All League of Legends Seasons: Start Dates, End Dates & Major Changes (2009–2026)

Pre-Season (October 2009 – July 2011)

League of Legends launched on October 27, 2009, but there was no formal ranked system at first. The game existed in what's now called the "pre-season" era. Normal games were all that existed, and the community was still figuring out basic concepts like the meta, laning assignments, and jungling.

Ranked play was introduced in July 2010 with the Elo rating system — borrowed directly from chess. Your rank was literally a number. There were no tiers, no divisions, no fancy borders. Just a cold, hard number that told you exactly where you stood.

The pre-season era is mostly remembered for how chaotic and unbalanced the game was. Champions like Jax could stack Phantom Dancers and become literally unkillable. Twisted Fate's ultimate was a basic ability. It was the Wild West.

Season 1 (July 2011 – November 2011)

The first official competitive season and the first World Championship. Season 1 was short — only about four and a half months. But it established the framework for everything that followed. The Season 1 World Championship was held at DreamHack in Sweden, with a prize pool of $100,000. Fnatic won the whole thing.

The ranked reward was Judgement Kayle, given to anyone who played at least 10 ranked games during the season. It's now one of the rarest skins in the game since the player base was tiny compared to today.

Key gameplay notes: the meta was still forming — duo top was common, dedicated supports barely existed, summoner spells like Rally and Fortify were still in the game, and there were only about 80 champions total.

Season 2 (November 2011 – November 2012)

The game exploded in popularity. The Season 2 World Championship filled the Galen Center in Los Angeles with 10,000 fans and drew 8.2 million concurrent viewers online.

Taipei Assassins shocked the world by winning Worlds, beating the heavily favored Azubu Frost in the finals. This was the season that proved League of Legends esports was a real thing. Support meta solidified around Sona, Janna, and Soraka. Oracle's Elixir dominated vision control, and the jungle was reworked with new camps and items.

Ranked reward: Victorious Janna (Gold+)

Season 3 (February 2013 – November 2013)

The League system replaced Elo numbers. Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and Challenger tiers were introduced with divisions (I through V). This is the system most players know today.

This was also the season Faker debuted. SK Telecom T1 won the World Championship with a 17-year-old mid laner who would go on to become the greatest player in the game's history. Vision was reworked with Sightstone, assassins dominated mid lane (Zed, Ahri, Fizz), and trinkets gave everyone free wards.

Ranked reward: Victorious Elise (Gold+)

Season 4 (January 2014 – November 2014)

Massive vision overhaul. Oracle's Elixir was removed, and each player was limited to 3 stealth wards and 1 vision ward on the map at a time. This shifted vision responsibility from supports to the entire team.

Samsung White dominated the World Championship, playing what many consider the most beautiful League of Legends ever seen. Their vision control and rotations were years ahead of the competition. Feral Flare turned junglers into carry threats, Teleport became meta on top laners, and support itemization was significantly improved.

Ranked reward: Victorious Morgana (Gold+)

Season 5 (January 2015 – November 2015)

Dragon rework. Instead of giving gold, Dragon now gave stacking buffs, with the fifth Dragon granting a powerful "Aspect of the Dragon" buff. This made Dragon fights more meaningful and strategic.

SKT T1 won their second World Championship with Faker, MaRin, and Bengi forming one of the most dominant rosters ever assembled. Jungle camps gave unique buffs when smited, Baron buff was reworked to empower nearby minions, and the tank meta was strong with Maokai and Sion dominating top lane.

Ranked reward: Victorious Sivir (Gold+)

Season 6 (January 2016 – November 2016)

Dynamic Queue replaced Solo/Duo Queue, allowing groups of any size to queue for ranked. The community hated it. Riot eventually brought back Solo/Duo Queue and renamed the group queue to Flex Queue.

SKT T1 won their third World Championship, and Faker cemented his status as the undisputed GOAT. This was also the year SKT won both MSI and Worlds — the only team to ever do that. Elemental Dragons were introduced (Infernal, Mountain, Ocean, Cloud), Rift Herald was added as a top-side objective, and the assassin class update reworked Talon, Katarina, Rengar, and others.

