League of Legends Announces a New ARAM: Mayhem Classic Mode for Season 3 2026

League of Legends has just finally released the Dev Update talking about the upcoming League of Legends Classic game mode. Here, we get to learn about what sort of content we can expect and what to look forward to in the coming updates, such as what sorts of characters will be available, what content, and even what items and champions will arrive.

Now, while there are still some things up in the air — we know there will be 60 characters at initial launch, with more to release over the course of the updates — there is one thing we learned. Riot Games has been keeping the casual audience more in mind over the years, and it seems like they haven't forgotten us with the release of the League of Legends Classic game mode.

This comes in the form of the ARAM: Mayhem Classic-ish game mode, which will bring the usual shenanigans from Mayhem and bring them to Classic, accounting for old characters, bringing unique augments and — of course — the crazy item builds we used to have at the time. It's a great show that Riot Games has been paying attention to how strong the casual audience has become, since a few years ago, ARAM had the most games queued, and that was before it was dominated by the now-standard ARAM: Mayhem, which seems to have become the de facto casual game mode for most summoners.

ARAM: Mayhem Classic-ish is exactly what it sounds like: we'll get augments at specific levels, but we'll be getting some classic additions that'll allow those of us who no longer enjoy Summoner's Rift to partake in the Classic fun. This means a curated pool of 60 champions to start, the old Summoner's Rift map (with, I believe, a limit to be only in the mid lane), and unique augments for the Classic feel.

Other than that, it should be, more or less, like ARAM: Mayhem and League of Legends Classic combined, giving players old champions and items with ARAM: Mayhem and modern upgrades. One thing worth noting, however, is that we do not currently know how — or if — the old Rune system will take place in the ARAM: Mayhem Classic-ish mode; I doubt it'll be a part of it, but it's worth a mention nonetheless.

The ARAM: Mayhem Classic-ish game mode will be a separate queue from the original ARAM: Mayhem (alongside ARAM itself) that'll be available for a limited time, likely getting updates at the same time as the Classic mode for Summoner's Rift. We do not know for how long it'll run, but it's likely to run until the end of the Season, if not cut off at the first Act.