League of Legends Season 2 begins in Summer 2025.
Season 1 in Noxus is nearing its end, and it is time for League of Legends (LoL) players to bid farewell to the Land of the Fearless and Defiant. Season 2 is approaching, and this time, Riot Games will be bringing players to Ionia, also known as The First Lands.
LoL's second season for 2025 begins in Summer with one of the most beloved thematics, Spirit Blossom, set in Ionia. A new cinematic video has been released to tease the upcoming season, featuring the original track “Here, Tomorrow,” created in collaboration with singer-songwriter Lilas Ikuta of the music duo YOASOBI and BAFTA-nominated composer Kevin Pekin, known for his work on Made in Abyss and Tower of God.
For the new season, players can expect gameplay updates, a visual overhaul of the Summoner’s Rift, a brand-new game mode, system improvements, Spirit Blossom skins, and more.
Gameplay Updates
Several gameplay updates will be implemented in LoL Season 2 to rebalance the game and enhance the player experience. These include adjustments to anti-lane swap rules, the death screen, kill streaks, and other systems, as detailed in a newly-released developer blog. The devs said in the blog that they were “looking to polish up the changes shipped with Season 1” while modernising other non-gameplay elements.
Here are all the gameplay updates so far:
Summoner’s Rift
The crimson banners of Noxus and its colour palette will be replaced in Season 2 to reflect the Spirit Blossom theme. The Rift will adopt a magical forest aesthetic, with shades of purple and blue.
Jungle
- Atakhan’s Voracious and Ruinous forms will be replaced by a single new form, Thornbound Atakhan. In addition to Bloody Roses, Thornbound Atakhan will grant the team that defeats him all unclaimed Roses on the map. All of the team’s Bloody Petals will also be converted into Spirit Petals, which provide enhanced effects.
- Void Grubs will now spawn later in the match and only once per game.
- Rift Herald will now appear at the 15-minute mark. The Shelly’s Gaze debuff will be removed, making it easier to defeat.
Bounty System
The bounty system will be adjusted to activate more reliably only for the team that is behind.
Champion Select
Only junglers will have access to Smite, which will be automatically assigned. Once the match begins, Supports will automatically receive the World Atlas item.
Inting and Griefing
According to the dev blog, major improvements to the griefing detection system will be implemented in the next patch. The system is being updated to better identify behaviours that may not directly lead to a loss but still create a negative gameplay experience. This includes cases such as players deliberately following teammates without contributing to the match.
Live testing has been carried out over several patches to ensure high detection accuracy and minimal false positives. Based on the results, it is expected that approximately ten times more players per day will receive valid bans for game-disrupting behaviour compared to the current system.
Players who receive report feedback regarding griefing will see the name of the reported player, similar to the notification system for cheating reports. Riot intends to trial this feature before deciding whether to implement it permanently.
Honor System revamp
From Patch 25.04 onwards, the Honor system has been reworked to dynamically reflect recent behaviour, rather than relying solely on the number of games played. Honor levels will no longer reset with each season. New players will begin at Honor Level 3, which is considered the standard level for players who regularly engage in positive behaviour.
Two of the 10 Hextech Chests available per Act will now be tied to Honor. Additional rewards, such as bonus Battle Pass XP and communication privileges, will also be linked to the system. The aim is to acknowledge players who consistently exhibit pro-social behaviour and reach Honor Levels 4 and 5.
More details on the Honor System revamp can be found here.
Vanguard LP Refunds
According to the dev blog, Patch 25.06 expanded Vanguard's functionality to refund LP to all players who lost a game in which a cheater or botter was detected. Affected players will receive a notification with details of the match, the amount of LP refunded, and any resulting rank changes.
In the first patch following these changes, over 700,000 LP were refunded to more than 30,000 unique players. Around 24,000 accounts accused of cheating were banned during the same period.
New game mode
A new game mode called Brawl will also launch in Summer, you can learn more about this new game mode here.
Skins
New Spirit Blossom skins will be also be released--with some Ionian and non-Ionian champions, especially since a good chunk of champions from the region already have existing skins Spirit Blossom-themed skins. These are the champions that will have new Spirit Blossom skins:
- Spirit Blossom Ashe
- Spirit Blossom Bard
- Spirit Blossom Lux
- Spirit Blossom Irelia
- Spirit Blossom Ivern
- Spirit Blossom Varus
- Spirit Blossom Zyra
There's also going to be a special-themed skin to be released in the Summer which isn't related to the whole Ionian theme: Pool Party Twitch.
Collaborations
For the next season League of Legends will have two Spirit Blossom themed collaborations:
Stay in Bloom x Spirit Blossom Beyond
League of Legends is partnering with producer and instrumentalist Dabin to support his North American festival series, Stay in Bloom. The festival features an eclectic line-up including Said The Sky, MAX, ericdoa, Audrey Nuna, and William Black. It will be held in Stanford, California at the Frost Amphitheater on 26–27 April and in Brooklyn, New York at the Under the K Bridge Park on 31 May.
More information
Spirit Blossom Beyond x Yumin Ha
New York-based fashion designer Yumin Ha, a fan of League of Legends, is collaborating on an exclusive promotional collection featuring Spirit Blossom-inspired apparel. Behind-the-scenes content and work-in-progress previews from the collaboration are available on Yumin Ha’s Instagram.
