Season 3 Ends, WASD Beta Expands & Braum Buffs: Everything in LoL Patch 25.24

The final patch of 2025 is here, and Patch 25.24 is a significant one that bridges the gap between seasons. While it's not a massive balance overhaul, it packs crucial updates for competitive climbers, experimental players trying the new WASD controls, and everyone frustrated by accidental champion bans in lobby. Let's break down what this update means for your League of Legends experience.

**The Ranked Season 3 Countdown is On**

The clock is officially ticking for your final rank pushes. The Summoner’s Rift Ranked Season for 2025 Season 3 will conclude on **January 7, 2026, at 23:59:59 local server time**. As per tradition, ranked queues will go down for 12 hours for maintenance before the fresh start of **Season 1, 2026, which begins on January 8, 2026, at 12:00:00 (noon)** local time. This marks the full reset of LP and ranks for the new competitive year. The big prize? The **Victorious Draven** skin, chromas, and the usual suite of rank-based rewards. However, Riot is adding a special incentive for collectors: a **Victorious Skin Border that works with all three 2025 Victorious skins**, but only if you own all of them. Alongside the border, players will receive a Season 2025 Ranked Emote and Icon. All these rewards will be distributed in Patch 26.1 next year, so make those final climbs count!

**WASD Movement Beta Takes a Major Step Forward**

One of the most experimental features in recent League history is getting a wider release. Starting this patch, the **WASD movement control scheme is launching in most unranked queues across all regions**. This is a huge step from its initial limited testing. For now, **Draft Pick and all Ranked queues will NOT support WASD**, as Riot continues to gather balance data and player feedback before considering it for competitive integrity modes. The rollout will begin on OCE and scale to all regions. Notably, **Briar and Taliyah will have WASD disabled this patch** due to potential issues, showing Riot's cautious approach. The enabled queues include Normals (Customs, Swiftplay, ARAM) and fun modes like Arena, ARAM: Mayhem, and ARURF. The beta also introduces new features: a **Dynamic Camera** that follows your mouse, a **Scout Ahead Button** (middle mouse click) for free camera movement, and full **WASD Remapping**. If you encounter bugs, reporting them to Player Support is crucial to shaping this feature's future.

**Champion Select Gets Permanent Upgrades**

Following positive feedback from pilot regions, two champion select improvements are now global permanent features. First, and perhaps most celebrated, **you can no longer ban a champion that an ally has hovered**. This eliminates those frustrating accidental or malicious bans that can ruin team comps and morale before the game even starts. Second, the **quality-of-life improvements to speed up champion select** for Summoner’s Rift queues (Solo/Duo, Flex, and Normal Draft) are being rolled out worldwide. These changes significantly reduce downtime in lobbies, getting you into the game faster. It's a win for player experience that addresses long-standing community pain points.

**Targeted Champion Tuning: Braum Buffs & Mundo Adjustments**

The balance team is taking a relatively light touch this patch, focusing on specific outliers. **Braum** is receiving some love to help the Freljordian hero stand his ground better in early skirmishes. His **base Health is increased from 610 to 630**, and the damage from follow-up attacks on his passive, **Concussive Blows, is doubled from 20% to 40%**. This should make him more durable and punishing in extended trades, emphasizing his role as a protective brawler. Meanwhile, **Dr. Mundo** is seeing adjustments after a previous bugfix had unintended consequences. Riot notes they "overestimated the impact" of the fix, meaning last patch's compensation buff went too far. While specific nerfs aren't detailed in these notes, players should expect the Madman of Zaun to be slightly less dominant as the team recalibrates his power.

Patch 25.24 is all about transition and refinement. Whether you're grinding for that final rank to secure your Victorious Draven chroma, experimenting with WASD controls in ARURF, or just enjoying smoother champion select lobbies, this update sets the stage for an exciting start to 2026. Good luck on the Rift, and may your end-of-season climbs be victorious!