Skin Sale: 50% Off Traditional Lee Sin, Commando Garen, and Commando Galio

Greetings, summoners!
Another week means it’s time for some more great offers on a few skins for some of your favorite champions of the League. From Tuesday, November 29, through Friday, December 2nd, the Traditional Lee Sin, Commando Garen, and Commando Galio skins will be available for 50% off !

• Traditional Lee Sin (regularly 520 RP) will be only 260 RP!
• Commando Garen (regularly 975 RP) will be only 487 RP!
• Commando Galio (regularly 975 RP) will be only 487 RP!

After Friday, December 2nd, these fantastic skins will be returning to their regular prices—so be sure to act now before it’s too late. Click on the Skins tab in the Store to purchase these take advantage of these fantastic deals.

Riot Games Interviews Fnatic MSI Part II

Last week we sat down to talk with the reigning League of Legends World Champions Fnatic MSI to ask them about how they came together as a team. This week, we’re talking to them about their future plans in League of Legends eSports. We’re pleased to present the conclusion of our interview with Fnatic MSI!
RIOT: You guys have already won some of the biggest League of Legends tournaments out there, the most striking examples being the Season One Championship at Dreamhack and the first Intel Extreme Masters. Is there any game or event that has a special meaning to you, or that you will never forget for whatever reason?

New Skins and Bundles in the Upcoming Patch

A majestic new presence has stormed into the League of Legends! And alongside this imposing new champion we have a few new skins for some of your favorite champions of the League!

Volibear Bundles
Volibear, the Thunder’s Roar, has charged into the League of Legends. Impressive and powerful, this magnificent beast is capable of initiating attacks on groups of enemy champions and chasing down fleeing foes. For his ultimate, Volibear imbues his claws with the power of the storm, striking his opponents with lighting attacks that arc from one enemy to the next!
If you think that every armored bear should be prepared for a bit of wintry weather, then you’re going to want to check out Northern Storm Volibear. Of course, if you think that gold is the proper color for a an ursine of such regal stature, Thunder Lord Volibear’s more striking armor might be more your speed.

Thunder Lord Volibear Bundle
If you’re interested in showing your friend and foe alike just how stylish your armored bear can be, you’ll be pleased to find out that you can pick up Thunder Lord Volibear for 50% off in the Thunder Lord Volibear Bundle!
- Volibear Champion + Thunder Lord Volibear (Normally 1950 RP) will be only 1462 RP
Volibear Double Bundle
Of course, for the true armored bear enthusiast, you may want to pick up both Thunder Lord Volibear and Northern Storm Volibear at 50% off. If you’re one of those with a true love of all things ursine, the Volibear Double Bundle should have just enough bear armory to satisfy even your discerning palate.
- Volibear Champion + Thunder Lord Volibear + Northern Storm Volibear (Normally 2925 RP) will be only 1950 RP
But, like all champion bundles, these deals will only be available through the end of the weekend following the patch. Be sure to take advantage of these awesome deals before they fade away like a polar bear in the middle of a snow storm! Head on over to the League of Legends Store today.

New Skins
A couple of your favorite ladies of the League will be picking up some awesome new armor in the coming update. For starters, there’s an infamous assassin that will be sporting some vicious new weapons and armor in her Silverfang Akali skin. If you’ve been on the lookout for a new outfit for your Fist of Shadow, this menacing new attire could be just what you’ve been waiting for.

Alongside Akali, Lux has also taken a moment to add a little form-fitting body armor to her look. If you’ve always thought that the Lady of Luminosity would look great as a lady in uniform you’ll definitely want to take a moment to check out Imperial Lux.

We’ll see you all out there on the Field of Justice

Champion Spotlight: Volibear, the Thunder's Roar

Welcome to the Volibear Champion Spotlight, summoners! The newest champion of the league is in fact an armored bear! As a bear who wears armor, Volibear will maul his opponents while both dealing and receiving tons of damage. When in doubt about how to play as or against this fearsome creature, take a look at the Volibear Champion Spotlight!

Head to the video on YouTube to change your subtitles. Remember to comment on the video and subscribe to the Riot Games YouTube channel!

