Riot dev confirms ranked role selection coming to LoL: Wild Rift

Luke Edwards

The uncertainty of a first-come-first-served role picking system in ranked is the last thing a player needs in the run-up to a deciding game. Fortunately, a Riot dev has confirmed that pre-queue role selection will be coming to League of Legends: Wild Rift.

Before the current League role selection system was introduced, queueing for ranked games was a stressful affair. Players would be praying for first pick, ready to claim a third straight victory as Nidalee top, only to enter champ select as last pick. They’d be forced to play support, feed, and lose their deciding Plat promo.

Riot largely solved this problem for players when Team Builder was introduced at the end of Season 5. Players could select two roles they’d be happy to play before queueing up, largely guaranteeing they’d be positioned in a lane they’re happy with.

As things stand, ranked players of League’s new mobile version, Wild Rift, are facing the exact same pain as early LoL players. Fortunately for Wild Rift fans, the pain is soon to end, with a brand-new role selection system confirmed to be coming to the game.

Wild Rift’s open beta has been released across six different regions.

When will Wild Rift have ranked role selection?

Riot dev Soundwave has announced role selection will be coming to Wild Rift, with more info coming in early 2021.

“It’s coming!” they said.

“Currently in production; we’re likely going to give some details on what it looks like early next year, as it’s not 1 to 1 with the system we have in League (although it obviously fills the same need of giving you agency in where you go).”

Wild Rift fans will breathe a sigh of relief knowing the possibility of being forced into an unfavoured role in a must-win game will soon be over.

Riot GamesLast-picks will no longer be forced into reluctantly picking Nami support.

The fact it’s not due to be the exact same role selection system as League is interesting, though. Restricting your preferred role between two choices is one of the biggest contributors to long queue times in League of Legends.

As Wild Rift is designed to be a more streamlined version of its parent game, it’s likely the system will need to work differently to keep queue times to a minimum.

Regardless, many players will take whatever trade trade-offs necessary to secure their preferred position.

About The Author

Luke is a former Dexerto writer based in Oxford, who has a BA in English Literature from the University of Warwick. He now works with Dexerto's video department. You can contact Luke at luke.edwards@dexerto.com