Patch 26.20 Notes – League of Legends

Posted on by U.GG

Patch 26.20 notes for League of Legends are here. (Source)

Private Replays

“Starting with this patch, you will only be able to access replays from matches you played in. Other players will no longer be able to download your replays, and third-party apps & sites will lose access to replay downloads entirely.

We are making this change, alongside some restrictions on third party access to game memory, to close some security vulnerabilities that have recently been exploited by cheat developers and other bad actors to build unauthorized tools around League game data. You can read more about the full context in our Game Memory Removed for Third Party Apps Player Support article.

Rest assured that this change will not impact your ability to VOD review your own matches by downloading and watching your replays directly in the League client!”

Champions

Ambessa has been too reliable in her late game output for players with high mastery in all brackets, but especially pro-play.

Passive – Drakehound’s Step

Damage: 5 – 30 (+25% bonus AD) ⇒ 5 – 25 (+20% bonus AD)
Ashe is one of the premier marksmen in pro play at the moment, and we’re seeing her output too much raw damage given her position as the highest utility marksman in the game.
Base Stats
Attack Damage per Level: 3.5 ⇒ 3
Our changes two patches ago to Cassiopeia have been pretty good directionally, with most players being proportionally less impacted from those adjustments than pros. We’re taking another swing at her early resources because of how dominant she still is in early laning, making her work a little harder to create an advantage.
Base Stats
Base Health: 630 ⇒ 610
Base Mana: 480 ⇒ 450
While Diana’s assassin build shines, her bruiser builds tend to be lagging a good bit behind. We want to inject a bit more power into that playstyle.

W – Pale Cascade

Shield Bonus Health Ratio: 11% ⇒ 14%
Stacking the odds a bit more in his favor with his signature spell (in Riftbound) and offsetting Rocketbelt changes that he’ll be a bit less excited about.

E – Lightning Rush

Bonus Attack Speed: 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 / 80% ⇒ 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90%
Kindred is currently a bit weak, so we’re giving them buffs in areas that won’t make them much more overwhelming in early invades. Optimistically, they’d also make a pretty unique addition to the meta.

W – Wolf’s Frenzy

Monster Mod: 150% ⇒ 165%

E – Mounting Dread

Slow Duration: 1s ⇒ 1.5s
Small Monster Targeting: Enabled ⇒ Removed
Warding off this warden from being as reliable as a blind pick in coordinated play – hurting early mana and consistent W damage reduction, which should be skewed for elite audiences.

W – Path Maker

Mana Cost: 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 ⇒ 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 / 65
W Base/All-Out Damage Reduction: 30 / 75% ⇒ 25 / 70%
Last patch we looked to inject a bit more power into the deer, but didn’t quite see the movement we were looking for. We believe there is a bit more room for her to really prance around various levels of play so we are following up with another buff that’ll really help her shine.

R – Lilting Lullaby

Duration: 2.5s ⇒ 2.5 / 2.75 / 3s
Last patch’s adjustment to help normalize mid and bot performance ended up landing as a nerf for bot lane, so we’re following up with a buff to make up for the lost power.
Base Stats
Attack Damage: 60 + 2.5/Level ⇒ 60 + 2.9/Level
Windows between Mordekaiser’s ultimates make it hard to keep up with the pace of much of his opposition. His bread and butter (Q) can also feel less impactful as the pace of the game increases, so we think it can do more damage later on.

Q – Obliterate

Scaling Level 10-20: (+5/lvl) ⇒ (+7/lvl)

R – Realm of Death

Cooldown: 140 / 120 / 100s ⇒ 120 / 110 / 100s
Rocketbelt’s adjustment this patch will probably land as a small nerf for Neeko, so we’re giving her some minor compensation

E – Tangle-Barbs

Base Damage: 70 / 105 / 140 / 175 / 210 (+65% AP) ⇒ 80 / 115 / 150 / 185 / 220 (+65% AP)
Empowered Root Duration: 1.8 / 2.1 / 2.4 / 2.7 / 3s ⇒ 2 / 2.25 / 2.5 / 2.75 / 3s
Smolder has lost quite a bit of power over the last few patches, with the Cleaver ranged nerf and bot lane meta changes disfavoring him significantly. We’re further encouraging crit builds to bring his bruiser and full crit builds closer in power.

Passive – Dragon Practice

Super Scorcher Bonus Magic Damage: 25 – 55% (+0-9% with IE) of Dragon Practice Stacks, scaling with Crit Chance ⇒ 25 – 60% (+0-10.5% with IE) of Dragon Practice Stacks, scaling with Crit Chance
Flap Flap Flap Bonus Magic Damage: 8 – 12.8% (+0-1.44% with IE) of Dragon Practice Stacks, scaling with Crit Chance ⇒ 8 – 14% (+0-1.8% with IE) of Dragon Practice Stacks, scaling with Crit Chance

R – Mmooommmm!

Self Heal: 100 / 135 / 170 (+50% bonus AD) (+75% AP) ⇒ 100 / 175 / 250 (+75% bonus AD) (+75% AP)
We’re giving Swain mid a moderate buff this patch while also making an adjustment that should help normalize his mid and bot lane performance.
Base Stats
Base Magic Resistance: 31 ⇒ 34
Base Armor: 25 ⇒ 23

W – Vision of Empire

Damage: 70 / 105 / 140 / 175 / 210 (+60%) ⇒ 70 / 115 / 160 / 205 / 250 (+60%)
Cooldown: 22 / 21 / 20 / 19 / 18s ⇒ 20 / 19 / 18 / 17 / 16s
As one of the tank supports with the lowest health regen, and many health scaling values on his abilities, Tahm Kench lost out on the recent adjustments to the support item. We’re giving him compensation for that.

Q – Tongue Lash

Base Healing: 10 / 13.75 / 17.5 / 21.25 / 25 ⇒ 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 50
Vayne has settled into a fairly weak spot, and while we still aren’t totally happy with her top vs bot skew, we’re getting closer. We’re adjusting her base stats to help in bot where she needs to weather harass, and reverting a mana cost to her Q that simply felt way too bad.
Base Stats
Health per 5: 4 + .5/Level ⇒ 5.5 +.4/Level

Q – Tumble

Mana Cost: 46 / 42 / 38 / 34 / 30 ⇒ 30
Yunara is the leading candidate for “handshake hyperscaler do nothing” and we want to avoid that becoming the dominant meta, especially heading into worlds.

Q – Cultivation of Spirit

Passive On Hit Damage: 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 (+20% AP) ⇒ 3 / 8 / 13 / 18 / 23 (+20% AP)
Active On Hit Damage: 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 (+20% AP) ⇒ 3 / 8 / 13 / 18 / 23 (+20% AP)

W – Arc of Judgement

Slow Stacking: Stacks with other slows ⇒ No longer stacks with other slows

Items

Items

Experimental Hexplate

We’ve been fairly unhappy with how this item has played out for ranged users, especially as a first rush in top lane where it makes them too resilient to burst and too lethal during all ins.

Ranged Mod: 70% of Value (35% Attack Speed, 14% Move Speed) ⇒ 50% of Value (25% Attack Speed, 10% Move Speed)

Hextech Rocketbelt

Rocketbelt continues to be used a bit too much as an escape compared to a risky engage tool, so we are pulling back on its generic value in favor of emphasizing aggressive action with it, especially for AP Bruisers who rely on it for all ins.

Ability Haste: 20 ⇒ 10
Active Damage: 100 (+10% AP) ⇒ 135 (+15% AP)

Runaan’s Hurricane

This item was slightly overbuffed, so pulling back on that a bit.

Attack Damage per Bolt: 65% ⇒ 60%

Scoreboard Cleanup

Our recent systemic buff-bar clarity work moved a lot of numbers from buffs onto items. These numbers began terrorizing your scoreboards (thanks, Death’s Dance). The scoreboard should show strategically relevant information, not noisy in-the-moment combat state, and we’re hiding most item numbers on the scoreboard to reflect this principle. Strategically relevant item numbers, like Tear of the Goddess items and Mejai’s Soulstealer, remain on the scoreboard icons.

