If you’re a regular League of Legends player, you know the buzz that builds up in the weeks leading up to a new season drop. New meta shifts, fresh battle pass rewards, a full rank reset, and often a new champion or major rework make every new launch feel like a fresh start for casual and competitive players alike. If you’re asking when does the new season of league of legends start, you’re not alone – thousands of players search for this exact detail every year to plan their grind and get a head start on the competition.
When Does the New Season of League of Legends Start? Official Timeline Breakdown
Riot Games follows a pretty consistent annual schedule for League of Legends season launches, so you can predict the general window even before the official announcement drops. Typically, official Riot Games announcement schedule sees pre-season changes roll out in mid-November, right after the World Championship concludes. Pre-season runs for roughly six weeks, giving players time to test new items, rune changes, and map updates before the ranked season goes live.
The new season almost always launches in the first or second week of January, usually on a Wednesday to give the dev team time to fix any launch day bugs before the weekend rush. Riot usually confirms the exact date two to three weeks before launch, via their official blog, social media channels, and in-game notifications. If you don’t want to miss the announcement, turn on in-game alerts so you get a pop-up the second the date is confirmed.
Keep in mind that launch dates can shift by a few days if the team finds major bugs in the final pre-launch patch. It’s not common, but it has happened in the past, so it’s smart to double check the date a day or two before the expected launch to avoid logging in for no reason.
What Changes Come With the New LoL Season Launch?
The start of a new season brings way more than just a rank reset, and knowing what to expect can help you make the most of launch day. First, you’ll get your ranked reset parameters applied: your MMR will be adjusted based on your previous season’s final rank, and you’ll have to play 10 placement matches to get your new starting rank. If you placed high last season, you’ll likely start higher than new players, even if your placement matches don’t go perfectly.
You’ll also get access to the new seasonal battle pass, which usually has seasonal battle pass exclusive skins and rewards that you can’t get anywhere else. The battle pass runs the full length of the season, so you have plenty of time to grind for rewards, but players who start on launch day have more time to unlock all tiers without paying for level skips. You’ll also see the first major patch of the season go live, which usually includes final meta adjustments that weren’t tested during pre-season.
Most players hit a lull in the two weeks between the end of pre-season and the official season launch, since grinding ranked feels useless when the reset is just around the corner. A lot of players use this downtime to test off-meta builds in normals, play ARAM for fun, or try out other casual competitive titles to keep their strategy skills sharp. Players who love quick, skill-based card games often boot up Jaiho Rummy during this break, as its fast-paced rounds fit perfectly into 10 or 15 minute gaps while they wait for official season launch updates.
You’ll also usually see a new in-game event launch alongside the new season, with limited-time missions and rewards for players who participate in the first few weeks of the season. These events often have bonus XP boosts that can help you level up your battle pass faster, so it’s worth logging in even if you don’t plan to grind ranked right away.
How to Prep for the New Season Before Launch
Taking a little time to prep before the new season launches can give you a huge early season ranked grind advantage over players who jump in blind. You don’t have to spend hours grinding, but a few simple steps will make your first few weeks of the season way smoother:
Another great prep step is to save up your blue essence and orange essence before launch. New champions usually cost 6300 blue essence for the first week after launch, and you may want to pick up new skins or chromas that drop with the season launch. If you’re planning to main a new champion, saving essence ahead of time means you won’t have to grind for hours to unlock them on launch day.
You should also take note of any hidden MMR adjustments that Riot mentions in the patch notes. If the dev team announces they’re adjusting MMR calculations for the new season, you may want to wait a few days before playing your placement matches to let the system stabilize.
Common New Season Launch Mistakes to Avoid
Plenty of players make avoidable mistakes on launch day that set their grind back weeks, so knowing what to skip will help you get off on the right foot. The biggest mistake most players make is jumping into ranked placement matches on day one, before they’ve had time to learn the new meta. Launch day is full of smurfs, players testing new builds, and people who haven’t played in weeks logging in for the new season, so the match quality is usually really low for the first 7 to 10 days.
Another common mistake is spending all your in-game currency on the first day, before you know what rewards are coming later in the season. The battle pass usually has a bunch of essence discounts and bonus rewards later on, so holding onto at least a little of your essence will let you take advantage of those deals when they pop up.
Don’t ignore the patch notes either. Even if you played every day of pre-season, the final launch patch almost always has changes that didn’t make it to the pre-season test server. A champion you main could get a huge nerf or buff, or an item you rely on could be completely reworked, so reading the patch notes before you queue up will save you a lot of confused losses.
If you’re a casual player, don’t feel pressured to grind 10 hours a day on launch week to climb fast. The season runs for almost a full year, so you have plenty of time to hit your rank goal without burning out in the first month.
At the end of the day, knowing when does the new season of league of legends start is just the first step to having a great season. Whether you’re a hard-stuck silver player looking to climb to gold for the first time, or a challenger player gunning for the top rank on the server, taking time to prep, learning the new meta, and avoiding common launch mistakes will help you get the most out of the new season. Keep an eye on official Riot announcements for the exact launch date, and don’t forget to take breaks between grind sessions to avoid burnout.