Preseason 2022 is looming on the horizon, and with it, a myriad of changes will sweep through League of Legends in preparation for the next season.

In addition to dragon and terrain changes, the Rift Scuttler, more fondly referred to as the 'scuttle crab', will receive changes alongside changes to items and runes. 

Riot Games believes that the Rift Scuttler is far too important in the very early phases of the game, and so its statistics are being taken down several notches. The first Rift Scuttler will now have 35% reduced health, grants 80% reduced XP, and has been slightly reduced in size to match its lower value. These changes are in an effort to make securing the Rift Scuttler easier for junglers in terms of time and risk taken in securing the neutral objective.

The items that are receiving changes in Preseason 2022 are Cosmic Drive, Demonic Embrace, Force of Nature, Knight's Vow, Seraph's Embrace, Abyssal Mask, Force of Nature, Horizon Focus, Turbo Chemtank, and Frostfire Gauntlet. In addition to the 10 items being changed, Preseason 2022 will also introduce six new items: Crown of the Shattered Queen, Evenshroud, Winter's Approach, Fimbulwinter, Axiom Arc, and Shadowflame. The full list of item changes and details is as follows:

Crown of the Shattered Queen

• 70 Ability Power

• 250 Health

• 600 Mana

• 20 Ability Haste

• You are Safeguarded, reducing incoming damage by 50%. Safeguard persists for 1.5 seconds after taking champion damage. 

• While Safeguarded, gain 10-40 Ability Power (by level)

• (Regain Safeguard if you haven’t taken champion damage for 40 seconds). 

• Mythic Passive: 1% Move Speed & 50 Health

Evenshroud

• 200 Health

• 20 Ability Haste

• 30 Armor

• 30 Magic Resist

• Repentance: After Immobilizing champions or being immobilized, cause that target and all nearby enemies to Repent increasing the damage they take by 12% for 5 seconds

• Mythic Passive: Grants all other Legendary items 5 armor and Magic Resist 

Frostfire Gauntlet

• 350 Health

• 25 Armor

• 25 Magic Resist

• 20 Ability Haste

• Immolate: Taking or dealing damage causes you to begin dealing 12 + 1% bonus magic damage per second to nearby enemies (increased by 25% against minions and 150% against jungle monsters) for 3 seconds

• Snowbind: Attacks create a frost field for 1.5 seconds and deal magic damage to all enemies in the area. Enemies that move across the field are slowed

• Mythic Passive: Grants all other Legendary items 100 Health and 6% size

Turbo Chemtank

• 350 Health

• 25 Armor

• 25 Magic Resist

• 20 Ability Haste

• Active - Supercharged: Grants 40% move speed towards enemies or enemy turrets for 4 seconds. Once near an enemy (or after 4 seconds) a shockwave is emitted that slows nearby champions by 50% for 1.5 seconds (90s cooldown)

• Refuel: Moving and dealing damage fills up the Chemtank. At 100 stacks, your next basic attack deals magic damage to all nearby enemies (increased by 25% against minions and 175% against jungle monsters)

• Mythic Passive: Grants all other legendary items 5 ability haste and 50 health

Winter’s Approach

• 400 Health

• 500 Mana

• 15 Ability Haste

• Awe: Gain bonus health equal to 8% mana

• Mana Charge: Strike a target with an Ability or Attack to consume a charge and gain 3 bonus mana, doubled if the target is a champion. Grants a maximum of 360 mana at which point this item transforms into Fimbulwinter

Fimbulwinter

• 400 Health

• 860 Mana

• 15 Ability Haste

• Awe: Gain bonus health equal to 8% mana

• Everlasting: Immobilizing or Slowing (melee only) an enemy champion consumes 3% of current mana and grants a shield for 3 seconds, absorbing damage. The shield is increased by 80% if more than one enemy is nearby

Axiom Arc

• 55 Attack Damage

• 10 Lethality 

• 25 Ability Haste

• Refresh: Whenever a Champion dies within 3 seconds of having a damaged them, refund 25% of your Ultimate Ability’s total cooldown

Shadowflame

• 80 Ability Power

• 250 Health

• Damage to champions benefits from 10-20 Magic Penetration based on the target’s current Health. (Max value at 1000 or less health, Min value at 2500 or more Health)

• Gain the max Penetration if the target was recently affected by Shields. 

Cosmic Drive

• 60 Ability Power

• 250 Health

• 30 Ability Haste

• 5% Move Speed

• After damaging champions with 3 separate Attacks or Spells, gain 30% Move Speed (decaying to 15%) and 40 Ability Power until leaving combat. 

Horizon Focus

• 110 Ability Power

• 150 Health

• Now also includes Slows to trigger Horizon Focus. (Rylai's Crystal Scepter also works)

Demonic Embrace

• 60 Ability Power

• 450 Health

• Dealing Ability damage burns enemies for 2/1.2% max Health magic damage every second for 4 seconds. 

• Convert 2% of your bonus Health to Ability Power

Seraph’s Embrace

• 80 Ability Power

• 860 Mana

• 250 Health

• Gain Ability Haste equal to 1.3% bonus mana

• Restore Health equal to 40% of Mana spent, up to 25-50 +10% Ability Power per cast

• (Toggles can restore the same amount per 1 sec)

Force of Nature

• 350 Health

• 70 Magic Resist

• 5% Move Speed

• Absorb: Taking magic damage from enemy Champions grants a stack of Steadfast (max 6). Enemy immobilizing effects grant an additional 2 stacks.

• Dissipate: While at 6 stacks of Steadfast, take 20% reduced magic damage and gain 10% increased Move Speed

Knight's Vow

• 400 Health

• 10 Ability Haste

• 150% Base Health Regen

• Active - Pledge: Designate an ally who is Worth 

• Sacrifice: While your Worthy ally is nearby, redirect 10% of damage they take to you and heal for 8% of the damage dealt by your Worth ally to Champions. If they have less than 30% Health the damage reduction is increased to 20%

Abyssal Mask

• 400 Health

• 30 Magic Resist

• 10 Ability Haste

• Unmake: Curse nearby enemy champions, reducing their Magic Resist. For each cursed enemy, gain 7 Magic resist

The Lethal Tempo and Glacial Augment rune keystones have also been adjusted for Preseason 2022, and alongside them, a new keystone called First Strike has been announced, which already has the attention of professional players. The full rune details are as follows:

Lethal Tempo

• Gain attack speed for 6 seconds when striking at least one enemy champion with each attack. This effect stacks up to 6 times

• While this effect is at its cap, also gain attack range and increase your attack speed cap to 3.0
  
  

Glacial Augment

• Immobilizing an enemy champion will cause 3 glacial rays to emanate from them towards you and other nearby champions, creating frozen zones for a few seconds that slow enemies for 40% and reduce their damage by 15% against your allies (not including yourself)

First Strike

• Damaging an enemy champion with an attack or ability b-efore they do so grants 5 gold and First Strike for 3 seconds, causing your attacks or abilities to deal 12% extra damage against champions, and granting 100% (70% for ranged units) of that damage dealt as gold

The current version of Preseason 2022 could absolutely change before its launch. This article will continue to be updated if and when other changes are made to Preseason 2022. 

All images by: Riot Games