes you’ll see this year.
We’ve been talking about creating more ways to express your personality
and achievements as League players for a while now.
For some of you, Ranked is how you define progress.
But for those of you who aren’t focused on the climb,
there haven’t been good ways to show off your accomplishments.
So this year, we’re launching a new way for you to express yourself in League.
Something that probably looks familiar are the redesigned Ranked Crests.
But if you don’t want to intimidate your friends with your Challenger Crest,
or maybe your Gold one doesn't really match your favorite icon,
then we have good news.
You’ll finally be able to choose your level border from any of the ones
you’ve already collected.
Now let’s get to the really new stuff:
Challenges.
Challenges track your progress in League in ways that aren't tied to
specific champions, like winning the perfect game, soloing Baron,
and even dancing with Shelly as the enemy Nexus explodes.
Each Challenge levels up from Iron to Challenger as you make progress.
So if you’re the best at sniping dragons from the enemy team,
or maybe your vision control is unmatched, now you can finally prove it.
You can showcase any 3 Challenges you’d like in loading screens
and game lobbies, and you can track all of your progress on your Profile.
There are five categories of Challenges.
Veterancy Challenges track stuff you achieve mostly by playing League over time,
like earning mastery points, securing first bloods, and dodging skillshots.
The next group is Expertise.
Whereas Veterancy gets you points for playing a lot,
Expertise asks you to do it with finesse.
This includes mechanical and technical skills,
like dodging multiple skillshots in a row, fully stacking Mejai’s before 20 minutes,
or stealing the enemy jungler’s buffs.
Teamwork and Strategy Challenges reward you for mastermind plays
and working together as a team.
Winning games with an open Nexus, getting kills by roaming,
and winning Clash games are all good examples.
If you like showing off the things you’ve collected,
or maybe you just take pride in being a completionist,
then the Collection category is for you.
Collection Challenges include things like unlocking skins and Summoner Icons,
rekindling Eternals, and even progressing through other Challenges.
And finally, Imagination Challenges track some of the more…
...unique things you do in League.
Hitting snowballs in ARAM, surviving a fight with a single digit of health,
and taking down enemies in their own fountain are just a few examples.
Like with individual Challenges, your performance in each category also ranks up
from Iron to Challenger.
So if you swear you’re a mechanical god with moves like Meiko,
now you have a way to prove it.
In addition to these five categories, there are also Legacy Challenges,
which are earned by being part of historic League moments or are only progressable
during set periods of time.
Some Challenges track your progress within each season.
And there’s even one that shows if you’re a battle-scarred player
who’s been here since beta.
The progress you make across all Challenges feeds into your Challenge crystal,
which upgrades as you go.
Certain Challenges also come with regional leaderboards
which work a lot like the Ranked ones.
There’s a limited number of Grandmaster and Challenger slots,
so you’ll need to keep making progress to hold on to that rank.
Finally, you can show the world you’ve completed some of the more difficult
Challenges with Titles, which are earned when you hit certain milestones.
For example, winning a lot with an open Nexus will earn you the title “Comeback Kid.”
Other titles include KDA Player, Flame Horizon, and Unkillable Demon King.
All of the Identity changes will be rolling out over the next few months,
and we’ll continue adding more new Challenges throughout the year.
Before I go, I’ve got a quick note to share with you on Ranked this season.
Last year, we softened the Ranked reset so that you’d start closer
to where you ended the year before,
but it ended up being a little bit too soft.
Some of you who dove headfirst into Ranked started losing more LP
than you were gaining, because your rank overtook your MMR too quickly.
And that sucks.
This season, we're resetting ranks to a more traditional degree,
and paired with tuning adjustments we made last year, your MMR and LP will stay closer together,
making your climb smoother throughout 2022.
That’s all I have to share for today.
I hope the new year brings you a little joy, lots of LP, and endless fun with friends.
Thanks so much for watching.