Reign of Gaming

RoG Article Recap

• Free Champion Rotation For 11/13, and End of Season Patch Tonight
• End of Season 2 Patch Notes
• FeralPony and Roku Discuss Preseason Changes
• Champion Notes: Leblanc, The Deceiver! By Emeraldw

Zed Available In Next 24 Hours

Samizul hit the official forums letting us know that Zed will be available in the next 24 hours.

I've been told Zed will be available in the next 24 hours.

Karma Updates

Steve Feak hit twitter giving some teasers on upcoming Karma updates.

Karma: Spirit Bond duration reduced 1 second. Armor granted and haste increased. Cooldown shortened.
Karma: Mantra Spirit Bond now deals damage based on Mantra rank. Root duration is now flat 2. Bonus Health given increased.
Karma: Soul Shield CC reduced. Mantra Soul Shield stun duration flattened. Mantra shield amount increased
Mantra cooldown increased to 110/95/80/65 from 65/60/55/50

Adding [Number of Wins] to the matchmaking parameters

We recently just rolled out a beta test of a new matchmaking change that is live in NA only. When we make sure it has the desired effects, we'll turn it on globally.

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The matchmaker will now take into account the [Number of Wins] a player has in every matchmade queue (Normal SR, Normal TT, Ranked Solo/Duo, etc). 

This means that for the first few minutes, the matchmaker will attempt to find teammates and opponents that have a relatively similar [Number of Wins] as you in addition to trying to find teammates and opponents that also have a similar [Elo]. However, this does not mean it's impossible to get matched into a game with a large difference in [Number of Wins]--it's just more rare.

Happy to discuss the matchmaking change here or any other matchmaking questions players might have. For reference, I've provided some older matchmaking discussions we've had in the past:

http://na.leagueoflegends.com/board/....php?t=1827767
http://na.leagueoflegends.com/board/....php?t=1976101

PS - RiotKiddington was the dev that did most of the work.

Preseason Changes Q&A

In case you missed the news today, FeralPony and Roku hit the forums to talk about preseason changes. Make sure to check out the original post first!

Will there be any cool new masteries?
Indeed!

@Roku, anny new summoner spells? (if they aren't settled yet, a yes/no/"eventually but maybe not in S3" will do. The question is basically, do you confirm we will have less choices (although some were false choices) for summoner spells)
and is Rohan you son and/or grandpa?
For Preseason 3, there will not be any additional Summoner Spells available other than Barrier. We would like to nail down the existing choices first, while cleaning up some of the false choices / unclear use cases. 

As for the future, we'll continue to watch how Summoner Spells are doing and make adjustments as necessary - whether it be addition or modification.

And no 

Could you give us a preview of some of the new masteries, feral pony?
For example, I always thought it was intensely unfair that AD champs and 100% free access to lifesteal in the offense tree (with little to no impact on their offense), while AP champions had to give up a lot of damage and spec deep into the utility tree just for 3% Spell vamp.
Is this something that has changed?
This specifically has changed. You are correct Lifesteal didn't really belong in the offense tree. Lifesteal and Spellvamp are now bundled into the same mastery inside Utility. While it may not be popular among AD carry players to lose the LS from the offense tree, Utility as a whole has been made a more attractive choice for all character types.

Lol? lifesteal quints were only good on 1 champ. Warwick Jungle. You start W, and you can start boots and never use a single hp pot.
Spellvamp quints were only good on 1 champ as well. Mundo Jungle. It helps you sustain early and it procs on smite. 
Both of these strategies consider that your team is bad and doesn't leash for you. And these are the only times you would get these expensive runes optimally. Again, I tried this all in PBE. So don't be like "I don't listen to lvl 24 smurfs".
We're talking about the lifesteal and spellvamp masteries not runes. The runes are untouched as far as I know. 

Does this mean that champs like jax can get 3% lifesteal and spellvamp?
That's correct. Though if Jax wants to spec into Utility for lifesteal and spellvamp to drop offense or defense and not smash your face in while being unkillable I think I'm okay with that 

Since there are at least 2 known items which affect summoners. Then the 3rd item which you said produces the to be defunct summoner Promote. Is there any mastery that affects items?
Yes but no spoiler... yet 

I am so excited now, especially about the utility tree. 

Also, how many sugar cubes does one need in order to ride the FeralPony or is it more of a height issue?
I will never be tamed for mere sugar cubes. Cookies do work reasonable well though. 

