Season 4 was all about pretty much gutting whatever was most powerful at the time. LeBlanc was broken, so she got balanced - and now she's back in the trash can. Talon was found to be just as broken, so he lost his silence and he got benched as well. Kassadin's silence... we all know what happened to him - and he's still a nuisance. Lots of things that were abused - primarily by the pros - have been balanced as a result, and we've resorted back to what we know works.

In addition, Season 4 was about reworking champions that had fallen out of grace. V4.2 saw the reworks of Skarner and Xerath, the former of which is still not exactly in a great spot. V4.4 brought with it the rework of Kassadin which turned out pretty good, in my opinion. V4.5 had a few smaller reworks for Rengar and MF and a bit more sizeable rework for Gragas. A long wait later, we got the Nidalee rework in V4.10 and the Sona rework in V4.13. V4.16 brought the Cassiopeia rework (more on that later in this article), and one patch later both Soraka and Viktor got some gameplay changes, and last but certainly not least, the Sion rework in the 18th patch in Season 4, the second to last patch to be precise.

An immense amount of texture rebalances in the last few patches to get rid of the everliving pizza feet and cubic thumbs, and continuous tweaks to champion numbers - be it damage, cooldowns, costs or regenerative stats - we can safely agree that Season 4 was a very busy and filled-to-the-brim season. And of course, in addition to all of this, the release of Vel'Koz, Braum, Gnar and Azir, the four latest (and this year's only) additions to the Champion Select Line-up.

So with all that behind us, what does the Pre-Season 5 bring us?

Overhaul Time!

First up, a pretty big change to champion statistics. Similar to how Armor Runes were adapted in V4.5 and how this gave 4 bonus armor to all champions, some changes to how regenerative items work. Health and Mana Regeneration items now don't give flat Regen anymore (Tear of the Goddess used to give 7 mana regen per 5), they instead now give an additional amount of regen equal to a percentage of the champion's base regen stat (so Tear of the Goddess now gives +25% Base Mana Regen instead). This makes for every champion to have a few changes to their base regenerative stats, so that'll require some getting used to.



Summoner's Rift Visual Update

Then the map. Everyone's heard of the SRU - Summoner's Rift Update - and we've all been eagerly waiting for it. Most notably, a few visual updates to the Rift itself. It's become much greener, and much clearer as far as walls go. It is now more a floating island than it is a patch of land torn apart by the river that flows through it, specifically designed to battle it out. Spawning mechanics have changed a bit too: you can't leave the Fountain before 15 seconds, and during the beginning of the game, you get a significant Movespeed buff so that early game shenanigans can happen way sooner.

(Click to enlarge)

Not only the looks of the Rift changed, there's also a few small changes to help counter illogical gameplay. Jungle camp dens have been redesigned with not only more visible boundaries, but also with new meshes which allow for smoother edge-walking than before. The overly bushy jungle (although the jungle's supposed to be bushy, judging by the name) has been cleaned up and made far more clear than before. Walls have been constrainted a bit, jungle mobs have spawn animations, Towers, Inhibitors and Nexuses have received a visual overhaul, and the Rift has been divided into four quadrants which are colored depending on what quadrant you're in. Lush and green? Bottom side. Dark and desolated? That's Baron's doing.



New Summoner's Rift Functionality

Visual updates are all mighty fine and dandy, but the big stuff here lies in functional changes on the Rift. Towers have been given a few changes. The outer towers are functionally the same as they are now, but the inner towers have a nifty change to counter - but not gut - poke compositions.

(Click to enlarge)

This change was basically made to prevent a team from incessantly throwing Nidalee spears (early season 4) and whittle a team down in order to take the Inner Tower a bit more with every creep wave that slammed into it. Now, champions nearby gain a pretty significant shield on a regular basis, and preventing this shield from refreshing means someone has to keep damaging the tower. I'm interested how this works out, because on one hand it seems a bit dull, making everything stall longer if your team comp is built around long range poking and slow-sieging towers, but on the other hand, it does seem to aid the team in need of defense against long range poke.

