LoL Classic has no Ranked button. Summoner's Journey, the Salt-to-Legend ladder, runs on the matches you already play. Riot's support page says so directly: "it is not a separate queue." Every game you play after Classic Level 10 moves your Seasonal Points (SP) up or down.
That changes how you climb. There's no "just a normal" you can throw, and your first five games weigh more than any five after them. Autofill actually pays you, too. This guide covers what's in Classic, how the ladder counts, and how to use it.
Key takeaways
- Summoner's Journey unlocks at Classic Level 10. Your next five matches place you on an Emblem and division.
- It isn't a separate queue. Every Classic match you play after Level 10 counts.
- 100 SP takes you up a division. Drop below 0 SP and you're demoted.
- Win while autofilled and the Aegis of Valor adds 40%, 70% or 100% SP, depending on how low that role sat on your list.
- Legend has no divisions and no SP cap.
LoL Classic at a Glance
League Classic went live on July 29, 2026, with patch 26.15 (League of Legends Wiki). It's built mostly around Season 3, with some features taken from the years just before or after. It sits inside the normal League client with its own levels, store and ladder.
One detail matters for climbing: the PvP queue is draft, not blind pick. Riot's dev post lists "a single PvP draft queue, Co-op vs AI, and customs" at launch (/dev: League of Legends Classic). Bans and counter-picks are in, so the matchup homework later in this guide pays off.
How Summoner's Journey Counts Your Games
Summoner's Journey is Classic's replacement for Ranked. Riot built it as a milestone climb, and it counts the same draft games you'd queue anyway (Riot Games Support: League Classic Progression). The seven Emblems, from the bottom:
Salt
Wood
Silver
Gold
Platinum
Diamond
LegendTwo numbers run underneath it. SP is the visible one: wins add it, losses take it away, and 100 SP moves you up a division. MMR is hidden. It's Riot's estimate of your skill, and matchmaking uses it to build fair lobbies (Riot Games Support). That's the same split modern League uses between LP and MMR, and we've covered how that gap behaves before.
The Legend quote is from Riot's own dev post: "only a single-digit percentage of players will make it into this exclusive club" (/dev: League of Legends Classic). Most players who climb seriously will finish in Diamond or below.
Your First Five Games Set the Starting Point
Once you hit Classic Level 10, your next five matches decide your first Emblem and division. Riot doesn't publish how much each win moves you. After placements, though, you're climbing 100 SP at a time. A strong start skips divisions you'd otherwise play through.
A few things make those five games cleaner:
- Use Levels 1 to 9 to practise the role you'll climb on. Those games don't count toward Summoner's Journey, so they're free reps.
- Don't play placements tired or tilted. Five games is a short sample. One bad evening does more damage here than anywhere else on the ladder.
- Stick to two or three champions. You'll rely on matchup knowledge in Classic, more than in modern League, and the champion section below explains why.
- Play them with someone you trust, or alone. A duo you haven't played with before is a variable you don't need in the five games that matter most. If you want a regular partner, our free Duo Finder filters by rank, lane and server.
Autofill Pays: The Aegis of Valor
Classic asks for your roles before champion select, not during it. You rank your positions, and matchmaking tries to give you your first choice and avoid your last. Riot's dev post says it also has to keep queues healthy, so sometimes you'll get a role further down your list.
When that happens and you win, the Aegis of Valor multiplies the SP you earn (Riot Games Support):
Riot only describes a boost on wins. That makes an off-role game less of a punishment than it looks. Have one safe, simple champion ready for every position, because a win on your fifth choice is worth two first-choice wins. A support who can lane, or a tank top who doesn't need to carry, turns the worst draft of your night into your best SP.
Play the Season 3 Game, Not the Modern One
Riot didn't just restore an old patch. It tuned Classic to play slower on purpose. The dev post lists the changes: more stuns, slower projectiles and dashes, less mobility overall, and spells that cost more and hit harder. On the map, the wraiths are back, and the buffs respawn faster and hit harder (/dev: League of Legends Classic).
Here's how we read those changes for climbing. This is our interpretation, not Riot's advice:
- Slower projectiles are easier to dodge. Skillshots land less often against players who move. A point-and-click stun keeps its value, because nothing about it got slower.
- Less mobility means positioning decides fights. When fewer champions can dash out, the player caught out of position usually dies. Walk up behind your frontline.
- Pricier spells reward patience. Spam an ability in lane and you're out of mana before the fight that matters. Trade when the enemy has used theirs.
- Stronger buffs are worth fighting over. Blue and red come back faster and do more. Jungle control around buff timers is a bigger share of the game than it is today.
If you played around 2013, a lot of this will come back fast. If you started later, it's a different game that happens to share a map. Treat it that way.
Every Champion in LoL Classic
Classic launched with 60 champions: the original 40 plus 20 more from the years up to 2013. Riot adds more with patches, and has set a hard cut-off at Yasuo's release in late 2013 (League of Legends Wiki: League Classic). Your champion inventory is shared with modern League, so anything you already own there is ready to play (Riot Games Support: Welcome to League of Legends Classic).
