Red Post Collection: Louis Vuitton Joins Worlds 2019, QGT 9/20, Ask Riot: End of Ranked Season, & More

Today's red post collection includes this week's Ask Riot, a look at the Worlds 2019 Orchestral theme, new Twitch Prime loot for TFT, and more!
Continue reading for more information!

• Red Post Collection: 10th Anniversary Riot Pls, All-Star Event Announcement, Realms of Runeterra & more
• 9/17 PBE Update: Tentative Balance Changes
• 9/18 PBE Update: Summoner Icons, Splash Tweaks, Balance & More
• 9/19 PBE Update: Tentative Balance Changes

Table of Contents

• Prestige Updates
• Louis Vuitton Joins Worlds 2019
• Quick Gameplay Thoughts: September 20
• Ask Riot on End of Season, TFT Match History, ARURF, & More
• World Championship 2019 | Orchestral Theme
• Worlds 2019 Event Primer
• Twitch Prime TFT Little Legend Capsules now available
• Miscellaneous
• Reminders

Prestige Updates

Here's Riot KenAdamsNSA with updates on Prestige skins:

"TLDR: We're sharing the list of champions receiving Prestige Edition skins through the end of the year. We're working on stuff that'll cost fewer than 100 Prestige Points. All Event Prestige skins released in 2020 will be available for Prestige Points at the end of next year. 

Hey everyone! It's been a few months since we've shared an update on Prestige. Since then, we've been keeping an eye (ear?) out for more ways to make the system better for you. Here are some of the most common questions we've heard, and what we're doing about them.

I don’t know if my champ is getting a Prestige skin this year, which makes it hard to tell what I should spend my event tokens / Prestige Points on. 

We agree that you should be able to use your event tokens and Prestige Points with confidence that you're unlocking the skin you'll enjoy most, so here's more information on all of the Prestige skins that'll be coming out throughout the rest of 2019. No spoilers on as-of-yet-unrevealed thematics, but... 

Upcoming 2019 Prestige Point skin champions (in order of appearance)

• Miss Fortune
• Thresh 

Upcoming 2019 Event Prestige skin champions (in order of appearance)

• Valiant Sword Riven (debuting soon during 9.19!)
• Qiyana
• Lee Sin 

We'll be back next year with a list of upcoming 2020 Prestige Editions.

If I end 2019 with fewer than 100 Prestige Points, what can I do with them? 

Not all players will end the year with 100 Prestige Points and we want to make sure that everyone can get as much value as possible regardless of their Prestige Point totals. We're working on new Prestige Point content for lower point costs, similar to the stuff you see in event shops. Here's our current plan for what those options will be: 

• PROJECT 2019 Jackpot Bag - 50 PP
• Contains 3 skin shards of the same tier (750 RP, 975 RP, 1350 RP, or 1820 RP) and 1050 Orange Essence
• Revel Grab Bag - 50PP
• Contains a 520 RP skin shard, 750 RP skin shard, 975 RP skin shard, 1350 RP skin shard, and 1820 RP skin shard
• Arcade 2019 Jackpot Bag - 50PP
• Contains 3 legacy skin shards (one guaranteed 975 RP or higher) and 1520 Orange Essence
• Exclusive Animated Emote - 25 PP
• Exclusive Ward Skin - 15 PP
• Exclusive Icon - 10 PP
• Event Icons from past 100 Prestige Point bundles - 5 PP
• Hextech Key - 3 PP
• 30 Orange Essence - 1 PP 

Reminder that any points you don't spend will go away when Prestige Points reset on January 31, 2020 at 11:59 PM PT. 

Why can't I use Prestige Points to purchase Event Prestige skins? 

