Editor's Note 11/5/15: Wording for the Rift Herald, Stealth Ward, Dynamic Groups, and Doran items have been changed for clarity.

　　League of Legends developer Riot Games recently announced that big changes are coming to the 2016 gaming client. Here's an excerpt from its post:

　　"The changes we're making this preseason all work toward making each game of League feel unique. From the different champion strengths you bring to the items you take to battle, all the way to the masteries you choose - we want your decisions to matter and have a clear impact on how each game plays out."

　　Here's a quick rundown of the changes to come.

　　

Champion Mastery and Crafting

Free stuff! Free stuff everywhere!

　　You can now earn champions and skins without spending IP or RP!

　　For example, players now get Mastery Chests and Keys whenever they queue up to play with friends. Once players combine the two items, they'll receive prizes that range from permanent champion skins, champions, and 7-day rentals.

　　How do you get these elusive Mastery Chests and Keys?

　　Play with your friends, and you'll get a higher chance of picking up a Key or Key Fragment. Get enough Key Fragments, and you can build yourself a Key to unlock a Mastery Chest.

　　Mastery Chests are connected to the players' post-game grades. The better players perform on a champion, the higher chance they'll pick up a chest.

　　

Preseason Updates

Changes are coming to your favorite marksmen, along with a batch of new items, new masteries, new monsters, and new ways of getting vision!

　　

Marksman Update

A massive overhaul of the marksman/AD Carry position is hitting the servers soon. Instead of retaining the role of the backline damage dealer, the AD Carry position will now serve specific purposes within the context of its team composition.

　　For example, Miss Fortune, who's been out of the shuffle in terms of competitive play, is being reworked so that her strength lies in her ability combos. Caitlyn's, whose former role was a lane bully, will now be sieging towers and taking objectives with her team.

　　The change to the AD Carry role also come with a slew of item updates and brand new weapons, including "Death Dance," which allows the player to life-steal health with the amount of damage dealt to their opponent. It's a long list, and we recommend you check it out the rest on Riot's preseason page.

　　

Keystone Masteries

Instead of a list of micro abilities, the masteries given in the new client are high-impact, which allows the player to pick what abilities they want to prioritize.

　　

The Rift Herald

The top lane position is often isolated in League of Legends because of its proximity from the rest of the objectives on the map. The solution? Add an important objective near the lane.

　　Introducing the Rift Herald.

　　The numbers are still being worked out, but we know that it spawns in the early game, and it gives players a buff to push out their lanes.

　　

Vision

Say goodbye to your Stealth Wards. With their removal from the shop, this means players will have to rely more on their yellow trinkets, pink wards (which dies after being hit 5 times) and the blue trinkets (which only reveals a small portion of the map for a couple of seconds).

　　Instead, a new function called "ward debris" will be added to the game. This means that once a ward is killed, the corpse of its dead body will remain for a short amount of time, allowing the enemy team to check out your warding patterns.

　　Also, sightstones are now upgradeable to tier three items, which means the support role will be a lot more integral to the game.

　　

New Starting Items

Riot's also including a list of new starting items, in addition to the Doran items:

　　Cull

　　Attack DamageLife on HitPassive: Killing a minion grants additional gold. Killing a set number of minions grants additional bonus gold immediately and disables this passive.The Dark

　　Seal

　　Ability PowerIncreased Healing from PotionsManaActive: Grants ability power per stack of GloryUNIQUE ACTIVE: Grants Glory for a champion kill or assist, up to a small cap. Lose Glory on death. UPGRADES TO MEJAI'S SOULSTEALER.Hunter's Talisman

　　Mana Regeneration while in JunglePassive: Tooth: Damaging a monster steals health over 5 seconds.Tracker's Knife

　　Life Steal vs. MonstersMana Regeneration while in JungleActive: Tooth / Nail: Basic attacks deal bonus damage vs. monsters. Damaging a monster steals health over 5 seconds.Active: Warding (Minor): Consumes a charge to place a Stealth Ward that reveals the surrounding area. Holds up to two charges, which refill upon visiting the shop.Hunter's Machete [Updated item]

　　Life Steal vs. MonstersPassive: Nail: Basic attacks deal bonus damage on hit vs. Monsters.

New Sustain Items

Farewell, mana pots! Hello, new consumables!

　　Mana pots are being removed, and health pots are getting a price raise (50g). Fear not, champions that rely on mana will be balanced against their energy using counterparts.

　　This introduces three new consumables:

　　Refillable Potion

　　Consumes a charge to restore some health over a few seconds. Holds up to 2 charges and refills upon visiting the shop.Corrupting Potion

　　Consumes a charge to restore health and mana over 12 seconds and grants Touch of Corruption during that time. Holds up to 3 charges that refill upon visiting the shop.Touch of Corruption: Single target spells and attacks burn enemy champions for a small amount of magic damage over 3 seconds (increases with champion level).Hunter's Potion

　　Consumes a charge to restore some health and mana over 8 seconds. Holds up to 4 charges and refills upon visiting the shop.Killing a Large Monster grants one charge.

New Champion Select

No more begging to get the position you want to play!

　　Instead of having a random draft order and not getting the position you wanted, the new champion select allows you to choose two roles you prefer to play before queueing up. That way, there's less of a chance that players get stuck with a role they don't want to play.

　　The ban phase has also changed, with the last three players to pick their champions receiving the chance to pick a ban each.

　　

Ranked Improvements

In an effort to encourage team-play, Riot has stated, "We believe a truly competitive ranked experience should reward a player's ability to lead or collaborate with their teammates just as much as their ability to shut down a lane."

　　

Dynamic Groups

The days of hoping and praying to get a good team is now gone. Riot is introducing "Dynamic Groups," which means players get to queue up with friends and climb the ranked ladder. Also, pre-selected teams of five get an IP bonus, as a promotional feature.

　　

Promo Helper

If you're lower than Gold I, and you lose a promo series, you'll receive at least one win next time you get a series.

　　

Social Features

Players can now set up clubs in their client, inviting a maximum of a 100 friends into a single chatroom. Players can also start a party, which allows the queue for games together.

　　And there's even a League of Legends mobile app that will allow you to continue talking to friends off the Rift. It'll be available for Android and iOS in 2016.

　　

Client Update Alpha

About time...

　　A brand new interface is hitting the client with new designs and new visuals. You can find out more about joining the alpha on Riot's update page.

　　In conclusion, there's a bunch of new updates coming to the new League of Legends client, which seem to be all about encouraging players to queue up with friends. Filled with promotions and prizes, the 2016 League of Legends server looks to be, by far, the most colorful and inventive. We can only wait with bated breath to see how these changes work out.