Patch 11.23 brings the preseason to League of Legends

The League of Legends Season 12 preseason has officially launched with Patch 11.23, bringing transformative changes to core gameplay systems. Players can now explore innovative dragons, completely reworked items, and strategic runes that fundamentally alter competitive approaches. These modifications introduce unprecedented mechanics including map-wide teleportation networks and enhanced comeback potential, marking Riot’s most ambitious preseason update in recent memory.

Community excitement has reached exceptional levels following last year’s comparatively conservative adjustments. The integration of Arcane-inspired elements demonstrates Riot’s commitment to expanding League’s narrative universe while enhancing gameplay depth.

The preseason’s centerpiece introduces two revolutionary elemental drakes directly inspired by Arcane’s contrasting cities. The Hextech Drake embodies Piltover’s technological precision, granting teams attack speed and ability haste bonuses while creating strategic teleportation gates at key map locations. These gates enable rapid rotations between dragon and Baron Nashor pits, fundamentally altering late-game macro strategies.

Hextech Drake’s soul effect provides a powerful chain-lightning auto-attack modifier reminiscent of Statikk Shiv’s removed functionality. Meanwhile, the Chemtech Drake represents Zaun’s chaotic innovation, though its specific mechanics require further testing to fully understand their competitive implications.

New LoL items in Patch 11.23

Patch 11.23 delivers an extensive item system reconstruction affecting multiple champion classes. The update introduces five completely new items while comprehensively reworking ten mage items, ten tank items, and four lethality items to address balance concerns and increase build diversity.

Key additions include Crown of the Shattered Queen for mage survivability against assassins, Evenshroud for tank utility amplification, Axiom Arc for ability haste optimization, Shadowflame for magic penetration scaling, and Winter’s Approach transforming into Fimbulwinter for mana-based tanks. Riot’s collaboration with popular streamer Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp for the announcement highlights the update’s significance.

Common Pitfall: Many players incorrectly build Crown of the Shattered Queen against sustained damage compositions where its damage reduction passive provides diminished value. This item excels specifically against burst-heavy team compositions.

The innovative First Strike rune emerges as Kleptomancy’s spiritual successor, rewarding players who initiate combat with substantial gold generation. This keystone converts a percentage of damage dealt during the activation window directly into bonus gold, creating snowball potential for aggressive laners.

First Strike particularly benefits champions with consistent harassment patterns and reliable engage tools. Gangplank mains anticipate exceptional synergy with his Parrrley gold generation, potentially accelerating his item power spikes dramatically.

Advanced Tip: Maximize First Strike efficiency by pairing it with long-range abilities that guarantee first hit confirmation. Champions like Jayce and Zoe can trigger the rune safely while minimizing retaliation risk.

Riot introduces objective bounties as another strategic comeback mechanism, encouraging teams to contest neutral objectives despite gold deficits. As teams fall behind in total gold, neutral monsters acquire escalating bounty values that provide substantial economic recovery when secured.

Eligible objectives include Rift Herald, all Elemental Dragons, and outer turrets across three lanes. This system punishes teams for ignoring objective control while rewarding coordinated play from disadvantaged positions.

Strategic Insight: Teams should prioritize bounty objectives based on their composition strengths rather than automatically contesting every available target. Understanding your team’s power spikes relative to bounty availability is crucial for optimal implementation.

The comprehensive changes documentation remains available through the official patch 11.23 notes for detailed mechanical specifications and numerical adjustments.

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