The original 2009 gameplay trailer for League of Legends has popped back up online, showing just how far Riot Games’ MOBA has come since launch.
The clip dates back to the game’s release window in October 2009, when League was still being marketed under its now-abandoned subtitle, “Clash of Fates.” Riot quietly dropped the tagline a few years later, treating it less like a permanent name and more like an expansion-style label that never stuck.
The video features early champions like Ashe, Alistar, Ryze, Fiddlesticks, and Amumu, most of which have since been reworked, redesigned, or visually overhauled. Alistar’s Headbutt-Pulverize combo is one of the few things still recognizable in its modern form, while Ryze has been reworked so many times he’s basically the poster child for Riot’s evolving design philosophy.
The trailer also shows the original Summoner’s Rift before its 2014 visual update, complete with brighter terrain, chunkier textures, and old minion designs that look closer to a Warcraft III custom map than a modern MOBA.
Before the modern meta
The trailer also captures League before its roles were locked in. Top, jungle, mid, ADC, and support weren’t yet standardized in 2009. Lane setups were experimental, and the now-iconic bot-lane carry/support duo didn’t fully crystallize until competitive play. At launch, League shipped with just 40 champions. The roster now sits at over 160.
Compared to 2009 heavyweights like Modern Warfare 2, Assassin’s Creed II, and Uncharted 2, the trailer looks rough. But League wasn’t competing on graphics. It was competing with DotA and other Warcraft III mods, and it had two massive advantages: It was free-to-play and it ran on practically anything.
That accessibility is what let it spread through college dorms, LAN cafés, and friend groups around the world, eventually growing into the franchise that now includes Teamfight Tactics, Wild Rift, Legends of Runeterra, and the Netflix hit Arcane.
