The new League of Legends preseason patch has completely changed the way we build our champions. With a whole new item set on the cards, and classic items such as Athene’s Unholy Grail, Frozen Mallet, and Rod of Ages being sent to the Shadow Realm, there is a lot to learn.
Patch 10.23 has also left certain items looking infinitely spicier than intended, leading to assassins and tanks having a firm grip on the top of the tier lists. However, there are so many champions outside of these archetypes which are super fun to play on the current patch.
In this guide, we’re going to share some of these champions, explain how their builds work, and hopefully inspire you to go and experiment with everything the preseason has to offer. But don’t dawdle, because the new patch 10.24, which drops next week, promises nerfs to many of the items currently running rampant on the rift.
Top Lane – Teemo
I know what you’re thinking: ‘this guy’s trolling, right?’ But hear me out. Teemo has long been considered an… off-meta pick, but on patch 10.23 this perfectly sweet and harmless yordle will have you venture into a gumdrop forest of pain, despair, and at least a million poisonous mushrooms. While Teemo’s laning traditionally leaves much to be desired, his (R) Noxious Trap packs a serious punch when married with the unbelievable synergy between core items Liandry’s Anguish and Demonic Embrace. Indeed, with this build one shroom is more than enough to leave an unwitting botlaner with a potentially-fatal fungal infection.
Teemo also boasts a great deal of potential control around objectives, with the free vision each trap provides a sneaky way to track assassins and other flankers. In fact, Teemo can become invisible after a brief period of standing still, turning into a pint-sized ward himself.
There is actually a decent amount of flexibility in how you can build Teemo depending on how you want to play the game as well. For example, Korean Master Teemo one-trick ‘SKT TmmT’ often utilises a Nashor’s Tooth/Banshee’s Veil core combo over Liandry’s Anguish/Demonic Embrace.
This on-hit build maximises the effectiveness of the Press the Attack keystone, and ensures (E) Toxic Shot remains applied by rushing Nashor’s Tooth for the Attack Speed (AS), and Ability Power (AP). Meanwhile, Banshee’s Veil provides Teemo with a spell shield that can help mitigate the all-in potential of both assassins and certain tanks. Banshee’s also offers AP and Magic Resist (MR), which is great for surviving against champions such as current S-tier incumbents Maokai and Kayle who both have AP scaling in their kits.
With the speed at which games are finishing in the current preseason meta, you want to be hitting your power spikes quickly. This second build shines here as the two core items required are substantially cheaper than those in the Liandry’s build, coming in at a cool 5,500 gold as opposed to a wallet-burning 6,400 gold for the latter. Moreover, the on-hit build actually provides more AP overall to aid Teemo’s ability scaling, though this comes at the cost of the Liandry’s/Demonic build’s passive effects.
Patch 10.23 Teemo runes
- Precision: Press the Attack (Keystone),Triumph, Alacrity, Coup de Grace
- Domination: Taste of Blood, Ravenous Hunter
- Shards: Attack Speed, Adaptive Force, Armour/Magic Resist
Patch 10.23 Teemo build (general)
Starting items:
- Doran’s Ring/Shield
- Health Potion (x2)
Full build:
- Liandry’s Anguish (Core)
- Sorcerer’s Shoes (Core)
- Demonic Embrace (Core)
- Rabadon’s Death Cap/Morellonomicon
- Rabadon’s Death Cap/Morellonomicon/Void Staff
- Rabadon’s Death Cap/Morellonomicon/Void Staff
Patch 10.23 Teemo build (on-hit)
Starting items:
- Dark Seal
- Refillable Potion
Full build:
- Nashor’s Tooth (Core)
- Berserker’s Greaves (Core)
- Banshee’s Veil (Core)
- Riftmaker/Zhonya’s Hourglass/Morellonomicon/Mejai’s Soulstealer*
- Riftmaker/Zhonya’s Hourglass/Morellonomicon/Mejai’s Soulstealer*
- Riftmaker/Zhonya’s Hourglass/Morellonomicon/Mejai’s Soulstealer*
* Only upgrade your Dark Seal to Mejai’s Soulstealer if you are super ahead and have plenty of stacks on it, otherwise sell it to accommodate more powerful item components when your inventory becomes full.
