League of Legends Classic is Riot Games' featured game mode that recreates older versions of LoL, bringing back pre-rework champion kits, the original rune and mastery system, the old user interface, legacy items like Heart of Gold and Deathfire Grasp, and the old Summoner's Rift map visuals. Riot teased the mode on June 26, 2026, then revealed the full details at the MSI 2026 Finals on July 11. League Classic launches on July 29, 2026.
What Is League of Legends Classic?
League Classic is a Featured Game Mode inside the live League of Legends client, not a separate server or standalone download. It sits in the same rotating category as Arena and URF and will appear in the in-client mode picker when it goes live.
Riot announced the mode through a comedic video titled "200 Years of Experience | Dev Update," starring Executive Producer Paul "Pabro" Bellezza and League Studio head Andrei "Meddler" van Roon. The two run through references to Season 1 gameplay, Season 2 jungle pathing, Heart of Gold, the 40-champion beta roster, and old visual styles for champions like Lux and Graves. The video ends with Riot landing on the name "League Classic" after rejecting alternatives including "Clash of Fates" and "Your Favorite League." The mode's internal development codename was Jade.
What Returns: Champions, Items, and Systems
The July 11 reveal confirmed the core of the mode, and PBE datamining fills in the deeper systems. Meddler confirmed the single most important detail on Reddit: "yes, we're doing old gameplay kits." The reveal also confirmed the older gameplay kits, the older user interface (Champion Select plus the rune and mastery pages), the Season 3-based era, and the launch roster.
The systems below are described on the wiki as datamined and expected rather than formally spec'd, with a fuller dev blog still to come:
- Old champion kits — pre-rework versions of every champion in the mode's roster (confirmed)
- Old user interface — the legacy Champion Select and rune and mastery pages (confirmed)
- Original Rune system — the pre-2017 rune pages and mastery talent trees, not current Runes Reforged
- Influence Points (IP) — replacing Blue Essence as the mode's currency
- Summoner leveling 1–30 — a separate progression track inside the mode, independent of your live account level
- Separate shop — with classic items, including Heart of Gold, Deathfire Grasp, and Frozen Mallet
- Original Summoner's Rift map visuals — the old map look, separate from any live-game visual updates
- Battle pass and token system — mode-specific rewards track
- Its own queues — Ranked, Normal, and Co-Op vs. AI, plus custom games
- Voting mechanic — present in the datamine; even dataminers have not identified what it does
The Classic Champion Roster
League Classic launches with a starting roster of 60 champions, including all of the original 40 launch champions, each playing with its pre-rework kit. Riot has also confirmed eight more champions for future waves: Akali, Caitlyn, Fiora, Graves, Irelia, LeBlanc, Mordekaiser, and Urgot. Notable names missing from the launch roster include Galio and Udyr. For the complete list grouped by class, plus the future waves and exclusions, see our full League Classic champion list.
Meddler singled out one champion he is personally most excited to revisit: "Old Urgot's actually the kit I'm most excited to play personally, I like new Urgot as well, but old Urgot mid against people who usually had no clue what he did was a lot of fun." Urgot is not in the launch 60, though; he arrives in a later wave.
What Era Will League Classic Be?
League Classic is not frozen to a single patch. Riot built it on a Season 3 foundation and pulled in elements from across the first four seasons of the game. As Riot's FeralPony put it, "we've included elements from the first 4 seasons... we tried our best to get the best combination of nostalgia, uniqueness, and gameplay." New champion releases are cut off around 2013, which is why the roster reads like an early-to-mid LoL lineup rather than any one historical patch.
The mode began internally as a "Thunderdome" project aimed at recreating Season 3 gameplay, and one of its developers, Norak, previously built Chronoshift, a fan project that recreated older League before he was hired at Riot.
League Classic Release Date
League Classic launches on July 29, 2026, revealed at the MSI 2026 Finals on July 11.
Because League Classic is a Featured Game Mode, access does not require a separate client download. It appears in the in-client mode picker, the same place Arena and URF show up. The mode includes its own summoner leveling track from 1 to 30, so no new account is needed, and it has its own Ranked, Normal, and Co-Op vs. AI queues plus custom games.
League Classic vs WoW Classic: What's Different
The WoW Classic comparison has appeared in nearly every article covering this announcement. It is a useful shorthand for "an officially sanctioned recreation of an older version of the game," but three practical differences matter for understanding what League Classic actually is:
| WoW Classic | League Classic | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Permanent separate server | Featured game mode inside the live client |
| Era | Launched as Patch 1.12; expanded to TBC, Wrath, Cata Classic | Season 3 foundation, curated across the first four seasons |
| Access | Separate client, separate account | Same client; separate in-mode leveling track |
| Permanence | Ongoing (expanded to TBC Classic, Wrath Classic) | Featured mode Riot says it will update over time, with champion waves after launch |
In short: think of League Classic as a featured mode with its own self-contained progression that Riot plans to keep updating, not a permanent parallel game on a separate server. For how it fits alongside every other current queue, see all League of Legends game modes compared.
League Classic FAQ
Is League Classic a separate game or a game mode?
It is a Featured Game Mode inside the standard League of Legends client, not a separate game or standalone server. No separate download is required.
Will League Classic be free?
League of Legends is free to play and League Classic will be accessible through the same client. A battle pass and token system are datamined, suggesting optional paid or earnable cosmetics, but the exact monetization model has not been announced.
What champions will be in League Classic?
League Classic launches with 60 champions, including all of the original 40, each using its pre-rework kit. Eight more (Akali, Caitlyn, Fiora, Graves, Irelia, LeBlanc, Mordekaiser, and Urgot) are confirmed for future waves. See the full League Classic champion list for every name grouped by class.
When does League Classic launch?
League Classic launches on July 29, 2026. Riot revealed the full details at the MSI 2026 Finals on July 11, 2026.
