League of Legends Finally Adds Sandbox Mode

For years and years now, Riot Games have resisted the notion of putting a sandbox/practice mode in their popular MOBA, League of Legends. As a frequent player, I remember it being one of the most frequently requested features from fans and pros alike, a way to improve their mechanics without having to deal with strangers or tank their ELO. Now, like a great stone along the shore, Riot Game’s resistance has eroded, and they’ve finally released the long-awaited Practice Tool to the public.

The will of the people shall not be denied.

Either alone or with a single computer-controlled bot, players can take to the rift with absolutely god-like powers, generating gold and items for themselves instantly, turning towers invincible, spawning jungle mobs and dragons (not baron, though) freeze their experience gain or jump up to level 18 instantly, teleport around the map, reduce cooldowns, give themselves unlimited health and/or mana, and spawn practice dummies that can keep track of total damage done as well as DPS, or damage per second.

It’s a long-time coming, given how the Practice mode is kind of standard among MOBA’s who try to be professional and competitive, and it’s a little bare-boned by comparison, but Riot Games has acknowledged that and admits that they’d rather just get the product out there as fast as possible and update it as time goes on. For example, there’s no way to Spawn Baron outside skipping ahead to the 20-minute mark, and Jungle Plants still can’t be controlled or spawned, but that’s all secondary compared to the meat of the tool.

At the end of the day, it’s good to know that Blizzard is actually listening to their fans and giving them what they want in spite of their own feelings, although they certainly put up a fight over it... which just makes the victory all the sweeter.