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With a relatively firm grip on the
MOBA genre, the guys at
Riot Games aren’t about to get complacent.  
We get our hands on the new mode to let you know what
you’re in for, and
it’s a wild ride to say the least!

Dominion is the name of the new mode,
and no, it is not
replacing the basic game or Summoner’s Rift. 
Dominion is just a new map and mode of gameplay,
accessible in the exact
same way as you would launch any other old game of style="font-style: italic;">League of Legends. style="">  The similarities stop
there though.

Instead of having a network of towers
along 3 lanes
defending your nexus, you’ve got nothing to soften up your opponents
should you
be beaten back.  Even
the ‘fountain laser’
has been greatly toned down.  As
for the
map itself, the new map is a massive circle with five command points
situated
in a star formation.  Owning
more of
these than your opposition leads to a command point ticker decreasing
over
time, and the first team to 0 loses.

Now, I know a lot of you are going to
say HOLD THE BOAT
STOW, THAT’S ARATHI BASIN/CALL OF DUTY/BATTLEFIELD BLACK OPS WHATEVER. style="">  Yeah, it’s not a truly
original style of
gameplay at this point, but as someone who has put in at least two
thousand
games of League of
Legends in, it felt like a whole new ballgame. style="">  Let’s break down why.

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style="">You start
at level 3 – Immediately you’ve got a few skills and buttons
to press.

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style="">No neutral
creeps, minimal minion interference – Puts a true emphasis
on the
objectives, rather than mindless farming for 20 minutes.

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style="">A
constant stream of gold and experience for all players – Keeps
everyone in
the game and turns slaughters into close games as more heroes come into
their
stride regardless of farm or levels

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style="">Death
timers halved, gold for hero kills reduced to 100, Recall time halved style="">  - Less time
staring at grey screens and
channeling spells, and helps encourage dangerous play as opposed to the
current
overly cautious gameplay

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style="">Controlling
a point gives you complete line of sight in the circle up to that point
– Makes
backdooring a risky proposition, even for stealth or global ultimates.

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style="">Power Ups
galore – Health packs, speed boosts, and a single special
buff in the
center of the map for each team makes fights frantic and fun.

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style="">Tanky DPS
isn’t so tanky. – Innate passive on all players that
increases armor and
magic penetration, and reduces the effects of healing encourages
aggression and
offense rather than massing HP and defense.

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style="">Tons of
room for new strategies and team combinations – We barely
scratched the
surface with our move speed builds, or cooldown reduction Kassadin
builds.

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style="">A whole
new outlook on balance – Smaller skirmishes lead to a
different outcome for
some of the weaker heroes such as Jax and Heimerdinger, who excel in
small
fights.  A rapid
leveling and gold pace
messes with the ‘golden age’ some heroes dominate during.

 

No
release date has been set, but I’d put money on this
coming out with Season 2!  Keep
an open
mind, and look forward to our hands-on preview of a few matches of the
newly
announced League of Legends Dominion!