League of Legends Classic: Complete review of the 2013 return of the legend

Riot Games officially unveiled the League of Legends Classic project during the Mid-Season Invitational 2026. It’s a long-awaited return to the roots for dedicated MOBA fans, allowing them to re-immerse themselves in the gameplay of the legendary third season.

League of Legends Classic

It is important to understand that the developers do not release a separate client. League of Legends Classic is a specialized game mode within the current game client. Riot Games deliberately abandoned the “archive” approach in favor of full integration to ensure stability and comfort for players.

Features of the mode

The third season, current in 2013, was taken as the basis for the classic version of Riot. This is not just a visual reskin, but a deep adaptation of key mechanics from past years:

• Interface: the classic HUD of the 2013 era is back.
• Progression: uses the original Rune and Mastery systems.
• Content: 60 champions are available to players, adapted to the balance of the third season.
• Environment: brings back the classic map landscape and legendary artifacts of the period.

Release date and technical advantages

The mode will be available to players on July 29th at 17:00 (CEST). The update will be released as part of the 26.15 patch. Despite the old mechanics, players will get modern advantages: flawless server operation, stable network connection and high-quality graphics.

The future of classic mode

The developers do not plan to leave the project unchanged. Further content development and roster updates in League of Legends Classic will be based on direct voting by the gaming community, giving fans a real tool to influence the game. To compare the visual part, you can study the screenshots below.