Massive Preseason Changes!

Riot's just launched a massive portal with a bunch of Preseason changes, since they've done such a great job on it, I'm not going to do a full breakdown of everything on there since you can check it out yourself here.

For those of you that can't access it/want to hear me blabber some things about my opinion on the changes, here we go!

Changes: 

TONS of new items (Click to Enlarge)

Almost every single useful existing item is also getting adjusted...once again, too much to post, check it out in the portal.

But here's something interesting I'd like to talk about: Removed items

As you can see, some personal favorites like Heart of Gold and Force of Nature are being removed...QQ

Junglers are getting some strange items added in...

Masteries are getting completely changed

Summoner spells are also being heavily changed, and Promote and Surge are being removed. (Noo...my Fizz Tristana surge tactics!)

Official Riot FAQ:

1.

What is the Season Three Preseason?

The preseason is the period between competitive League of Legends seasons. Though we’re constantly making balance changes from patch to patch, the preseason presents an opportunity to refine some of the underlying systems that define the game. During this time, we’ll be introducing and iterating on some big gameplay changes before Season Three officially kicks off.

2.

What can I expect during the preseason?

Think of the preseason as a beta period for Season Three. It will be a time for you to familiarize yourself with the changes we’re making to items, masteries, summoner spells, the jungle, and more. Throughout the preseason, we’ll be listening closely to community feedback and making regular updates to all the new content we’ve introduced.

3.

Why are so many changes being made for the Season Three Preseason, and why now?

The preseason is an ideal time to introduce more sweeping gameplay changes like these, since it’s less disruptive to all levels of the competitive scene.

We’re extremely pleased with the strategic evolution and champion diversity we saw over the course of Season Two, but we’re always looking for opportunities to make League of Legends even better. One of our primary goals for the preseason is to ensure that the metagame stays dynamic by promoting individual playstyles over established strategies.

To accomplish this, we’re making updates to nearly every customizable aspect of the game, including items, masteries, and summoner spells. We also made some changes to the jungle to promote a greater variety of junglers and lane champions.

4.

Will Ranked play during the preseason count towards Season Three?

Yes! All your Ranked games during preseason (after the preseason patch) will carry over into Season Three.

Additionally, on December 27, we’ll invite the top ladder teams from North America and Europe to participate in region-specific qualifiers that will take place online January 4-6. In North America, the top 32 teams on the 5v5 premade ladder will be invited to compete. 32 teams in Europe, the top 16 from EU West and top 16 from EU Nordic & East, will enter the European qualifier. The top six teams from each qualifier will advance to compete for a spot as a Riot-sponsored pro team in Season Three.

5.

Why are so many new items being added to the game?

Greater build variety is a common community request, and we couldn’t agree more! One of the main goals for Season Three is to increase the areas where you can make interesting, strategic decisions. We felt that providing options for more nuanced item builds was a big part of achieving this goal. With over 20 new items, you’ll find you have more opportunities to counter-play and build around distinct playstyles.

6.

Many items have been changed or removed from the game. Why?

This preseason, we went back and rebalanced many old items. For example, attack damage was overvalued, attack speed was undervalued, and there was too much durability on early game items. As a result, many familiar items will have new costs, stats, and build paths. For items that have been removed, you’ll notice we’ve introduced new items which will fill those gaps while allowing you to have even more build diversity and opportunities for counter-play.

7.

What changes are coming to the jungle and why?

Overall, we were pleased to see how jungle strategy developed throughout Season Two, but we also identified a few areas we can improve. For starters, we wanted to increase the variety of viable junglers, as well as the number of viable late game strats by increasing the jungle rewards. We also wanted to decrease the pressure on early game lanes by making these more rewarding camps more difficult to clear. With these changes, junglers will have many more opportunities to make strategic decisions that impact the game.

8.

Many summoner spells were reworked or removed. How will these changes affect gameplay?

Over the course of Season Two, some summoner spells became mandatory for certain roles, which didn’t give you much opportunity to make strategic choices. In order to create more viable choices, we’ve buffed some of the weaker skills, adjusted the cooldowns on some of the more popular spells, and even added a rebalanced version of Barrier to Summoner’s Rift. With these changes, you should have more room to select summoner spells that fit your specific style of play.

9.

Masteries have been updated. What can I expect?

In Season Two we saw a bunch of heavily-optimized “cookie cutter” mastery builds rise to popularity. We want the updated masteries to contain many equally-viable options at each level of the tree to ensure that your masteries are unique to you, and selected specifically with your playstyle in mind.

For example, going deep into the Utility tree should now be a matter of personal preference regardless of your role, not just the required setup for a support champion. We’ve introduced new masteries to make each tree viable for more than one archetype.

10.

How can I contribute to the Season Three Preseason?

You can contribute to the development of Season Three by playing League of Legends and letting us know what you think about all the updates we’ve packed into the preseason.

Community feedback is vital to ensuring that these updates are successful, so head over to the forums and let us know what you think about the changes to items, masteries, summoner spells and the jungle.

Once again, be sure to check out the Riot Preseason Portal!