Volibear Patch Notes

New Skins in the Store

• Thunder Lord Volibear
• Northern Storm Volibear
• Silverfang Akali
• Imperial Lux

League of Legends v1.0.0.130
Volibear, the Thunder’s Roar

• Rolling Thunder: Volibear drops to all fours and runs faster if chasing an enemy champion. The first enemy he attacks is knocked into the air and flung behind Volibear.
• Frenzy: Volibear's repeated attacks grant him additional attack speed. Once Volibear has repeatedly attacked three times, he can perform a vicious bite on his target.
• Majestic Roar: Volibear lets out a powerful roar that damages and slows enemies. Minions and monsters are feared as well.
• Thunder Claws: Volibear channels the power of the storm causing his attacks to blast his targets with lightning that bounces to other nearby enemies.
• Chosen of the Storm (passive): Volibear heals rapidly for a few seconds when his health drops to a critical level.

Fizz

• Urchin Strike's targeting updating to hit targets slightly earlier
• Urchin Strike's attack component can no longer be dodged

Jarvan IV

• Martial Cadence (Passive)
  • Damage changed to physical from magic
  • Damage changed to 6/8/10% (at levels 1/7/13) of the target's current health from 8%
  • No longer procs spell effects such as Rylai's or Spell Vamp
• Increased the hitbox size of Demacian Standard when targeted by Dragon Strike

Karthus

• Wall of Pain
  • Wall duration reduced to 5 seconds from 7
  • Now only affects a target once (instead of reapplying every pass through)
• Fixed a bug where Leona's passive and the Dominion center Sigil could cause an immediate double kill against Karthus

Kassadin

• Fixed a bug which caused Force Pulse to cast backwards after performing Rift Walk

Katarina

• Shunpo now always moves Katarina behind the target regardless if Killer Instincts is active

Kog'maw

• Fixed a bug where where if you killed an enemy that exploded using Icathian Surprise, the enemy was awarded an extra kill (Shaco Hallucinate clone, Maokai)
• Fixed a bug where Brand's Pyroclasm would give Brand an extra kill if it was traveling toward Kog'maw when Icathian Surprise triggered
• Fixed a bug where if Ignite killed Kog'maw, it would cause Icathian Surprise to not trigger
• Fixed a bug where Vayne's Silvered Bolts sometimes caused Icathian Surprise to not trigger

Riven

• Blade of the Exile tooltip updated to display how much attack damage you will gain. It has also been clarified to state that Blade of the Exile scales off TOTAL attack damage, not bonus attack damage.

Sivir (Remake)

• General
  • Attack range increased to 500 from 425
  • Attack missile speed increased to 1400 from 1200
  • Updated her attack frames to be more responsive
  • Base attack speed reduced to .658 from .679
  • Base attack damage reduced to 49 from 52.11
  • Updated recommended items
• Fleet of Foot (Passive) – Remake
  • Sivir’s basic attacks against enemy champions grant her 50 Movement Speed for 2 seconds
• Boomerang Blade
  • Mana cost reduced to 70/80/90/100/110 from 80/90/100/110/120
  • Damage changed to physical from magic
  • Bonus attack damage ratio increased to 1.1 from 1.0
  • No longer has an ability power ratio
• Ricochet - Remake
  • Sivir’s next basic attack bounces to 5 additional targets dealing 20/35/50/65/80 (+ 1.0 Attack Damage) physical damage to the first target and 25% reduced damage to each subsequent target. 7/6/5/4/3 second cooldown. 40 Mana cost.
• On The Hunt
  • Now additionally applies the buff to allies who come into range while On the Hunt is active rather than only on activation.
  • Attack speed bonus changed to 30/45/60% from 30/60/90%
  • Allied attack speed gain increased to half of Sivir’s bonus from a third
  • Cooldown adjusted to 100/90/80 seconds from 90

Taric

• Shatter ability power ratio increased to 0.6 from 0.4
• Radiance ability power ratio increased to 0.7 from 0.6

