League devs finally add Vanguard anti-cheat alongside controversial MMR changes

Declan Mclaughlin

Riot Games has announced in a big post about League of Legends in 2024 that it is adding in Vanguard and implementing changes to the MMR system.

Cheating and scripting in League of Legends have been an issue for years as players will sometimes take to using such tactics to level up and earn the highest rank possible.

Riot has announced in a post about the game in 2024 that it is looking to fix the problem and also adjust how players rank up. The developer is going to add Vanguard, its anti-cheat used in its other popular title Valorant, to League of Legends.

The anti-cheat was initially controversial when it was implemented in Valorant on release, as players had to download it to their computer, but players have grown to like the system as the number of cheaters in their matches has consistently remained low.

Riot to add Vanguard to League of Legends

Riot said in its post about adding the anti-cheat to the MOBA that it comes as a response to feedback around the number of bots, smurfs and scripting in the game.

The developer also said that Vanguard will work the same as it does in Valorant, so if a cheater is detected in a League of Legends match then the game will be terminated and players will be refunded their LP for the match. Riot said the anti-cheat should be rolling out sometime in late Feburary or early March.

Vanguard League
Cheater detected screen for Vanguard in LoL.

Riot also confirmed the controversial changes coming to the ranked system around MMR. One of the developers of the game revealed the changes days before and was met with some pushback from the community. However, details on how ranked gains will be tweaked have yet to be revealed in a statement from Riot.

The changes involve improving how the ranked system evaluates player skill and will hopefully reduce instances in which players are put into a game with someone of a vastly different rank. The new system will also impact how much LP players lose with how much they gain in the 2024 season.