Does this mean that I will have to redo all of my mastery pages? This is the first big change to the mastery tree since I started playing, so I'm asking in all seriousness.
Yes, we will be resetting everyone's mastery pages. Sorry 

i hope the duration of barrier is less than the duration of ignite.
It is. Ignite lasts 5 seconds, while Barrier lasts about 2.5 if I recall the new numbers correctly (though things are still subject to change)

@Roku: I'm a little worried about what the implementation of barrier will mean for burst characters and especially for AP mids. Most APs deals their damage in a burst combo so if you run barrier mid, you can pretty much eliminate the threat of death from your lane opponent. While this might not mean much in the 1v1 scenario since getting 1v1 kills in lane is somewhat rare in mid, when combined with the jungle changes aimed towards making ganks less frequent, I fear that mid will become a stale farm lane. This would have an especially high impact on burst champions without a lot of cc options, eliminating the viability of champions without sustained damage or cc options to wait out the shield (like Kat, who is already getting nerfed in the upcoming patch).
I do appreciate that this might force the mid lane to have a bit more global presence since a), the jungle wont be ganking as often, and b) you cant get kills mid so you'll have to roam. Is this sort of what you're going for with the addition of barrier?
With a much shorter duration (currently 2 seconds, still subject to change), it is possible to counter a Barrier bait by forcing them to Barrier then waiting out the shield. 

With internal testing, it has actually shown that offensive uses of Barrier mid lane have been more prominent - tower shots are pretty easy to predict and block.

Will Barrier's cooldown increase and duration decrease on the Proving Grounds?
Yes - the change will be across all maps (It won't be separated). 

On a related note, Heal's ally effect being stronger seems pretty good on Proving Grounds..

That's a great point, I hadn't thought about using it for aggressive tower dives.
Baiting the barriers may be possible for high mobility champs (or those with CC), but I feel that it will become less relevant in higher ELO play (although that's a different story entirely). Thanks for the response; I look forward to seeing how barrier will be utilized.
Barrier's numbers (Cooldown, amount shielded, and duration of shield) allow quite a bit of room to tweak its power. We'll be sure to keep an eye on it and tweak as necessary - but there definitely is plenty of ways to utilize it!

Champion & Skin Sale: Twists on the Treeline

Welcome, my playthings. Poor souls, you all look so confused to no longer be surrounded by the safe, lush greenery of Summoner’s Rift. You’re in my toy box now: the Twisted Treeline. Who am I? I am Death Blossom Elise, an illuminating guide for you strangers in a strange land. You know what to do, my pets—form your little trios, go forth into the forest, and capture.

• Blood Knight Hecarim’s team is at a distinct advantage, seeing as he hails from a similarly spectral haunt. However, even he appears a bit bewildered; it’s hard to plan the perfect out-of-the-bush charge when there are ghostly echoes diverting his attention elsewhere. 487 RP
• Ah! I must say I am not surprised to see that Infiltrator Irelia has taken to the Twisted Treeline with ferocious aplomb. Those transcendent blades whirling around her shadowy figure are a lovely complement to the dark energy swirling from her freshly captured altar. 487 RP
• On the other side of the Treeline, Sandscourge Skarner seems to be suffering from a similar spat as Hecarim. The gloom of this place has dampened his disposition. See how he is trying to turtle at the altars? Truly, it is a sad display. 487 RP

• But look here! Sensing a disturbance in the Treeline’s life force, Fiora has dashed down from her lane just in time to ensnare Irelia as an unwitting partner in her blade waltz. She wields that rapier with such elegance, honed to deadly perfection! I could watch her dance all day long. 487 RP
• Her nine tails flailing behind her, Ahri has come to spare Irelia. While I find her girlish squeals grating on my ears, her charm is undeniably irresistible, as evidenced by how she has pulled Fiora away from the bloodbath. 487 RP
• Wait! When I last spied on Gragas, the oaf was stumbling around his tower whilst guzzling from his keg. Now I see him staggering toward the altar and—what abomination is this?! He’s faceplanted on the stairs and that cask is rolling toward…oh no. It’s blasted Irelia and Skarner clear into Vilemaw’s lair! They’ll make quite the mess. 487 RP

Excellent entertainment! Or, how do you say it: “good game”? Why don’t we try that again – best two out of three? I’ll pull the strings and watch them dance from November 13 to November 16. And you’re always welcome to come join me on the Twisted Treeline for more teamfight fun of the triplicate variety!

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