ARAM: Mayhem takes everything casual players love about the Howling Abyss and injects it with a draft system borrowed straight from Arena mode. You pick power-ups at four checkpoints, those power-ups can double your ultimate cooldown or turn your Snowball into a nuke, and the whole thing snowballs into fights that feel genuinely unfair in the best possible way. Knowing which augments to grab and which sets to build around is the difference between carrying and wondering why the enemy Veigar just deleted your entire team from across the map.
How Does ARAM Mayhem Work?
ARAM: Mayhem keeps the classic one-lane random champion format but layers a tiered augment draft on top. At four specific checkpoints, you choose one augment from a pool of three options. Here is the exact schedule:
- Level 1: First augment, chosen before the game starts. Pool is Silver tier only.
- Level 7: Second augment. Gold augments enter the pool. You pick this after dying and respawning.
- Level 11: Third augment. Prismatic augments become available. Same rule, must be dead to pick.
- Level 15: Fourth and final augment. Full pool is available.
Augments come in three tiers that define their power ceiling:
Patch 26.3 added a second layer to the system: Augment Sets. Some augments belong to themed collections, and stacking 2 to 4 augments from the same set unlocks a bonus effect. This changes how you should approach every pick, because a slightly weaker individual augment might be worth taking if it completes your set.
Augment draft at level 11
Best Prismatic Augments in ARAM Mayhem
Prismatic augments define your power ceiling. These are the picks that can flip a losing game or make a strong champion completely broken.
Biggest Snowball Ever
Gain 100 Ability Haste on Snowball. The Snowball becomes massive, passing through minions, dealing 200 to 350 (based on level) magic damage (+60% AP, +100% bonus AD), knocking up targets for 0.75 seconds, and slowing by 20% for 2 seconds.
This is arguably the strongest single augment in the mode. Engage tanks like Amumu, Leona, and Nautilus become freight trains. Even on mages, 100 Ability Haste on Snowball alone is absurd. It also belongs to the Snowday set, which is the best set in the game.
Scopiest Weapons
Gain 250 attack range if melee, or 150 if ranged.
Deceptively broken. Caitlyn and Senna can attack turrets without drawing aggro. Melee champions suddenly play like ranged carries. The entire game warps around positioning when this augment is in play. On Rengar, it even extends his passive leap range.
Ultimate Revolution
Refresh your ultimate after casting it. 75-second cooldown, resets on death.
Double Malphite ult. Double Amumu ult. Double Mordekaiser ult to isolate two separate targets in the same teamfight. In ARAM where you die frequently, that 75-second cooldown resets constantly, meaning this effect is almost always available.
Jeweled Gauntlet
Gain (25% +4.5% per 100 AP) critical strike chance. Your abilities can critically strike for 145% total damage.
Turns any spellcaster into a crit machine. Veigar with 1000 AP and Jeweled Gauntlet produces math that should not be legal. Skip this on ADCs or champions who already build crit, as the value is largely wasted.
Infernal Conduit
Your abilities apply an infinitely stacking burn dealing 1.2 to 12 magic damage per second for 5 seconds (scales with level, +2.8% bonus AD, +1.2% AP). All burn effects reduce basic ability cooldowns by 0.08 seconds per damage tick.
Brand, Lillia, Cassiopeia, and Singed become walking disasters. Brand's single ability application stacks 4 layers of Infernal Conduit at once. The CDR from burn ticks means extended teamfights result in ability spam at a rate that feels completely unbalanced.
Best Gold Augments in ARAM Mayhem
Gold augments form the backbone of your build. They provide keystones, cooldown economy, and sustained combat value.
From Beginning to End
Gain both the Dark Harvest and First Strike keystone runes.
ARAM: Mayhem strips all runes from the game, so getting two keystones back in one augment slot is massive. Dark Harvest charges constantly in a mode where everyone is always fighting. It also belongs to the Make it Rain set.
Soul Siphon
Your critical strikes heal you for 12% of damage dealt. Gain 25% critical strike chance.
Yasuo and Yone become unkillable with this. Pair it with Jeweled Gauntlet on AP bruisers for spell vamp through ability crits. The sustain in extended ARAM fights is genuinely unfair.
It's Critical
Grants 50% critical strike chance.
Raw stats, no conditions. Any auto-attack champion spikes immediately. Combine with Soul Siphon and the healing output during fights becomes absurd.
Executioner
Deal 10% increased damage to enemies below 30% maximum health. Scoring a champion takedown resets all basic ability cooldowns.
The kill-reset mechanic makes this exceptional on assassins and any champion who can chain kills. Morgana with Executioner becomes non-stop CC all teamfight long.
Quest: Urf's Champion
Reach 18 champion takedowns to receive The Golden Spatula, which boosts nearly every stat.
Note: Some community resources list 22 as the threshold, but cross-referencing with the official League of Legends wiki confirms the quest requirement is 18 takedowns. Pick this on high-kill-potential champions who can realistically hit that threshold.
Best Silver Augments in ARAM Mayhem
Silver augments are your first pick and occasional value grabs later. They are weaker individually but can still shape a game.
Scoped Weapons
Gain 75 attack range if melee, 50 if ranged.
The Silver version of Scopiest Weapons. Still meaningful on any auto-attacker. A safe, never-bad first pick.
Deft
Grants 60% bonus attack speed.
