Riot Games, the developer behind League of Legends has recently announced multiple games during its 10th anniversary and some changes to the known League of Legends game starting with preseason 10. During the current year, the developer has hinted that the 2020 season will be transformative, but avoided any details until recently, the anniversary stream.

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Their goal for the year is to have distinct environments for players to adapt to and master. Rise of the Elements, as titled by the developer will bring the map Summoner’s Rift to life and the map will change depending on the element of the 3rd Elemental Drake, which will transform the map before it spawns and afterward only its element will be the one to spawn.

Infernal Rift – caused by the Infernal Drake, will create new pathways near the buff camps and burn the brushes. This will allow for multiple playmaking opportunities and new flanks.

Ocean Rift – caused by the Ocean Drake, will expand brushes and spawn honey fruits in each jungle quadrant.

Cloud Rift – caused by the Cloud Drake, will spawn airflows through the jungle allowing for a fast gank or flank.

Mountainous Rift – caused by the Mountain Drake, will make some walls tighter allowing for choke points.

One important thing to consider is that the developer, Riot Games, has mentioned that the layout changes will be in the same place every time, around the dragon pit and near the buff camps. The Elemental Buffs are reworked as well to feel fairer, Infernal & Oceanic remain mostly unchanged, while the Cloud Drake will now give a cooldown reduction to your Ultimate and the Mountain Drake will grant a percentage of Armor & Magic Resistance.

When a team will kill the 4th Elemental Drake, instead of stacking it like before, it will now grant a powerful buff named Dragon Soul, which will persist through death and last for the entire game. The Dragon Soul buff is a new mechanic and the fans have mixed perceptions due to the power in these souls.

Once a team has claimed the Dragon Soul, the Elder Dragon will begin spawning in the Dragon pit, which means that only the team can have the Dragon Soul. Elder Dragon will no longer amplify current Dragon powers, it will still keep the burn damage but also execute low health enemies on top of that. With fast reactions, the execute can be avoided by using abilities or items which make you invulnerable, but if the buff is applied a second time and you have no other saves, then a trip to the fountain is guaranteed!

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The Rise of Elements preseason will feature many more changes according to the developers, such as item changes, experience changes and more which will hit the Public Beta Environment pretty soon for players to test out and provide feedback. As a reminder, the ranked League of Legends Season 9 ends on Nov. 19 and Season 10 will most likely start in January if we look at the previous years.