League of Legends players who miss the era of AP Master Yi and gold-per-10 stacking are officially getting a way back. When Riot first confirmed League Classic was real at the end of June, we basically knew the name and nothing else, but the full reveal at the weekend’s MSI 2026 Finals and a new dev post have filled in the rest. The mode launches July 29 at 8:00 AM Pacific (11:00 AM Eastern) alongside Patch 26.15, and it’s part of the existing League client, so there’s no separate download.
Rather than restoring one specific patch, Riot describes Classic as a greatest hits collection anchored on Season 3, pulling pieces from across the game’s first several years. Every original Summoner spell returns, including Fortify, alongside almost every item from League’s early days, from Atma’s Impaler and Frozen Mallet to the full gold-per-10 economy, plus Zz’Rot Portal as the one deliberate outlier. One thing not making the trip is Yasuo. Riot’s dev post puts it plainly: “No Yasuos allowed.”
Riot says combat pacing tops the list of things players miss about early League, so Classic champions have sharper strengths and weaknesses, missiles and dashes travel slower, and stuns are more plentiful, while spells cost more to cast and hit substantially harder. The Classic Map rebuilds the early Summoner’s Rift, complete with wraith camps and jungle buffs that come with escorts, deal more damage, and respawn much faster, though lighting, shadows, and textures have been cleaned up for readability.
The mode launches with 60 champions, made up of the original 40 plus another 20 hand-picked from the 2009 to 2013 window, with more coming from that same period over time. Champions you already own carry over automatically, while the rest unlock through Classic Levels, the Shop, or the free rotation. Runes and Masteries return as well, simplified so everything sits at the old Tier 3 baseline and unlocks just by playing, with IP making its comeback as the currency for extra Rune Pages and all Mastery pages fully unlocked at Classic Level 4.
At launch, Classic offers a single PvP draft queue, Co-op vs AI, and custom games, along with a positional preference system for role selection. A new progression track called Summoner’s Journey opens at Classic Level 10, climbing from Salt through Wood all the way to Legend, a tier Riot says only a single-digit percentage of players will reach.
Cosmetics get their own Classic treatment, with a free Classic Levels track that includes the Rustier Blitzcrank skin, plus Seasonal Classic Passes carrying Classic Skins that restore champions’ 2009 to 2013 looks, Classic Chromas like the original Tundra Warwick, and rotating loading screen Portraits. Riot is also launching The Council, a community voting system that will help decide future champion additions, skins, and even gameplay changes, with voting power earned through playtime.