Jungle – Graves
Graves has seen more and more play over the past few patches, and is now a mainstay in the jungle with the highest pick-rate in that role on the current patch. Despite this, over the course of 10.23 we have actually seen the Bilgewater outlaw ganking us less and less, as the likes of Amumu and Kha’Zix have emerged from the bushes instead to wipe the colour from our screens. Graves, however, has an effortlessly-easy time clearing the jungle, is great in small skirmishes, and synergises well with a number of Mythics.
As a short-ranged champion, Graves shines when he is able to stick to his target, concentrating the spread of his (P) New Destiny to maximise auto-attack damage. As such, Mythics like Trinity Force, and more-commonly Eclipse, have been locked and loaded by players in-tandem with the Phase Rush keystone to provide an extra burst of movement speed.
We have also seen Prowler’s Claw rise in popularity as the pre-season has progressed thanks to its extra Lethality for Bilgewater-bopping squishy targets, as well as its unique active effect, Sandswipe, giving Graves an extra dash on top of his (E) Quickdraw. Although Eclipse is taking a hit next patch, hopping on the gravy train now may lead to a return, seeing as Prowler’s Claw is inversely getting buffed on 10.24.
Patch 10.23 Graves runes
- Sorcery: Phase Rush (Keystone), Nimbus Cloak, Absolute Focus, Waterwalking
- Precision: Triumph, Alacrity
- Shards: Attack Speed, Adaptive Force, Armour/Magic Resist
Patch 10.23 Graves build (general)
Starting items:
- Emberknife
- Refillable Potion
Full build:
- Eclipse (Core)
- Berserker’s Greaves (Core)
- Youmuu’s Ghostblade (Core)
- Edge of Night
- Black Cleaver/Chempunk Chainsword
- Guardian Angel
Patch 10.23 Graves build (Prowler’s Claw)
Starting items:
- Emberknife
- Refillable Potion
Full build:
- Prowler’s Claw (Core)
- Berserker’s Greaves (Core)
- Youmuu’s Ghostblade (Core)
- Edge of Night
- Black Cleaver/Serylda’s Grudge
- Guardian Angel
Mid Lane – Brand
Brand has seen some love in recent patches, including a mini-rework back on 10.22. Thanks to this, Brand no longer has to rely on having enemy units nearby to get the most value out of (R) Pyroclasm, which he can now bounce off of himself. Meanwhile the change to his (E) Conflagration means it now spreads to nearby enemies by default, offering more opportunities to make use of his (P) Blaze.
These changes have significantly improved the quality of life for Brand players, especially in the mid lane. These changes also carry over to the bot lane where Brand was already seeing play as a support, making Brand a good pickup in case you are auto-filled in solo queue.
In a meta where tanks are all over the rift, the other part of Brand’s passive comes into its own. After stacking three abilities (usually an E > Q > W combo) on a target, (P) Blaze creates a circle of flame around it, dealing magic damage to the target’s maximum health. As such, Brand’s passive offers a different path to taking down these behemoths.
When combined with the maximum health burn from both Liandry’s Anguish and Demonic Embrace, Brand has the potential to melt just about anything on the rift like a big block of cheese over a hot stove.
Patch 10.23 Brand runes
- Domination: Dark Harvest (Keystone), Cheap Shot, Eyeball Collection, Ravenous Hunter
- Sorcery: Manaflow Band, Scorch
- Shards: Adaptive Force, Adaptive Force, Armour/Magic Resist
Patch 10.23 Brand build
Starting items:
- Doran’s Ring
- Health Potion (x2)
Full build:
- Liandry’s Anguish (Core)
- Sorcerer’s Shoes (Core)
- Demonic Embrace (Core)
- Rylai’s Crystal Sceptre/Morellonomicon
- Rylai’s Crystal Sceptre/Morellonomicon/Zhonya’s Hourglass
- Rabadon’s Death Cap/Morellonomicon/Void Staff
Bot Lane – Twitch
The plague rat with the magic hat, Twitch has been given AP ratios on his (P) Deadly Venom, (W) Venom Cask, and (E) Contaminate this patch, opening up a whole host of delightfully-devilish possibilities. Similarly to the Attack Damage (AD) variant, AP Twitch thrives with attack speed, as he relies on quickly stacking his passive before expunging it with (E) Contaminate to deal a big chunk of damage. As such, Nashor’s Tooth should be acquired first.