Vayne

• Fixed a couple small bugs introduced to Condemn with Fizz patch

Yorick

• Fixed a bug where Ignite's tick damage dealing the killing blow caused Omen of Death to fail to reanimate its bearer
• Fixed a bug where Leona's Sunlight passive and the Dominion center Sigil could cause an immediate double kill against the Omen of Death target
• Fixed a bug where if Ignite killed the Omen of Death bearer, they would not be reanimated
• Fixed a bug where Vayne's Silvered Bolts sometimes caused Omen of Death to fail to reanimate its bearer

Items

• Health Potions now restore 150 health over 15 seconds (instead of 200 health over 20 seconds)
• Madred's Razor
  • Proc chance increased to 20% from 15%
  • Proc damage reduced to 300 from 500
• Mana Potions now restore 100 mana over 15 seconds (from 100 over 20)
• Wriggle's Lantern proc damage reduced to 425 from 500

General

• Chat window location will be now saved between games
• Improved the targeting algorithms; it should now be much easier to select units that are obscured
• Damage from lane minions to champions reduced by about 15%
• Jungle Adjustments
  • Small camps now respawn faster, but have reduced rewards
  • Small camps now have a Healing Sigil, healing the killer based upon how much health they are missing
  • Neutral monsters now have their health, damage, experience reward, and gold reward increase with game length, instead of having health increases with each respawn
  • Neutral monster experience range reduced to 400 from 800 (the killer always gets experience)
  • Ancient Golem camp experience increased slightly and gold reduced slightly
  • Crest of the Ancient Golem now grants 25 flat MP5, but grants 1% regen from maximum mana, from 1.5%, and provides energy
  • Lizard Elder camp experience increased and gold reduced slightly
  • Blessing of the Lizard Elder melee slow % reduced to 8/16/24% from 10/20/30%
  • Dragon and Baron Nashor are now immune to armor and magic resist-shredding effects
  • Baron Nashor will now push wards away if you try to place one too close
  • Monsters now heal 5% immediately when they retreat (instead of after 1 second), but are easier to re-aggro

New Free Champion Rotation (Season Two: Week 1)

Greetings Summoners! This week’s 10 free champions have been rotated.
Here are this week's free champions:
Week 1 (this week):

See you on the Fields of Justice!

Volibear Patch Preview: Gameplay Changes

Welcome to the League of Legends Patch Preview, summoners! This edition of the Patch Preview is short but important, as multiple major changes are inside! Sivir is getting a remake, the jungle is receiving a significant update, and we’re making a number of changes that should change your priorities in lane. To get a forward look into the next gameplay update, take a look at the Patch Preview!

Head to the video on YouTube to change your subtitles, comment on the video, and subscribe to the Riot Games YouTube channel.

Gangplank Gets Shipshape with a New Model and Animations

Avast, summoners!

As part of our continued commitment to keeping League of Legends a fun and engaging experience, we will be updating yet another of our classic champions with a salty new model and some truly seaworthy new animations. Like Kayle, Janna, and Tryndamere before him, Gangplank, the Saltwater Scourge, will be the next champion of the League to walk down the plank (err… runway!) sporting some knavish new looks. We think you’ll like the cut of his jib!
Stay tuned for more information on Gangplank’s new model and animations when he’s released in the upcoming patch!

The Legacy Skin Sale Begins Today!

ummoners!
Today marks the beginning of our Legacy Skin Sale. Starting this Friday the 25th of November and running through midnight Pacific Time on Monday the 28th of November, we will be placing many of our more classic champion skins on sale at 75% off. Once the sale is complete, these skins will become Legacy Skins and will retire from the League of Legends Store. Although they will no longer be available for purchase, they may reappear in the store under very special circumstances.
All Legacy Skins will still be playable for anyone who owns them after they have been retired, and will still be visible to other players in game and at the load screen. You will have to own a Legacy Skin, however, in order to be able to view it in a champion’s profile. In the event that you’re the owner of a champion with only two skins remaining for purchase following this initiative, don’t worry! These champions have some fantastic new skins in development that we’ll be releasing in the near future.
Additionally, if you want to pick up one of these highly collectable skins, but don’t yet own the champion in question, we’ll also be offering any champion that sports a prospective Legacy Skin at 20% off from now until the end of the sale.
A full list of all 21 skins that will be reduced by 75% before they go into the vault as part of the League of Legends Legacy Skins Project can be found below:

