Control Ward's hidden effect that League of Legends players might not be aware of

Items are the key components of League of Legends that provide champions with additional benefits over their default kits and standard game situations.

There are numerous beneficial items in the game. Redditor u/CannonMinion3 recently discovered an interesting in-game effect featuring one such crucial item - the Control Ward. The effect somehow went unnoticed by League of Legends players for years.

He observed that, if a placed control ward survived longer than five minutes, it sparkled and showed a status message.

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Control Ward sparkles and shows a status message after five minutes of its survival in League of Legends

The sparkling Control Ward (Image via Riot Games - League of Legends)

According to the League of Legends wiki, the control ward is a consumable item exclusive to Summoner's rift. Placing a visible control ward at the target location (600 range) grants sight over the surrounding 900 units. A Control Ward's sight also reveals and disables enemy wards, reveals enemy stealthed traps, and reveals camouflaged champions.

Control Ward item description (Image via mobafire.com)

The ward remains exposed to enemies when the stealthed units and other visions are revealed. It is generally protected by lane champions from enemies so that the sight stays for a longer span. And once the control ward remains there unharmed for over five minutes it starts sparkling and generates a status message reading,

"Perhaps this ward has been protected; Perhaps it merely has merely sat in a disused lane. Whatever the case, it has persisted for eons in ward years and joins an ancient regal order of Wards that have lasted a really really really long time ."

Many players considered this to be funny. According to them, it is impossible for a ward to stay protected and unharmed for over five minutes in either of the three lanes during serious games. And perhaps this is one of the main reasons behind the effect of staying unnoticed for such a long time.

The status message (Image via Riot Games - League of Legends)

Additionally, a few players found the buff to be annoying since once the status message shows up after five minutes, the source name changes to "Time" and it becomes impossible for the players to figure out the original planter of the control ward.

Always get a control ward

— Ceci (@TeaProvider) August 18, 2020

In high elo matches, a Control Ward hardly stays for 2-3 minutes, especially when they are placed in the bot or top lanes. Although players don't consider this effect to be of any of their use, it does reflect Riot's impressive effort in detailing the smallest of objectives and features with sincere concern in League of Legends.