Second is the update to all towers that are closer to the Nexus than the Inners. This change makes taking damage from towers like these an incredibly big problem. Attack speed is raised to 4.00 (meaning a shot fired every 0.25s), and you can't transfer tower aggro by being the last person to attack a champion: if it locks, it locked, and the only way to get out of it is by getting out of tower range or becoming untargetable. Makes for more difficult split pushing because if someone comes to defend, you can't just swoop in, kill them, walk out, and then maul the tower again. This tower will maul you, and it'll do so pretty fast.



Jungle Changes

Next, jungle changes. The Jungle's been an embodiment of everliving change. Not only were jungle items a hotly contested topic during the early days of Season 4, this season will be no different. A small Smite change passed through as well. In addition to an increased cooldown (no longer you can Smite-NoSmite-Smite through the jungle), it now also provides a buff or bonus effect when you use it on the main monster in a camp. For example, Smiting the Wolf gives you a free 90s unkillable ward in the closeby crosspaths, and smiting the new Krug camp gives you a stun on your 5th attack against jungle camps, making the attack speed clearing junglers (the likes of Master Yi and Tryndamere) significantly safer.

First up, no more Spirit Stone. The Hunter's Machete's price has been raised to 400g an can upgrade into one of four new items - all resembling some kind of knife. So the Machete change is tiny but noticeable: I've been unable to clear the jungle even remotely as good (with Yorick, that is) than I am on Live servers.

The Poacher's Knife is intended to be purchased by counterjunglers (your Vis, Lee Sins, and Shacos and the lot) as it provides more gold if you Smite a monster in the enemy jungle, in addition to a movespeed burst after slaying said Smitten monster.

The Stalker's Blade is intended for champions that have lackluster gank potential like Fiora and Yorick. It allows Smite to be used on champions for a ranged slow in addition to a tiny bit of damage.

Skirmisher's Sabre is for those that like to seek out the enemy jungler in order to kill them. It makes you hit harder on them and makes them hit less hard on you.

The Ranger's Trailblazer is pretty much the go-to item for slow clear junglers that don't like fighting the Razorbeak camp and the Wolf camp, your Sejuanis and Nautiluses. And the jungle itemization changes don't end here.

The Jungle Item Enchantments are a hybrid between the current lineup of jungle items and the Boots Enchantments we currently have on Live. The Enchantment: Warrior is the Spirit of the Elder Lizard incarnate, the Magus is the Spirit of the Spectral Wraith, and the Juggernaut is Spirit of the Ancient Golem, all pretty straightforward. The Devourer is functionally the same as the Wriggle's Lantern/Feral Flare, but it actually notifies you of the ability to stack the item through ganking (kills and assists, that part). Not all junglers are aware that Feral Flare does that too.

Speaking of jungle changes, this tiny little man scuttles around the river as soon as we get the SRU on live:

Intriguing little jungle camp. It's a non-passive non-aggressive jungle monster that just passively scuttles around the river, and once you aggress it, it starts walking a tad faster, and occasionally dashes past you. However, with it not damaging you, it's relatively easy to kill, and once you do, its spawnpoint is replaced with its soul, which provides you with a speed shrine at that location and a free ward. Nifty, interesting and a fun mini-game for junglers of all ages.

If you were under the impression that the Dragon was the unloved cousin of the jungle, it's time to revise your opinion. Meet the new Dragon. Its attacks are now conal AoE attacks that damage anything in the area, and it has now become something worth fighting over, other than global gold, because in reality, this global gold is gone. It still provides 25g to the slayer, don't fret, but instead of global gold, it now gives a global team-wide permanent buff that increases one's combat stats, up to the point where if your team has slain 5 dragons over the course of the game, you'll be left with a hefty gold setback worth of stats (45 movement speed is equal to tier 2 boots!!!).



Items

- New Items

Additionally, a few new items popped up. Two new regenerative items have been added to the shop, namely the Raptor Cloak and Crystalline Bracer. The Raptor Cloak was intended to serve the recipe change for the Ohmwrecker, as it now serves a tank-focused dive-the-tower item niche slot. The Crystalline Bracer serves the purpose of being a low-end HP+Regen item, as this is literally all it does. It also comes in the recipes for both the Warmog's Armor (two of them, to be precise), and in a new item called Righteous Glory.

