In League of Legends, there are three game types that are available. 5v5 on Summoner's Rift, 3v3 on Twisted Treeline, and All Random All Mid (ARAM) on Howling abyss (R.I.P Dominion). Something that also has been consistent are the featured game types Riot likes to temporarily enable for a new experience for the community. Now Riot has announced that every weekend, a new temporary game mode from the past will appear as available. This means that a ton of players will flock to jump into random game modes to try and have some fun on the rift (or scar, or treeline, or abyss). In case these game modes eluded you in the past, or you need a refresher, here are all the game modes Riot has released in the past, and a quick description of how each one works.

Note: Riot has announced they will bring back Ascension, One for All, HexaKill, U.R.F, and Legend of the Poro King. The rest are susceptible to bring back, but have no announcements confirming or denying their presence.

Calendar for League of Legends' first four game type releases (Courtesy of: oce.Leagueoflegends.com)

- Ascension:

Map Used: Altered Crystal Scar

How it Works: The end goal of Ascension is to get your team's score to 200. Score points by killing enemy champions, securing altars, and most importantly, becoming Ascended. After you all teleport from base onto the map, you will have a chance to kill the Ascended (think if Xerath could Mega evolve; Pokémon style). Whoever lands the killing blow gets the Zhonya's treatment for 5 seconds, before they come back as the Ascended; full Health, Full mana and a shining beacon of points. If the Ascended gets a kill, the points are doubled over the amount of any other champion. If the Ascended is killed (the objective or the champion who is Ascended), the other team who does the killing gets a point bonus. The Ascended does not respawn until the champion who killed it last is killed, so keep that in mind in champ select. First team to fight to 200 points wins the game.

Tips and Tricks: The harder a champion is to kill, the better they will be as ascended, where they get buffed stats. Have a team with balance, champions who could be ascended, champions who could defend the ascended, and champions that could secure altars and be mobile with ease.

- Dominion:

Map Used: Crystal Scar

How it Works: There are five points of capture located around the perimeter of this circular map. You have to try and hold them from your enemy team, slowly draining the score from your enemy's life pool with the more points you control. Two points spawn within a few clicks of the bases of each team, while one point (nicknamed: The Windmill), is at the due north point of the map, ready for the taking. Hold as many points as you can for as long as you can, until the first team's life pool goes to 0, and they are eliminated.

Tips and Tricks: Speed is your best friend. Rammus, Hecarim and Master Yi are all great champions to play, due to their movement speeds and great ability to get in and get out of capture points. A good battle strategy early is to send one member to your bottom point, one to your middle point, and 3 to the top point at the get go, so that you can ensure the top point is secured, win early fights, and get a couple point lead, before spreading your resources more efficiently.

- Doom Bots of Doom:

Map Used: Summoner's Rift (albeit, with a tad less lighting).

How it Works: If League of Legends had an Extreme or Legendary difficulty (aside from Solo Queue), this would be it. The Bots have insane powers, even passives and abilities from other champions. Once you beat one-star difficulty, you can move up to the two stars, and finally the five stars. The bots also have enhanced abilities (Ezreal's ult shoots 8 ults in two waves, Tibbers is larger than Baron, Lux shoots about 16 ults in a circle, etc.). The harder the mode, the more difficult it gets, the map gets darker, and random Garen's and Fiddle's pop up out of bushes and fog. Only the truly skilled (and patient) can get through and conquer the DOOMBOTS OF DOOM!

Tips and Tricks: Split push like your life depends on it. The bots are insane opponents, but they do have one large nerf in terms of having insane death timers. If you can just spread your team out enough to push towers down and focus objectives, the battle power of the bots will not help them save their Nexus.

- Hexakill:

Map Used: Either Summoner's Rift or Twisted Treeline (not both at the same time).

How it Works: There are six champions on a team instead of 5. That's actually it... however, this does not mean that there aren't plenty of great ideas to try. Having six people on the rift means the entrance of double jungling, duo tops and triple bots, all the while keeping your other lanes full roster. On Twisted treeline, the tight corners and abundant champions make for insane team fights and hectic battles that all result in major clashes for a finish.

Tips and Tricks: On rift, try and figure out a way to make the most of your extra member, as a roaming support or having them take teleport, they can be something besides an addition to a standard lane, they can be a fix to go wherever your team needs help. For Treeline, your teamfights will make or break you, try and unleash the wombo combo of your dreams. Also, champions that can move in and out to secure altars never hurt either. If you thought Orianna+Malphite+Yasuo was a good wombo 3, try adding Amumu, Master Yi and Miss Fortune along, and watch the body count rise.