The following items’ icon counters are now hidden on the scoreboard:

  • Death’s Dance
  • Haunting Guise
  • Liandry’s Torment
  • Riftmaker
  • Kraken Slayer
  • Terminus
  • Guinsoo’s Rageblade
  • Fiendhunter Bolts
  • Echoes of Helia
  • Dead Man’s Plate
  • Spear of Shojin
  • Overlord’s Bloodmail
  • Hullbreaker
  • Jak’sho the Protean
  • Force of Nature

Classic Patch Notes

NEW Aatrox

Aatrox was just a baby, 3 patches old, when we chose to snapshot him for League Classic. He only ever had four balance changes before his rework in 2017 and subsequent rework in 2018, and we’re excited to see how he’ll perform again. He’s an attack-focused fighter, damaging himself to gain attack speed and revive when he would be killed
Passive – Blood Well: Aatrox’s basic abilities damage himself to fill his Blood Well, which gives him bonus attack speed. If he’s killed, he empties his Blood Well to revive on the spot.
Q – Dark Flight: Aatrox flies up and crashes down, damaging and knocking up enemies in the area.
W – Blood Thirst / Blood Price: Toggle between Blood Thirst and Blood Price, each of which have bonus effects every three attacks. Blood Thirst heals Aatrox, increased when he’s low on health. Blood Price deals bonus damage and self-damages.
E – Blades of Torment: Aatrox fires out two projectiles that damage and slow all enemies they touch.
R – Massacre: Aatrox damages all nearby enemy champions and gains bonus attack speed and attack range for several seconds.

NEW Caitlyn

Classic’s version of Caitlyn was live from 2011-2015. Did you know when she first came out, some players were upset that she was too similar to Miss Fortune?
Passive – Headshot: Every few attacks, Caitlyn fires a headshot, dealing bonus damage. Headshot charges up faster while attacking from brush.
Q – Piltover Peacemaker: Catilyn fires a piercing shot that deals less damage to each subsequent target.
W – Yordle Snap Trap: Caitlyn puts a trap on the ground that roots and damages the first enemy champion to walk over it. She can have up to 2 traps down at a time.
E – 90 Caliber Net: Caitlyn fires out a massive net, knocking herself back in the process. The net damages and slows the first enemy it hits.
R – Ace in the Hole: Caitlyn channels then fires a single bullet at an enemy champion, which deals tons of damage, but can be intercepted by other enemy champions.

NEW Irelia

Welcome back the 2010-2018 version of Irelia! The original Trinity Force poster child is here to even the odds no matter how bad they look. She’s been Q-max, W-max, and E-max at various points in time, so see what build order works for you! She’s a fast but deceptively durable fighter who loves to be the underdog.
Passive – Ionian Fervor: Irelia gains bonus Tenacity based on how many visible enemy champions are nearby.
Q – Bladesurge: Irelia dashes to an enemy, dealing damage and applying on-hit effects. If it kills the target, Bladesurge’s full cooldown and some of its mana cost are refunded.
W – Hiten Style: Passively, Irelia restores some health with every attack. While active, her attacks deal bonus true damage and restore even more health.
E – Equilibrium Strike: Irelia damages and slows a nearby enemy. If they have higher %HP than her, she stuns them instead..
R – Transcendent Blades: Irelia sequentially fires out four blades in a line, each damaging all enemies they hit and restoring some health to Irelia. This is definitely not just a wave clear tool.

NEW Karma

Karma came out just two patches after Caitlyn and was only live for just over two years before being reworked in early 2013. Karma is arguably League’s first battlemage, rewarding her for getting in the thick of it and making her stronger the more health she’s missing.
Passive – Inner Flame: Karma gains bonus AP based on her missing health.
Q – Heavenly Wave: Karma fires out blades in a fan, err, cone in front of her, damaging all enemies it hits. If empowered with Mantra, it also heals all allies (herself included), scaling with their missing health.
W – Spirit Bond: Karma bonds with another target, giving allies (herself included) move speed, slowing enemies, and creating a tether between the two. Any champion caught in the clothesline is hasted or slowed as if they were the initial target. Enemies who get caught in the clothesline are damaged. If empowered with Mantra, all move speed effects are doubled.
E – Soul Shield: Karma shields a target. If empowered with Mantra, it also damages all enemies around her target.
R – Mantra: Mantra is available at level 1 and can hold up to two charges. She can cast it to empower her next basic ability.
Quinn and Valor
Quinn and Valor have returned, having only existed in this form for just over two years, from 2013-2015. Quinn is a ranged and evasive auto-attacker, while her ultimate calls in Valor to fight as a blistering-fast melee skirmisher instead.
Passive – Harrier: Valor periodically marks nearby enemies, whom Quinn can attack to deal bonus damage.
Q – Blinding Assault: Valor flies out to damage and blind enemies in an area.
W – Heightened Senses: Passively gives Quinn bonus attack and move speed whenever she triggers Harrier. Activate to briefly reveal a large area around her.
E – Vault: Quinn dashes to and then vaults off an enemy, damaging, knocking back, and slowing them. Valor then marks the target with Harrier.
R – Tag Team: Quinn retreats from the battlefield, sending Valor in her place. Valor has substantial bonus move speed, permanently has an empowered version of Heightened Senses’ attack speed buff, and casts modified versions of Blinding Assault and Vault. Re-casting (R) casts Skystrike, damaging all nearby enemies and returning Quinn to the battlefield.

NEW Quinn and Valor

Quinn and Valor have returned, having only existed in this form for just over two years, from 2013-2015. Quinn is a ranged and evasive auto-attacker, while her ultimate calls in Valor to fight as a blistering-fast melee skirmisher instead.
Passive – Harrier: Valor periodically marks nearby enemies, whom Quinn can attack to deal bonus damage.
Q – Blinding Assault: Valor flies out to damage and blind enemies in an area.
W – Heightened Senses: Passively gives Quinn bonus attack and move speed whenever she triggers Harrier. Activate to briefly reveal a large area around her.
E – Vault: Quinn dashes to and then vaults off an enemy, damaging, knocking back, and slowing them. Valor then marks the target with Harrier.
R – Tag Team: Quinn retreats from the battlefield, sending Valor in her place. Valor has substantial bonus move speed, permanently has an empowered version of Heightened Senses’ attack speed buff, and casts modified versions of Blinding Assault and Vault. Re-casting (R) casts Skystrike, damaging all nearby enemies and returning Quinn to the battlefield.

Fiora

Fiora is still the game’s most dominant top laner even after her last set of nerfs, so we’re back for one more round. We don’t want to take down her explosive ultimate any further, so we’re just going for a generic damage nerf.
W – Riposte
Bonus Attack Damage: 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 ⇒ 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30

Graves

Graves came out swinging, being both wildly popular and arguably the game’s strongest champion. We’ve got some feel-good changes to his animations, especially his critical strike one, and some less-feel-good nerfs as he desperately needs them. We’re looking to preserve his bursty shotgunning and unique aspects as a tanky ADC, so that means we simply have to reduce his sustained damage.
Base Stats
Basic Attack and Critical Attack Animations: Sped up
Base Attack Damage: 54.1 ⇒ 50
Attack Damage per Level: 3.1 ⇒ 2.5
Attack Speed per Level: 2.9% ⇒ 2.5%
R – Collateral Damage
Cone Damage: 140 / 250 / 360 + 120% bonus AD ⇒ 140 / 230 / 320 + 100% bonus AD
Projectile Damage: Unchanged

