Rotating game mode queue now live!

Riot·Apr 8, 2016·7 votes·318,692 views

From the original clone-tastic One For All to the frenetic manatee magic of Ultra Rapid Fire, featured game modes provide unique spins on the classic League formula. It’s time to kick things off with the first game mode in the rotation: Ascension is now live!

As a refresher on the mode, let’s go over the basics:

Unlike Summoner’s Rift, you can’t walk out of your base to reach the battle; you’ll have to use the Golden Transcendence trinket or right-click a pad to teleport into the fray
Earn victory by scoring points; the first team to 200 takes it down
You earn 1 point for kills, 3 for capturing a Shuriman relic, 5 for landing the killing blow on an Ascended champion, and 2 points for each kill you acquire while Ascended
Claim Ascension by taking down Ancient Ascendant Xerath in the center of the map (he’ll respawn after the Ascended champion dies)
Be cautious when approaching the Ascendant, you'll need your whole team to battle him and claim the buff
The Ascension buff yields awe-inspiring power including bonus health and infinite mana, AD & AP, CDR, as well as armor and magic pen
The gifts of Ascension come with a price: healing and regeneration effects are halved and the opposing team always has vision on Ascended champs

If you’ve played Ascension before, you’ll probably notice we haven’t changed too much of the gameplay since the Shurima event. This won’t always be the case, but we found Ascension’s gameplay held up over time. We did touch up the visuals slightly while specially tuning Champion Mastery so you can earn points in the mode. You’ll also be able to earn keys for your wins and loot chests for your (or your premade’s) S-, S, and S+ games.

Ascension is now available and lasts through the evening on Sunday (we’ll shut it down very early Monday morning--usually between 1:00 AM and 3:00 AM).

Up next after Ascension is Legend of the Poro King. The splendiferous fluffy majesty of our poro overlord will descend on the rotating game mode queue next Friday, followed by Ultra Rapid Fire the next week, and Hexakill after. If you need to catch up on the rules for any game mode, check back at leagueoflegends.com each Friday, and we’ll give you the lowdown in a quick post like this one.

We’ll be trying out different things with the rotating game mode queue over the next few months, such as potentially turning it on longer depending on how popular it is, changing the mode cadence or what modes are available. We’re looking for your feedback as we go, so let us know. GLHF, and we’ll see you on the sand-strewn battlefield of Ascension!

537 Comments

Baka S0rakaApr 8, 2016211 votes

#DOOMBOTS?

TankysGirl12Apr 9, 20169 votes

AGREE!!!!!

Wrath Of DustyApr 9, 201615 votes

WHERE ARE THEY!!!!!!!!

Karma Hentai Apr 9, 201628 votes

WE NEED DOOMBOTS !!!

Scarlet SkillApr 9, 201617 votes

Yeah i wasn't around for doom bots the first time it would be fun to see fun it was playing against op as crap AIs

ßlåkeApr 9, 201624 votes

DOOM BOTS ARE THE ONLY ONE IM HYPE FOR****

M4J0R R4G3RApr 9, 201643 votes

Doombots of Doom should be a permanent addition to the game. It's a Co-op vs. AI game mode after all. Intro, Beginner and Intermediate bots will still remain for those not up to the challenge.

Hyly SofistikatdApr 11, 201610 votes

yeah it actually should… it's the only way anyone has ever lost to bots… Don't go looking in my match history to confirm that….

Preest HDApr 8, 2016133 votes

This needs to be a permanent rotating queue. Been playing for 6 years and this would be the best thing that has happened to league imho.

coeurloyalApr 8, 201627 votes

Agreed. There are a lot of people unhappy that this will only be available on weekends--myself included. I need my Ascension fix :/

Fall Out BratApr 8, 201614 votes

I second this.

CyberGamezApr 9, 201627 votes

I third this. Especially since I am going to be gone the weekend URF is out... summoner 3

QueenofTokiwadaiApr 10, 201615 votes

As someone whose busiest time of the week is the weekend I wholeheartedly support this.

