Ranked gameplay integrity post champion release

With the season ending, people want to rank up for end of season rewards. Releasing a new champion is always exciting, but when it's this close to the end of the season, players aren't excited to see the new champion in ranked. Here are several negative gameplay scenarios: players dodge to avoid having the new champion on their team causing less time ranking for rewards; players ban the champion which can provoke negative behavior from your teammates; the new champion is picked and minimal champion experience/knowledge creates a disadvantage often followed by toxicity. Because of this, players are less inclined to play ranked games.

The fix? Champion mastery prerequisite! In order to play the new champion in ranked, the player must have this champion's mastery higher than level 1. After either 2 patch updates or a month following the new champion release, this prerequisite is removed.

Particularly when nearing the end of the season, implementing something like this protects the integrity of ranked gameplay.