You just pulled off a 1v3 pentakill under your turret, your jungle is spamming pings to congratulate you, and you want to celebrate in the most fitting way possible. If you’re new to Riot’s iconic MOBA, you might be stuck figuring out how to emote in League of Legends to mark that win, tease a friendly opponent, or hype up your team after a close team fight. Learning how to emote in League of Legends is one of the first small steps to feeling like a full part of the game’s huge community. Emotes are one of the most fun, low-stakes ways to interact with other players in matches, and they’re far more customizable than you might think if you’ve only ever used the default ones that come with the game. I’ve been playing LoL for over 8 years, and I’ve tested every emote trick in the book, from secret unlocks to the exact situations where a well-timed emote can turn a losing game around.
How to Emote in League of Legends: Basic Controls for All Platforms
The default controls for emotes are simple, even if you’ve never adjusted your in-game settings before. For PC players, pressing the T key will pull up your circular emote wheel, which holds 4 customizable emotes you select ahead of time. Hover over the emote you want to use and release the T key to send it for all nearby players to see. If you find the T key awkward to reach during fast fights, you can reassign the emote wheel to any other key in your control settings. For console players, a quick press on the right side of the D-pad will bring up the same wheel, and mobile players can tap the smiley face icon next to the ping wheel to access their emotes. You can only use 4 equipped emotes per match, so pick your most used ones ahead of time to avoid fumbling for the right reaction mid-fight. If you’re still getting used to how to emote in League of Legends, hop into a practice tool match first to test out the controls without the pressure of a real game. You can also use your champion mastery emote (unlocked when you reach Mastery level 5 on any champion) by pressing Ctrl+6 on PC, or the assigned mastery button on console and mobile.
How to Unlock New Emotes for Your Collection
The 4 default emotes you get when you first make your account get boring pretty fast, and there are thousands of unique emotes available to unlock for every playstyle and personality. As you learn how to emote in League of Legends, you’ll quickly find that the default 4 emotes you start with aren’t enough to show off your personality. Most emotes are available for purchase in the in-game store for Riot Points, but you can unlock dozens of high-quality emotes for free if you know where to look. Limited-time event emotes never return to the store, so if you see one you love during a seasonal or collaboration event, grab it right away before it’s gone forever. Some of the most reliable ways to get free emotes include:
- Complete event pass mission lines to earn tokens that can be exchanged for event-exclusive emotes
- Open hextech chests earned from S-rank match performances to get random emotes or emote shards
- Claim free login rewards during seasonal launches, anniversary events, and collaborative promotions
- Earn ranked split rewards, which often include exclusive emotes for players who hit Gold or higher
Best Practices for Using Emotes Without Coming Off as Toxic
Emotes are meant to be fun, but it’s incredibly easy to cross the line from playful banter to toxic behavior if you’re not careful. Even if you’re fully familiar with how to emote in League of Legends, it’s easy to get caught up in the heat of the moment and spam emotes without thinking. Never spam emotes after a teammate makes a mistake – that’s the fastest way to tilt your entire team and turn a winnable game into a loss. It’s okay to send a single playful emote after you kill an opponent in lane, but spamming 5 emotes in a row after killing the same player three times is considered harassment, and can lead to chat restrictions or even temporary bans if you get reported. On the flip side, positive emote use can drastically improve your team’s morale. Spam the heart emote when your support blocks a skill shot for you, or the laugh emote after your team pulls off a silly Baron steal to keep everyone loose. I once played a ranked game where we were down three inhibitors, and we kept spamming the thumbs up emote after every small win, and we ended up coming back to take the game 45 minutes later. Disable enemy emotes in settings if you find them distracting – you don’t have to put up with toxic spam from the enemy team if it’s throwing off your focus, and most high-rank players keep enemy emotes disabled by default for this exact reason.
Fun Emote Combos and Hidden Tricks You Might Not Know
Once you’ve mastered how to emote in League of Legends, you can start playing around with fun little tricks to make your matches more enjoyable. One of the most popular tricks is emoting right as you start your recall, to tease opponents who might be hiding nearby trying to cancel it. A well-timed dance emote as you teleport back to base can drive an enemy jungler crazy if they just missed their chance to kill you. If you play with a regular duo partner, equip the same emote and spam it at the same time after a good bot lane play to flex your synergy. You can set a "game start" emote that plays automatically when the match begins so you can greet your team before minions even spawn, which is a great way to set a positive tone for the rest of the game. You can also combine your mastery emote with regular emotes for maximum celebration effect – hit Ctrl+6 right after using a confetti emote when you get a pentakill to make the moment even more memorable. Some emotes also have hidden champion-specific interactions, like the Arcane Jinx emote playing a small sound bite when you use it while playing Jinx, so keep an eye out for these little Easter eggs as you build your collection.
Emotes are far more than just silly little animations in League of Legends. They’re a core part of the game’s social experience, letting you communicate without typing a single word when you’re busy kiting or taking objectives. Once you know how to emote in League of Legends, you can customize your loadout to fit your playstyle, celebrate wins with your team, and even add a little playful banter to your matches without crossing into toxic territory. Take a few minutes to play around with your emote wheel in practice tool, test out different keybinds, and keep an eye out for limited-time emotes during events to build a collection that feels uniquely you.