Why are the minions in League of Legends emoting?

Nicholas James Published 31/03/2022

If you’ve noticed minions emoting in your League of Legends games, the April Fools’ Day patch holds the answer.

Patch 12.6 brought some secret changes to League of Legends alongside the announced Rengar update and balance changes. When you wipe the enemy team on Summoner’s Rift, allied minions will be dropping some disrespect by flashing emotes. This confused gamers at first but has now become a hilarious early April Fools joke.

April Fools’ Day patch has minions emoting

Minions will now use an emote from 2018 depicting a generic Demacian soldier, often referred to by the community as “Helmetbro,” playing dead when one team aces the other.

The interaction was first captured by caster Sam “Kobe” Hartman-Kenzler on a Champions Queue game. Kobe discovered that if a team manages to score an ace with every member of the enemy team on respawn timers, every allied minion on the map will emote.

12.6 arrived early to Champions Queue, part of an effort to assuage complaints that playoffs would be played on a patch that came out mere days later.

Deploying this balance patch early also meant Riot tipping its hand when it came to one of the presumably many jokes that fans can expect once April Fools’ Day arrives. There have been some legendary April Fools’ Day jokes from Riot Games in the past, including one that introduced the now-iconic character Urf The Manatee.

This appears to be the only in-game tweak made for a timely joke by the League of Legends developers so far. But fans can expect other light-hearted jests to show up in the client though perhaps not on the Rift. Usually, Riot Games will make a fake announcement of a ridiculous product or in-game item, sometimes taking to fake balance notes to trick fans.

Any other silly changes will be revealed on April 1 on the live client.

Nicholas James

About Nicholas James

Nicholas James is a gaming writer with a passion for all things geekdom, as well as live theater. Nicholas is best known for covering League of Legends and other top MOBA titles, but his expertise covers numerous games across multiple genres. When not watching the LCS or playing the latest new release, Nicholas can be found doing some tabletop gaming and painting his favorite miniatures. Nicholas has also published with Hotspawn, TheGamer, Dexerto, Esports.gg and other industry outlets.

View full profile

Read Also

Esports Betting

MLBB is the most-watched game from the EWC, and it’s hard to see another game beating it Michael Hassall The Esports World Cup 2026 has officially passed its midway point and viewership figures for the tournament have surpassed many expectations so far, as per Esports Charts. The viewership tracking site revealed new statistics for the event on Aug. 6, showcasing just how many games had set new records in viewership, including one name leading the way in views: Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. MLBB leads the viewership charts with the ...

League of Legends

LCK 2026 Rounds 3–4 Preview, Schedule, Predictions, and More Hannan Mundia 2026 LCK Rounds 3-4 are slated to start soon, and this preview highlights the schedule, our expert predictions, and everything else you need to know before watching. The LCK has been upside down recently. Teams that were considered absolute powerhouses are seemingly falling off, while previous underdogs have been causing upset after upset. 2026 LCK Rounds 3-4 are starting soon, and the big question here is which team will reign ...

League of Legends

LEC 2026 Summer split preview, schedule, predictions, and more Hannan Mundia The 2026 LEC Summer split will be the deciding split to determine which teams can make it to the World Championship, and this preview aims to highlight everything you need to know about it. It isn’t a stretch to say that the LCK and LCP are the only two competitive League of Legends regions actually pulling their weight currently. The LEC did show potential at the start of the year, ...

League of Legends

How is League of Legends Classic different from the modern version? Hannan Mundia League Classic brings the classic League of Legends gameplay and design from when the game first came out, but how is it different from the modern version? The modern League of Legends mode is arguably in its best state in terms of popularity, with a study even reporting that playing LoL can improve brain function. Over a decade of gameplay and multiple marketing tactics by Riot Games have bumped up ...

League of Legends

Best Champions for every role in League of Legends Classic mode Hannan Mundia League Classic sees the return of League of Legends Season 3, but which champions were deemed the best during that time? League of Legends has gone through a lot of changes since it first came out. While the map and item-related changes naturally impacted the game's state, so did the many champion nerfs, buffs, and reworks. Multiple champions played completely differently in Season 3 than they do now. Since League ...

Valorant

OBS Game Capture isn’t working on Valorant and League of Legends? Here’s why and how to fix it Khizar Mundia Several reports suggest that OBS Game Capture is broken, with Valorant and League of Legends streamers only being able to broadcast a black screen. OBS has responded to the issue, confirming that it exists and also provided a way to fix it. Valorant and League of Legends are two of Riot Games’ most popular titles, and they are being streamed on streaming platforms by creators regularly. On July 21, 2026, ...

League of Legends

Dplus sweeps Karmine Corp to win the 2026 LoL EWC grand final Hannan Mundia The League of Legends Esports World Cup 2026 grand final just concluded, where Dplus absolutely swept Karmine Corp to win it all. The League of Legends Esports World Cup may only have been taking place since 2024, but it has already become a key international event for fans and professional players. With a large prize pool and consecutive matches with little delay, fans have a blast seeing their favorite teams ...