Fizz

Fizz came out right behind Graves as a super strong performer, but mostly as an AP assassin in mid lane. We want to preserve both his assassin and fighter playstyles, so we’re skewing our nerfs toward his higher-AP builds. We’re pulling in lighter versions of a couple of nerfs from 2013 and 2015, aimed at bringing his guaranteed burst down to size, since he has so much reliable damage already with Deathfire Grasp and 75% AP ratio Lich Bane.
Q – Urchin Strike
Ability Power Ratio: 60% ⇒ 40%
W – Seastone Trident
Active Ability Power Ratio: 35% ⇒ 20%

Kennen

Kennen hasn’t quite reached the same heights as his other ninja compatriots and we’re confident he isn’t performing as well as he should. AD Kennen needs substantially more help than his other builds, so we’re skewing his buffs in ways to help those players out most of all
W – Electrical Surge
Passive Damage: 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 / 80% total AD ⇒ 25 / 40 / 55 / 70 / 85 + 100% bonus AD

Nautilus

Unlike his other water-themed friends, Nautilus didn’t come out swinging. Sometimes that anchor just weighs him down… Ultimately, he’s weak in all three of his main roles (Support, Jungle, Top) and we’d like to help those latter two most of all. So we’re fixing one major bug while pulling in buffs and reverting nerfs from early in his lifetime, giving him more reason to soak up experience and wade into the thick of the fight.
Passive – Staggering Blow
Bug Fix: Fixed a bug where the empowered attack was critting for too much damage.
W – Titan’s Wrath
Bug Fix: Fixed a bug where the shield wasn’t factoring in armor or magic resistance.
Damage over Time: 40 / 55 / 70 / 85 / 100 + 40% AP ⇒ 40 / 65 / 90 / 115 / 140 + 40% AP
Shield Bonus Health Ratio: 10% ⇒ 15%
Shield Duration: 9.75 ⇒ 10

Classic Items

Several of our tank items are underperforming. It turns out, they’ve got too little health regen, so they’re being increased. And we have a shop display bugfix for Banshee’s Veil so you can find it when searching for health items.

Spirit Visage

  • Health per 5: 4 ⇒ 20

Force of Nature

  • Health per 5: 20 ⇒ 40

Warmog’s Armor

  • Health per 5: 10 ⇒ 30

Banshee’s Veil

  • Stat Filter Filters: Ability Power ⇒ Health

Posted in LoL

All Worlds 2026 Teams Confirmed as USA Awaits League of Legends’ Season-Ending Event

Posted on by Geekmandem

Worlds 2026 is here, and all the teams are locked in as we prepare to head to the USA. T1 claimed victory in 2025, but can Faker and the team upset the odds once again to claim it? Or will Worlds being back in the West give a Western side that edge?

Nineteen teams have punched their ticket to Worlds 2026, and every one of them took a slightly different road to get there. Some won their league outright, some scraped in on Championship Points, and one Korean team got in thanks to someone else’s MSI trophy.


Korea and China send four teams each, the LEC, LCS and LCP get three apiece, and Brazil brings two. Here’s who’s going, region by region, and how they actually earned it.

Worlds 2026 Teams

RegionTeamSeedHow they got inStarts in
LCKGen.G1LCK Season championsSwiss
LCKHanwha Life Esports2MSI 2026 championsSwiss
LCKT13Third in LCK playoffsSwiss
LCKDplus Kia4Fourth in LCK playoffsSwiss
LPLAnyone’s Legend1LPL Grand Finals championsSwiss
LPLBilibili Gaming2Championship PointsSwiss
LPLTop Esports3Regional Finals winnersSwiss
LPLInvictus Gaming4Regional Finals runners-upSwiss
LECG2 Esports1LEC Summer championsSwiss
LECMovistar KOI2LEC Summer runners-upSwiss
LECKarmine Corp3Third in LEC SummerPlay-In
LCSTeam Liquid1Top three in LCS SummerSwiss
LCSLYON2Top three in LCS SummerSwiss
LCSCloud93Top three in LCS SummerPlay-In
LCPTeam Secret Whales1LCP Split 3 finalistsSwiss
LCPCTBC Flying Oyster2LCP Split 3 finalistsSwiss
LCPMVK Esports3Championship PointsPlay-In
CBLOLLØSTBCCBLOL playoff finalistsFinal on 10 October decides
CBLOLFURIATBCCBLOL playoff finalistsFinal on 10 October decides

LCK (Korea)

2026 Worlds anthem true damage
Credit – Riot Games

Korea has historically dominated Worlds, and coming off the back of the T1 win in 2025, Korea comes in strong once again. Gen.G take on the first seed, while Dplus Kia and T1 take the remaining two placement seeds. Hanwha Life Esports become the fourth team from Korea to head to Worlds, after their MSI 2026 victory.

Despite coming into Worlds as the regional outsider, Dplus Kia comes to Worlds off the back of a victory at the Esports World Cup. Lucky for them, they secured the spot thanks to Hanwha Life Esports’ victory at MSI 2026.

LPL (China)

China has been chasing Korea for years now, and the LPL sends four teams again in 2026 to try to chip away at Korea’s lead. Anyone’s Legend took the first seed after winning the LPL Grand Finals, while Top Esports and Invictus Gaming fought their way through the Regional Finals for the third and fourth seeds. Bilibili Gaming took the second seed on Championship Points, giving LPL a strong chance to push the LCK to the very end.


Invictus Gaming are the ones to watch. After a rough start to the year, the squad of TheShy, Wei, Rookie, JiaQi and Meiko finally clicked in Split 3, and they booked the final LPL spot by beating JD Gaming 3-1.

LEC (EMEA)

G2 Esports LEC Champions
Image Credit – G2 Esports

Europe has come close to lifting the trophy plenty of times, and the LEC sends three teams to Worlds once more. G2 Esports take the first seed after winning the LEC Summer playoffs, while Movistar KOI take the second seed as runners-up. Karmine Corp round out the region in third place. It’s become a familiar trio for Europe these days, as Fnatic appear to fade into the annals of history.

Despite having one of the loudest fanbases in the world, Karmine Corp face the hardest road of the three. Finishing third sends them to the Play-In in Los Angeles, where they’ll need to win a four-team bracket before they can even think about the Swiss Stage. That said, Karmine Corp showed up at the Esports World Cup; finishing second place could give them the end in the USA.

LCS (North America)

North America gets home soil advantage this year, and the LCS sends three teams to fly the flag. Team Liquid takes the first seed after a dominant playoff run, while LYON take the second seed. Cloud9 round out the region as the third seed. LYON were a surprise package at the recent Esports World Cup, so could be an outsider to watch at Worlds 2026.

Despite knocking LYON into the lower bracket with a 3-1 upset, Cloud9 finished third, which sends them to the Play-In. Lucky for them, it’s being played in Los Angeles, so they’ll have the home crowd behind them while they fight for the last Swiss spot.

LCP (Asia-Pacific)


The LCP is still finding its feet as a merged league, and it sends three teams to Worlds hoping to prove the region can mix it with the big boys. Team Secret Whales take the first seed, while CTBC Flying Oyster take the second seed after the pair met in the Split 3 final. MVK Esports become the third team from the LCP, earning their spot through Championship Points.


Despite missing the Split 3 final, MVK Esports earned enough points over the year to edge out GAM Esports. That consistency gets them a ticket to Worlds, but it also sends them to the Play-In.

CBLOL (Brazil)


Brazil picked up an extra Worlds slot this year, and the CBLOL sends two teams to the US. LØS and FURIA both qualified by reaching the CBLOL final, which is played in Rio de Janeiro on 10 October. The winner takes the first seed and goes straight into Swiss, while the loser heads to the Play-In.


Despite LOUD being the bigger name, it’s LØS who come in with the momentum after beating them 3-2 to become Brazil’s first confirmed team. FURIA then finished the job by knocking LOUD out in the lower bracket, so Brazil’s most famous team is watching from home.

Who should you keep an eye on?

MSI 2026

The most obvious pick is T1. It doesn’t matter what happens over the course of a year; T1 are always a side well worth their weight at these events. The side just shows up when it counts, especially when everyone else is counting against them.