With regards to keystones and the rest of the build, there is again decent flexibility. Lethal Tempo will allow you to maximise your plague-spreading potential in a team fight, whereas taking Hail of Blades will allow you to manage short trades better during the laning phase; Twitch’s weakest point in the game. Hail of Blades also excels in scenarios where you need to sneak in with (Q) Ambush, get a pick on an enemy squishy, and get out.
When it comes to Mythic choice, Night Harvester is absolutely the go-to thanks to its extra burst, bonus movement speed-granting passive for weaving in and out of a fight, and the fact it empowers your legendary items with bonus ability haste. Considering how cooldown-bound AP Twitch is, the extra haste is a dream for enabling multiple (W) Venom Cask and (E) Contaminate casts throughout a team fight.
We have also enjoyed using Riftmaker as an alternative, especially against comps with multiple tanks due to its passive effect, Void Corruption, ramping up damage over the course of a protracted fight, while also providing legendary items with percentage magic penetration.
Patch 10.23 Twitch runes
- Domination: Hail of Blades (Keystone), Taste of Blood, Eyeball Collection, Relentless Hunter
- Precision: Presence of Mind, Alacrity
- Shards: Attack Speed, Adaptive Force, Armour/Magic Resist
Patch 10.23 Twitch build
Starting items:
- Doran’s Ring
- Health Potion (x2)
Full build:
- Nashor’s Tooth (Core)
- Sorcerer’s Shoes (Core)
- Night Harvester (Core)
- Rabadon’s Death Cap (Core)
- Morellonomicon/Zhonya’s Hourglass/Banshee’s Veil
- Morellonomicon/Zhonya’s Hourglass/Banshee’s Veil
Support – Annie
Traditionally played as a midlaner, Annie also had a kit tweak in patch 10.22. Now that her (E) Molten Shield can be used on an ally to grant them a shield and bonus movement speed, the case for Annie to be played as a support has never been stronger. Sporting a basic attack range of 625, one of the highest in the game, Annie is able to continually harass opposing laners without too much fear of taking poke in return.
Additionally, thanks to (P) Pyromania, Annie can stun opponents, halting engaging enemies while providing opportunities to play aggressively and hunt for picks. Similarly, (R) Summon Tibbers can be used to stun a group of enemies when empowered by Annie’s passive, or simply used as a big, cuddly meat shield to block enemy abilities such as Jhin’s (R) Curtain Call while you make your escape.
Summon Aery is the de facto keystone for a support Annie build, with your bot laner likely to thank you for the extra shielding it provides on top of (E) Molten Shield. Aery also applies bonus damage to enemies when you strike them, making it a perfect balance of offence and defence.
Build-wise, Annie will naturally take Spellthief’s Edge as the starting support item, before working on an Imperial Mandate. A Staff of Flowing Water in conjunction with an Ardent Censer should both also be considered core items as they provide AP, bolster your shielding, and provide bonus stats to you or your targeted ally.
Patch 10.23 Annie runes
- Sorcery: Summon Aery (Keystone), Manaflow Band, Transcendence, Scorch
- Inspiration: Biscuit Delivery, Cosmic Insight
- Shards: Adaptive Force, Adaptive Force, Armour/Magic Resist
Patch 10.23 Annie build
Starting items:
- Spellthief’s Edge
- Health Potion (x2)
Full build:
- Shard of True Ice (Core)
- Sorcerer’s Shoes (Core)
- Imperial Mandate (Core)
- Staff of Flowing Water/Ardent Censer (Core)
- Staff of Flowing Water/Ardent Censer (Core)
- Zhonya’s Hourglass
With these five champions we hope you will go and (E) Conflagrate Summoner’s Rift, eradicate your opponents, and secure that sweet preseason LP.