Riot reveals major Flex Queue changes coming in League patch 10.15

Riot Games has revealed that they will be making some major changes to League of Legends’ Ranked Flex Queue in the upcoming patch 10.15.

While League of Legends has added casual game modes such as ARAM, the ranked queues are seen as the MOBA’s core playlists that most players opt for when looking to improve.

The Ranked Flex Queue was introduced for players to play with up to parties of five, while still being able to work their way towards that prestigious Challenger rank, as it has its own ranking system that is separate to Solo Queue.

This Flex Queue does have some restrictions, however, as you can only play with teammates who are within one tier of the other players in your party, which can sometimes make it difficult to fill up a team.

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These restrictions have even led to players creating ‘smurf accounts’ so that they could play with their friends at lower levels, but Riot will be introducing some major changes to the playlist in patch 10.15 to address this issue.

Ranked Flex Queue changes in League Patch 10.15

During the ‘Quick Gameplay Thoughts’ blog post on July 10, lead gameplay designer Riot Mark ‘Scruffy’ Yetter explained that they would be implementing an unrestricted rank system for Ranked Flex Queue.

He explained that the decision was inspired after “seeing the success” of the unrestricted system in League’s fan-favorite LTM, Clash, which allows teams of five to enter tournaments and earn some in-game rewards.

The new Flex Queue changes will also prioritize higher-skilled players, during the matchmaking process, to allow for more competitive matches despite lifting these constraints.

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“We’re applying the same approach to Flex Queue,” Yetter explained. “Queue with any of your friends, no matter their rank! Similar to Clash, the system will use a weighted average that prioritizes the higher skill players.”

The gameplay designer also revealed that they want the Flex queue to become “more accessible to groups” who want to test their skills, despite opening up the possibility for games with a wider spread of ranks.

League of Legends patch 10.15 is scheduled to be released on July 22.