We've seen a lot of confusion around why Prestige Points can’t be used to purchase Event Prestige skins. Some players come back to League and learn they missed out on an Event Prestige skin for their main. Others accumulate lots of Prestige Points but prefer event token skins to Prestige Point options. Here's our plan for addressing this in 2020. Let us know what you think: 

• At the end of next year, all 2020 Event Prestige skins released through Worlds 2020 will be temporarily available for 100 Prestige Points each.
• We're recognizing players who were there for 2020 events by reserving the Prestige border for Event Prestige unlocks made during events with event tokens. These players will also get an exclusive icon.
• Crafting an Event Prestige skin with Prestige Points at the end of the year will not award the border or icon.
• Similarly, getting a 2020 Prestige skin by re-rolling three skin shards or upgrading a lucky skin shard drop from Hextech Crafting will not award the border or icon.
• Unlocking Prestige Point skins with Prestige Points will still grant a Prestige border. They'll also grant an exclusive icon.
• Same rules apply here: re-rolling or getting a drop via Hextech Crafting will not award the border or icon.
• All Prestige skins released before 2020 will still include their border if obtained via re-roll or Hextech Crafting drop.
• In January 2021 when 2020 Prestige Points expire and the 2020 Prestige skins leave the Prestige Point shop, all 2020 Prestige skins will become permanently unobtainable outside of Hextech Crafting drops or re-rolls.

These changes won't retroactively apply to Event Prestige skins released during 2018 and 2019. Players who unlocked those skins did so with the expectation that event tokens would be the only way to get them, and we wanted to respect those players' investments. 

Thanks for all of your feedback thus far about Prestige. We'll be back with more information on 2020 plans early next year!"

Louis Vuitton Joins Worlds 2019

Worlds 2019 is right around the corner and the LoLEsports staff has announced a partnership between League of Legends and Louis Vuitton,  including upcoming unique champion skins  designed by Nicolas Ghesquière, Louis Vuitton’s Artistic Director of Women’s collections.

"Louis Vuitton and Riot Games Partner starting with the 2019 League of Legends World Championship 

Today we are excited to announce a landmark collaboration between Louis Vuitton and Riot Games that brings together the iconic French House and League of Legends Esports.

For the 2019 World Championship, Louis Vuitton is creating, in collaboration with Riot, an unprecedented, one-of-a-kind Trophy Travel Case to hold the Summoner’s Cup, the trophy awarded to the world champions and considered the most prestigious prize in esports. Louis Vuitton has previously created similar trunks to support the FIFA World Cup, the Rugby World Cup, and sailing’s America’s Cup. The bespoke trunk, the first of its kind for an esports championship, will feature both traditional Louis Vuitton savoir-faire along with cutting-edge, high-tech elements inspired by the League of Legends universe.

Louis Vuitton and Riot Games also will soon announce unique champion skins and a capsule collection designed by Nicolas Ghesquière, Louis Vuitton’s Artistic Director of Women’s collections, along with other League of Legend digital assets.

Since 1854, Louis Vuitton has brought unique designs to the world, combining innovation with style, always aiming for the finest quality. Today, the House remains faithful to the spirit of its founder, Louis Vuitton, who invented a genuine “Art of Travel” through luggage, bags and accessories which were as creative as they were elegant and practical. Since then, audacity has shaped the story of Louis Vuitton. Faithful to its heritage, Louis Vuitton has opened its doors to architects, artists and designers across the years, all the while developing disciplines such as ready-to-wear, shoes, accessories, watches, jewellery, and fragrance. These carefully created products are testament to Louis Vuitton’s commitment to fine craftsmanship. 

“We are honored to have Louis Vuitton as an official partner with designs to impact the look, feel, and prestige of our most prominent League of Legends event,” says Naz Aletaha, Head of Global Esports Partnerships at Riot Games. “This is a historic partnership that speaks to the impact Riot Games and League of Legends has had on the industry over the past nine esports seasons. We welcome the LV brand to our sport and we are eager to share the entire scope of the partnership in the months ahead, in particular on November 10 when the Summoner’s Cup is awarded in Paris.” 

