Schedule

Every teaching week and every due date in SLOP8223, in the order they happen.

Twelve Tuesday lectures from 21 July 2026 to 20 October 2026, with a two-week break after week 6. The order is the argument: the weeks follow the sequence of decisions the game forces on a player, from the roll you are handed to the design of the mode that handed it to you. Nothing here is optional and nothing is assessed that is not taught before it is due.

Teaching weeks and assessment due dates for SLOP8223
Week	Date	Teaching	Constraints
1	21 July 2026	ARAM Takes Choices Away — That's the Point Removing choice does not remove strategy; it relocates it.	no pick no recall one lane forced contact
2	28 July 2026	Your Champion Is a Constraint, Not a Build Guide A champion's usual build is a weaker guide than what this particular team needs it to do.	no pick
3	4 August 2026	A Reroll Is Not Free Rerolling an acceptable champion in search of a better one is usually a losing trade.	no pick
4	11 August 2026	The Best Augment Is Not Always the Strongest Augment A statistically stronger augment can still be the wrong pick in this game.	no pick
5	18 August 2026	The Recommended Build Is Often Wrong Recommendation systems are priors, not decisions, and limited purchasing punishes following them.	no recall
6	25 August 2026	Five Random Champions Still Form a Composition A composition nobody drafted still has a win condition, and reading it is a skill.	no pick
Due	28 August 2026	Assignment 1: One roll, explained Worth 25% of the course mark.	25%
Teaching break — 2 weeks. Lectures resume 15 September 2026.
7	15 September 2026	One Lane Does Not Mean No Space Removing the map does not remove spatial decisions; it compresses them.	one lane
8	22 September 2026	Most Teamfights Are Lost Before They Start Fight outcomes are usually settled by conditions set before the first ability is cast.	forced contact
9	29 September 2026	Death Can Be the Correct Play Death is a resource whenever timing converts it into future advantage.	no recall
10	6 October 2026	The Correct Build Should Change Mid-Game Consistency with an earlier plan becomes a fault once the information it rested on has changed.	no recall
Due	9 October 2026	Assignment 2: Read the Game Worth 25% of the course mark.	25%
11	13 October 2026	Playing From Behind Is a Different Game Playing from behind is not the same strategy played more safely; the correct strategy itself changes.	forced contact one lane
12	20 October 2026	Is ARAM Balanced, or Merely Corrected? A mode that requires continuous per-champion correction is maintained rather than balanced.	no pick no recall one lane forced contact
Due	13 November 2026	Final: One Game, Twelve Decisions Worth 50% of the course mark.	50%

The four constraints

The last column names which of the mode's four removals the week is about. They are the course's whole vocabulary, and a week that names none of them would have drifted off the subject.

no pick: You do not choose your champion.
no recall: You cannot retreat and reset at will.
one lane: There is no map to rotate around.
forced contact: You cannot decline the fight.