In this post, I’ll help you decide if you should purchase one of the champion bundles. The answer is: it depends. Chances are you probably fall into one of the following buckets:

1. (Free players) I will always play for free, occasionally buying champions with my IP
2. (Choosy players) I’m willing to buy RP, and I know exactly which champions I want
3. (Hardcore) I’m going to buy all of the champions, or at least most of them!
4. (Undecided) I know I want to buy a few champions. But I want to buy good champions, and buy them in the most cost-effective way

This guide is for the last group – the “Undecideds.” If you fall into one of the first two buckets (Free and Choosy players) you can stop reading now – you probably don’t care about this article. As for the Hardcore, you probably already figured out that the bundles were a total steal for you.

“Undecideds,” should buy the Digital Collector’s Pack, and then maybe the Champions Bundle later. The Digital Collector’s Pack provides $28.55 in actual savings (explained below), while the Champions Bundle gives a savings of $11.39.

Many sites will tell you that the Collector’s Pack gives you over $87 in content (including champions worth 10,790 RP and $10 extra in RP, but not including Runes and Skin) for only $29.99. However, these analyses assume that you would have otherwise bought all of the content in the bundle, which probably isn’t true (unless you’re one of the Hardcore I mentioned previously). I’ve taken a different approach by trying to value champions that you probably would have (or should have) purchased.

You may be asking yourself, “How did he decide which champions are worth purchasing?” Since I’m not an expert, I deferred to Jebus McAzn’s popular guide at MobaFire.com. After watching plenty of pro League of Legends matches, Jebus ranked the viability of a number of champions by class/role (tank, AP carry, Support, etc.). I used Jebus’s guide because I trust the world’s best League of Legends players to decide which champions are really the “best.”

In determining the value of the bundles, I broke their content into three categories:

1. Content I would definitely pay for (including Jebus’s “Most Viable” champions and bonus RP)
2. Content I might pay for (Jebus’s “Viable” champions)
3. Content I would like, but probably wouldn’t pay for (Runes, skins, etc.)

In my valuation, I included 100% of group 1, 50% of group 2, and none of group 3. You could tweak this approach by counting some of group 3 (which you will undoubtedly enjoy). But you would still come to the conclusion that the Digital Collector’s Pack is a worthy buy.

Using this valuation method:

• The Digital Collector’s Pack provides $56.41 of content for $28.55 (the site quotes $29.99, but by buying RP in larger increments the effective price is lower). This is a savings of $29.27.
• The Champions Bundle provides $35.75 of content for $24.36 – a savings of $11.39.

As you can see, both bundles are a good deal. However, I would recommend starting with the Collector’s Pack and the free champion rotations first. You can decide later whether you still want more champions.

After practicing with some of the best champions for each class, you may decide that some classes aren’t for you. You can change my savings valuations accordingly using the following subtractions:

Digital Collector’s Pack
Support: -2048 RP or -$14.63
Tank: -2438 RP or -$17.41
AP Carry: -520 RP or -$3.71
Ranged AD Carry: -1008 RP or -$7.2
Offtanks/Tanky DPS:-585 RP or -$4.18
Jungler: 0 RP or -$0
Melee AD Carry: 0 RP or -$0

Champions Bundle
Support: -715 RP or -$5.11
Tank: 0 RP or -$0
AP Carry: -975 RP or -$6.96
Ranged AD Carry: -1528 RP or -$10.91
Offtanks/Tanky DPS:-293 RP or -$2.09
Jungler: -260 RP or -$1.86
Melee AD Carry: -1235 RP or -$8.82

• 140 RP = $1.00 ($20 increments)
• Jebus McAzn’s guide is a relatively good predictor of “viable” champions in all levels of competitive play

1. Isn’t the Champions Bundle a better deal since its Champions cost more RP? In my opinion, no. I don’t care how much champions “cost.” I’m trying to help people buy champions that will help them play competitively for the long term.
2. You called [Champion] a [Class] when he’s actually an [Other Class]. Good point! You’re probably right. As always, some will disagree with a few of the classes assigned to the champions. In the case where a champion fell into multiple categories, I let Excel pick whichever one it wanted to assign. It shouldn’t matter for the sake of valuation very much
3. How could you say [Champion] isn’t viable? I just went 99/0/0 with her! Again, I defer to Jebus McAzn’s guide. He freely admits that people can succeed with other champions. However, you may not find them viable in upper-level competitive play.
4. What about the Gamer’s Choice Pack? Should I buy it? No. It doesn’t include the $10 in RP or the runes. I don’t understand why Riot continues to offer this, given how inferior it is to the Digital Collector’s Pack. Selling both is confusing.
5. I started out as an “Undecided”, but now that I have the Digital Collector’s Pack and some more experience, I know exactly which champions I want. You have changed from an “Undecided” to a “Choosy” player (see introduction). This guide is no longer for you. It was nice getting to know you though!

• 05/18/2011 – Created the first draft of the guide

You can see them here