Mid-Season magic!
As we witness the best teams in the world duke it out for international fame and fortune, the mid-season intermission that follows is about all of us taking a deep breath and reflecting on how far we've come and how far we have to go. This mid-season, significant updates will be rolled out to our most magical roster of champions, sorcerous new items will be introduced, and the elemental dragons are taking flight. How do my enemies want to win, and how do I stop it? Now, more than ever, League is about playing your opponent as you play the game.
It's Mid-season Magic!
Magical Updates
Mages are one of League’s most established classes but, over the years, their strategic identities have become muddied and their gameplay hasn’t kept up with evolving standards. Much like our work on the juggernauts and marksmen, we saw the opportunity to update a ‘roster’ of champions to ensure the class as a whole is relevant and satisfying to play. Ultimately our goal is to bring distinction, cohesion and, yes, game health to the mages, giving them a unique reason to be picked.
This mid-season, the mages are taking center-stage!
… and many more!
Annie
Tibbers now viciously mauls Annie's stunned targets.
Annie
Swain
Decrepify now sends Beatrice to a targeted location to cripple enemies.
Swain
Fiddlesticks
A new passive means if Fiddlesticks stands still for a moment, he'll gain a movement speed boost.
Fiddlesticks
Ziggs
Satchel Charge will execute turrets when they're under a certain amount of health.
Ziggs
Syndra
An updated passive allows Syndra to spawn—and pick up—more Dark Spheres!
Syndra
Xerath
Barrages that successfully hit enemy champions grant an extra barrage, up to a maximum. Gains more barrages as he ranks up Rite of the Arcane.
Xerath
Anivia
Glacial Storm now expands over time and deals bonus damage at maximum size.
Anivia
Veigar
A new passive grants Veigar Extreme Evil (Ability Power) for hitting enemy champions with spells, killing minions, and takedowns.
Veigar
Magical Items
Hand-in-hand with the mage update, their sorcerous apparatus are undergoing a bewitching transformation. Before, mages would turn to items just for the stats they need, with minor changes in their build path as a game unfolds. Now mage items are focused on their tactical impact, with each enabling or augmenting how a mage contributes to a fight. Choose how your power manifests and watch what your opponents do in kind.
Components
Tear of the Goddess
When casting spells is all you want to do.- Mana
Catalyst of Aeons
For all you scrappy mages out there.- Health
- Mana
Chalice of Harmony
Literally.- Magic Resistance
- Mana Regeneration
Hextech Revolver
It's a gun, it should shoot things.- Ability Power
Lost Chapter
A stepping stone for Morellonomicon.- Ability Power
- Mana
Fiendish Codex
Still fiendish.- Ability Power
- Cooldown Reduction
Hextech Devices
Hextech Gunblade
Still shooting.- Attack Damage
- Ability Power
Hextech GLP-800
If you need to slow the enemy's approach.- Ability Power
- Health
- Mana
Hextech Protobelt-01
If you want to make an explosive entrance.- Ability Power
- Health
- Cooldown Reduction
Magical Devices
Archangel's Staff
Archangel's Staff- Mana
- Ability Power
Morellonomicon
When the enemy team's packing heals and regeneration.- Mana
- Ability Power
- Cooldown Reduction
Athene's Unholy Grail
Athene's Unholy Grail- Ability Power
- Mana Regeneration
- Magic Resistance
- Cooldown Reduction
Rod of Ages
Your item to rush on brawling mages.- Ability Power
- Mana
Will of the Ancients
Ancient and antiquated!Defensive Devices
Abyssal Scepter
Your magic defense apparatus.- Ability Power
- Magic Resistance
- Cooldown Reduction
Zhonya's Hourglass
Your physical defense apparatus.- Ability Power
- Armor
- Cooldown Reduction
Elemental Dragons
We saw that early to mid objectives (aside from turrets) were struggling to stay relevant in many games, and so began investigating ways to augment those decisions during mid-season. When we came to Dragon, we realized that most individual buffs would simply shift its balance back and forth between “nice to have” and “mandatory,” so we instead set out to create a unique ecosystem of adaptation that augments a variety of team compositions and strategies.
The elemental dragons are taking flight!
For the first 35 minutes of the game, one of four elemental dragons will spawn. The moment you take that one down, the minimap will indicate the elemental type of the next.
Both sides will always know which dragon spawns next, and multiple elemental buffs will stack on each other, making you even stronger in that aspect. In this way, you may want to think twice about giving up those two Earth Dragons—that might just cost you all of your base turrets!
Fire Dragon
Increases champion killing power. Augments your dueling and team fighting abilities.
Elder Dragon
After 35 minutes into the game, all future dragon spawns become Elder Dragon spawns. The Elder Dragon is far more difficult to kill than his elemental counterparts, but taking him out grants a powerful burn-over-time on spells and attacks and a buff that is stronger for each elemental stack you have.
Discuss
Malzahar
Malzahar is still a low-mobility lockdown mage, but now he's got more friends from the void to protect him. The Prophet's also amping up his ability to get close during teamfights thanks to his new passive, Void Shift.
Brand
Brand's mid-season changes are about lighting the whole world on fire. He'll have a harder time nuking lone targets, but when enemies huddle together for safety, it's time for the Burning Vengeance to blow them up.
Zyra
Zyra is the control mage with the greenest thumb in League, and her new passive lets her spread even more flora across the Rift. Give Zyra a little time to tend to her thorny forest, and she'll have abundant opportunities to counter-engage on attackers.
Cassiopeia
When the enemy team is fleet of foot, Cassiopeia is the serpent to call. With Cass, we're introducing an entirely new type of debilitation—"Grounded"—that negates an enemy's ability to flash, dash, or even take a friendly Thresh lantern to safety for the duration of the debuff.