Anyone’s Legend (AG.AL) need to fly the flag for China at Worlds, because the region struggled at the Esports World Cup and can’t afford to slip again. The region has three Worlds Championships already and is chasing Korea’s ten.

In the West, a North American roster will look to push hard on home soil, but the region will once again enter Worlds as the outsider among the “big” regions.

For the LEC, G2 Esports will once again be flying the banner for Europe. The roster keeps showing why they are so good, yet continues to not make it happen all the way. We saw the best of G2 Esports at MSI, until the Grand Final. Can they go one step further at Worlds 2026 and bring in the trophy they ultimately desire?

Worlds 2026 Anthem to be Performed by True Damage

Posted on by Geekmandem

With speculation about who would sing the Worlds 2026 anthem, Riot Games has sought to confirm that it will be True Damage. The popular hip-hop collective will perform the song “Know My Name” as the official 2026 Worlds Music Video.

The song will premiere on October 8th, and will feature LoL Icon Faker. The song will be the 13th official Worlds Anthem released by Riot Games. This is the latest from an internal virtual artist.

Worlds 2026 Anthem

The main focus of the video is Faker’s journey to T1’s historic three-peat Worlds Championship victory. The video will focus on Faker’s career, his resilience, and his ability to rise from defeat. The theme will look at how he took those defeats to rise to the world’s biggest stage. Becoming a World Champion once again.

The song marks the long-awaited return of True Damage. The band features five League of Legends champions as artists, each bringing their own sound to the hip-hop collective. Akali (rapper), Ekko (rapper), Qiyana (vocalist, rapper), Senna (vocalist), and Yasuo (DJ, producer).

As for the real-world artists at the helm, Riot Games has procured some top talent to bring True Damage to life.

  • SOYEON – Rapper and lead producer of multinational five-member group i-dle. In addition to establishing i-dle with chart-dominating EPs and singles. SOYEON has also embarked on solo ventures since 2021 and has played a prominent role in Riot’s virtual groups K/DA and True Damage.
  • Coco Jones – GRAMMY Award Winning multi-hyphenate singer/songwriter and actress who has captivated the world with her timeless artistry, sensual voice, and emotive songs to become R&B’s breakout artist.
  • Vic Mensa – GRAMMY-nominated musician, actor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist from Chicago whose work spans music, film, business, art, and advocacy.
  • Sofía Reyes – Mexican singer-songwriter and actress who has established herself as one of the leading voices in contemporary Latin pop, recognized for her distinctive sound, artistic versatility, and global approach to music.

Patch 26.20 Preview – League of Legends

Posted on by Geekmandem

The League of Legends Patch 26.20 Preview is here. This is the second of two patches that prepare the game for Worlds. League of Legends Esports closes out the year. Riot Phroxzon on X with the Patch 26.20 Preview.

Champions

Lucian’s best pairings (eg. Enchanters like Milio) have received a large nerf as a result of the 26.19 changes and so we’re returning some power back to Lucian in generic power.
In combination with the Support laning changes from last patch, Lucian’s early kill threat has gone down significantly and so we think we can buff him up a bit.
Vayne also received a nerf recently due to her strength in Top lane in both Pro Play and high level SoloQ.
We’re being very careful about adding more Ranged tops back into the meta as that has been something players have been complaining about, but think that a generic buff + a nerf to Hexplate will make her neutral there (or at least have to go for squishier builds) while buffing Vayne bot back up.
Lillia’s changes last patch were a good start, but we feel we can go a bit further on the Sleep changes.
Overall, we want to do a better job of balancing Lillia between skill levels and Lillia typically struggles at the higher skill brackets, especially after we made her early clears a lot weaker.
Average play Lillias often don’t get the most out of her Sleep duration, whereas higher skill players are much better at coordinating around it.
Diana mid is in a mostly fine spot, but Diana Jungle, which plays more like a bruiser and builds a lot more health needs a little more help.
Overall, we’re not looking to add a ton of power to Diana as she does get a bit statchecky when strong.
Neeko support (and Mid) have been a bit worse for wear.
Neeko support has become a lot weaker, especially at the higher levels of play after we made adjustments to her Clone and its interaction with vision.
We think Neeko could use a little more power as a result.
Smolder has also been on the weaker side after we made a bunch of adjustments to Black Cleaver and Deathfire Touch several months ago.
We’re continuing to add more power to him, but into his Crit builds as his Bruiser builds have worse counterplay given his scaling profile.

System

Hextech Rocketbelt

– We’re adjusting rocketbelt to be much more about the go in aspect of it and less power budget in the haste
– The haste is adding a lot to the repeatability for mages in particular, but also as a burst oriented item, it means that the item broadly isn’t creating the right tradeoffs with other items like Cosmic Drive, etc. that should be purchased for the higher haste values

  • We’re further nerfing Experimental Hexplate to allow us to buff up some champions that have been balanced around it (Vayne top). This will also allow us to give Vayne bot a buff
  • Hurricane was a little overbuffed, and so we’re pulling back the buff ever so slightly (not by a huge amount here). We’re also featuring a Yunara nerf in the patch, but we’re being careful not to overdo it there in combination

Posted in LoL

LoL Patch 26.20 Skins – HEARTSTEEL Live My Life Skins come to the Rift

Posted on by Geekmandem

Patch 26.20 is on the way, and it brings another major new set of skins in a returning skin line. HEARTSTEEL Live My Life Skins are the next major set, and they come alongside the latest music-themed skins.

We had our first music-themed set of skins in 26.17, when Ocean Song Jinx and Soraka joined Heartsong Seraphine. We expect to see KDA return at some point at Worlds 2026, which will be the highlight of LoL’s music-themed content.

Lol 26.20 New Skins

So HEARTSTEEL is the next major set, and Riot Games is going big on it. HEARTSTEEL first appeared in 2023, with skins for Kayn, Ezreal, Sett, K’Sante, Aphelios, and Yone, who got a standard and Prestige skin at the time.

Now, in 2026, the skin line is back with a new set of skins for the returning members of the band. Ezreal, Kayn, Aphelios, Yone, and Sett get the standard and prestige skins this time around.

Aphelios

K’Sante

Ezreal

Kayn

Yone

Sett

HEARTSTEEL Live My Life Skins: Release and Price

The new HEARTSTEEL skin line will be released on October 7th, alongside Patch 26.20. Each of the skins will cost 1350 RP ($10). Prestige Sett will be part of Season 3 Act 2 Paid Battle Pass.

It’s also likely that the old HEARTSTEEL skins from 2023 will be made available for the same 1350 RP price. However, the Prestige Yone will likely be available via the token store.

A Look at Locke’s Win Rate Three Months on

Posted on by Geekmandem

Locke has been out for nearly four months now, but has Locke’s win rate improved and has he finally found his place in the meta?

We first looked at Locke just after he was released, and his win rate was… terrible, to say the least. He was brought in as a mid laner, but his kit seemed to struggle at first. When it came to other lanes and roles, it also felt like he wasn’t an ideal fit.

Riot did a number of tweaks, buffs, and targeted nerfs, and now, four months on, how is Locke doing?

Locke Win Rate

Locke sits at 30/59 of the mid lane picks when it comes to win rate. It’s a pretty large jump from his awful win rate a few weeks after release. It’s a combination of the character finding a place, plus players are now starting to learn how to play as him. That is leveled off by the other players learning to counter, and a just over 50% win rate is probably about fair.

Locke also comes in at S+ in our Tier List, and he has over 22,000 matches worth of data in patch 26.19, placing him 9th among mid laners. Not much has changed this patch, either; his win rate was the same in 26.18, so it looks like he has found a place.

So, as it stands, Locke is in a good place in the mid lane. We might see changes to get that win rate up to 51%, but right now he seems to be in a good place.

Locke Win Rate Outside of Mid Lane

Locke was made to play in mid lane, and his win rate in other roles reflects that. So let’s look at an overview from patch 26.19.