• Sasquatch Nunu
• Nottingham Ezreal
• Blacksmith Poppy
• Masquerade Evelynn
• Scuba Gragas
• Spectacular Sivir
• Mr. Mundoverse
• Toxic Dr. Mundo
• Swamp Master Kennen
• Hextech Sion
• Yellow Jacket Shen
• Red Riding Annie
• Leopard Nidalee
• Dragon Knight Mordekaiser
• Sonoran Kog'Maw
• Kingpin Twitch
• Professor Ryze
• Shamrock Malphite
• Highland Tryndamere
• Pharaoh Amumu
• Badger Teemo

A full list of the champions that will be discounted by 20% during the sale can be found below:

• Nunu
• Ezreal
• Poppy
• Evelynn
• Gragas
• Sivir
• Dr. Mundo
• Kennen
• Sion
• Shen
• Annie
• Nidalee
• Mordekaiser
• Kog'Maw
• Twitch
• Ryze
• Malphite
• Tryndamere
• Amumu
• Teemo

Remember that bargains this good only come around once a year! Don’t miss your chance to pick up your favorite Legacy Skins at these great discounts before midnight Pacific Time on Monday, the 28th of November!

Volibear, The Thunder’s Roar Revealed

Abilties:

• Rolling Thunder: Volibear drops to all fours and runs faster if chasing an enemy champion. The first enemy he attacks is knocked into the air.
• Frenzy: Volibear's repeated attacks grant him additional attack speed. Once Volibear has repeatedly attacked four times, he can perform a vicious bite on his target.
• Majestic Roar: Volibear lets out a powerful roar that damages and slows enemies. Minions and monsters are feared as well.
• Thunder Claws (Ultimate): Volibear channels the power of the storm causing his attacks to blast his targets with lightning that bounces to other nearby enemies.
• Chosen of the Storm (passive): Volibear heals rapidly for a few seconds when his health drops to a critical level.

Lore:
Though the northern reaches of Freljord are some of the most unforgiving lands in Valoran, the Ursine have survived upon the region's barren, stormy tundra for centuries. As a fierce and respected warrior of the Ursine, Volibear devoted his life to the protection of his people and loyalty to his elder brother, the tribe's chief. When his brother was killed during a hunt on the tundra, the tribe looked to Volibear as his successor. It was an honor and a burden that Volibear had never expected, but he shouldered the charge with pride. However, by Ursine tradition, the tribe could not recognize Volibear as chief until he returned from a journey to the peak of their sacred mountain, a place forever shrouded in a thundering maelstrom. There, Ursine chieftains must speak to the storm itself, gaining clarity and wisdom to empower them as mighty leaders.
Donning the chieftain's traditional armor and enchanted gauntlets, Volibear began the long and perilous climb up the slopes of the mountain. When he reached the peak and gazed into the raging storm above, he saw a horrific vision of a Freljord utterly consumed by war. Amidst the carnage, the Ursine fell dead upon a bloody battlefield. Believing the vision to be an omen of things to come if he did not act against them, Volibear traveled to the capitol of Freljord. The Ursine had not ventured across the southern mountains in centuries and his appearance was met with unease. However, Queen Ashe recognized Volibear as a wise and powerful ally. In what Volibear considered the first step against a war-torn future, they forged an alliance. As part of their agreement, he joined the League of Legends in the name of a unified Freljord, representing the primal might of his nation on the Field of Justice.
''Few can weather the storm that follows in the wake of Volibear's roar.'' - Ashe, the Frost Archer

Summoner Showcase #54 – Seasons Change

Summoners, say goodbye to November as we rustle up the last of our autumn fan creations in this week’s Showcase!

And now the most important part: a look at the creations themselves!
Fiddlesticks is REAL!
Elias Geist made his own harbinger of doom in order to avoid the ensuing crowstorm.
Manilasticks
If you’re a teacher’s aide and you get bored in class, the best thing to do is… decorate! Rebecca used school supplies to make this door into a festive autumn decoration!
Pipe Cleaner Champions
Tiagantar takes arts and crafts to a whole new level with tiny pipe cleaner sculptures.
Sapling Figure
Vireo shows skill with clay sculpting, as seen when we examine Maokai’s sapling bomb crafted out of polymer clay.
Randomize
Highbrethren, a veteran of the LoL tunes, has another song about hitting that enticing “Random” button.
Asian-Inspired Sona
Julescia makes us weak at the knees with this wonderful take on an elegant, musical champion.


