Happy new year, folks!
Welcome to Season 2022. We're kicking off the new Ranked season with a soft reset, changes to decay, and some visual updates. We also have a few champion and item balances, changes to Teleport, plus a couple of beautiful new Elderwood skins. Well, let's get right on to it, shall we?
Check out how TFT is kicking off the year at the TFT patch notes here!
Passive AP ratio and monster damage ratio increased.
Many have come to enjoy Diana jungle since our changes earlier this year, even while she's been distinctly underpowered. We're putting some power back into that role while giving her a bit of a buff that she can also use in mid.
Q mana cost and cooldown reduced.
Gangplank's Parrrley is not as powerrrful in lane after Grasp was nerfed on him, so we're letting him use it morrre often.
Unburrowed E base damage adjusted. Burrowed E cooldown increased late.
Rek'Sai is a bit too strong in skilled play, especially when she maxes E first. We're targeting exactly that while leaving her normal Q max builds relatively unchanged. (As a reminder, E - Furious Bite's damage gets doubled and converted to true damage at maximum Fury stacks.)
Armor growth reduced. E cooldown increased.
Sona's been overperforming in skilled play and pushing the limit in other brackets ever since Archangel's Staff was changed in preseason. We're tapping down on her power by slightly reducing her durability and ability cast frequency.
Despite being weak overall, Eclipse was the strongest lethality Mythic before preseason. We overdid its buffs a bit in 11.23, so we're partially reverting those. (This change also applies to its Ornn Masterwork item, Syzygy.)
Force of Nature's payout was a bit too hard to reach due to the stack duration. It's also been a bit weaker than its counterpart, Spirit Visage, so, naturally, we’re adding more force to make it the heavy magic resist item.
Immortal Shieldbow has made some marksmen and fighters a bit too, um, immortal. We're bringing it down a bit so that there are larger tradeoffs to consider when comparing it to other marksman Mythics. (Its Ornn Masterwork Item, Bloodward, will now have 65 AD and the same changes to Lifeline.)
Wit's End has been powerful as an early defensive and offensive option for attack speed champions. However, considering its threat as a DPS item, its build path and stats counter magic damage a bit too much, too early.
While League of Legends is indeed a team game, it generally evolves in phases—as the game progresses, you interact with your team more. Lane phase lets you flex your individual skills, but it also needs some outside influence to keep things from getting too predictable. However, right now, there’s too much disruption happening too early and too often. This is especially the case with frequent Teleport fights in bot lane. And this isn't bad for bot laners only; top and mid players also lose out on the ability to express their laning skills in the same way. Currently, it often feels like bot lane gets decided by outside influence, and mid and top get decided by the influence they have on bot lane (rather than on how well they play their own lane).
Teleport also tends to crowd out other summoner spells because, when wielded properly, it flexibly offers both safety and a high level of game influence. Today, you can use it to quickly get back to your own lane and farm, but you can also use it to intervene in other lanes. In an effort to bring back some balance, we're reshaping the spell by tempering its offensive capabilities early, and then upgrading it later on to retain its exciting mid-to-late game impact.
The Chemtech Drake terrain is meant to enable both teams to make aggressive and risky plays. We're adding a few Scryer’s Blooms in defensive locations around the terrain, which should especially help losing teams better contest and set up fights in their own jungle.
The Summoner's Rift Ranked Season 2022 begins on Friday, January 7, 2022! Check the table below to see what time it starts in your region. There will be a soft reset of 5 divisions for initial seeding. (For example, Gold I will become Silver II.) Honor has also been reset for the season.
Region & Local Major City | Local Time | PST Time |
---|---|---|
OC1 (Australia/Sydney) | January 7, 04:00:01 AEDT | January 6, 09:00:01 PST |
JP1 (Asia/Tokyo) | January 7, 04:00:01 JST | January 6, 11:00:01 PST |
KR (Asia/Seoul) | January 7, 04:00:01 KST | January 6, 11:00:01 PST |
CN (Asia/Shanghai) | January 7, 09:00:01 CST | January 6, 17:00:01 PST |
PH (Asia/Manila) | January 7, 04:00:01 PST | January 6, 12:00:01 PST |
SG (Asia/Singapore) | January 7, 04:00:01 +08 | January 6, 12:00:01 PST |
TW (Asia/Taipei) | January 7, 04:00:01 CST | January 6, 12:00:01 PST |
TH (Asia/Bangkok) | January 7, 04:00:01 +07 | January 6, 13:00:01 PST |
VN (Asia/Ho Chi Minh City) | January 7, 04:00:01 +07 | January 6, 13:00:01 PST |
RU (Europe/Moscow) | January 7, 04:00:01 MSK | January 6, 17:00:01 PST |
TR1 (Europe/Istanbul) | January 7, 04:00:01 +03 | January 6, 17:00:01 PST |
EUN1 (Europe/Warsaw) | January 7, 04:00:01 CET | January 6, 19:00:01 PST |
EUW1 (Europe/London) | January 7, 04:00:01 GMT | January 6, 20:00:01 PST |
BR1 (America/São Paulo) | January 7, 04:00:01 -03 | January 6, 23:00:01 PST |
LA2 (America/Buenos Aires) | January 7, 04:00:01 -03 | January 6, 23:00:01 PST |
LA1 (America/Mexico City) | January 7, 04:00:01 CST | January 7, 02:00:01 PST |
NA1 (America/Los Angeles) | January 7, 04:00:01 PST | January 7, 04:00:01 PST |
This also marks the beginning of the Summoner's Rift Ranked Split 1. The exclusive rewards for Split 1 are as follows.
For more information about Ranked Seasons and Splits, check out the Player Support page here.
Decay rules for the Apex tiers (a.k.a. Master, Grandmaster, and Challenger) are changing in Season 2022. These changes are intended to correct misplacements and improve the matchmaking experience. (Note that these only apply to Apex tiers. Diamond decay rules are not changing this season.)
For more information about placements and decay, check out the Player Support page here.
We're laying the groundwork for the new Challenges feature, which will arrive later this year. You'll see some visual updates to your ranked identity and game lobbies starting this patch.
In celebration of Ranked Season 2022 Start, there will be a special Forge God Clash tournament with the following special Forge God-themed rewards.
Forge God clash will only take place on one weekend. Team formation opens on January 10, with matches taking place on January 15 and 16. Forge God Clash is not part of the regular Clash season. You’ll still be able to earn Forge God-themed rewards, but your Clash VP track won’t be affected.
The first Clash tournament of Season 2022, which will count towards the VP track, will be in patch 12.4!
The following skins will be released in this patch:
The following chromas will be released this patch: