We’re fine with allowing it to exist as long as it does so within the confines of normal champion balance. So in practice, what that means is that if it breaks our thresholds for overperformance in professional play (determined by extremely high pick and ban rates), then something about it should be nerfed. The same would apply if it were to break thresholds for any other audience, but that doesn’t seem to be the likely case here.

Though the strategy itself isn’t exactly what we would consider the pinnacle of League gameplay, we’d prefer to snuff out unconventional strategies once they prove to be actually overpowered rather than simply because they’re unconventional. Doing so in the past has probably led to some of the scene’s general reluctance to innovate.

Riot approaches this challenge by first understanding what types of PCs the players in each region are playing on. Armed with that information, we have our testing teams run the game on representative hardware configurations within specialized testing labs. For example, while we may not be testing your specific hardware configuration, we are likely testing cards in your series with the same manufacturer. And even though it’s impossible to test every possible configuration for every patch, we work hard to hit the most popular set ups out there.

The testing labs have the capability to change up configurations very quickly, so if we receive reports from players about a specific hardware issue, we can investigate with hardware that is very similar, if not the same brand and model. We also maintain a selection of legacy machines built to League’s minimum specifications, so we can make sure that new patches are as stable for as many players as possible.

Riot Cactopus approached the peak of the tallest mountain in all of Targon. Panting, out of breath, he heaves himself up the last step to find a simple platform with runic inscriptions from an unknown language. He kneels before the platform, perplexed. Suddenly, he hears a soft whisper, a cold wind all around him, breathing into his ear, “Place your wallet upon the platform to see true greatness.” He doesn’t understand where this voice is coming from, but the compulsion is overwhelming. He places his wallet on the cold stone, and the runes ignite with a magical flowing energy. They pulse… pulse… pulse… and a blooming light appears above the platform as a small egg slowly descends. He picks it up and examines it. It’s warm… so very warm. He trades it between his hands a few times, wondering what its purpose could be.

Then he hears a small crrk. And a louder crack that splinters down the egg shell. He drops it in a fright, and it falls to the ground and shatters—a huge explosion of light erupts from the egg! He is blinded and falls backwards. He opens his eyes, blinking a few times, trying to see clearly… and into focus comes the most lovable, adorable, magical creature he has ever laid his eyes upon. His life will never be the same.

No one knows the details of the magical process that determine whether or not Little Legends make eggs, but we do know that Little Legends make great friends.