Perfect for Master Yi, Tryndamere, and most ADCs. Simple, reliable, and always useful on the right champion.
Leg Day
Gain 50 bonus movement speed and 40% slow resist.
Movement speed wins ARAM games. Dodging skillshots, chasing kills, returning to fights faster. Immobile mages should also consider this when the enemy team has multiple dive threats.
Heavy Hitter
Basic attacks deal bonus physical damage equal to 3.5% of your maximum health.
Turns tanks into DPS threats. Tahm Kench, Cho'Gath, and Dr. Mundo become reliable damage dealers with this augment stacked on top of their natural HP builds.
Witchful Thinking
Grants 20 to 80 ability power (scales with level).
The early AP boost lets snowball-heavy assassins like LeBlanc and Akali spike hard. At max stacks with Rabadon's Deathcap, the 80 AP becomes 104. Some players have hit 1000+ AP in ARAM: Mayhem through this augment path.
ARAM Mayhem Augment Tier List: Best Picks and Set Combos
All 9 Augment Sets Ranked
Augment Sets were added in Patch 26.3. Collecting 2 to 4 augments from the same themed set unlocks bonus effects. Here is every set ranked by how reliably it converts into wins across random champion rolls.
S Tier: Most Consistent
Snowday (2-piece: +50 AH on Snowball, snowballs deal 30% more damage / 4-piece: +150 AH, 100% more damage)
Augments: Biggest Snowball Ever, Golden Snowball, Snowball Upgrade, Pinball Snowball, Snowball Roulette
The best set in the mode. Snowball is always the most important summoner spell in ARAM, and this set turns it into a primary damage ability. Even the 2-piece is worth building around. At 4-piece, your Snowball one-shots squishies.
Make it Rain (2-piece: 15% more gold from augments and kills / 4-piece: 50% more gold)
Augments: Goldrend, Heads Up Cupcake!, Donation, Red Envelopes, From Beginning to End, Upgrade: Immolate, Upgrade: Collector
Gold acceleration in a mode where you fight constantly. The 2-piece alone can put you a full item ahead of the enemy team by mid-game.
Stackosaurus Rex (2-piece: 50% more stacks / 4-piece: 200% more stacks)
Augments: Infinite Recursion, Master of Duality, Tap Dancer, Soul Eater, Quest: Steel Your Heart, Phenomenal Evil, Shrink Engine, Hubris, Slap Around
If you rolled Veigar, Senna, Smolder, Aurelion Sol, or Kindred, this set is an auto-win condition. Veigar with 200% bonus stacking hits 1500+ AP by 20 minutes.
A Tier: Strong but Draft-Dependent
Firecracker (2-piece: missiles bounce 2 times at 40% damage / 4-piece: 3 bounces at 80% damage)
Augments: Fan the Hammer, Magic Missile, Critical Missile, Light 'em Up!, Typhoon, Twin Fire
Insane damage ceiling on missile-based champions. Miss Fortune, Ezreal, and Lux become AoE monsters. Weak on melee champions without missile abilities.
Wee Woo Wee Woo (2-piece: 40% Speed, 25% Heal and Shield Power / 4-piece: 60% Speed, 45% HSP)
Augments: Windspeaker's Blessing, I'm a Baby Kitty Where is Mama, Upgrade: Mikael's Blessing, All For You, Critical Healing, Sonata, First Aid Kit
Turns Sona, Soraka, Janna, and Lulu into raid bosses. Weaker if the team has no real carry to protect.
Archmage (2-piece: refund 30% of a random ability's cooldown when you cast a spell)
Note: This was hotfixed down from 40% per the official patch notes.
Augments: Overflow, Mind to Matter, Buff Buddies, Juiced, Ocean Soul
Huge for ability-spamming champions like Cassiopeia, Ryze, and Ezreal. The random refund averages out to a massive DPS increase over a full fight.
B Tier: Good Payoff, Harder to Force
Fully Automated (2-piece: reduce Autocast cooldowns by 30% / 3-piece: Autocast cooldown scales with Ability Haste)
Augments: Prom Queen, Quantum Computing, OK Boomerang, Sonata, Divine Intervention, Self Destruct, Frost Wraith, Firefox
Can be fight-winning when the autocast augments actually fit your champion. High variance because the set bonus does nothing if you do not roll relevant autocast augments.
High Roller (2-piece: minions have a chance to drop a Stat Anvil / 4-piece: +50% chance for Gold or Prismatic Anvils)
Augments: Transmute: Chaos, Pandora's Box, Stats on Stats on Stats!, Transmute: Prismatic, Stats on Stats!, Stats!, Transmute: Gold
Strong in long games through indirect stat accumulation. The problem is ARAM Mayhem games are often decided before the RNG drops pay off.
C Tier: Niche Picks
Deathknell (2-piece: reduce death timer by 25%)
Note: Hotfixed down from 40% per Patch 26.3 notes.
Augments: Clown College, Train of the Dead, Self Destruct, Dive Bomber
The "die to win" set. Reduced respawn timers and death explosion damage sound fun, but most comps cannot afford to play around intentional deaths.
ARAM: Mayhem is the same chaos but with actual decisions, power spikes that feel earned, and moments where a single augment combo wins three consecutive teamfights. The mode rewards game knowledge more than regular ARAM does. A bad champion with great augments can carry harder than a great champion with bad augments.