Take a look at the incredibly long League of Legends preseason 2021 patch 10.23 notes, and you’ll see a massive list of new items, new item shop, stats, and many more adjustments.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, don’t worry, we’re here to help you better understand the current preseason meta with five key trends you need to know to stay ahead of the pack.


Mythic items give you a significant power spike, but you don’t have to rush them

You definitely don’t have to rush it if you’re a support.

Mythic items not only give you extra stats, but they also bring with them various effects. Some are active, while others are triggered based on the situation.

In addition, they each also have a ‘Mythic’ effect that gives all other Legendary items additional benefits.

Most Mythic items cost an average of 3,400 gold, so if you’re ahead in-game, buying a Mythic item first would give you a power spike with potential to snowball further.

Even though they cost less for supports at 2,700 gold, roaming and warding is still a priority. Strategically, completing your Mobility Boots and spending money on vision wards is still the most effective route, so expect to finish your Mythic item in the mid game.

While most damage dealing champions will rush their Mythic item, a handful do not, and for good reason. Kayle for example, requires the attack speed from Nashor’s Tooth before turning to Riftmaker, so check professional player builds online if you’re not sure.


Mythic items have brought about some… interesting interactions

Out of all the new fancy effects, assassin and marksmen Mythic items are the ones that contribute new mechanics to the game. Galeforce gives Marksmen an added dash to help them survive when an enemy jumps onto them. When paired with non-marksmen champions like Fiora, it allows her to proc vitals even faster.

Unfortunately for marksmen, as much as Galeforce would make you believe you now have two Flashes at hand, assassins were also blessed with Prowler’s Crawl which allows them to dash through a target enemy.

If that wasn’t enough, Duskblade of Darktharr grants assassins 1.5 seconds of invisibility, enabling them to sneak around team fights better.

One of the most interesting interactions with new items is how redditor s2bk found out that Galeforce offsets the center of Jhin’s ultimate. Animation wise, it looks as if he is shooting outside its range indicator.

Miss Fortune is able to do this as well. If you use Galeforce just before casting her ultimate, she will be pushed forward, which displaces the AoE of Bullet Time as well.



Mythic items for tanks are the strongest… so far

Guess who are the top five champions dominating top lane?

Malphite, Shen, Ornn, Maokai, and Camille.

Guess who are the top five support champions?

Leona, Thresh, Pantheon, Maokai, and Morgana.

According to OP.GG at the time of writing, these champions have the highest win rates in their roles. Maokai appears twice, showing just how strong the preseason tank items are.

In many ways, the top and support meta seemed to only have intensified from the last season. Ornn was already an S-tier World Championship top laner, and the preseason items means he retains his spot at the top.

Besides overtaking top lane, juggernauts Nunu and Amumu are two of the top three junglers of the preseason. Sunfire Aegis, reminiscent of the old Sunfire Cape, give tanks enough beef, and just enough damage to hurt, so all tanks are rushing this Mythic as their first item.


Imperial Mandate is the support’s number one choice

In solo queue, supports tend to take Ignite because it’s all about go big or go home. Imperial Mandate follows the same logic.

Out of four support Mythic items, one gives utility, another a shield, the third bite sized heals, and the last, Imperial Mandate, as the only offensive choice.

Unfortunately for supports, getting Shurelya’s and Locket together is not possible anymore as they are both Mythic items. Moonstone Renewer sounds great on paper, but has many caveats when put to practice in-game.

For these reasons, Imperial Mandate is currently the forerunner for both ranged and melee supports. Since supports rely on hitting their abilities and crowd controlling enemies (slow or immobilizations), the additional damage from Imperial Mandate is guaranteed to be applied every time it is off cooldown.


Ability Haste makes you miss Cooldown Reduction

Ability Haste (AH) does not equal to Cooldown Reduction (CD). It is not a one for one percentage, so now you’ll need even more AH to reach the same level of CD you had in previous seasons.

As such, the introduction of AH has impact mid lane the hardest. Previously seen mid lane mages Syndra, and scaling mages like Orianna, Kassadin, Ryze and basically anyone who went mid with a Tear of Goddess, are in the lowest tier with abysmal win rates. These champions rely on mana, cooldown, and AP to ramp up for late game.

With the new preseason items, not every legendary or Mythic item for mages give AH, which poses a problem for champions who need the best of both worlds. In fact, icobg123 on reddit calculated AH for AD and AP items, and found that there are less AP items that give AH. Secondly, even at max build, AH for AP users fall short of AD AH users.

This is why assassins like Zed, Akali and Fizz are strong in mid, for their cooldowns on spells aren’t innately long. They are good to go even with just a little bit of AH, and with the damage boost from new items, will out-lane CD/mana counterparts easily.

How have you been enjoying the preseason?

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