It's possible to never pay a dollar in League, and wind up owning all champions. The problem is how long it takes to unlock them all with the free in-game curre

It's possible to never pay a dollar in League, and wind up owning all champions. The problem is how long it takes to unlock them all with the free in-game currency (previously IP, now Blue Essence). It takes 3-4 years of near-daily play. Once you own all to-date champions, there is no monthly real-money requirement - you earn enough free currency to instantly buy new champion releases. Some people, like me, spent a ton of real money to unlock all champions faster. According to Riot, it's not "necessary" to have all champions unlocked. However if you don't own a champion, you cannot pick that champion early in the team drafting phase for someone else to play (swap/trade) - even in ranked. It is a disadvantage, though admittedly minor - a 5 man team that owns all champions has more flexibility in drafting than an enemy team that has holes in what they own.