League of Legends is an ever-changing game, and because of that, there are old things that are constantly being scrapped to make room for bigger and better changes. However, while some of the changes are welcomed in the community, others aren’t taken so well. When favorite play-styles, runes, or items are removed or changed, players understandably get apprehensive. But the end of one thing doesn’t always mean it is gone forever. There are plenty of iterations of old items that mimic their predecessors. Although, for the items that are gone for good, players always have the memories of it to look back on. In this article, we will discuss items that have been removed from the game and describe why they were most likely taken out.

Zz’rot Portal: This item was fairly interesting in what it did, but its uniqueness could have easily been its downfall. Zz’Rot Portal was introduced at the beginning of season five and was originally meant to be an item for tankier lakers. The item gave armor and magic resistance, as well as an active effect. This effect planted a ‘portal’ on the map which spawned voidlings that damaged towers or inhibitors over time. Champions like Sion would take this item so that they could be a bit beefier when needed, but also allowed for serious split pushing. In the old tank meta, champions that bought this would easily be able to push in waves and teleport to a fight while their Zz’rot would easily split push for them. This item was removed from the game at the beginning of season nine, most likely because its split push nature didn’t have the desired champion interaction and made games more difficult as a result.

Ohmwrecker: It was a sad day in Season 9 when this item was removed. It had been around since the near beginning of the game. The stats this item gave weren’t what made it good, but it is the active effect that made it special. Upon activation, the item would shut down a tower for a set amount of time, allowing the user to dive an enemy while still getting out alive. This item is hearkened to in the new Volibear ultimate, which also shuts down towers. This item was removed because it was an interaction that, albeit unique, was hard to balance and for the most part was a bit cumbersome.

Old Support Items: Before the current support items that upgrade automatically upon collecting 500 gold, there were items that required a purchase to upgrade. These upgraded versions were called Eye of the Oasis, Eye on the Equinox, Face of the Mountain, and Eye of the Watchers. These items had a counterpart that did not give wards but instead gave an effect to help pressure in lane, although these were not used as much. These warding items work similarly to the current support items, where they would help the support get gold over time as well as giving stats that can help them later in the game. Before upgrading the item, players would only have 3 wards and basic stats. Upon the purchase of the upgraded item, they were upgraded with similar effects to the current support items. These items were most likely removed because they only made the support role weaker, and with the introduction of more damage supports it made sense to be sure that they can have a more lasting effect on the game.

Spear of Shojin: This item was particularly short-lived, as well as having a fairly interesting introduction. The item began in the Nexus Blitz game mode but was added into Summoner’s Rift after some more thought from Riot Games. However, the item was far too powerful, as it gave the user tanky stats as well as insane amounts of damage with a combination from its base stats and its ‘Dragon Heart’ passive ability. Spear of Shojin was removed because it was too strong and was becoming used on champions that it was not intended to.

Deathfire Grasp: This item was a favorite amongst players for quite some time and it still looked back upon with fondness. The item was expensive to buy but gave a large amount of AP damage and a burn effect that worked similarly to the burn from Liandry’s Torment. After its removal from the game in Season 5, it was picked back up later in the Nexus Blitz game mode until it was removed as of earlier in season ten.

Abyssal Scepter: Since before the very start of this game, in the alpha version, this item was introduced. It underwent many changes since then but retained its intended purpose, which was to give AP champions protective stats as well as damage. However, the item became increasingly popular with tanky champions, giving them a big advantage since it had beefy stats as well as decent damage. Because of this, it was removed from the game and was replaced with Abyssal Mask, which fits tank champions in a much more balanced way.

Banner of Command: Another long-standing item in the game, Banner of Command was an interesting item that didn’t quite fit in. The item gave armor and magic resistance plus a ton of health regeneration. However, the active ability is what made the item unique. Called ‘Point Runner’, this ability gives a lane minion increased power and takes reduced damage, effectively giving the minion a baron buff. While this item was certainly one of the kind, it just didn’t have a place in the game and was awkward to balance. Because of that, it was removed in Season 8.

Brawler’s Gloves: Brawler’s Gloves was a small item that was often overlooked. It was only really used to upgrade items for ADC champions. It cost 400 gold and gave a 10% critical strike chance, so it was nothing to think too highly of. It was built into items like Phantom Dancer or Zeal, but was removed in Season 9 since Agility Cloak was simply a more practical item.

Hunter’s Potion: This item in particular was almost never used. Potions have somewhat of an impact on the early game, but after that, they were hardly useful. It upgraded from the basic Refillable Potion, but since gold was better placed into real items instead of a weak potion, it hardly saw any play. It may have paired well with a rune-like Time Warp Tonic, but that still wouldn’t have been enough to make it viable. Because of that, it was removed at the beginning of Season 9.

Sightstone: Quite some time ago, before the iteration of support items mentioned earlier in the article, Sightstone is what all supports would need to build in order to upgrade their support item to give them the ability to place wards. It worked fine in the support role, but when jungle champions began to build it in an effort to establish more map priority, it was simply too hard to balance and to be sure that it was a support-specific item. Because of that, it was removed at the beginning of Season 8 and was replaced with the support items that had wards built into them.

Poacher’s Dirk: Perhaps one of the most short-lived and awkward items on this list, Poacher’s Dirk was certainly an awkward item to purchase. The item was introduced near the end of season six and removed at the start of Season 8. The item was specifically targeted at junglers who wanted to counter-jungle. It rewarded the player who stole enemy jungle camps and, once enough were taken, upgraded to Serrated Dirk. While it may seem decent to get a free item, it simply was never worth buying, since it took so long to upgrade and no junglers really needed to buy lethality items other than a select handful of champions. Because of that, this item simply wasn’t worth keeping around.

League of Legends will keep changing in many ways, but that isn’t always a bad thing. With old favorites, or even old duds being removed, it will be replaced by a more suiting item that will hopefully change the game for the better. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be some bumps along the way. So be sure to make the most of what the game throws at you and you’ll find that the game will always find a new way to interest players.