Patch 26.19

  • Top Lane: 46%
  • Jungle: 47%
  • ADC: 47%
  • Support: 43%

It’s pretty clear that Locke is a mid laner, and probably not much more than that. Jungle: There is some potential, and top lane is one of those roles where there is always a place for something different. But Locke looks to have found his place in mid lane, and that seems to be what Riot Games wants.

Locke in Pro Play

Hall of Legends Caps
Credit – Jens Stentoft

With Worlds coming up very soon, Locke is well placed to go into the major event as a key pick. We have a few months of data on him now, so how is he performing at the very top level of League of Legends?

As of publication, Locke has been picked 75 times in pro-level games in the mid lane, and three times as an ADC. We will just focus on the mid lane picks for this article. Overall, his win rate sits at 52%, which is pretty solid and mirrors his solo queue win rate.

A few pro players have had some serious success on Locke. Tangyuan (LGD Gaming), Cracker (HLE), and Quid (Team Liquid), all have 100% win rates with more than one game. Tangyuan has played and won four times with him.

Some notable pro players have played him to varied levels of success. Recent Hall of Legends inductee Caps has a 0% win rate in two games on Locke. While Chovy sits at 100% with one game, Faker has played him three times, winning twice.

Worlds is up next, and as the most recent Champion to come to League of Legends. It will be interesting to see how much we see of Locke on the biggest stage.

ARAM: Mayhem and Arena 26.19 patch notes: Arena Gets the Focus

Posted on by Geekmandem

In a twist from the usual, the LoL Patch 26.19 ARAM Mayhem and Arena updates mostly focus on Arena, with Mayhem taking a major backseat.

ARAM Mayhem has been incredibly popular since it launched, and it may stay as a permanent spot. But this week, the focus is on Arena, so let’s take a look.

ARAM: Mayhem

One of the biggest changes is that High Roller is getting nerfed again. Riot reckons it still snowballs way too hard if you grab it early, so its drop rate has been cut further. This should mean it shows up as a first augment way less frequently.

Mad Scientist is one of the notable bug fixes: it was meant to give you 30% Adaptive Force but was handing out 30% AD and 30% AP at the same time. That’s been fixed, so if it felt suspiciously strong on hybrid champs, now you know why.

Removing Upgrade Ravenous no longer leaves you with negative Life Steal on all your items, which is a sentence that should never have needed writing. Bel’Veth players with Ultimate Awakening will be happy to hear her Q now resets properly after ulting, too.

Arena

Guests of Honor

Three new Guests have shown up, and all of them change how rounds play out:

  • Ivern spawns brush wherever a team is standing when they lose a round, and it stays for the whole game. Expect the map to get very leafy by the late rounds.
  • Senna opens three portals to the Death Realm that anyone can hop into, then pop out of any portal to get back.
  • Thresh lets downed players throw a lantern to allies every 8 seconds. It shields anyone nearby, and clicking it pulls you to your downed teammate.

New Augments

Twelve new Augments join Arena in patch 26.19. Ten are Mayhem imports (Hellbent, Surge Field, Sonata, Shark Bait and friends), so if you’ve been playing ARAM lately, you’ll recognise plenty of these. Shark Bait is a good one for pure chaos: you die, turn into a zombie for 3.5 seconds, then a giant shark bursts out of the ground and knocks everyone up. At max level, your whole team goes shark on death.

The other two are brand new and were made with VestionOCE and SoyJamiie, winners of the For The Win Creator Invitational:

  • Death Dealer replaces Flee. Pop it on an enemy to drag you both into the Death Realm, with 2 seconds of invisibility on entry. At max level, killing your target gives your team another revive and delays theirs.
  • Got That Dog In Em spawns a hot dog every 3 seconds that makes whoever eats it breathe fire. Anyone can pick them up, enemies included, and if an enemy eats one, they can damage their own team. Die while breathing fire, and you explode. We are going to see some absolutely unhinged teamfights.

Champion changes

The headline nerf is Bel’Veth. Her R passive bonus AD ratio drops from 3 to 1, and her E on-hit effectiveness is cut to 8 – 16 (from 12 – 24). It’s a pretty major nerf, so you should see her a little less often.

The stackers are getting reined in too. Veigar drops from 12 to 10 passive stacks per round with a longer E cooldown, and Sion goes from 133 to 111 stacks per round. Zed, Rell, Ornn, Dr. Mundo, Lillia and Rammus all take smaller nerfs.

On the buffs side, Elise is the big winner with her E cooldown slashed from 12 – 10s to 8 – 6s and W down to 10s. Neeko’s Q secondary-hit AP ratio doubles to 50%, Locke’s passive damage goes up across the board, and Aphelios gets a proper stat bump to his health and AD growth. Lee Sin’s W shield also scales much harder with AP now (80% to 120%), so AP Lee enjoyers, your time has come.

Augment balance

Scavenger doubles from 500 to 1,000 gold, which makes it a genuine pick now. Spellcraft gets a shorter cooldown and more base damage, while Giant Slayer takes a 5-point nerf at every rank. Chroma Flux has also been demoted from Prismatic to Gold.

One sneaky systems change: bonus Energy regen based on missing health now caps at 400% (up from 100%). Energy champs like Zed, Lee Sin and Kennen will barely run dry when they’re low.

Patch 26.19 Notes – League of Legends

Posted on by U.GG

Patch 26.19 notes for League of Legends are here. (Source)

Champions

We think The Darkin Blade has lost a fair bit of power with Sundered Sky nerfs that were aimed more at opening up the jungle meta, so we are giving him a bump so he remains a world-ending threat.

W – Infernal Chains

Cooldown: 20 / 18 / 16 / 14 / 12 seconds ⇒ 18 / 16.5 / 15 / 13.5 / 12 seconds

E – Umbral Dash

Health Heal Ratio: 1.1% per 100 bonus health ⇒ 1.3% per 100 bonus health
Aphelios has been kiting the spotlight for a while now, even though he’s a hypercarry in an enchanter meta that should favor him, so we’re looking to give him a little boost to encourage him to get out of his comfort zone.

Q – Weapon Abilites

Calibrum

Moonshot Damage: 70 – 160 (+42 – 60% bonus AD) (+100% AP) ⇒ 80 – 170 (+42 – 60% bonus AD) (+100% AP)

Severum

Healing: 2 – 7.1%, increased to 5 – 17.75% ⇒ 2 – 8%, increased to 5 – 20%

Gravitum

Slow: 30% for 2.5 seconds, decaying to 10% after 0.7 seconds ⇒ 30% for 2.5 seconds, decaying to 15% after 0.7 seconds

Infernum

Duskwave Cooldown: 9 / 8.25 / 7.5 / 6.75 / 6 seconds ⇒ 8 / 7.25 / 6.5 / 5.75 / 5 seconds

Crescendum

Mini-Crescendum Damage: 15% AD, decreasing by 1.5% AD to a minimum of 5% AD for the 8th+ chakram ⇒ 16% AD, decreasing by 1.5% AD to a minimum of 5% AD for the 9th+ chakram
Despite not receiving any changes since last year, Aurora has fallen off as we’ve had to nerf Rocketbelt into a fairer state. We’re giving our favorite Bryni a bit more power in her waveclear and outplay potential with her ultimate.

E – The Weirding

Base Damage: 70 / 110 / 150 / 190 / 230 ⇒ 80 / 120 / 160 / 200 / 240

R – Between Worlds

Rift Duration: 1.75 / 2.5 / 3.25 seconds ⇒ 2.25 / 2.75 / 3.25 seconds
Since all bot laners received significantly increased gold income thanks to role quests, Draven’s potential to gain a gold advantage through his Adoration stacks has lost some of its impact. We’re giving him a helping hand (axe?) by tapping up his early game damage.
Base Stats
Attack Damage: 62 ⇒ 64
This year started strong for AP junglers that could use Dusk and Dawn, but others like Elise have been in a weak spot for a while, so we are helping out our friendly neighborhood spider with clear speed and damage.