As of Classic Patch 4, the wiki lists 77 playable champions (League of Legends Wiki: League Classic/Champions):
Aatrox, Ahri, Akali, Alistar, Amumu, Anivia, Annie, Ashe, Blitzcrank, Brand, Caitlyn, Cho'Gath, Corki, Dr. Mundo, Evelynn, Ezreal, Fiddlesticks, Fiora, Fizz, Galio, Gangplank, Garen, Gragas, Graves, Heimerdinger, Irelia, Janna, Jarvan IV, Jax, Karma, Karthus, Kassadin, Katarina, Kayle, Kennen, Kog'Maw, Lee Sin, Leona, Lulu, Lux, Malphite, Malzahar, Master Yi, Miss Fortune, Morgana, Nami, Nasus, Nautilus, Nidalee, Nunu, Olaf, Pantheon, Poppy, Quinn, Rammus, Ryze, Shaco, Shen, Shyvana, Sion, Singed, Sivir, Skarner, Sona, Soraka, Taric, Teemo, Tristana, Tryndamere, Twisted Fate, Twitch, Vayne, Veigar, Warwick, Wukong, Xin Zhao, Zilean.
The wiki's patch history names 12 of the 17 champions added since launch:
Some launch-day lists include Urgot. The wiki still has him as confirmed but not yet playable.
Even at 77, you'll face the same matchups again and again. That favours depth over range. Know two champions per role well, and learn what beats them. Modern League's roster is more than twice as big, and you can get by on reflexes there. Classic rewards homework.
Keep in mind that Classic kits aren't always today's kits. The wiki says Classic champions use their older gameplay kits, so don't assume your modern muscle memory carries over. Play a few games before taking a champion into placements.
Summoner Spells and Items
Classic has 16 Summoner Spells, and several of them left modern League years ago (League of Legends Wiki: League Classic/Summoner Spells):
Clairvoyance is the one to think about when you climb. It reveals a small area of the map for your team for five seconds, with no ward needed. A support who takes it can check Dragon or a jungle entrance without walking in.
Items follow the same era. Riot's dev post names Atma's Impaler and Frozen Mallet, and says "Atmogs" and the Meta Golem build are back (/dev: League of Legends Classic). Stats also grow by a flat amount per level, and cooldown reduction is a percentage again instead of ability haste (League of Legends Wiki).
Runes, Masteries and IP
Classic brings back the old rune and mastery system, without the grind. Every Tier 3 rune is available from the start, and you get three rune pages right away. Riot's progression page unlocks mastery pages at Classic Level 3, the four rune slot types across Levels 4 to 8, and one more rune page at each of Levels 13, 17 and 20 (Riot Games Support). You can buy more pages with Influence Points (IP), which you earn by playing. Forget to set a page before a game and Classic hands you a default one (/dev: League of Legends Classic).
Use that. Build one tested page per role before you start placements, and name it after the role. Champion select isn't the place to guess which marks you wanted.
Classic Pass, Classic Skins and the Council
None of these change your SP, but all three run on the same games you climb with.
Classic Skins are the default look of every champion in Classic, and they're free. They bring back the original splash-era looks, though not every champion had one at launch and Riot is adding more. You can also play a champion's modern base skin or one of a few modern skins adjusted for the older kits (League of Legends Wiki).
The Classic Pass is a seasonal pass with a free track and a paid one, like a Battle Pass (/dev: League of Legends Classic). It pays out cosmetics such as Reborn Portraits, which replace your loading-screen art.
The Council is Classic's community vote. Players vote on which champions come next, which Classic skins get made and some gameplay changes. Riot keeps the final say on balance. Access opens at Classic Level 5, and your voting power grows the more you play. The free Classic Level track adds a point of voting power at Level 15 and another at Level 25 (League of Legends Wiki).
In practice, the players who grind Classic hardest decide which champion arrives next. If you want your main added, the way in is Classic Levels.
When a Boost Makes Sense
Summoner's Journey takes a lot of games. Every division needs 100 SP, and there are 24 divisions between Salt IV and Legend. If the climb itself is the part you don't have time for, LoL Classic boosting splits the job the same way the ladder does:
Every order comes in Solo, where the booster plays your account, or Duo, where you queue together and play your own games. In Duo you play alongside the booster and can watch how they play the map.
If you choose Solo, your login stays encrypted, and only the booster assigned to your order can see it. It's deleted 24 hours after delivery. You can pause an order in progress from its order page. For the full picture of what happens to an account during a boost, read Is LoL boosting safe?.
Not sure which Classic format fits? Placements, net wins or a division target compares them side by side.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was LoL Classic released?
July 29, 2026, with patch 26.15. It launched with 60 champions and gets more in Classic patches.
How many champions are in LoL Classic?
77 as of Classic Patch 4, up from 60 at launch. Recent additions include Fizz, Graves, Nami and Nautilus in Patch 4. LeBlanc, Mordekaiser and Urgot are confirmed for later.
Is LoL Classic blind pick or draft?
Draft. Riot launched Classic with a single PvP draft queue, plus Co-op vs AI and custom games.
Is there a Ranked queue in LoL Classic?
No separate one. Summoner's Journey is Classic's ranked system, and Riot's support page says it "is not a separate queue." Once you pass Classic Level 10, the Classic matches you play move your SP.
How many placement games does LoL Classic have?
Five. Summoner's Journey unlocks at Classic Level 10, and your next five matches set your starting Emblem and division.
How much SP do you need to rank up in LoL Classic?
100 SP moves you up one division, or up to the next Emblem if you're in Division I. Falling below 0 SP demotes you. Legend has no divisions and no SP cap.
What is the Aegis of Valor in LoL Classic?
It's an SP bonus for autofilled wins. If you win on your third-choice role, you get 40% more SP. The fourth choice gives 70% more, and the fifth gives 100%, so double.
What are the LoL Classic ranks in order?
Salt, Wood, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond and Legend. Every Emblem below Legend has divisions IV to I. Legend has none. For more on the ladder itself, see What Is LoL Classic?.
Does my modern League rank affect LoL Classic?
No. Classic has its own SP and its own Summoner's Journey Emblem. Your champion inventory is shared between both versions, but your rank isn't.
