The Season of Fortune begins now. Patch 1.4 is packed with balance updates, new personalization items, ranked rewards and a new ranked season, improvements to Masters LP, and a new mode—the Gauntlet.
Dev Notes: Card adjustments in 1.4
In addition to our normal commitment to game balance and metagame diversity, many of the card changes in this patch (particularly the rework-level ones) are part of more focused efforts to address issues or opportunities across several groups of cards—specifically Epics, Freljord, and steal-from-deck effects.
Epics in LoR are generally intended to be exciting cards with compelling, unique, and powerful effects. This can make for some really fun or game-changing options, but also leave some of them feeling overly expensive or unwieldy to use. For this patch, we’ve adjusted underutilized Epic cards from each region with the goal of reinvigorating them for all levels of play, and we hope you find homes for them in some of your decks!
Freljord as a region has seen a relatively low playrate for some time, particularly in higher ranked play. While it’s seen a bit more play recently, it’s often splashed for a few specifically powerful cards (like Sejuani) rather than a general regional toolbox. We felt general champion viability and appeal was a particular culprit, and have made changes to Braum and Anivia to make them more attractive options for a wider variety of decks and help Freljord line up better with the other regions in usability.
Finally, we’ve adjusted Bilgewater’s steal-from-deck mechanic to work in a more healthy way by drawing cards from the bottom of the enemy deck, rather than the top. This kind of effect now also has a dedicated keyword, Nab, which reads “Draw a non-champion card from the bottom of the enemy deck.”
Thank you for your continued feedback on how we can continue to improve LoR’s gameplay. We hope you enjoy the changes I covered along with the other balance adjustments, and can’t wait to see how they inspire your deckbuilding!
– RubinZoo, Live Balance Lead
New Mode: Gauntlet
Gauntlets are limited-time competitive modes with unique deckbuilding rules. The Gauntlet will open every Friday through Monday, with each weekend featuring a single format from the Gauntlet rotation.
The first Gauntlet begins June 26 and will use standard deckbuilding rules as we test-drive the underlying tech; a second type of Gauntlet, Singleton, joins the rotation on July 3, and will challenge you to build a deck using no more than one copy of each card.
In addition to XP based on your number of wins, everyone who takes on a particular Gauntlet format will receive a special icon, while those who make it to seven wins will earn the exclusive Gauntlet Conqueror icon. In the future, we plan to add more exclusive rewards and improve the Gauntlet mode overall, using the technology to build our way to full-scale in-game tournaments.
Ranked Rewards + New Season
- The Season of Plunder ranked season has now ended, and ranked reward icons (see below) will be distributed with this patch based on your performance.
- Ranked will be disabled until 10 AM PT, June 24, when the Season of Fortune will begin!
- Ranks will be partially reset for the new season:
- Master accounts will drop 800LP (8 divisions).
- Diamond and Platinum accounts will drop 750LP (7 divisions + 50LP).
- Gold and Silver accounts will drop 675LP (6 divisions + 75LP).
- Bronze and Iron accounts will reset to Iron IV.
Masters LP update
- Master tier now uses an LP system rather than one based on ladder position.
Up until now, Masters tier has been rank-ordered by player MMR, but we’ve realized this has some unfortunate downsides—mainly that it was unclear how much your rank could change in a single game, and losses could feel overly punishing.
Now, instead of displaying your rank order within Masters, you’ll see your current Masters LP, and upon first entering Masters, you’ll get an initial LP amount based on your MMR relative to other players in Masters. From there, your LP gains and losses will be determined by a combination of factors including your MMR, your opponent’s MMR, and how much LP you have compared to other players in Masters. These values are centered around 20 LP (the same amount of LP gained or lost in Platinum and Diamond) and can range from a maximum of 25 to a minimum of 15. At the end of each season, Masters players will be reset to Platinum 4, regardless of how much LP you have.
Our hope is that this brings much needed clarity to the ranking process while keeping Masters tier the apex of competitive play in LoR. Let us know how the new system feels, and good luck making it to the top!