Greetings Summoners,
Ranked Games are about trying hard and competing to the best of your ability. Meanwhile, Free-to-Play champions let you try out a new champion and see if you like it. These are really conflicting goals, so we’re making a change to keep the Ranked Solo/Duo Queue as competitive as possible. We’re removing the option to select champions you haven’t unlocked in the Ranked Solo/Duo Queue. If you have a champion unlocked and it’s on the Free-to-Play rotation, you can still play that champion.
We’re leaving the Free-to-Play rotation intact for Normal Games because they fit with the spirit of Free-to-Play champions. In Ranked Teams, your teammates should already be aware of your intentions to play a champion you don?t own, so we want to leave you that option.
FAQs
1. If there will be no more free champions on Ranked Games, then what will I be able to use?
A. You will only be able to use the champions that you already own (i.e. champions you have purchased either by IP or RP).
2. Why are you doing this?
A. As we’ve said, this is an effort to preserve competitive meta in ranked games. We’ve been getting a lot of reports around the globe of players trying out new champions when playing ranked which results to… well, let’s just say unfavourable gameplay.
We believe that removing free champions on Ranked games will encourage players to play using champions they already know well. Thus, minimizing “noob” gameplay.
3. When will this be implemented?
A. We cannot give an exact date yet because we want to be in sync with the other regions when we implement this new feature. But we can assure you that it will be sometime soon.
Anyway, we just wanted to give you guys a heads up so you can prepare for this upcoming feature.
Happy gaming! ^_^