Swiftplay Guide: What to Pick, Which Runes, and How It Works
Swiftplay is League of Legends in about 20 minutes: you pick two champions before you queue and start at level 3. This guide covers the rules, the easiest champion for every role, and how Hexgate fills in your two picks for you.
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Swiftplay in one minute
Swiftplay is a normal (unranked) Summoner's Rift mode built for shorter games. These are the rules that change how you play.
Rules from Riot's Swiftplay support page and the /dev: A Swifter Swiftplay update. Game lengths: Hexgate's own data, last 60 days, remakes excluded.
Your Swiftplay lobby, filled in for you
Swiftplay asks you for two champions, two rune pages and two sets of summoner spells before you even queue. That is a lot to get right when you are new. Hexgate opens a window next to your lobby and does it with you.
- 1
The best picks for your role
Each of your two slots gets its own tab with the champions doing best in Swiftplay for that role. Click one and it goes straight into your slot.
- 2
Runes, spells and build for that exact pick
The recommended rune page, summoner spells and core items for your champion in that role, from millions of ranked games.
- 3
One click into your slot
Import to slot writes the runes, and the spells if you want them, into that pick in the League client. No copying runes by hand.
- 4
A warning before it costs you a game
Swapped champions and your slot kept the old page? The tab shows ⚠ not imported yet until it matches.
The easiest champion for every role
New to League or to a role? Start here. Every champion below is rated Low difficulty by Riot, and each has a simple job you can learn in a few games.
These are the easiest to learn, not always the strongest this patch. The Hexgate window shows the champions doing best in Swiftplay right now for each of your roles. More on each pick and how runes work: Best LoL Champions for Beginners.
Set up your two picks in four steps
Choose two roles
Pick the role you want most, then a second one. One of them must be a priority role, which the client marks for you.
One easy champion per role
Take one from the list above, or click one of the best Swiftplay picks for your role in the Hexgate window.
Import runes and spells
In the Hexgate window, open each slot's tab and click Import to slot. A slot that is ready reads Slot up to date.
Queue, then press Tab in game
The Hexgate overlay ranks your next item against the five enemies you are actually facing. Hold Tab to see it.
After the game: why you won or lost
With Hexgate Pro+, every Swiftplay game gets a Match Breakdown built from the game's own timeline, judged at Swiftplay pace, not ranked pace. It opens from your match history a minute after the game ends.
- 1
One thing to work on
Each breakdown picks one focus for your next game, with a tip chosen from how that game went: holding your tower against an all-in that is ready from the first wave, or walking with your team before Elder.
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Judged at Swiftplay pace
Laning is over at 9 minutes and your lane is judged at 10. Baron, Elder and the two-dragon soul are read on Swiftplay's timers, and your farm, deaths and damage are compared with other Swiftplay players, not ranked ones.
- 3
The moments that decide short games
Dying one-on-one on the enemy half, a death right before Elder or Baron, a lane lost to their jungler: each line names the minute and the enemies involved, so you know which moment to fix.
- 4
Part of Pro+
€9.99 a month, or €7.49 a month billed annually, with everything in Pro. Your recent Swiftplay, Draft and ranked games get their breakdowns the day you upgrade. How the Match Breakdown works.
Swiftplay questions
No. Swiftplay is a normal game mode. Riot matches you with your Blind Pick MMR, so a loss does not cost you rank.
About 20 minutes. Across 1,513 Swiftplay games tracked by Hexgate in the last 60 days, the average was 19.9 minutes, against 28.5 minutes for Normal Draft. Sudden Death starts at 25:00 and makes structures easier to destroy, so very few games go much longer.
Before you queue you choose two different champions for two different positions, and at least one of the positions must be a priority role. You set the runes, summoner spells and skin for each pick in the lobby, and the game gives you one of the two.
Every player starts at level 3 with 1,400 gold, so you can buy a real item component in your first trip to the shop.
Yes, in parties of 2 to 5. Each player still picks two champions and positions, and the first picks must be different across the party.
Yes. While you are in a Swiftplay lobby, Hexgate shows the best Swiftplay picks for each of your roles, the runes, summoner spells and core build for each pick, and imports them into your slots in one click. In game, the overlay ranks your next item against the enemy team. After the game, Pro+ builds a Match Breakdown of every Swiftplay game, judged at Swiftplay pace.
Yes. Hexgate uses the League client's own interface to fill your pick slots and reads public game data. It does not modify game files, read game memory or automate gameplay.
Queue Swiftplay with a plan
Hexgate shows the best picks for your roles, sets your runes and spells in one click, and tells you what to buy in game. Free for Windows, no ads.
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