DemosthentineApr 8, 201647 votes

Do I find it hilarious that the first game mode was on the map that Rito has removed from the game? Answer: HECK YEAH!

Lee5790Apr 8, 201617 votes

I'm pretty sure that's why they did it

lightdragoon88Apr 8, 201641 votes

Ascension: 4/8 to 4/10

Poro King: 4/15 to 4/17

URF: 4/22 to 4/24

Hexakill: 4/29 to 5/1

These are going to be fun weekends.

Nerf ThisApr 8, 201634 votes

All I saw was URF

Cat SecretaryApr 8, 201642 votes

URF is coming two times, but both times it's coming for 2 days... 4 days of URF... We used to have 2 weeks :'(

Dexwin09Apr 9, 20169 votes

and then riot asks themselves why players are quitting LoL.. we have the same game modes every time (Armam and Summoners Rift normal (who plays twisted treeline anymore?)) they should just rotate them for the whole year, at least just the weekends to dispose all the salt in our bodies and just relax in fun game modes..

HDK ShadowArcherApr 9, 20166 votes

I play twisted treeline all the time, nobody wants to learn the strategy of it, it's sad really item 3070

MzPsychosisLulzApr 9, 201620 votes

The said if the gamemodes prove to be exceedingly popular they may extend how long they are available.

SakaruApr 9, 201612 votes

"If" they are "exceedingly" popular they "may" extend. All words used to signify that it's unlikely when used by companies, to be honest. They could easily say it wasn't exceedingly enough, since it's a vague term. They could easily decide not to, simply because it makes them more money to have it on the weekends.

I'm not saying it WON'T happen, but it's wise of the player base to voice their disapproval of the current system. That's how you get things changed. If people don't voice their opinions, then their opinions can't be heard.

The MeepApr 9, 20165 votes

I'm fairly certain in no way shape or form having the game modes strictly on the weekends makes them any more or less money :/ stop trying to use money as an excuse for literally everything Riot does. If Riot was truly just a money grubbing company they'd finally slap a price tag on League and make us all pay for it. Or they would make content that enhances game play in the form of stat boosting that costs actual money instead of IP. Until they do something like these, I think the money excuse is a poor one, and whenever you think of using it again, in the words of a great wise man, here's an idea...

Just don't. summoner 21

SakaruApr 10, 20168 votes

Actually it does. It's called marketing, my friend. It's as I've said before, I do not blame them for doing it 'because' it makes them more money. They are first and foremost a company. I'm just not going to pretend they're doing it with other thoughts in mind.

By having it on the weekends, they get spikes. The majority excitement fades after a day or two. Having more opportunities to have that 1~3 days of excitement fuels people to want to buy X skin to use for Y gamemode. That's what excitement does, it makes people excited.

By having it on for the whole week it would garner less overall profit, because the excitement wouldn't be as high on the peek days, and would trail off more quickly. The enjoyment people get from the modes would be increased overall, yes. But the level of peek excitement just isn't the same.

It is a very smart marketing plan to limit the amount a thing is available, to the times it will make the most money through the excitement of the consumer.

FaIIenShadowApr 8, 201637 votes

URF The weekend before exams. item 3070

McscubaApr 8, 201636 votes

So let's say I'm a Xerath main, what happens if I play him in this game mode?

Mister SunglowApr 8, 201634 votes

literally you would kys

Pastel PalettesApr 8, 201636 votes

Will DoomBots ever comeback ? Annie Blitzcrank Ezreal Lux ?? :c

Aubin100Apr 8, 201625 votes

Its like if rito wants me to hate them.

No urf on April 1st
Urf is not first on the rotating gamemodes crap
Urf is not even gonna be second because they gonna put a gamemode we just had on Dec...