“The League of Legends World Championship is not only the climax of the tournament: it’s where the world of sports and entertainment come together in celebration of new legends to be born”, says Michael Burke, Chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton. “Louis Vuitton has long been associated with the world’s most coveted trophies, and here we are today, alongside the Summoner’s Cup. We are thrilled to be part of such an iconic event.”"

Look for more information soon and tune in as Worlds 2019 kicks off on October 2nd.

Quick Gameplay Thoughts: September 20

Check out Meddler's quick gameplay thoughts for September 20th:

"Hi folks, 

Usual Disclaimers 

These posts will often contain talk about future work we're doing, or planning to do, that isn't yet guaranteed to ship. The nature of the work could change or, depending on what we discover, projects mentioned may get delayed or even stopped. If you'd like to see a Tweet whenever a new one of these posts goes up: https://twitter.com/RiotMeddler 

Preseason Timeline 

Current timeline below for the various stages of the preseason rollout. Dates might change a bit if unexpected issues crop up, but this is what we're aiming for.

1. Around October 10th we'll start by talking through our goals for the preseason
2. We'll then show some of the key things changing in preseason in the 10th Anniversary Edition of Riot Pls livestream (15th of October, 6pm PST)
3. Straight after that we'll get a written rundown of all the big preseason changes on the Nexus.
4. Preseason changes will start turning up on PBE around the 22nd of October. We'll have the changes on the PBE for a couple of patch cycles (~4 weeks) to give more time than usual to gather feedback, tune numbers, and fix bugs
5. Preseason goes live on November 19th in patch 9.23

TFT PvE drop followup in next week's patch 

We've got some polish to the revised TFT PvE drop system coming in patch 9.19. Overall, the changes have performed as hoped, though there are some issues we still want to address:

• 4 cost units will no longer come from PvE drops before Krugs (potentially too distortionary getting a 4 cost unit before any PvP rounds had even happened, even if in many cases it wasn’t a big deal)
• There'll be a bit less gold dropped (we overswung a little and put a bit too much in, still want a fair bit more than in the old system though)
• Neeko's Help will be a bit more common (rarer than intended, shouldn't be quite such a scarce resource)
• Spatulas will drop less (these by contrast are turning up a bit too much, making Spatula based plays more reliable than intended) 

Around the time of the patch, we'll also share a few stats about how TFT's playrate looks for anyone interested in that side of things."

Ask Riot on End of Season, TFT Match History, ARURF, & More

The latest edition of Ask Riot is up, this time answering questions on when the current season will end (November 19th!) , the upcoming addition of TFT match history, when we'll see ARURF again, and design decisions when it comes to manaless champions:

"Instead of a summary, I’d like to say you’re all amazing, and I hope you have the best week ever. 

When does the 2019 Ranked season end?

The Summoner’s Rift 2019 Ranked Season will end on November 19th. This could change if something weird happens; we’ll let you know if it does. 

RIOTIAMWALRUS

Designer, Competitive 

Hello, when URF? 

When URF indeed. We aren’t quite ready to say the exact patch, but you can expect ARURF in some form by the end of this year, with some minor adjustments we think you’ll like. 

PS. Do you remember when URF started as an April Fool’s Day joke? What a journey it’s been. (Warning: Video contains old map, old Ryze, and old memes.) 

RIOT_MORT

Principal Game Designer  

What do you take into account when you decide not to add mana to a champion? (As a Talon main, it’s annoying to have to return to base after being poked by a Katarina, Zed, Vladimir, etc.) 

By default we give champions mana as an attritional element that does two things:

1. Every spell cast has an additional decision point: “Is this cast worth the mana?”
2. We get a long-term attritional element that forces you to periodically return to base.