Ranked reward: Victorious Maokai (Gold+)

Season 7 (December 2016 – November 2017)

The 10-ban system was introduced, giving each team 5 bans instead of 3. This massively changed champion select strategy and made one-tricks more vulnerable.

Samsung Galaxy won the World Championship, beating SKT T1 3-0 in the finals. The image of Faker crying on stage became one of the most iconic moments in esports history. The Ardent Censer meta dominated Worlds — shield/heal supports were mandatory — and the Honor system was reworked.

Ranked reward: Victorious Graves (Gold+)

Season 8 (January 2018 – November 2018)

Runes Reforged. The old Runes and Masteries systems were merged into a single new Runes system with keystones like Electrocute, Conqueror, and Fleet Footwork. This was one of the biggest systemic changes in the game's history.

Invictus Gaming won the World Championship, becoming the first Chinese (LPL) team to win Worlds. The LPL's aggressive playstyle started to dominate the international scene. Baron and Elder Dragon were reworked, Tracker's Knife was removed from the jungle, and bot lane diversity exploded with mages and bruisers appearing in bot.

Ranked reward: Victorious Orianna (Gold+)

Season 9 (January 2019 – November 2019)

Positional ranking was tested and quickly abandoned. Riot tried giving players separate ranks for each role, but the community rejected it due to off-role trolling.

FunPlus Phoenix won the World Championship in dominant fashion, with Doinb's unique roaming mid lane style redefining how the position could be played. Turret plating was added (extra gold for early tower damage, plates fall at 14 minutes), the bounty system was expanded, and Mordekaiser was fully reworked with his Death Realm ultimate.

Ranked reward: Victorious Aatrox (Gold+)

Season 10 (January 2020 – November 2020)

Elemental Rifts. The map itself now changed based on which Elemental Dragon spawned third, permanently altering terrain, brush, and environmental effects. Ocean Rift added bushes, Infernal burned them away, Mountain added walls, and Cloud added speed zones.

DAMWON Gaming won the World Championship, with Canyon redefining what jungle pressure looked like. This was also the COVID year — Worlds was held in Shanghai with limited attendance. Dragon Soul was introduced (kill 4 dragons of the same element for a permanent buff), Elder Dragon execute was added, and Sett, Lillia, Yone, Samira, and Seraphine were all released this year.

Ranked reward: Victorious Lucian (Gold+)

Season 11 (January 2021 – November 2021)

The Mythic item overhaul. The entire item system was rebuilt from scratch. Mythic items (one per build) became the cornerstone of every champion's build path, with Legendary items providing bonus stats through Mythic passives. Every item in the shop was new or reworked, Ability Haste replaced Cooldown Reduction, and Chemtech and Hextech Dragons were added (Chemtech was later removed).

Edward Gaming won the World Championship, beating DWG KIA in a five-game thriller. Viper's performance on Aphelios and Graves was legendary.

Ranked reward: Victorious Blitzcrank (Gold+)

Season 12 (January 2022 – November 2022)

Durability Update (Patch 12.10). Every champion received bonus health, armor, magic resist, and healing/shielding. This was Riot's answer to the "damage creep" problem — fights lasted longer, and one-shots became less common.

DRX pulled off the greatest Cinderella run in Worlds history, going from Play-Ins all the way to winning the championship. They beat T1 in the finals, denying Faker his fourth title. Chemtech Dragon was removed and later re-added in a different form, objective bounties were introduced, and the Challenges system was added.

Ranked reward: Victorious Sejuani (Gold+)

Season 13 (January 2023 – November 2023)

Ranked system overhaul. Promotion series between divisions were removed (you now just promote automatically at 100 LP). Emerald tier was added between Platinum and Diamond, and Division V was removed from all tiers.

T1 won the World Championship with Faker claiming his fourth title. The Hall of Legends was announced with Faker as the inaugural inductee. This was the redemption arc the entire community had been waiting for. Jungle pets replaced jungle items, Void Grubs were added as a new objective, and ARAM received significant balance changes with its own balancing framework.