Am about to be done with these people

Øni ŚenjutsuApr 8, 201695 votes

rito doesnt know who you are, so i doubt it

1 it was April 1, if you honestly thought URF was actually going to come I dont know what to tell ya, other than no 2 why would they make their best game mode first, and all the other ones come after it? thats like giving someone the best tasting cheese burger ever then giving them burgers with out the meat after 3 "Just had on Dec"? dude its april, 3 months later, if you honestly think April and December are close you must have just stepped out of a hyperbolic time chamber Am done with humans Shaco

InfínityApr 8, 201618 votes

We need more people like you in this community, have an upvote

RumpusApr 8, 201621 votes

IMO urf is like a broken tradition. Riot has no real reason for breaking this tradition, or they haven't told us why at least, so naturally some people are going to be angry. I understand not having urf as a permanent game mode but not even having it on the weekend of April 1st is a bit cruel. Honestly I understand the frustration the least they could have done is put urf first there isn't really a reason for making people wait. Amumu

buckeyebob45Apr 8, 201620 votes

I don't know if I would consider something done only twice in a row a tradition. and i think it is better to be a week or two later. That way more players are aware of the weekend when the most popular game mode will take place.

AzureVoidApr 8, 201621 votes

Can we be expecting any combination gamemodes? Like One-For-All+URF (One-For-URF). Or One-For-All+Hexakill (Hex-For-All). Or URF+Ascension (URFscension)?

CodeskullApr 10, 201610 votes

URF Bots of Doom. 'Nuff said.

hdomkvickApr 11, 201619 votes

It's 4/10 and ascension is already gone? The home page literally says, "play ascension now!" and it's not available. Great work rito.

Celestial LifeApr 11, 20169 votes

Logged in literally just to upvote this, just got off work came home all excited and now logging off LL...Gj riot. At least post the goodbye page first before I jump on...

DeltaRavenApr 8, 201614 votes

Finally, time to break out my perfect Ascension icon.

By the way, do the urf summoner icons from last year work if we use them this year? I wanna drop lasers on my defeated victims.

NikolaApr 8, 201612 votes

Why cant we play custom games of ascension ??? item 3151

DeathScreen MainApr 8, 201612 votes

why make poro king a game mode when there is already the snowball in arams...... kind of dumb

SarkastischApr 8, 20169 votes

Snowballs in ARAM actually came after Legend of the Poro King

TwoFaceTonyApr 8, 20169 votes

I think that's his point

VIP BASTYK KZApr 8, 201612 votes

Instead of having them only on weekends, why not change them to every 3 days? Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday URF mode. Thursday, Friday, Saturday One for all. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday Hexakill and so on.

That way, they'll stay short but will return often so everyone can get to play them.

But with the current schedule, the game modes don't last for long and on top of that some people can't play on weekends, so they'd miss out all the fun.

So it'd be nice if you could change it.

Thanks

Hay0gerApr 8, 201612 votes

How can you make the best game mode in the rotation during pax weekend! WE GO THERE TO SUPPORT YOU GUYS AND YOU MAKE IT SO NONE OF US CAN PLAY THE BEST MODE! That's kinda wrong....

PeachsPropertyApr 8, 201611 votes

No Doom bots of Doom? item 3070

DaviandestroysApr 8, 201611 votes

for all of us who are adults with jobs this sucks.... -_- i work on the weekend from the morning till night time :/.... im only home now cause im sick. why cant we just have weekly rotations?

DraceAmatoresApr 8, 201611 votes

please for the love of all that is holy in LoL make this last forever with the rotating game mode. If you honestly care about your player base do it! Never get rid of it and never even think of getting rid of it. This was the most fun I have had in my month of playing LoL and everyone is just like so happy with it that the toxicity in my games are so low that I can actually enjoy talking with people without having to mute the toxic players!

Unreal EdApr 9, 20168 votes

Please create Free-form Team mode: You can choose any combination and copies of teams you want! 2 Vaynes, 2 Braums and 1 Soraka? go for it ! Find the best possible team comp!

LegacyfireApr 11, 20168 votes

"(we’ll shut it down very early Monday morning--usually between 1:00 AM and 3:00 AM)"

12pm SHARP

JediSSJApr 11, 20167 votes

Aaaaaaaaand it's gone. Well...that was too short. Yeah this whole "only on weekends" thing is pretty awful. The rotating queue is a great idea, but maybe a week at a time instead? I'd rather have a week off and a week on than every week but only the week ends.