The Recon was not needed all we needed was a change here is my idea.

I can 100% see the reason they did the recon. It was getting boring, they would write a good background but then have to find away from them to fit into the league. It was getting harder and harder from them to find reasons for characters to join, think how would have fit, or Bard? But i think they jumped the gun, now we have a lot of lore and background info spread around with no real common narrative holding the world together. A change of the lore and not just a big recon would have been better in my opinion and here are some of my ideas on how it could be done.

The Rune Wars still happened hundreds of years ago. The city states raged destructive war against each other using their new greatest weapons, the Summoners. Summoners were set apart from the other mages of Runeterra due to their training in the arts of Summoner magic. This Summoner magic was just recently discovered prior to the start of the Rune Wars from old texts found in ruins across Valoran, Icathia was one such ruin. Summoning magic differed from other magics as it pulled magic from some other place warping space and time as apposed to the natural magic of Valoran that pulled its power from Runeterra. The Rune Wars raged on taking a heavy toll on not only the city states but Runeterra and the fabric of reality itself. pretty soon wild magical storms ravaged the land and weird beast begun appearing. The world shifted, areas become tainted with this summoner magic changing the animals and plants into horrid beasts(Kumungu Jungle, Voodoo lands and anything below the barrier). A group of summoners that had denounced their loyalty to any city state began urging the leaders to stop this war before Runeterra was destroyed. They pointed to the uncontrolled use of Summoner magic as the cause. It took some time but the leaders were swayed and decided to call a cease fire has they figured out how to handle the damage caused. The Institute of War was created to monitor and handle the summoners and their magic, the best and most noble summoners where drafted into the Institute to police their kin. Several decades past and the summoners, once the Generals and highest mages, changed their power from military to political. The Summoners had the ear of the kings and high Command, they were nobility and the higher class. The Summoners still used there magic for small battles or doing perverse experiments in their towers or estates. Their Culture was one of decadence and disregard for what they considered the lower classes. That all changed with , he appeared to the world spreading his prophecy of doom. He pointed to the Summoners saying their magic had not only wrought destruction for the city states and scared the land but was weakening the veil between worlds. The monstrosities that stalked the land where from another realm, a place of cold harsh darkness, the Void. As the Harbinger brought his message to the ear of every leader that would hear it hate began to spread among the people. Summoners were attacked by mobs, their estates burned. A Summoner trying to defend him self from an angry mob used his magics and was shortly ripped apart as a void creature used his magic and body to make its way into Runeterra, that was the tipping point. Noxus killed all their summoners and the weak nobility that followed them and put in place a better high command in a bloody coup. Demacia was more civil but still imprisoned most or stripped them of rank and holding. An army of angry people from every city state marched on the Institute blaming them for all the damage done, if they could not hold the Summoners in line then they will be taken down with them. As the mob reached the gates a shimmer flickered over the building and with a deafening pop it was gone.
That bring us to the present the summoners are gone mostly. The ones that are left a little more then diviners and the stigma is intense, each Summoner bound to the state and in servitude. Yet some still study to become a Summoner for even the theories of Summoner magic and bolster a mages power. The Institute of War has going into hiding but still holds true to their mission.They will protect Runeterra from not only their magic but anything now. In their hallowed halls resides a book left over from the peak of the Summoners power. This book is known as The League of Legends and holds all the Institutes information about dangerous creatures, lost artifacts of great power, Void spawn and humans that have the potential to shift history. They sit in their halls divining and playing war games trying to test the Legends, they must know their weakness and who or what might be able to bring them down, encase they must pull the strings of fate to set the world right. They are in the shadows using agents to set up the pieces for the grand game they are playing. We are playing as these summoners, instead of using the actual beings we play games with magical constructs of the Artifacts(items in game) and people/creatures(the champs, Baron, Dragon and the camps) found within the League of Legends.

Well that's it sorry for the wall of text, let me know what you think and if you would like me post one of my stories using this alternate timeline. peace