Ranked reward: Victorious Anivia (Gold+)

Season 14 (January 2024 – November 2024)

Map rework and Voidgrubs. The Summoner's Rift map received a visual update, and Voidgrubs replaced Rift Herald as the early-game top-side objective (Rift Herald now spawns later). Three Voidgrubs spawn, and killing them gives your minions bonus damage to structures.

T1 won their fifth World Championship, with Faker earning his fifth title. The back-to-back wins cemented T1's dynasty and Faker's legacy beyond any debate. The item system was overhauled again (Mythic items were removed, returning to a more flexible build system), the split system was introduced (Season 14 was divided into three splits with separate rewards), and Ambessa was released as a new champion.

Ranked reward: Victorious Kog'Maw (Gold+)

Season 15 (January 2025 – January 2026)

Riot completely overhauled the season structure. Instead of one long season per year, 2025 was split into three themed seasons — each with two acts, running about eight patches each. Every season had its own theme, map visuals, events, and Victorious skin reward. The requirement for Victorious skins also changed: instead of reaching Gold+, you just needed 15 ranked wins in the season.

Season One's Noxus theme was the standout. Summoner's Rift got a dark crimson makeover inspired by the Noxian empire, complete with new turret designs and themed minions. The biggest gameplay addition was Atakhan, a new epic monster that spawned at 20 minutes in one of two forms depending on how much fighting had happened in the game. Feats of Strength — a new objective-based boot upgrade system — rewarded teams for hitting milestones like first blood, first tower, and first three epic monsters. Teleport was also reworked, and Swiftplay mode was introduced for shorter games.

T1 won the 2025 World Championship on November 9, beating KT Rolster 3-2 in a five-game thriller at the Dong'an Lake Sports Park in Chengdu, China. Faker claimed his sixth Worlds title and T1 became the first team in history to win three consecutive World Championships. The "Telecom War" final is already considered one of the greatest series ever played.

Key gameplay notes: new three-season structure with themed content drops, Atakhan epic monster (spawns at 20 min, two forms based on game aggression), Feats of Strength boot upgrade system, Noxus-themed map visuals, Teleport reworked, Swiftplay mode introduced, Victorious skin requirement changed from Gold+ to 15 ranked wins, rank only resets once at the start of the year.

Ranked reward: Victorious Twisted Fate (Season One, 15 wins)

Season 16 (January 2026 – Present)

Role Quests for every position. Riot extended the quest system that junglers and supports already had to top, mid, and bot lane. Completing your role quest gives a massive mid-game power spike unique to your position. This is the biggest structural change to laning since turret plating was added in Season 9.

Season 16 launched on January 8, 2026 with Patch 26.1 under the "For Demacia" theme. Like 2025, the year is split into three themed seasons with two acts each:

*Season One Act 1 end date (March 4) is confirmed via the in-game battle pass timer. Later dates are projected based on the 2025 cadence and the 2026 patch schedule — we'll update as Riot confirms them.*

Atakhan, Blood Roses, and Feats of Strength were all removed. In their place, Riot introduced Faelights (a new vision system) and shifted the game toward turret pressure and lane progression.

Other major changes in Patch 26.1: Baron Nashor spawns at 20 minutes again (was pushed later in S15), Dragons and Baron are 15% tankier, second-tier turrets now have plates, minions spawn at 30 seconds instead of ~1:30, super minions spawn in all three lanes when an inhibitor falls, Hextech Gunblade and Stormrazor returned, 11 new items total, duo queue re-enabled in Challenger/Grandmaster, autofill is now mirrored (if your team has an autofilled player, the enemy team does too), and you can no longer ban a teammate's hovered champion.

For a deeper dive into every Season 16 change, check out our full Season 16 breakdown.

Key gameplay notes: Role Quests give every position a unique mid-game power spike, Atakhan/Blood Roses/Feats of Strength removed, Faelights vision system introduced, game pacing shifted earlier (30-second minion spawns, more turret plates), ADC role significantly buffed (7th item slot, 200% crit), ranked quality-of-life improvements across the board.

Ranked reward: TBD