The preseason brought us many changes regarding champions, items, positioning and, of course, a new rotating mode: All Random Ultra Rapid Fire (ARURF). Like URF (Ultra Rapid Fire) in ARURF mana is infinite, and every spell and ability has an insanely reduced cooldown, but the player can’t choose their champions. ARURF works like League’s ARAM where the player gets a random champion and can reroll twice for a new one.

Let’s see some important changes ARURF brings into the game:

• +300 ability haste, summoner spell haste, and item haste (which means around 3-4 seconds per spell).
• +25% tenacity.
• +60 movement speed.
• Bonus attack speed is doubled on ranged champions and 1.5 times for melee champions.
• Bonus mana is converted to HP (40% rate) and bonus mana regen is converted to HP (100% rate)
• Teleport is disabled (well, you have the cannon, so).
• Baron Nashor spawns after 10 minutes and the Dragon after 4 minutes.

Some champions can be truly powerful since they no longer have to rely on mana or energy, while others can be surprisingly weak. That being said, let’s discuss some must have champions you should choose in this preseason if you have the chance to get them.

ZED

I think this is an obvious choice. He is the most banned champion in URF and the most desired one in ARURF because he is extremely strong. He is already a terror for many squishy champions in normal games and can secure kills with his R without problems.

In ARURF, everything changes since he can spam his abilities almost instantly without stressing about energy. He can aggressively poke with his Q, and his W is up almost every time you recast it, dealing more damage, not to mention how helpful his E is for farming.

Usually, he is a solo lanner, but in combination with a healer, he can easily go for kills and spend more time on the lane until he collects enough gold for items. Also, with his W-Q combo, he can dive under the enemy turrets like a true assassin.

Items empower him even more, especially if you build Lethality with him. Buy items like Youmuu's Ghostblade, Eclipse, Edge of Night and The Collector for some speed and damage boost.

Don’t forget to keep an eye on tanks who can counter you, and dodge champions with lots of CC like Morgana and Lux. Also, since you have the cannon, try to flank bot or top if possible after you have secured your lane victory.

MASTER YI

Another good choice because of his assassination potential. He can easily abuse strong enemies in the early stage of the game with his Q which grants him invincibility and speed. Later in the game, his Q is a useful ability to jump and kill multiple targets one next to each other. Everything happens so fast that it's easy for his enemy to panic Flash into his teammates and it’s GG for Master.

Because there is no mana, his W heals infinitely, which means more time farming on the lane. Diving under the enemy turrets and engaging in fights are also quite easy. The bonus movement and attack speed from R allows him to escape any upcoming attack.

I suggest you build some Critical Strike with items like Mortal Reminder, which can also affect the enemy healing regen, The Collector or Immortal Shildbow, which grants you a shield for 3 seconds if your HP is below 30%, and 15-35% bonus attack damage for 8 seconds.

SHACO

As if he wasn't annoying enough in normal games with his traps and his R which confuse you, he has to be even more annoying in ARURF since he can be in stealth almost permanently. The W gives him a good start since he can place many traps all over the lane, and if he is Top or Bot he can try to lure his enemies into the bushes.

He can easily gang and flank other lanes since he is unnoticeable and can just come out of nowhere. Of course, his enemies can buy control wards to spot him while he is in stealth, but those wards will be destroyed as soon as they are placed. And since everything happens so fast in ARURF I’m sure buying a new ward every time you recall is not very cost-effective.

Shaco excels with AP damage, so I suggest you build his full AP with Luden’s Tempest, Rabadon's Deathcap and Demonic Embrace. Luden’s is useful for his traps. You just need some minions to activate the trap to let the Luden’s passive damage any nearby enemy.

TRYNDAMERE

He was already a good choice in normal games because his R grants him invincibility. In ARURF he becomes a spinning machine. You just chill on your lane when out of nowhere a spinning Trynda appears, hitting like a maniac and healing around 40% of his HP with Q every few seconds. He heals so fast while he is invincible that it's hard to stop him.

Don’t forget his W can slow down his targets and in combination with the spin, it’s the perfect combo for a killing spree.

Some prefer building him AP, others prefer Lethality on him, but Critical is the most effective. Buy items like Infinity Edge, Kraken Slayer and Phantom Dancer, which can also grant ghosting.

SION

Here starts the real fun because you don’t play Sion for the kills but for the amusement to act as a living wrecking ball to take down turrets one by one. Your goal is to go to the lane with his R, attack the turret, die and then attack the turret even more, thanks to his passive revive. He is the perfect split pusher who can win the game by dominating the rift, not your enemies.

Usually, you should focus on one lane at a time to allow your team a fast push and to force your enemies to focus on that lane. Keep an eye out for your enemies. Whenever you see them gathering to one lane, switch lanes and do the same thing: go there, push, die and push more. In the beginning, it would feel like you are feeding, but soon your enemies will realize that their base is wide open. Where are the turrets? It would be too late and if your teammates are fed, well, a turnaround is basically impossible.