That’s all for this week, but our inbox is always waiting for more! If you have a great idea for League of Legends creations and projects, don’t deliberate! Make it, send it in to Summoner_Showcase@Riotgames.com and include your summoner name so we know who you are.
We’ll see you next week

Dodge Runes Refund in the Coming Weeks

Summoners!
As many of you are aware, there’s been some buzz about the removal of Dodge as a primary stat in League of Legends. We’d like to officially confirm that we will be phasing out the use of this stat over time.
Over the course of the next several weeks we’ll be taking progressive steps to remove the Dodge stat from the game. The first step that we are going to take is to provide a full refund for all summoners that currently own Dodge runes. Within the next few patches, we’ll be proactively refunding your Dodge rune purchases and removing these runes from your runebooks. Should you wish to rebuy your runes for use in the interim time, you’re welcome to do so. Bear in mind, though, that once we’ve completely phased Dodge out of League of Legends, we’ll be issuing another refund for any runes that you’ve re-purchased.
While we’d like to issue this initial refund immediately, there are several technical limitations with refunding a large amount of runes. Initiating this refund will take a considerable amount of time unless we properly prepare for it. We will provide an additional heads up about when exactly this refund will take place in the near future.
Part of changing Dodge means we’re going to implement changes to those champions and items that Dodge affects. Going forward, we are excited to be implementing changes to Sivir, Udyr, Ninja Tabi, Sword of the Divine and, perhaps most notably, Jax. They’ll be receiving reworks that we think will really bring some fun and exciting improvements to their gameplay.
Additionally, we think this is a great opportunity for us to explore new types of runes. You’ll have multiple new runes to check out as we draw closer to releasing these remakes to our Dodge-centric champions and items.
Click here for a comprehensive explanation of the rationale behind removing the Dodge stat.

Inside Design: Dodge

Greetings, summoners!
There’s been a lot of discussion around the Dodge statistic recently, especially in the wake of our controversial decision to remove Dodge from the game. When we released the new masteries, many summoners noticed the removal of Nimbleness. This created a lot of questions about Dodge – such as its viability, how much enjoyment players get out of it, and what Dodge means to League of Legends. In light of the player concerns, we wanted to take a few minutes to talk about why we’re phasing out this stat. Over time, we’ve come to see Dodge as a problematic statistic in our game, so I wanted to take a moment to dive into why that is.

• Dodge only starts looking compelling when it can be stacked. But when stacked too high, it completely (and permanently) shuts down a subset of characters. This then causes us to have to make additional things (such as Sword of the Divine) to counter this counter, which ends up using a lot of design space simply to make the statistic fun and non-abusive. Typically, we try to avoid super hard counters like this.
• While both Critical Strike and Dodge use a similar randomization formula, Critical Strike is still countered in much the same way as Attack Damage and Attack Speed: buy Armor. Conversely, Dodge can’t be overcome by getting more Attack Damage or Armor Penetration like other defenses can. This means that Critical Strike is just a damage multiplier, whereas dodge is an entirely new defense type that doesn’t have a series of sensible counters to it.
• Historically, there have only been two actual gameplay decisions that have to do with Dodge – Jax’s Counterstrike and the former Nimbleness mastery. While both of these do have some cool nuances to them, they’re not the kind of thing that justifies an entire (otherwise problematic) system in the game. By comparison, Pantheon’s Aegis of Zeonia allows him to “block” attacks, but this block system is not available to every champion in the game. This not only keeps it from getting out of hand, but makes Pantheon more unique in the process.
• Dodge also has much more potential to remove satisfaction in a noticeable way than the other defensive stats, mostly due to its random nature. Failing to finish an opponent with an auto-attack because they happened to get their 5% chance to dodge is a pretty poor experience for the attacker, especially since the escape isn’t based on a good gameplay decision or skill-based way to survive. The fun to un-fun ratio is poor.

