Introduction
In League of Legends as in many e-sports disciplines, there is an idea of seasons where professional players and amateurs both participate in ranked matches to show their skill to others and to obtain unique rewards. Usually, there is a major international Championship at the end of each season. The very First League of Legends Season took place in the faraway year of 2010 and the latest up to date ninth season has just started recently.
The personal rating of each Player is discarded at the beginning of a new season and Players are required to successfully pass ten placements in order to get the highest possible starting rank.
Each season brings changes into the game and the current one isn’t an exception to this rule. So what are the main differences and what rewards await Summoners ahead? Let us have a closer look at the major and minor distinctions of this season over previous ones.
Basics
The ninth League of Legends Season has started on January 24, 2019. Together with this season an improved placement matches system, matchmaking and two additional tiers (Iron – the lowest one and GrandMaster – a tier between a Master and a Challenger) have appeared. The season is divided into three splits now and the first one is expected to end in the middle of April. There mustn’t be any time offs between splits which eliminate periods of downtime and slows down the progress of the players, as a result.
A completely new role matchmaking system is available now for Summoners in North America and South Korea. There will be a separate rating for each role but at the same time the player will lose or gain points on every role in which he completed placements. In other regions, this system will be launched with the start of the second split.
The end of season rewards remainbut new prizes for the ones who take an active part in each split will be added, so those players who did their best during all three splits are to receive the best rewards. For example, players will receive Victorious skin and all three bonus chromas skins after they will have reached Gold tier rating or higher.
Let us look at the rewards that wait for us in the Season 9 of the League of Legends game.
Rewards
Ranked armor is a new evolving reward which represents Summoners’ achievements and time investment in ranked. Each split brings its improvements into ranked armor. At the same time, the background banner shows the player’s rank in the previous season. By the end of season 9, the armor will reflect current rank, all the splits improvements, and the season 8 rank, i.e. the two seasons of the ranked journey simultaneously. The ranked armor and the banner will be displayed in many places, such as player’s profile, hover card, rank dashboard, loading screen, and lobby.
Other pleasant news is the glorious comeback of the challenger recall reward and it will be available for every player in the Challenger tier. We must add here though, that there won’t be any physical offline rewards for the players in Challenger tier as there had been before. Developers used to send Jackets and Backpacks to the best players in the world, but due to numerous complications, they decided to remove this type of rewards from the game starting this season.
Depending on the number of gathered points in the first split, players may get the following rewards:
Summoner Icon. This is a split-themed icon. 150 points are needed;
Ranked Armor Upgrade. This is a visual upgrade to ranked armor. 250 points are needed;
Dynamic Emote (Morgana Champion). This is a split-themed emote that dynamically matches the tier obtained. 500 points are needed.
League of Legends players are eligible to receive season rewards being in all tiers/rankings and within the following ranked game types: solo queue, ranked Flex 5v5 queue, ranked 3v3 queue. Such rewards as Summoner Icons and Loading screen borders are unique to the ranked queue they were earned in. Some other rewards like the Victorious champion skin will be the same across all ranked game types. Note, however, that you have to be in a desirable ranked tier before the end of the season to be able to get those prizes.
The Summoner Icon
The Summoner Icon season reward is a League of Legends profile icon that is based on the highest tier/ranking one has achieved at the end of the season. Each Profile Icon season reward is unique according to the game type it was earned in, 3v3 or dynamic queue. The Summoner Icon is displayed on the account profile and is visible to other players in any game type and in all Loading Screens.
Profile Banner Trim
The Profile Banner Trim is a League of Legends season reward based on the highest tier/ranking the Summoner has achieved by the end of the season. The Profile Banner Trim season reward is displayed on the player’s profile within the League of Legends client so everyone that looks at that profile could see the insignia below Summoner’s Name.
Loading Screen Border
The season reward Loading Screen Border in League of Legends is awarded to players based on the highest tier/ranking they have achieved at the end of the season. This Loading Screen Border will be displayed during the loading screen right before the game starts. Only the player’s teammates will be able to see the Loading Screen Border.
Victorious Ward Skin
Victorious Ward Skin is a League of Legends limited edition ward skin season reward, based on the number of ranked queues a player has participated in, earned by participating and reaching a Silver or higher ranking in at least two or more ranked queues.
Victorious Skin
The League of Legends Victorious Skin is a limited edition season reward Champion skin, earned by players based on their highest tier/ranking achieved by the end of the season. A new Victorious champion skin is awarded to players every year for that season in the form of season reward. Players will compete in ranked queues and earn a ranking that will unlock this free skin season reward among other things at the end of the season. If a player does not have a champion, he or she will receive it for free when they get the Victorious skin.
Emote Season Reward
The Emote Season Reward is the new series of rewards that are earned per season split. All of them, though, may be obtained according to the highest tier/ranking that the Player has achieved by the end of each split. Players can earn the season 9 split 1 emote in the following queues: solo queue, 3v3 ranked queue, and 5v5 ranked queue.
Tier based rewards
Before the representation of the tier rewards here are two references which may be found in the text below.
2x Queues. A player needs at least two ranked queues with Silver Ranking or higher.
Chroma Per Queue. A player will receive extra Chroma Version of the Victorious Skin for each Queue with a Gold Ranking and higher.
And now according to all the information stated above we now may introduce you to the tier rewards in season 9 which are:
Iron tier – Iron Summoner Icon and Iron Profile Trim;
Bronze tier – Bronze Summoner Icon and Bronze Profile Trim;
Silver tier – Silver Summoner Icon, Silver Profile Trim, Silver Loading Screen Border, and Victorious Ward Skin (2x Queues);
Gold tier – Gold Summoner Icon, Gold Profile Trim, Gold Loading Screen Border, Victorious Ward Skin (2x Queues), and Victorious Champion Skin (Chroma Per Queue);
Platinum tier – Platinum Summoner Icon, Platinum Profile Trim, Platinum Loading Screen Border, Victorious Ward Skin (2x Queues), and Victorious Champion Skin (Chroma Per Queue);
Diamond tier – Diamond Summoner Icon, Diamond Profile Trim, Diamond Loading Screen Border, Victorious Ward Skin (2x Queues), and Victorious Champion Skin (Chroma Per Queue);
Master tier – Master Summoner Icon, Master Profile Trim, Master Loading Screen Border, Victorious Ward Skin (2x Queues), and Victorious Champion Skin (Chroma Per Queue);
GrandMaster tier – GrandMaster Summoner Icon, GrandMaster Profile Trim, GrandMaster Loading Screen Border, Victorious Ward Skin (2x Queues), and Victorious Champion Skin (Chroma Per Queue);
Challenger tier – Challenger Summoner Icon, Challenger Profile Trim, Challenger Loading Screen Border, Victorious Ward Skin (2x Queues), Victorious Champion Skin (Chroma Per Queue), and, of course, the long awaited Challenger Recall Season Reward.
