Base shopkeepers
Two retired vendors versus two current base identities
The Manbacon and travelling Yordle appeared on both Blue and Purple bases in the old Rift. Modern Summoner’s Rift instead gives each side its own merchant scene.
Historical League context
League Season 3
League of Legends Season 3 was the 2013 era of old items, rune pages, mastery trees and an earlier Summoner's Rift. Riot now confirms it as LoL Classic's anchor—not an exact frozen ruleset.
What Season 3 means
Old systems, not current League
Season 3 context helps explain why players ask about old rune pages, mastery trees, removed items and older Summoner's Rift. It is different from League's current 2026 season.
LoL Classic link
Official anchor, mixed eras
Riot calls Classic a greatest-hits collection. It starts from Season 3, then mixes in 60 champions, every Summoner Spell and almost every item from League's first few years.
Season 3 vs the live era
The biggest gap is not a single rework. It is the accumulated difference in roster size, item design, pre-game systems and objectives.
SystemSeason 3 · 2013Live era · 2026What changed
Champion poolThe live roster is nearly 50% larger, with more roles, subclasses and matchup knowledge to learn.
Season 3116 champions
Live era173 champions
Difference+57 champions
Purchasable item entriesThe direction is clear, but this is not a perfect like-for-like total: old data has no Summoner's Rift map flag and both lists include components and consumables.
Season 3192 entries
Live era254 Summoner's Rift entries
Difference+62 listed entries
Pre-game choicesSeason 3 locked long-term stat choices into pages and masteries; modern League puts more of that choice into the match setup.
Season 3Rune pages + mastery trees
Live eraRunes + stat shards
DifferenceDifferent preparation layer
Rift objectivesModern objective fights can alter terrain, team buffs and routes through the game; the classic Rift stays more constant.
Season 3One Dragon, classic Baron
Live eraElemental Dragons, Souls and evolving Baron
DifferenceMore map states
Count source: Riot Data Dragon patch 3.13.1 and patch 16.13.1. Item data is a catalog comparison, not a balance claim.
Official branding · Community pool boards
Official Classic identity, reported roster references
Riot has published the official League of Legends Classic logo and clean client previews. The two boards below remain useful community snapshots of reported champions and legacy items.
The logo and 60-champion roster size are official. The champion and item boards are still community references, not Riot's exact launch lists.
Classic portraits, not a final roster
The board shows older champion identities associated with reported Classic builds. Riot confirms 60 launch champions—the original 40 plus 20 picks from 2009-2013—but has not listed every name here.
Legacy shop icons in one place
Removed names such as Deathfire Grasp, Heart of Gold and Wriggle’s Lantern sit alongside the old components, consumables and completed items players remember.
Official logo: Riot Games. Champion and item board credit: League of Legends Leaks & News / @LeagueOfLeaks. Independent coverage notes that no complete final roster is confirmed: Mobalytics’ LoL Classic report.
Season 3 · Summoner's RiftThe battlefield
The map is familiar. The game around it is not.
Season 3's Rift had the core three-lane shape players recognise, but a leaner jungle, fixed Dragon rewards and none of the elemental terrain or modern objective layers that now reshape a match.
See the full map comparisonEven the shop tells you which era you are in
This is a small visual change with a surprisingly strong nostalgic signal: classic Summoner’s Rift used the same merchant on both bases, while the live map gives Blue and Red side their own distinct shopkeeper.
Image and shopkeeper history reference: League of Legends Wiki — Summoner’s Rift.
The interface changed too
No more abstract placeholders: this is the real visual language players saw. Season 3’s HUD was ornate and dense; the modern shop puts recommended items, filters and the build path into a much clearer workspace.
Ornate frame, ability ranks in view
The old lower HUD used heavy stone-and-metal framing, with the ability bar and its rank markers as the visual center.
Recommendations, filters and build paths
The modern shop organizes item choices into tabs and categories, then makes the selected item’s component tree visible in the same view.
Season 3 HUD image: PBE Season 3 UI preview. Modern shop image: Riot’s item shop update.
The items people actually miss
These are not just old names. Their removal changed the kind of economy, burst windows and utility a player could buy.
Deathfire Grasp
Season 3A high-AP active built around target burst and damage amplification.
Live eraRemoved from live League.
A clean example of the old active-item burst patterns many players remember.
Heart of Gold
Season 3Health, armor and passive gold income in one early tank item.
Live eraRemoved from live League.
It represents the old gold-per-10 economy that shaped support and tank builds.
Wriggle's Lantern
Season 3Sustain, jungle clear and a free ward on a single item.
Live eraRemoved; its jobs are now separated across systems.
Modern jungle pets, trinkets and itemization divide the utility that Wriggle's once bundled together.
Philosopher's Stone
Season 3Health and mana regeneration plus passive gold income.
Live eraRemoved from live League.
Its disappearance helps explain why old support item paths feel so different from today.
Three champions that explain the gap
Champion count is only the headline. Reworks mean that even a familiar name can create a completely different decision tree.
Full rework
Sion
Season 3A point-and-click stun, an Enrage toggle and a lifesteal ultimate made him a direct, stat-heavy brawler.
Live eraA charged smash, shield, displacement and unstoppable charge turn him into a telegraphed frontline initiator.
Same name; a completely different fight pattern.
Role and weapon overhaul
Graves
Season 3A conventional bot-lane marksman with Buckshot, Smoke Screen, Quickdraw and Collateral Damage.
Live eraTwo-shell shotgun attacks, reload timing and terrain-bouncing shots define a skirmisher most often seen in the jungle.
One of the clearest examples of a champion changing lanes and identity.
Support pattern rework
Soraka
Season 3An area Starcall, armor-granting heal and targeted mana restore/silence rewarded a different lane rhythm.
Live eraA skillshot Starcall, health-costing ally heal and area silence/root make positioning and self-preservation central.
The familiar global heal remains, but the lane trade pattern is fundamentally newer.
Ability comparison is a high-level gameplay summary. It is meant to show the identity shift, not reproduce historical tooltip values.
Season 3 questions
Is League of Legends Season 3 the same as the 2026 season?
No. League of Legends Season 3 refers to the 2013 era of League. The 2026 season is the current League calendar around MSI and the LoL Classic reveal.
Is LoL Classic confirmed to use Season 3 rules?
Season 3 is the official anchor, but Riot describes Classic as a greatest-hits collection across early League rather than one exact historical patch. It launches with 60 champions and almost every item from the first few years.