Passive – Spider Queen

Passive Magic Damage On-Hit: 12 / 22 / 32 / 42 ⇒ 14 / 24 / 34 / 44

W – Skittering Frenzy

Bonus Attack Speed: 60 / 75 / 90 / 105 / 120% ⇒ 70 / 85 / 100 / 115 / 130%
Our Grand Duelist has room to shine a bit more when she succeeds after finding her opening, without giving her sharper 1v1 tools.
Base Stats
Health Growth: 99 ⇒ 105

R – Grand Challenge

Heal Range: 550 ⇒ 600
Heal Per Tick: 18.75 / 25 / 31.25 (+15% bonus AD) ⇒ 20 / 26.25 / 32.5 (+17.5% bonus AD)
Maximum Heal: 375 / 500 / 625 (+300% bonus AD) ⇒ 400 / 525 / 650 (+350% bonus AD)
Kha’Zix has been on the fringe of the meta now that the jungle is no longer dominated by Sundered Sky users. We are taking this opportunity to buff some of his weaker evolves to give him the flexibility to adapt and overcome.

Passive – Unseen Threat

Damage: 17 – 136 (+50% bonus AD) ⇒ 22 – 141 (+50% bonus AD)

W – Void Spike

Evolved Slow Duration: 2 seconds ⇒ 2.25 seconds

E – Leap

Evolved Range Bonus: +200 ⇒ +300
Lillia is on the edge of being viable at higher levels of play and we believe her current pattern requires her to get in danger’s way, so we’re helping her durability. We also want to give Lillia opportunities to really be a playmaker so we’re making the enemies she lullabies a little extra sleepy.
Base Stats
Armor: 22 ⇒ 24

R – Lilting Lullaby

Sleep Duration: 2 seconds ⇒ 2.5 seconds
Years ago, we added the Vigilance Passive so Lucian bot players didn’t feel like their champ was being nerfed because of mid laners, which ended up being super effective. We think now is a good opportunity to adjust the tuning of the passive and strike a balance between both roles.

Passive – Vigilance

Empowered On-Hit Damage: 15 (+20% AD) ⇒ 5 (+15% AD)

Q – Piercing Light

Base Damage: 80 / 115 / 150 / 185 / 220 (+100% bonus AD) ⇒ 90 / 130 / 170 / 210 / 250 (+100% bonus AD)
Somewhat overdue, but because Duskblade was removed a while ago, we’re removing the Ability Haste penalty we had to apply to his Q CDR mechanic. This should have minimal impact on Summoner’s Rift, but we see you Mayhem and Arena!

Q – Alpha Strike

Cooldown Refund on Hit: -1 second, scaling down with Ability Haste ⇒ 1 second
Nasus is difficult to keep down these days, and part of that is how quickly getting his early stacks leads to more reliable stacking. These higher highs will be compensated with some lower lows through some more vulnerability early on with lower damage and lifesteal lane sustain values off of that, and a bit longer before he really comes online.

Q – Siphoning Strike

Bonus Damage: 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 / 120 ⇒ 30 / 50 / 70 / 90 / 110
Nocturne has been a popular and powerful jungler in both pro and solo-queue for a while, so we’re hitting the map presence and dueling power he benefits from through his ultimate.

R – Paranoia

Cooldown: 140 / 115 / 90 seconds ⇒ 160 / 130 / 100 seconds
Poppy’s flex potential and jungle presence has been a bit problematic, suppressing many champions across the board as a strong counterpick. For this change, we’re targeting her flexibility by reverting a previous buff to jungle clear.

Q – Hammer Shock

Minion/Monster Maximum Health Cap: 85 / 120 / 155 / 190 / 225 ⇒ 70 / 105 / 140 / 175 / 210
At higher levels of play, we’ve seen Rumble continue to take over games, even after our changes earlier this year designed to hit his power in lane. Here, we’re making some modifications to his passive that’s much more elite-skewed, while giving Rumble in the Jungle some compensation.

Passive – Junkyard Titan

Overheat Attack Speed: 50 – 130% ⇒ 30 – 100%
Monster Cap: 65 – 150 ⇒ 90 – 175
Between strong itemization options and best-in-class skirmish and roam potential demonstrated by his most skilled players, it’s high time we put some restraints on the archmage, while giving him some help with bad solo queue matchups.
Base Stats
Armor Growth: 4.2 ⇒ 4.7

Q – Overload

Flux Bonus Damage: 25 / 50 / 75 / 100% increased damage ⇒ 15 / 40 / 65 / 90% increased damage

E – Spell Flux

Mana Cost: 35 / 45 / 55 / 65 / 75 ⇒ 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 / 80
Vi has been a meta staple for the entire year, and now that Sundered Sky is in a better spot, we’re going after her durability and early clear speed to make her a riskier pick who can still bring the pain if you are willing to build for it.
Base Stats
Attack Damage: 63 + 3.5/Level ⇒ 61 + 3.9/Level

Passive – Blast Shield

Shield: 12% Maximum Health ⇒ 10% Maximum Health
This year we’ve been carefully buffing up AD Volibear, but he remains on the weak side even with his very unique AP build. We’re tuning him up to help him out across both the fringe AD build and his core AP build.

Passive – The Relentless Storm

Attack Speed per Stack: 5% (+3% per 100 AP) ⇒ 5% (+4% per 100 AP)
Lightning On-Hit Damage: 11 – 60 (Levels 1-18) (+45% AP) ⇒ 11 – 60 (Levels 1-18) (+45% AP) (+20% bonus AD)

World Atlas

We think melee supports have too much of their power in roaming and all-ins and are too weak in sustained laning. In response, we’re shifting the flat health to health regen on World Atlas and Runic Compass, which will benefit them more due to their higher base health regen values.
Health: 30 / 100 / 200 ⇒ 0 / 60 / 200
Health Regeneration: 25% / 50% / 75% ⇒ 50% / 75% / 75%

Teleport

As the meta has continued to adjust to role quests, it’s become clear that top lane is slightly weak, especially for split pushing. We’re in turn buffing the cooldown of both the free role quest Teleport and upgraded Unleashed Teleport to promote those alternative strategies.
Top Role Quest’s Free Teleport Cooldown: 420 seconds ⇒ 390 seconds
Top Role Quest’s Upgraded Unleashed Teleport Cooldown: 330 – 240 seconds ⇒ 300 – 210 seconds
Non-Top Unleashed Teleport Cooldown: 330 – 240 seconds ⇒ Unchanged

Classic Patch Notes

We’ve got our third big champion “drop” this patch (get it? They’re water-themed) with four fresh faces and the highlight is a long-lost favorite, Graves! We’ve also got our first set of actions from the previous Council poll. Welcome back, Cloak and Dagger, Moonflair Spellblade, and Zz’Rot Portal. 

Our fourth patch for Classic also contains more bugfixing, balance changes, and client quality. Check out those sweet new rune effects when you socket them in!

Champions

NEWFizz

Fizz came out back in 2011 and was finally reworked in late 2016. Though many of you remember all his buttons being in the same place, he’s got a missing HP bleed on his W passive, so maybe build a Sunfire Cape or two?
Passive – Nimble Fighter
Fizz can move through units and takes reduced damage from basic attacks.
Q – Urchin Strike
Fizz dashes a fixed distance through an enemy, damaging them and applying on-hit effects.
W – Seastone Trident
Passive: Fizz’s basic attacks deal additional damage over time, scaling with his target’s missing health.
Active: For the next few seconds, Fizz’s basic attacks deal bonus damage on-hit and apply Grievous Wounds for a few seconds, reducing healing by 50%.
E – Playful/Trickster
First cast: Fizz hops up on his trident, becoming untargetable. After a short delay, he will crash down, damaging and slowing enemies around him.
Second cast: Fizz can hop off the trident early to dash farther but deal damage in a smaller area and doesn’t slow.
R – Chum the Waters
Fizz throws out bait that clings onto the first enemy champion it hits. After a short delay, a mighty shark stalks its prey, dealing tons of damage, knocking up, and slowing enemies in the area.