Hexakill Promo Poster (Courtesy of: Leagueoflegends.wikia.com)

- Legend of the Poro King:

Map Used: Howling Abyss

How it Works: The origin of the Snowball summoner spell, this is the true meaning of going in deep (or Christmas, depending on who you ask). Send out your snow ball summoner spells to try and land shots on the enemy team. Every snow ball you score on an enemy counts as one point, and the first team to 10 summons the Poro King. The Poro King acts as the bodyguard of the team, doing steady AOE damage, healing the team, and acting as a point that you can permanently snowball dash to, as long as he exists on the map. The enemy team can destroy the Poro King, so try and keep him alive as long as possible.

Tips and Tricks: You do not have to actually go in to score the point. Just landing the snowball on an enemy counts toward your score. Treat the early game like an arcade game, trying to shoot and hit the enemy while dodging their attacks as fervently as possible. Once you land the 10 snowballs, go full defend the Poro King mode. The King can handle the tower and minions, just keep the enemy champions as far as possible from taking him. When the enemy team scores their King, don't waste your snowballs on them, since they won't count as part of your score. Also, try to avoid attacking enemy champs in the Poro King AOE, because they do get healed by the King.

- Nemesis Draft:

Map Used: Summoner's Rift

How it Works: You draft the enemy team's champions. Everything else is normal.

Tips and Tricks: Learn how to play Urgot, Sion, Anivia and Galio.

- One for All:

Map Used: Summoner's Rift

How it Works: You load into champion select and elect the champion of your choice. If you have the majority, or win the lottery in the case of a tie, then the champion of your choice is played by all 5 members of your team.

Tips and Tricks: Champions that could combo off of one another, or with passives that stack off of another tend to work well (example: Tahm Kench's Passive can be stacked by any number of Kench's, and Leblanc's Mark will trigger extra damage on another Leblanc's move set). If you want champions that are fun just to screw around with, may I personally suggest Tahm Kench, Leona, Lee Sin, Teemo, Sion, and Vel'Koz.

- One for All-Mirror mode:

Map Used: Howling Abyss

How it Works: The same concept as the above one for all, except the champion is elected amongst both teams, and all 10 summoners play the same champion.

Tips and Tricks: Really none. Try and be flexible with any pick, b/c even if you have four allies, there’s a chance the enemy team might have the same communication and want to pick another champion. Any Champion that works with Abyss (Large AOE damage, sustain) works well.

- Snowdown Showdown:

Map Used: Howling Abyss

How it Works: El Classico. Mono e Mono. One V One Me Bro! These are what Snowdown is all about. The classic staple of the All-stars event, this is the standard one versus one battle format. Simply be the first to 100 Creep Score, first to take your rival's tower, or simply, be the first to kill your rival. Do any of these three, and it's game over.

Tips and Tricks: Find a champion with a great pre six game, who can deal damage without having to take too much. Also, pick summoner spells you are comfortable with, but that will aid you. Essentially, Flash, Exhaust, Ignite, Barrier and Heal. Any two of those five you think will help you play the best, do it and hone it.

2014's URF Buff ( Courtesy of: Leagueoflegends.wikia.com)

- Ultra Rapid Fire (U.R.F):

Map Used: Summoner's Rift

How it Works: *Deep Breath*. Ultra Rapid Fire is the most popular of all the game modes on this list. When I say save the best for last, this is exactly what it means (despite I actually just alphabetized this list, U.R.F ended up here anyways). U.R.F is an accelerated version of normal 5v5 Summoner's Rift League. Take your normal game, add 80% Cool down reduction, get rid of all mana costs, give ADC's double attack speed, and increase the speed you earn gold, and let the madness ensue. Feel like having multiple Akali shrouds at once? Welcome to U.R.F. Want to have five Moakai saplings at every given second since they have a three second cool down. Welcome to U.R.F. Want to be able to go invisible every 3 seconds as Shaco? Welcome to Planet URF.

Tips and Tricks: Every time U.R.F is released, they create a new list of champion nerfs and buffs to try and balance it out. On its release in 2014 and 2015, there was a set list of champions that were banned from even being played, though in 2016, every champion was an option to play. Read the notes on the League website beforehand so you can see how your favorite champion stacks up.

I hope you guys are glad you took the time to learn or re-familiarize yourself with the diverse world of featured game types. If you have any questions, or want to jump on the Rift and see who can come out victorious in these weekend gladiatorial matches, find me @Buns_and_Roses on twitter, and I hope to hear from you all soon!