In a ranked League of Legends match, dodging a match typically results in a significant timeout and some LP loss for the player. However, a bug introduced by LoL patch 12.17 accidentally removed the LP loss penalty, allowing players to dodge without suffering any real consequences.
Some members of the League of Legends community, including Riot, are against dodging. To encourage players to play games out of champion choice and not dodge before leaping onto Summoner’s Rift, the creators have added numerous penalties throughout time.
Over time, the penalties have become more severe, frequently accompanied by LP losses and timeouts from queuing up once more. However, a bug in League of Legends patch 12.17 has almost completely eliminated penalties.
Players claimed to be able to dodge and merely receive the timer while doing so without losing any LP. For games used as promotions, it doesn’t even qualify as a defeat. This bug is very helpful for those who value their LP but don’t really care about waiting to play.
Dodging is not encouraged by Riot, although some people think it serves a purpose. Sometimes the rival team has all the meta champions when one of your teammates is trolling, or your team is already fighting during champion selection. Dodging allows players to leave the game without taking a full loss of LP.
However, the new system won’t remain in place for very long. Riot is aware of the issue and is attempting to fix it.
It is unknown if players will be subject to retroactive dodging penalties. If your League of Legends game appears hopeless at champion choose, though, expect a lot of dodges as players abuse the issue while it still exists.