NEWGraves

Welcome back, pre-rework Graves! This version from 2011-2015 is a true-to-live bot lane ADC, rewarded for long duration fights and deadly burst damage against short-range enemies. Careful though, his bonus resists take time to stack up, so assassins can still jump you in the jungle.
Passive – True Grit
While in combat, Graves gains stacking Armor and Magic Resist every second, up to a cap.
Q – Buckshot
Graves fires out three bullets that damage all enemies in a line. Multiple hits on the same target deal reduced damage.
W – Smokescreen
Graves launches a smoke grenade that damages, slows, and nearsights enemies in an area.
E – Quickdraw
Graves dashes a short distance and gains bonus attack speed for several seconds. Basic attacks reduce Quickdraw’s cooldown.
R – Collateral Damage
Graves fires an explosive shell that damages enemies in a line. It explodes on the first enemy champion hit, dealing reduced damage in a cone behind them.

NEWNami

Nami is back in action and not much has changed since her release in 2013. For those of you coming right from the modern game, her E buff is attack-only, so the modern Nami-Karthus synergy is gone.
Passive – Surging Tides
Allies struck by Nami’s abilities briefly gain bonus move speed.
Q – Aqua Prison
Nami lobs a bubble that damages and stuns enemies where it lands.
W – Ebb and Flow
Nami unleashes a stream of water that bounces, alternating between enemies and allies. Enemies take damage while allies are healed. Each bounce is less effective than the hit before it.
E – Tidecaller’s Blessing
Nami empowers an ally, causing their next three attacks to deal bonus damage and slow their target.
R – Tidal Wave
Nami unleashes a massive tidal wave that damages, knocks up, and slows all enemies it crashes into.
NEW Nautilus
Nautilus came out back in 2012 and as with Nami, his kit has stood the test of time. Remember that you can buy multiple Doran’s Rings if you want your laning phase to work out, and he used to be quite the jungler back in the day. The biggest difference you’ll find is that his ultimate is much less disruptive to targets hit by the traveling portion.
Passive – Staggering Blow
Nautilus’s basic attacks deal bonus damage and root their enemies. Each enemy can only be Staggered once every few seconds.
Q – Dredge Line
Nautilus throws out his anchor, colliding with the first enemy or piece of terrain it hits. Enemies are damaged and pulled in, while Nautilus pulls himself to his target. Hitting terrain refunds part of Dredge Line’s cooldown.
W – Titan’s Wrath
Nautilus gains a shield. While it holds, his attacks deal damage over time to enemies in the area.
E – Riptide
Nautilus slams the ground, sending out cascading shockwaves that damage and slow enemies. Enemies may be hit by multiple shockwaves, taking reduced damage for subsequent hits.
R – Depth Charge
Nautilus fires a shockwave into the earth that damages and knocks up enemies in its path. When it reaches his target, it damages, knocks up, and stuns all enemies in the immediate area.

NEWNautilus

Nautilus came out back in 2012 and as with Nami, his kit has stood the test of time. Remember that you can buy multiple Doran’s Rings if you want your laning phase to work out, and he used to be quite the jungler back in the day. The biggest difference you’ll find is that his ultimate is much less disruptive to targets hit by the traveling portion.
Passive – Staggering Blow
Nautilus’s basic attacks deal bonus damage and root their enemies. Each enemy can only be Staggered once every few seconds.
Q – Dredge Line
Nautilus throws out his anchor, colliding with the first enemy or piece of terrain it hits. Enemies are damaged and pulled in, while Nautilus pulls himself to his target. Hitting terrain refunds part of Dredge Line’s cooldown.
W – Titan’s Wrath
Nautilus gains a shield. While it holds, his attacks deal damage over time to enemies in the area.
E – Riptide
Nautilus slams the ground, sending out cascading shockwaves that damage and slow enemies. Enemies may be hit by multiple shockwaves, taking reduced damage for subsequent hits.
R – Depth Charge
Nautilus fires a shockwave into the earth that damages and knocks up enemies in its path. When it reaches his target, it damages, knocks up, and stuns all enemies in the immediate area.

Akali

As the dust has settled, Akali appears weak, so we’re swinging by for some buffs. Crescent Slash can feel like it’s a waste of energy, so we’re both improving its late-game energy efficiency and its overall DPS, which are buffs from 2012 and 2015, respectively.
E – Crescent Slash
Energy Cost: 60 / 60 / 60 / 60 / 60 ⇒ 60 / 55 / 50 / 45 / 40
Cooldown: 7 / 6 / 5 / 4 / 3s ⇒ 5 / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1s
Ability Power Ratio: 30% ⇒ 40%

Fiora

Fiora is doing far too well, so it’s nerf time. First up, we’re fixing several bugs and implementation mismatches compared to her 3.11 version, which is why you’re seeing some low-impact changes here. For her balance, we’re pulling in an adjustment from 2014 and reverting a buff from 2012. The change to her ultimate will deal similar damage to a single isolated target but weaken her AoE teamfighting.
W – Riposte
Bugfix: Fixed a bug where the reflected damage could be blocked by enemies in the way.
R – Blade Waltz
Damage: 160 / 330 / 500 (+115% bonus AD) ⇒ 125 / 255 / 385 (+85% bonus AD)
Maximum Single Target Damage: 320 / 660 / 1000 (+230% bonus AD) ⇒ 325 / 663 / 1001 (+221% bonus AD)
Cooldown: 130 / 120 / 110s ⇒ 150 / 130 / 110s
Damage Timing: Starts dealing damage 0.25s later into the animation.
Target Prioritization: Now always tries to prioritize unstruck enemies if possible.
Maximum Return Range: 1500 ⇒ 2500
Bugfix: Fixed a bug where Fiora could be locked out of attacking or moving for 2 seconds if her target immediately became untargetable.

Galio

While Fiora landed as pretty much the strongest champion in the game, Galio is arguably the weakest. We’re delivering a huge swath of buffs and some bugfixes for his initial state.
W – Bulwark
Bugfix: Fixed a bug where the first heal was receiving the -20% heal reduction.
E – Righteous Gust
Cast Time: 0.4s ⇒ 0.25s
Missile Speed: 1200 ⇒ 1300
Missile Width: 60 ⇒ 160
Missile Range: 1100 ⇒ 1175
Bugfix: Fixed a bug where it was dealing 15 more damage than it should have.
Bugfix: Fixed a bug where it was applying the wrong VFX on its target.

Kassadin

As we’ve buffed up the bottom end of the mid lane pool, Kassadin has wound up as the actual worst-performing mid laner. Our primary buff is increasing his Riftwalk range. Instead of using his formerly Dominion-only 600 max range, he’s regaining his full Summoner’s Rift 700 range Riftwalk. We’re also shipping adjustments that adhere more closely to his tuning during Worlds 2013.
Q – Null Sphere
Ability Power Ratio: 60% ⇒ 70%
E – Force Pulse
Damage: 60 / 120 / 180 / 240 / 300 (+80% AP) ⇒ 80 / 130 / 180 / 230 / 280 (+70% AP)
Slow: 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60% ⇒ 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 / 50%
R – Riftwalk
Range: 600 ⇒ 700

Malphite

We’ve got a few historical-accuracy changes and bugfixes for Malphite this patch. Crit AD Malphite now has sweet AoE damage and he no longer halves Dragon’s attack speed. Infinity Edge is calling to you.
W – Brutal Strikes
Splash Damage: Now crits if the main attack does.
Activation: No longer interrupts Malphite’s attack mid-swing.
E – Ground Slam
Bugfix: Fixed a bug where it could slow Epic Monster attack speed.
R – Unstoppable Force
Bugfix: Fixed a bug where Malphite could get locked out of casting Flash for too long.