I saw various builds for Sion. Some like going AP and Critical, some focus only on AD, but I think it's important to build a consistent HP percentage as well. You have to stay alive as much as you can and you need enough heath to deal damage after you're revived. Buy items like Thornmail, Trinity Force and Goredrinker and consider situational armor or magic resist items. Trinity Force is especially powerful on Sion since it can increase his basic attack by 30% for a couple of seconds and its active trait grants him 200% base AD bonus physical damage. In short, more damage equals more turrets down.

YUUMI

Our little kitty is not the first pick in a normal game because she has long cooldowns and her E costs too much mana to heal. Not to mention that her only way to deal some damage is her Q since she can't use basic attacks while she is attached to someone.

Usually, if you want to play support in URF you choose Sona because of her 2-target heal plus 5 potential shields and her auto-targeting Q. But Yuumi has a huge potential, and over the years she has become a real problem for the enemy team. In normal URF games, she is banned almost all the time.

Yuumi is more popular in ARURF because of that random champion assignee system. I have never seen a situation when she would not be picked if she showed up. Just imagine this: you are attached to an ally and give him unlimited heal and buffs since there are no mana costs, while you are invincible because the kitty can’t die while she is attached to someone. And if your enemy gets the chance to escape your partner’s attack you can catch them with your Q.

Build support items that help you increase healing power, like Mikael’s Blessing, Moonstone Renewer and Ardent Censer, and Staff of Flowing Water to grant your partner 25-45 ability power and 20 ability haste for 4 seconds. If necessary, you can also build Shurelya's Battlesong to increase your partner’s movement speed.

And in case you wonder, the best combination is Yuumi + ‘insert any random champion here’ for victory. After all, she is the most powerful item in the game!

MORGANA

As a support, she is useful in normal game fights because of her Qs and Rs stun. Since there is no mana in ARURF, Q can be cast more often, even before its effect passes. Eternal stun for everyone, especially for tanks who have to come close to deal some damage.

She is a good pick for a solo lane on mid as well. The W helps her to farm minions and to poke enemies, and she can easily block spells with her E shield. Her Q can create many killing opportunities and with the proper AP build, she can dominate the lane.

Talking about builds, one must-have item is Zhonya's Hourglass with which you can give your team a huge advantage. In a teamfight, Flash into your enemies, activate your R and instantly activate Zonya’s. You will become invincible for a couple of seconds, just enough to stun the enemy team and to allow your team to get some kills and maybe push a lane.

Other items you may consider are Luden's Echo to deal damage up to 4 nearby targets, Rabadon's Deathcap to increase AP damage and Rylai's Crystal Scepter to slow enemies while they are in your W. Situationally you can build armor or Anti-Healing if you deal with heavy tanks.

LEONA

If you say Leona in ARURF you should immediately think full tank Leona. She can build a lot of HP, which allows her to push the lane to victory, even tank turrets if necessary. You can count on a Leona to save you from the turrets hit if you are low HP.

She can double stun the enemy with her E dash and Q, and because of the massive cooldown reduction, her W’s shield is up almost instantly. Also, her W helps her to farm and to damage the enemy while she is protected for a short time. So, after casting E to dash to an enemy, a Q and W combo will increase the chances for a kill. This combo is especially good with range champions since she can stun and stop their spells.

As I said, Leona works with a full tank build, so I advise you to buy items like Evenshroud for HP, armor and to increase the damage you deal to a stunned enemy. Sunfire Aegis and Spirit Visage are classic items for Leona when it comes to MR and armor. Also, for more HP take into consideration tank items like Thornmail and Warmog’s Armor.

TARIC

I know, I know, why you would want to play such a champion. Who plays Taric anymore, right? Well, hear me out. In ARURF Taris is extremely powerful as a support and tank champion. You heal, you shield, you deal damage, you stun, and you give invincibility with his R. What else do you want from a champion?

Seriously now, he is a really good choice if you are interested in playing support in ARURF. His healing might not be so strong but is better than nothing. What makes him shine is his E which allows him and an ally to stun enemies. No mana and a few seconds cooldown mean more stuns which are perfect against tank champions. You can also freeze lanes to stop minions from pushing.

As I said before, his R grants invincibility for himself and any nearby teammate and invincibility is extremely handy in ARURF if it can be cast often. Just imagine an invincible Warwick jumping after you and you can't kill him before he shuts you down.

Since he is a close range and tank, I suggest you go for a build similar to Leona’s: Evenshroud for damage while stunning, Sunfire Aegis, Spirit Visage and Thornmail. Your focus should be on stunning, so you need HP to stay alive as much as you can.

CLOSING OUT

So, this is just a small list of champions with huge potential in ARURF. Since there is no mana cost and the cooldown doesn't actually exist, any champion has the potential to be OP, but the ones I presented excel in this kind of game. Also, they are the most picked ones so far.

Right now ARURF is available on PBE. It's going to be live on LoL starting with the 12.2 patch on January 26, 2022, and it will be available throughout the whole Lunar event.