League of Legends Classic will be back in 2026, here's what we know

Wasif Ahmed Published 30/06/2026

Riot has announced that League Classic will come out in Season 3 of 2026, as a game mode. League Classic is “old League of Legends”, the ability to play the game on a specific patch from over a decade ago. How much information do we have? What is League Classic, when will League Classic release, and what patch will it be for?

What is League Classic?

Ever wanted to rediscover the old version of your favorite champion? To tread on the legacy Summoner’s Rift again? To invest in Heart of Gold before stacking Sunfire Capes?

League Classic will be a game mode in which the game is set back to an old patch. The map, champions, items, runes, even summoner’s experience will all correspond to how they were on that patch.

What is the League Classic patch, and with which champions?

League Classic will be set to one specific patch for everyone. However, no exact information has been given from then on. Common speculation is that the chosen patch will be early season 3, and the champion calendar suggests that it should be no later than that. Karma and Master Yi received their reworks halfway through 2013, and players consider them icons of the old League.

A list of 60 included champions has been revealed by datamining PBE files. However, Riot then confirmed that this leaked list wasn’t final, and that some champions who weren’t in it will be part of League Classic (such as Graves and Urgot). The original 40 champions will all be included.

All champions in this game mode will use their old kit. Whether they will receive balance changes or bug fixes is unknown, though.

The game will also use all items from back then, as well as runes and masteries and the old map. On top of this, the mode will somehow bring back Influence Points as well as its own take on account level.

League Classic will be where players get to rediscover this old LoL feeling. Image credit: Riot Games

When will League Classic come out?

League Classic will come out at some point during Season 3 of 2026. Note that Season 3 will start on July 22, 2026.

A specific date hasn’t been given yet, nor a duration for the game mode. Riot will give more information just before the grand final of the Mid-Season Invitational on July 11.

With the duration of the game mode comes the question of how they’ll patch it. Will League Classic have balance updates over time? Will it advance patch by patch every two weeks, or will Riot do their own new take on balance?

No answer on that either for the time being. Riot has also stated that they can’t predict how popular the mode will be, and their decisions will also depend on it.

Note: League Classic isn’t the massive announcement that the company teased at the start of the year. The plans for 2027 are still underway, with more details to come around the World Championship.

Stay tuned for more League Classic updates.

Featured image credit: Riot Games

Wasif Ahmed

About Wasif Ahmed

Wasif Ahmed is the Lead Esports Editor for WIN.gg. He has been covering esports for nearly eight years, although his gaming journey started much earlier, when he was just four years old and was introduced to Road Rash on a dusty PC. Hit him up on X to talk about esports, why partnership models are the best fit for esports games, or if Halo 7 has finally been announced.

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