Riot Games is reportedly preparing a “League of Legends Classic” mode, and players are already talking about what it could mean. Word is that the mode will recreate an older version of the MOBA, with many pointing to a Season three-style snapshot as the most likely baseline.
For anyone who only knows modern League, this could feel like an entirely different game. Players are even joking it would be like getting 60 new champions dropped at once, since so many kits, items, and systems have been overhauled over the past decade.
Expectations center on a return of legacy champion kits, the old Summoner’s Rift, removed items, the original runes and masteries system, and the early support warding economy. Nothing has been officially locked in, and the exact patch Riot might use is still a guessing game. Some believe it could be a curated “best of” build rather than a strict historical recreation.
The champion roster alone would be a massive shift. Old Warwick had a point-and-click suppression ultimate instead of his modern leap. Taric stunned with a single button press. Sion had AP burst and AD lifesteal builds before becoming a charging juggernaut. Graves was a bot lane marksman. AP Yi, AP Tristana, old Akali, old Poppy, old Fiora, and old Yorick all played nothing like their current versions.
ADCs eat good supports eat wards
If old itemization comes back, marksmen could be terrifying. Infinity Edge once carried a 250% crit modifier, Bloodthirster was an absolute monster, and full glass-cannon builds were the meta. ADC mains are already dreaming.
Supports, on the other hand, are bracing for impact. In the old days, support meant buying sight wards at 75 gold a pop, stacking Oracle’s Elixir, slotting gold-per-five items like Heart of Gold and Philosopher’s Stone, and finishing 20 minutes deep into a game with barely an item completed. Mage supports who currently rush full damage on Lux or Zyra would be in for a brutal awakening.
Vision was the entire game. Unlimited warding fueled Korean-style one-three-one split-push macro in pro play and forced everyone to think about the map differently.
Then there’s the elephant in the room: the old rune system. Players bought individual runes with Influence Points, only got two free rune pages, and shelled out 6,300 IP for extra pages, the same price as a top-tier champion at the time. Marks, Seals, Glyphs, and Quintessences let you customize stats deeply, but the grind was brutal and new players often started matches stat-deficient.
Whether Riot brings runes back for free, charges for them, or rebuilds the system entirely is one of the biggest unknowns.
Items you forgot existed
A Classic mode could revive Deathfire Grasp burst combos, Athene’s Unholy Grail, Spirit of the Elder Lizard, Shard of True Ice, Kage’s Lucky Pick, Avarice Blade, and mana potions. Builds like AP Ezreal, AP Taric mid, Sona mid, magic penetration Corki, and old Nidalee spear poke could come roaring back.
Other open questions: Will role queue exist, or will players be back to typing “mid or feed” in chat? Will Riot patch obvious balance offenders like Kassadin, AP Yi, or Deathfire Grasp assassins? Will old bugs and quirky interactions like Heimerdinger’s non-deactivating turrets and Blitzcrank’s autoattack passive be preserved?
July 11 has been floating around as a possible reveal date, though Riot hasn’t officially confirmed anything yet. Whether Classic ends up as a permanent queue, a rotating event, or something closer to a separate client like WoW Classic is still up in the air.