Based on this, we not only want to phase out Dodge from of League of Legends, but also add some new, fun runes that can change up builds and open up new options. Things like this are what make League of Legends a constantly-evolving environment that rewards adaptability and versatility, as well as mastery

Season Two Has Arrived!

Summoners!
Today marks the beginning of our second competitive season! Featuring a prize pool of $5 million – the largest in eSports history – along with a host of new and exciting features such as new masteries and summoner spells, the open beta of our highly anticipated Spectator Mode, and even ranked teams, Season Two promises to be one of the most exciting updates to League of Legends to date!
In addition to the beginning of Season Two, today is also the launch of our brand new competitive site, where you can follow all the excitement of professional League of Legends through our coverage of the prestigious Challenger Circuit. You’ll also find more information about how you can start competing, including a listing of Prized Events where you and your team can do battle for awesome prizes. Click here to find out how the Competitive Site can help you start your own journey to the top!
Season Two is upon us, summoners! We hope you’re prepared

Getting Started with Ranked Teams

Summoners!
Season Two is approaching fast, and with it our new Ranked Teams feature! Make sure you’re prepared to hit the ground running by reading this guide on how to create a team of your own and start playing on day one!
How to Create a Ranked Team
1. Click on your “Summoner Profile”
Your summoner profile is where you will be able to create a ranked team and access your teams” profiles.

2. Click the “Create a Ranked Team” tab
A prompt will appear allowing you to enter in a team name and tag. Names can be between three and 24 characters in length and tags can be between three and six characters in length. Make sure it’s snazzy!
There is no RP or IP cost to create a ranked team. The only restriction is that you must be level 30 to create or join one. Also, you can only create three teams per week.


3. Invite summoners to join your team
Click on the “Manage” tab to arrange your team. Under the “Invite” section, you can select which friends you want to invite by clicking the arrow button next to their name. You can also use the “Filter Buddy List” option to easily find a specific friend on your list. When your friends log into PVP.net, they will receive an invite.

Each summoner can be a member of up to five teams in total, and each team can have up to eight members including the captain. If you want to fill out your roster or join a ranked team, visit the Clan & Team Recruitment forum!
Once you’ve assembled a team, it’s time to play! Although the team captain is in charge of managing the roster, they don’t have to be present in every game. Team members can play together whenever they want!
How to Play as a Ranked Team
1. Click on the “Play” button
Here you will be able to set up the type of match you want to play. Ranked teams are only playable in PVP’s “Classic” game mode.
2. Select a game map
Your team can either play a 5v5 match on Summoner's Rift or a 3v3 match on Twisted Treeline. Make sure that there are enough team members present to join the queue for the game type you’re interested in playing.
3. Select the “Ranked Team” game type
Click on “Invite your ranked team” to be taken to the screen where you’ll be able to choose which team and members you want to play with.

4. Select a team from the drop-down menu to invite team members
Once you select a team, you will only be able to add members of its roster to the match. Those members who are currently online will appear in the “Available Players” box below. Click the “+” button to add them to “Invite List.” When you have invited all those members that you want to play with, click on “Invite Players” at the bottom of the box to start a group lobby.

5. Click on “Start game”
Once enough members have accepted the game invite, click on “Start game” to enter queue!

Champion Sneak Peek – Volibear, the Thunder’s Roar

Every once in a while, there comes a champions so controversial that even the executives can’t agree on what to do with them. Some might claim that the combination of two awesome elements can only yield up an even greater awesome of truly epic proportions, while others might cling to the superstition that too much awesome isolated in one particular being can only lead inevitably to disaster.

The two awesome elements that we’re talking about in this case are, of course: bears and gigantic suits of armor.
For many of you, Volibear, the Thunder’s Roar is no doubt the best news you will get in the time of your natural lives. For others, we understand the anxiety that might accompany the thought of facing down a massive, armored bear. If you’re one of those summoners afflicted by a phobia of bear armory, we’ve arranged to include the following comic to help your face down your fears.
Ursine enthusiasts everywhere rejoice! Your bear in shining armor is has nearly arrived!

New Free Champion Rotation (Preseason: Week 10)

Greetings Summoners! This week’s 10 free champions have been rotated.
Here are this week's free champions:
Week 10 (this week):

See you on the Fields of Justice