League Classic beginner's guide
Before you queue: runes and masteries
Classic makes you set up out-of-game power before your first match. Build one solid rune page and one 21/9/0 mastery page and you're 90% of the way there — our runes guide and masteries guide give you copy-paste pages. Skipping this is the single most common new-player mistake: you'll be down a full item's worth of stats at level one against anyone who didn't.
Pick a forgiving champion
Don't first-time a mechanical carry. For your first Classic games, play champions with reliable kits and kill pressure: Annie (point-and-click stun, no skillshots), Garen (silence, spin, walk away), Master Yi (click to win once ahead), Amumu jungle (one ult wins fights) or Blitzcrank support (one hook decides lane). See the best beginner picks.
The two skills that carry: last-hitting and warding
Season 3 is a farming game. Gold comes from last-hitting minions, not kills — practice hitting them at the moment they die instead of spamming abilities. And because there's no trinket, you must buy wards and place them in the river and enemy jungle to avoid ganks. A support with a Sightstone and good wards wins more games than one who int-hooks.
Play slower than you think
Modern League trains you to fight constantly; Classic punishes that. Trades are deadlier, there's less sustain, and comebacks are harder. Farm safely, respect the enemy jungler until you've warded, take objectives with your team, and don't overchase. The player who makes the fewest mistakes usually wins — this is a fundamentals game, and that's the whole appeal.