League Classic vs modern League
Runes and masteries are back
The single biggest shock for returning players: there are no modern keystones. Instead you build rune pages from purchased runes (Marks, Seals, Glyphs, Quintessences) and spend 30 mastery points across Offense, Defense and Utility trees. It's flat stats and small percentages instead of Electrocute and Conqueror — power is quieter but the pre-game setup decides more lanes than the modern system ever did. See our runes and masteries guides.
No Mythics, and the old items return
Season 3 has no Mythic items and no item tier borders — just a flat catalog where you buy what wins. Legendary actives are everywhere: Deathfire Grasp executes squishies on a button, Zhonya's stasis baits ults, Shurelya's engages fights. Meanwhile Atma's Impaler turns health into damage, Warmog's gives a raw thousand HP, and boots are cheaper and simpler. Browse the full returning roster in our item database.
Old kits, old power
Champions play like their 2013 selves, not their reworked versions. Sion is a point-and-click stun with an AP shield nuke; Eve has true permastealth; Karthus, Kassadin and AP Yi hit differently. Some of these kits are genuinely broken by modern standards — which is exactly why the Classic tier list looks nothing like live League. Every champion page here documents the Season 3 kit and combo.
Vision, jungle and pace
You buy wards (Sightstone is the support's best friend) and place them by hand — there's no trinket. The jungle is smaller and clears are slower, so ganking junglers like Lee Sin and Jarvan snowball early. Overall the game is slower, farm matters more, and mistakes are punished harder: fewer comeback mechanics, no modern catch-up XP. Classic rewards fundamentals over flash.