Arena is departing once again, but have no fear—a new game mode will soon be here! Read on to learn everything you need to know about the upcoming 5v5 game mode, Brawl.
Brawl is the upcoming 5v5 game mode coming in Patch 25.10—in about a month's time. In this game mode, teams of five will duke it out on a brand new battlefield set in Bandle City, home of the Yordles.
It's low strategy, high action, where the two teams will fight in a very cosy area, killing each other and pushing minions to the enemy base to win. It's described as being fairly similar to ARAM, but with the benefit of being able to choose your favourite champion and not have to worry about any objectives or towers.
This game mode will be pure deathmatch vibes, emulating the similar experience you can get in various FPS titles, like Valorant. You can test mechanics and enjoy core gameplay without worrying too much about coordination or macro.
Brawl 101
In Brawl, each team begins with 250 Health, and the first team to reduce the enemy's health to 0 is victorious—no towers, no Inhibitors, no Nexus required.
To damage the enemy's team Health you can:
- Acquire a takedown on an enemy champion (=5 damage points)
- Acquire a takedown on enemy minions while the enemy team is not on low Health (=1 damage)
- Push your minions into the enemy's Bandle Portal (=1 damage per minion)
Minions don't spawn out of a Nexus like before, but from a Bandle portal. They walk a short distance to try to reach the enemy Portal. Minions are therefore kind of the one of only two objectives or points of strategy in Brawl. If you can escort them, you can deal damage to the enemy Health bar directly.
The other objective are camp buffs, which you can find on each side of the lane. Each camp has its own powerful buff, providing gold and other boons. However, initiating a fight with the camps might mean that your Portal is left defenseless!
When it comes to scaling, Brawl takes an even more expedient approach to gold and experience than Swiftplay does. You'll get lots of gold over time just for existing, and even more from fighting and taking down enemies or camps.
If your team is at a significant deficit, you'll acquire a team-wide comeback buff to make sure you have a way into the game. The buff will increase the damage you deal, and decrease the damage you take. The better team will still come out on top, but falling behind in Brawl isn't as fatal as it may be in other game modes.
When you want to spend gold or heal, you can Recall or walk back to base and purchase any items you want. This is another point of difference from ARAM.
