How a match works

Pick one or more modes and queue. You can sit in several queues at once — the first one to fill takes your group out of the others. Party up first to queue together; the party leader queues for everyone.

Matchmaking looks for players near your rating first and widens the search the longer you wait.

The match opens with a 30-second draft. Everyone picks at once and there are no bans. A Mob can only be taken once per team — the enemy team may well pick the same one.

Choose your two runes here too. You can change your mind until the timer runs out; if you haven't locked a Mob by then, you keep your current one if it's free, or get a random one.

The Team arena has a top lane and a bottom lane. On each lane, each team has an outer tower, an inner tower and an inhibitor. Back in the base, two base towers guard your Oracle.

Towers (3000 HP) shoot anything of yours that comes in range, and their bolts can't be dodged. They go for an enemy that's attacking one of their players first, then minions, then you.

• Tower
• Inhibitor
• Oracle
• Jungle camp
• Green: your team · Red: the enemy

The first wave arrives at 0:30, then a new one every 30 seconds: 3 melee minions per lane, and every 3rd wave adds 3 ranged minions and a mage minion.

Minions get 5% stronger every minute, up to 2×. They leave you alone unless you attack one of their players, or there's nothing else to hit.

Every Mob starts the match at level 8 and can reach 20. You level from minions, towers, takedowns and the jungle, and each level also adds health, mana and speed.

Each level from 8 to 19 gives a skill point — 12 in all, enough for every ability to reach rank 3. Ultimates rank up at levels 11, 14, 17. In a match an ability needs a point before you can cast it: press the gold + on your spellbar or Ctrl+1–4.

Level 20 gives no point: it's Promotion, +50% health and mana regeneration.

You start with 500 gold and earn more over time and from last hits, towers, inhibitors and takedowns. A takedown pays everyone who damaged the Mob in its last seconds, and grows with match time.

Open the shop with P within 5 tiles of your base's respawn pad — or from anywhere while you're downed. Selling your old gear refunds 60% and Ctrl+Z undoes a buy or sale during the same visit. Your gear is gone when the match ends; your jewelry stays.

When your health runs out you're downed: an untouchable ghost for 10 seconds early on, rising to 30 seconds by 15:00. Then you return to your base with full health and mana. You can't cast or use runes while downed, but you can shop.

Heading home on purpose? TP to Temple with B: a 6-second channel that moving, attacking, casting or taking damage cancels. Standing within 3 tiles of your respawn pad restores 20% of your health and mana every second.

Each team's jungle has a Crystal Spider. The one who kills it gets +5 mana per second for 2 minutes and 300 gold.

At 10:00 the Old Widow appears between the bases. Whoever kills her poisons with every basic attack for 2 minutes, and every player on their team gets 500 gold. Watch for her Venom Burst — step out of the marked ground.

Camps return 5 minutes after they die. You lose a jungle buff if you're downed.

Structures fall in order: along a lane, the outer tower, then the inner tower, then the inhibitor. One lane is enough: the base towers can be hit while any one of that team's inhibitors is down, and the Oracle once both base towers are gone.

A destroyed inhibitor rebuilds after 5 minutes. Until then your team sends a super minion down that lane with every wave.

The last Oracle standing wins. There's no time limit and no surrender.