That said, there are a variety of reasons we might choose to omit mana from a champion’s kit:

1. The champion has a different important resource they need to use (like Gnar’s rage). With more recent champs, we also have the option of adding a “second resource” that lets them still have mana, such as Jhin’s bullet system. This is used when the champion pattern or core concept relies on a new/different resource than mana.
2. We actually don’t want the attrition risk of casting spells, going for more of an aggressive “spam casting” model (like Riven and Garen). We may use this model in cases where a champ has to take risks to get an advantage, so squishy melee or short-range fighters are the most common candidates. In contrast, a poke mage like Ziggs would be a very bad choice here.
3. We want to emphasize another attritional element, like health costs for Mundo and Vlad. Over time, we haven’t found this to be a particularly exciting or interesting direction, so we haven’t been making many new champs with the health cost model. Significant health costs make the casting risk more immediate than long term, which too often would lead to not casting.

RIOTSCRUFFY

Lead Gameplay Designer 

When will TFT get some type of match history? 

Very soon! We’re testing our first version for TFT match history on PBE right now, and if everything goes smoothly, it’ll go live in patch 9.19. After it’s live, we’ll be looking to make improvements. Look for updates and a more fleshed out version a few patches later. 

RIOT MAPLE NECTAR

Product Lead on TFT, Live Gameplay

Have a question? Click on the button below, sign into your League account, and ask away. 

We’ll do our best to read every question, but we can’t guarantee they’ll all get answers. Some questions may already be answered elsewhere, and some won’t be right for Ask Riot. This isn’t the best place to announce new features, for example, and we might skip conversations on issues we’ve talked about in depth before (though we can clarify individual points).

We are listening, though, so keep asking. We’ll make sure your questions are heard by the Rioters working on the stuff you’re curious about."

World Championship 2019 | Orchestral Theme

With Worlds kicking off in early October, the World Championship 2019 Orchestral theme has been released on the League of Legends Youtube channel:

"The 2019 League of Legends World Championship begins October 2nd. Learn more at watch.lolesports.com. 

Composed by Riot Music Team"

Worlds 2019 Primer 

Check out all the details on Worlds 2019 from the Event Primer - "Learn more about the 2019 League of Legends World Championship in Europe.":

"The Worlds 2019 Draw Show airs September 23rd @ 7:00 AM PT on watch.lolesports.com! 

The 2019 League of Legends World Championship kicks off on October 2nd in Berlin Germany. Here’s everything you need about League’s biggest, most prestigious competitive event. 

What is the World Championship? 

The League of Legends World Championship (also known as Worlds) is a yearly international tournament that brings together the top teams from each league in a battle to hoist the Summoner’s Cup and earn the title of World Champion. The event moves between host regions each year; this year, teams will battle it out on a tour of three cities across Europe. 

When is Worlds happening? 

Worlds begins with the Play-In Stage on October 2nd and concludes with Finals on November 10th. Individual stage dates are listed below. 

Which teams are competing? 

A region’s seeds are based on past international performance. Consistently strong regions send some or all of their seeds straight to the Group Stage, whereas other regions receive fewer seeds and/or start in the Play-In Stage. 

Korea (LCK)

• First seed: SK Telecom T1
• Second seed: Griffin
• Third seed: Damwon Gaming

China (LPL)

• First seed: FunPlus Phoenix
• Second seed: Royal Never Give Up
• Third seed: Invictus Gaming

Europe (LEC)

• First seed: G2 Esports
• Second seed: Fnatic
• Third seed: Splyce

North America (LCS)

• First seed: Team Liquid
• Second seed: Cloud9
• Third seed: Clutch Gaming

Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau (LMS)

• First seed: CTBC J Team
• Second seed: AHQ E-Sports Club
• Third seed: Hong Kong Attitude

Vietnam (VCS)

• First seed: GAM eSports
• Second seed: Lowkey Esports

Southeast Asia (LST)

• MEGA

Brazil (CBLoL)

• Flamengo Esports

Commonwealth of Independent States (LCL)

• Unicorns of Love

Japan (LJL)

• DetonatioN FocusMe

Latin America (LLA)

• Isurus Gaming

Oceania (OPL)

• MAMMOTH

Turkey (TCL)

• Royal Youth 

What’s changed for 2019? 

