League of Legends Adds Sudden Death Mode for Clash

League of Legends will get a new "sudden death" feature for the upcoming Clash mode that puts an expiration time on lengthy games to avoid drawing matches out.

Pretty much every other aspect of Clash has been previewed by Riot Games in detail recently as we approach its upcoming release, but this sudden death mode isn't one that players might've noticed quite as easily. It's tucked within the Clash FAQ under various other questions and answers with an description that explains how the feature will tick down games to bring them to a close within 10 minutes.

Unlike other sudden death modes in different games, League's take on the feature won't limit respawns or affect the champions themselves. Instead, it'll affect all the structures on the map, including both of the nexuses. Starting at 60 minutes, structures will start deteriorating as they lose health over time with the fixtures eventually falling as the game goes on.

"Clash also features a 'sudden death' mode to keep matches at a fixed length," the FAQ said regarding the sudden death mode. "After 60 minutes, towers will become more fragile and easy to push. By 65 minutes, structures will start to damage themselves at a fixed rate in order (towers in order, then inhibitors, then nexus turrets, then the nexus). By 70 minutes, one team will have won the game. This is considered a last resort and is very unlikely to happen, but we need to give all Clash matches a fixed maximum length."

This means that if even one team can land a hit on the enemy nexus once both teams' structures begin to fall, it could be the end of one team prior to 70 minutes. It's unlikely that the games will go this long anyway – or at least we'd hope that's the case for the players involved – but with the sudden game mode, you'll never see a Clash game go behind an hour and 10 minutes.

Other interesting details were also shared through the FAQ aside from the sudden death mode. While Clash looks to imitate the way that professionals play as closely as possible, it won't feature an option to pause or remake the game like pros can on the big stages. Riot Games acknowledged that this decision isn't always preferable but explained why the decision was made.

"We know this isn't an ideal experience, but matches cannot be overrun or be remade to prevent extended days of play," the pause and remake FAQ said. "There's a potential for griefing or trolling through abuse of these features.

The first official Clash tournament begins this week on May 25.