League of Legends players have something to celebrate as Riot Games rolls out a new system that refunds League Points (LP) when matches are lost because of teammate sabotage. The update tackles one of the most frustrating ranked play experiences—losing LP because someone on your team goes out of their way to ruin the match.
The system can now spot a wider range of disruptive behaviors beyond just AFK or quitting the game. If you lose a ranked match where a teammate is later punished for griefing—like intentional feeding, selling all their items, or refusing to help out with objectives—you’ll get back the LP you lost.
Once the system confirms sabotage happened, you’ll get a notification saying that a teammate has been penalized and your LP is back. These notifications might show up a bit late since Riot’s detection tools need some time to go through reports and verify what happened.
“Griefing” here means all sorts of sabotage—from the classic “running it down mid” to sneakier stuff like selling your items over and over or tanking the match on purpose. Riot says their detection methods have gotten ten times better, so they’re catching these behaviors way more often.
This new LP refund system is a big step up from what was there before, which only really helped with obvious stuff like someone leaving or disconnecting. But keep in mind, while your LP gets refunded, your hidden MMR (Matchmaking Rating) still moves based on how the game actually ended.
Some players say they’ve gotten LP refunds for matches played before the official announcement, so it looks like the system sometimes works retroactively. But you only get a refund if a teammate is found to be actually sabotaging, not just because someone played badly or picked a weird champion.
A decade of demands finally answered
This change answers player complaints that have been around for almost ten years. The League community has been asking for protection from unfair LP losses caused by teammates who intentionally ruin ranked games for everyone.
The update is another step in Riot’s push to make the competitive scene better for everyone. By finally dealing with one of ranked play’s most frustrating problems, Riot hopes to make things a lot more rewarding for dedicated players.