China (LPL) will receive three group stage slots based on their competitive performance over the last two years at international tournaments such as the 2018 Mid-Season Invitational and the 2018 World Championship. 

Vietnam (VCS) will receive two seeds this year. Their first seed was earned last year, as a result of their emergence as an independent region. Their second seed was awarded as a result of their placement at the Mid-Season Invitational. Their first seed will start in the Group Stage, and their second seed will begin in the Play-In. 

Additionally, this year, teams will be permitted to have up to 7 players on their Active Roster. This change has been made due to the evolution of the sport and the increased number of rosters fielding substitute players.

What’s the format? 

Worlds is composed of three stages: the Play-In Stage, the Group Stage, and the Knockout Stage (Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals). 

Play-In Stage: 10/2-10/5; 10/7-10/8 

Berlin (LEC Studio) 

12 teams are drawn into four groups. Each group plays a Double Round-Robin (each team plays all others twice), Best of 1 series. 

The two highest-ranked teams from each group advance to Play-In Knockouts, where the first-place teams from each group are paired with second-place teams from another. These matches will determine the 4 Play-In teams that move on to the Group Stage. 

Group Stage: 10/12-10/15; Oct 17-20 

Berlin (Verti Music Hall) 

16 teams – 12 that qualified for the Group Stage directly, and 4 from the Play-In Stage – are drawn into four groups. Each group plays a Double Round-Robin, Best of 1 series. 

The two highest-ranked teams from each group will move on to the final leg of the tournament, the Knockout Stage. 

Interested in how groups are selected for the Play-In and Group Stages? Tune in for the Draw Show on September 23 at 4:00 PM CEST 

Knockout Stage: 10/26-10/27; 11/2-11/3; 11/10 

Madrid, Spain (Palacio Vistalegre) & Paris, France (AccorHotels Arena) 

8 teams move on to the Knockout Stage, which encompasses Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals. For this stage, the tournament transitions to a single-elimination bracket with all matches played in a Best of 5 format. Matchups are decided by an on-stage draw before each day of play begins. The team that comes out on top will become the 2019 World Champions. 

How do I watch? 

You can catch every match and the broadcast schedule on watch.lolesports.com!"

Check out this video for a summary of the format:

Twitch Prime TFT Little Legend Capsules now available

Following the previous promotion giving out skin shards, Twitch prime subscribers can now redeem a Little Legends Twin Egg that includes two little legends for use in Teamfight Tactics. A second egg will also be available later on down the road.

Check out the Twitch Prime loot page for more details and an FAQ.

Over on Twitter, Mortdog also noted:

"TFT - Get your free Little Legends with Twitch Prime! 

https://twitch.amazon.com/prime/loot/tft?ref_=SM_OM_LOLTFT_P1_CRWN… 

(Note: If you already own the ones in the twitch egg, you can turn them into a random egg and reroll. That's what happened to me.)"

Miscellaneous

• Riot Mort proved a TFT patch preview:

"TFT - It's Friday before a patch which means preview time! 9.19 turned into a surprisingly large patch with some big new stuff! 

This is also the patch TwitchCon will be played on, so should be interesting!"

• In a recent reddit thread discussing the new login system that's rolling out and expressing disappointment that it seemed more difficult to change the in-game language, Riot Cinder popped in to note: 

"Hello! I wanted to follow up on this to hopefully address the many concerned players here that we definitely hear you and are looking into a fix."

• Here's Riot Scruffy with a look at upcoming 9.20 PBE cycle changes for Viktor:

"9.20 Viktor buffs coming to PBE soon @imZhanos @RiotJag working on these changes: Targeting roughly 2% up"

• Here is AzuBK with tweet on an upcoming set of Shaco changes slated to hit the PBE next cycle!

"Shaco PBE soon (tomorrow?). Took a bit longer than anticipated because Worlds prep has been busy. Current list below (numbers pending). Please play and let me know what you think. Disclaimer: Might be overtuned :)"