This week, Season 10 of League of Legends starts. We will tell you what changes until then and what has already changed due to the pre-season.
When does Season 10 start? The new season will begin on January 10, 2020. This was revealed by the Twitter account of League of Legends. A large image was posted there, containing the word “Season” and the date “January 10”.
At the same time, an image was published showing the champion Urgot holding his enemy Victor with chains. It is suspected that this is a teaser for the upcoming cinematic video.
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— League of Legends (@LeagueOfLegends) January 5, 2020
What happens before the season starts? Before Season 10 starts, there will be Patch 10.1. This is expected to be released on the night of January 8 or at the start of the season two days later.
It may already include the new champion Sett, although Aphelios was released only in December. Patch 10.1 will also make further balance changes to the champions.
Especially Sylas, a champion from last year, will receive many adjustments. The new champion Aphelios will also receive a significant nerf. You can find the complete patch notes for 10.1 on the PBE with our colleagues from Gamewatcher.
Soft Reset and Placement Matches at the Start of Season 10
What happens at the start of the new season? On January 10, you will lose your previous rank and your rating will be reset. However, there will be no hard reset that sets everyone back to 0, but an adjustment to the middle.
Afterward, 10 placement matches will begin, and you will be able to see a provisional rank after the first match. This will be visible only to you.
After the 10 placement matches, in which you cannot lose rating but can only gain it, your rank will then become public. The maximum rank that can be achieved in placement matches is Diamond.
What has changed due to the pre-season? The pre-season began in November and brought several changes with it. The biggest ones relate to the new elemental dragons, which influence the entire map:
- The Infernal Dragon burns grass and creates new paths by destroying some rocks on the map.
- The Ocean Dragon, on the other hand, allows new grass to grow.
- The Cloud Dragon causes winds to appear, increasing the movement speed of champions.
- The Mountain Dragon creates new rocks, thus making some passages narrower.
- The buffs that the dragons provide have also been adjusted.
The Summoner’s Rift has also been slightly adjusted, creating new niches in the bot and top lanes. These are intended to make fights there a bit more interesting.
Additionally, there have been numerous balance changes and the new champion Senna, who appeared in November.
Professionals are starting again in January
When does the LEC start? The League of Legends European Championship is the highest LoL league in Europe and will also start in January with the Spring Split. The first match day is scheduled for Friday, January 24.
Then the exciting questions will likely be answered whether:
For the American LCS, it continues on January 25, and the Korean LCK will not start until February.