This item builds out of the Crystalline Bracer and a Catalyst the Protector, and as such, retains the UNIQUE Valor's Reward passive it gave before. In addition, it comes with extra Health Regen, and an active that allows for better sieging and diving - especially in combination with something along the lines of an Ohmwrecker. Great for tanks and junglers alike as it doesn't only help tanks initiate, but as said before, it also aids in towerdiving as it can vastly increase the dive speed.

- Existing Item Changes

A two-faced change in the shop is the removal of the Negatron Cloak and the recipe change where a Chain Vest now builds out of a Cloth Armor. The latter of these changes is directed towards allowing a more immediate choice in what kind of armor is needed, whereas the removal of the Negatron Cloak stems from a lack of late-game oriented Magic Resist purchase stemming from a low-cost perspective (no late game items that build from Null-Magic Mantle). This makes for a few changes:

Null-Magic Mantle - Cost up to 500g; Item now gives 25MR

Abyssal Scepter - Cost down to 2440g; Item now requires Blasting Wand + 2× Null-Magic Mantle; Item now provides 50MR.

Chalice of Harmony - Cost up to 1000g; Item now gives 25MR; Mana Font passive changed to: "Restores 1.5% of missing Mana every 5 seconds".

Wit's End - Cost up to 2600g; Item now gives 30MR.

Guardian Angel - Cost down to 2750g; Item now gives 40MR.

Hexdrinker - Cost up to 1450; Item now gives 30MR.

Spectre's Cowl - Cost down to 1200g; Item now gives 30MR.

Quicksilver Sash - Cost down to 1150g; Item now gives 30MR.

Mercurial Scimitar - Cost down to 3600g; Item now gives 35MR.

The Armor changes also post a few small updates:

Chain Vest - Cost up to 750g; Item now gives 40Armor

Warden's Mail - Cost up to 1050g; Item now gives 45Armor; Item builds out of 2× Cloth Armor.



Elixirs

Elixirs were a higly contested piece of equipment. During Season 3, there was a time when an Elixir of Fortitude complemented by a vast amount of Health Potions was the way to go. This was deemed ridiculous (since the idea of Elixirs was to give a strategic advantage based on what Elixir you purchased), so the cost was increased and Health Potions were limited to 5 at a time (just as Mana Potions). This made Elixirs a go-to item when something big (like a Baron fight) was about to happen. Now, they're more of a strategic choice, as you can only get one Elixir running at a time. They are as follows:

Elixir of Ruin: Grants 250HP, 15% Bonus damage to towers, and Siege Commander for 3 minutes.

Elixir of Iron: Grants 25% increased size, Tenacity, Slow Resist, and Path of Iron for 3 minutes.

Elixir of Sorcery: Grants 40AP, 15 bonus Mana Regen per 5, and Sorcery for 3 minutes.

Elixir of Wrath: Grants 25AD and Bloodlust for 3 minutes.

Siege Commander: Nearby minions gain 15% bonus Damage to towers and gain Movespeed based on the champion's Movespeed.

Path of Iron: Leaves a trail that increases the movespeed of allied champions by 15%.

Sorcery: Dealing damage to champions and towers deals 25 bonus true damage. On towers, has a 5 second internal cooldown.

Bloodlust: Dealing physical damage restores health equal to 10% of the damage dealt. Kills/Assists increase the duration of this Elixir by 30s.

Both the Siege Commander and Path of Iron Elixir buffs aid tanks more than anything. Depending on what kind of team composition you're running, it can either aid you in lengthened fights and catching up, or help you siege towers with a few minions. The Sorcery buff is a questionable one, because DoT champions like Cassiopeia and Swain benefit from it far more than burst casters like Twisted Fate. The Elixir of Wrath is beyond all compare, however. It's a hybrid between LifeSteal and Spellvamp for AD damage dealers. Not to mention it's the only elixir whose duration can be increased. An ace means you practically renew the elixir. Too strong as far as I'm concerned.

Other than that, there's a few follow-up changes for champions that have been neglected, a few changes to base statistics due to the changes in itemization and regenerative stats, and a re-write to Nunu's Consume to have it make sense in the new jungle.

We will keep you updated with changes so you can prepare yourself for season 5!