League Classic masteries: build a legal 30-point page

Chapter 01

Quick answer: build the page around one job

These are the pre-game mastery trees, not Champion Mastery and not the later keystone system. Spend 30 points across Offense, Defense and Utility. Riot teaches 21 points in a main tree and 9 in a secondary tree as the starting pattern, but the job of the page matters more than copying that split blindly.

• Choose the deep-tree payoff your champion will use.
• Spend the remaining points on the lane, clear or resource problem you must solve.
• Match any Summoner mastery to the spells you actually selected.

Chapter 02

Classic unlocks the full system early

Custom masteries unlock at Classic Level 3 and cost no IP. Before that, the 10/10/10 default page prevents a blank loadout. Once editing is available, prepare purpose-built pages before the queue so Champion Select is only for small matchup adjustments.

Chapter 03

Unlock a row every four points

Each tree has six rows. They open after 0, 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20 points already spent in lower rows of that same tree. You do not need to max every earlier mastery: you only need enough legal points below. The final mastery becomes point 21 in a deep tree.

Chapter 04

Eight connected talents need a maxed parent

A visible connection adds a stricter rule: the lower talent must be at maximum rank before its child can be taken. The live chains are Deadliness → Weapon Expertise, Blast → Arcane Knowledge, Lethality → Frenzy, Tough Skin → Bladed Armor, Durability → Veteran's Scars, Unyielding → Block, Greed → Wealth and Biscuiteer → Explorer.

Chapter 05

Choose an endpoint, not just a headline split

Deep Offense can finish on Executioner while its physical, magic and hybrid routes take different prerequisites. Deep Defense builds toward teamfight durability and Honor Guard. Deep Utility trades direct combat stats for mana, gold, summoner cooldowns, active-item cooldowns, buff duration and Nimble. A 21-point label never tells you which of those routes was taken.

Chapter 06

Spend the secondary points on the real weakness

After choosing the main path, ask what the page still cannot do. Defense is the usual answer when an early lane, repeated basic attacks, crowd control or the first jungle clear is the risk. Utility is the answer when mana, summoner cooldowns, roaming, neutral-buff duration or an important item active is part of the plan. Champion role alone does not decide between them.

Chapter 07

Match the first point to your summoner spells

Summoner's Wrath improves Exhaust, Ignite, Ghost, Surge, Rally and Promote. Summoner's Resolve improves Cleanse, Heal, Smite, Barrier and Fortify. Summoner's Insight improves Teleport, Flash, Clarity, Revive and Clairvoyance. Take the point only when at least one selected spell benefits; open the spell catalogue for the exact bonus.

Chapter 08

Jungle pages trade clear safety for tempo

Tough Skin and its child Bladed Armor directly affect monster damage and retaliation; Summoner's Resolve is the Defense point that improves Smite. A Utility branch instead can reach Runic Affinity for longer neutral buffs and Mastermind for summoner cooldowns. That is why 21/9/0 safety and 21/0/9 tempo pages can both be coherent for the same jungler without either becoming a universal best page.

Chapter 09

Support pages choose lane power or economy

A deep Utility page can buy Greed, Wealth, Pickpocket, Explorer and cooldown tools, but each point is a combat stat not taken elsewhere. A 1/13/16 page can instead reach Unyielding and Block while keeping selected Utility tools. There is no honest universal winner: ranged poke access, incoming basic attacks, crowd control, roaming and expected item actives change the trade.

Chapter 10

Patch 26.16 fixed Spellsword

Patch 26.16 did not broadly rebalance the mastery trees, but it fixed Spellsword failing to scale with Ability Power. The live tooltip's 5% AP magic damage on basic attacks now works as described. Recheck pre-26.16 judgments about the talent, especially on AP or hybrid champions that weave attacks; a bugged test is not current evidence.

Chapter 11

A split summary is not a full allocation

A label such as 21/9/0 only records three totals. Riftback shows individual ranks when a build source supplied all 30 points; the mastery catalogue shows every available talent, not a selected page. The Build Workshop currently validates only that the three tree totals equal 30. It does not choose or verify an individual talent route for you.

Chapter 12

Run the legality and purpose check

Before queueing, verify the allocation as a path rather than a pile of good-looking icons. A legal page can still be wrong for its matchup, and a strategically sensible idea can still fail a row gate.

• The three trees total exactly 30 points and no talent exceeds its rank cap.
• Every selected row has 0/4/8/12/16/20 points below it in the same tree.
• Every connected parent is maxed before its child is taken.
• The Summoner mastery, resist choice, CDR plan and item-active plan match the build.