Morgana

Morgana is one of the strongest mid laners in the game and is a little too good in support as well, so we’re pushing in some mid-skewed nerfs by reverting some of her 2010-2012 era buffs and adjustments.
W – Tormented Soil
Mana Cost: 70 / 85 / 100 / 115 / 130 ⇒ 80 / 100 / 120 / 140 / 160
Cooldown: 10s ⇒ 12s
E – Black Shield
Shield: 95 / 160 / 225 / 290 / 355 ⇒ 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 / 300
R – Soul Shackles
Cooldown: 120 / 110 / 100s ⇒ 120 / 120 / 120s

Nidalee

We’re putting in a few more historical-accuracy changes for Nidalee this patch. There won’t be a huge power gain here, but it will allow oldschool expert Nidalee players to activate their old combos.
W – Bushwhack
Vision: Now gives 250u of vision for 0.5s when cast.
Damage Duration: 4s ⇒ 2.5s. Total damage unchanged.
R – Aspect of the Cougar
Attack Timer: Now resets Nidalee’s basic attack timer.

Poppy

Poppy re-released fairly balanced but had a few bugs and oversights in her scripts. Both of these changes represent period-accurate power to Season Three and constitute small buffs.
Q – Devastating Blow
Critical Strike: Now crits her total AD ratio if she crits.
Spellblade Damage: Now converts all Spellblade damage to magic.
Tooltip: Updated to clarify crit damage, damage cap, and the Spellblade interaction.

Shyvana

Shyvana isn’t doing too hot, so it’s time for buffs. We’re leading with a revert of some nerfs from 2012, which should help her stay in step with her opponents.
W – Burnout
Maximum Duration Extension: 4 ⇒ 6
R – Dragon’s Descent
Bonus Resistances: 10 / 15 / 20 ⇒ 15 / 20 / 25, still doubled during dragon form.

Twisted Fate

Twisted Fate is too good in both mid and support, so it’s nerf time. As support is the better-performing role, we’re lowering his map-wide omnipresence and frontloading the nerfs. These nerfs come in the form of patch 3.7’s Destiny cooldown and 1.0.0.75’s Gate cooldown, the last time it was ever its own spell. We’re also matching his passive’s behavior with other global passives: It’s disabled while he’s dead.
Passive – Loaded Dice
Bonus Gold While Dead: Allies no longer gain bonus gold while Twisted Fate is dead.
E – Gate
Cooldown: 120 / 105 / 90 / 75 / 60s ⇒ 135 / 120 / 105 / 90 / 75s
R – Destiny
Cooldown: 130 / 110 / 90s ⇒ 180 / 150 / 120s
Mana Cost: 150 ⇒ 150 / 125 / 100

Zilean

Zilean has some small anachronisms in his cast paradigms and ability functionality, which we’re fixing this patch.
Passive – Heightened Learning
Bonus Experience While Dead: No longer grants bonus XP while Zilean is dead.
Q – Time Bomb
Cast Visibility: Casting the spell now reveals Zilean if cast from fog of war.
E – Time Warp
Cast Range: 550 edge to edge (around 650 in practical use) ⇒ 700 center to center

Items

Cloak and Dagger

  • Recipe: Cloak of Agility + Dagger. 1130 total cost.
  • Attack Speed: 20%
  • Critical Strike Chance: 20%
  • Unique Passive: 35% Tenacity, shared with Mercury’s Treads, Zephyr, and Moonflair Spellblade.


  NEW   Moonflair Spellblade

  • Recipe: Seeker’s Armguard + Negatron Cloak. 2300 total cost.
  • Ability Power: 50
  • Armor: 50
  • Magic Resistance: 50
  • Unique Passive: 35% Tenacity, shared with Mercury’s Treads, Zephyr, and Cloak and Dagger.


  NEW   Zz’Rot Portal

  • Recipe: Chain Vest + Negatron Cloak + Rejuvenation Bead. 2700 total cost.
  • Armor: 50
  • Magic Resistance: 50
  • Health Regeneration: 5 per 5 seconds
  • Active: Place down a void gate for 150 seconds. Voidlings with decaying health periodically spawn and march down the nearest lane, damaging enemies in their path. 150-second cooldown.

Systems

Council Vote

Welcome to our second League Classic community poll! This time around, we want your feedback on six specific areas, including which champion’s kit we prioritize restoring next. Head over to “The Council” tab in the League client to cast your votes! Voting will be open for seven days and you’re free to update your answers while the poll is active. And keep an eye out, as poll results will be published in the next Patch Notes. 

In case you missed it, we previously posted the results of our inaugural Council vote in the Patch 26.18 Notes, and some of those results are starting to go to live, including the three items you voted to revive in this patch!

Miscellaneous

  • Added more in-game negative behavior detections.
  • Updated in-game pings to use oldschool art.
  • Updated start-of-champion select visuals to make team and position more apparent.
  • Updated the loading screen to look more classic.
  • Improved visual clarity in The Council voting.
  • Added a new “Recommended” sort in the Runes store, making it easier for new players to identify good early-account runes.

Posted in LoL

G2 Esports Claims LEC Summer Title Once Again – Domestic Golden Road Completed

Posted on by Geekmandem

G2 Esports have done it again, to the surprise of no one. The side swept Movistar KOI 3-0 at the LEC 2026 Summer Grand Final.

G2 Esports’ latest LEC title is their fourth consecutive LEC championship, matching their previous record. The LEC Summer victory completes the Domestic Golden Road, having previously won the LEC Versus and LEC Spring Splits.

G2 Esports Claims LEC Summer

Overall, this is G2 Esports hitting yet another peak as a LoL organisation. This is their 20th LEC championship, once again pushing them well ahead of any other Western side in terms of domestic achievement.

The victory was also a big moment for Rasmus “Caps” Winther, who recently was honored in the Hall of Legends. This was his 18th LEC Championship to go alongside his mural in Copenhagen.

While Caps is often the one to get the praise, it was not an MVP series for him this time. It was, in fact, the chance for a support to make it under the lights. Labros “Labrov” Papoutsakis claimed the MVP after three strong series, going deathless in two of the games. It’s not common to see a support take a series MVP, but it gives you an idea of just how good he was.

As for G2 Esports, it’s time to prepare for Worlds. LoL Patch 26.19 is the first of two Worlds patches, as the game starts to prepare for the biggest event in League of Legends Esports.

The victory was also the first title victory for Luka “Perkz” Perković, who took up the role of head coach at G2 Esports after MSI. Perkz is no stranger to winning titles with G2, having been a part of a dominant G2 side in the late 2010’s.

Patch 26.19 Preview – League of Legends

Posted on by Geekmandem

The League of Legends Patch 26.19 Preview is here. It’s the first of two pre-Worlds patches that will be deployed. Worlds will be played on the next patch, 26.20. Riot Phroxzon on X with the Patch 26.18 Preview.

Role Changes

Support HP Regen

After Support roaming was nerfed in 26.16, pre grub spawn Support roaming is all the way back down again, especially in Pro Play which is what we were after.
That said, Enchanters and Ranged supports are now dominating the meta again.
So we’re making some targeted adjustments to melee supports so that they are able to engage and withstand some poke, rather than get poked out and not be able to engage again.
Overall, this isn’t going to be a giant swing, but hopefully enough of a nudge up for Melee Supports that players think about dynamics of the lane a bit differently.

Top Role Quest

For quite a while now, in some regions, especially at higher skilled play, Top has been a decent amount weaker than Bot (who are the natural counterparts).
That said, Top in regular play is both very popular and very powerful, and we’re not looking to change the dynamic very much (and also why we’re not nerfing bot lane overall).
So we’re giving a targeted adjustment to the more skill skewed aspect of Top lane, through the Teleport and upgraded Teleports from the Role Quest, which are typically used more effective in skilled play (where Top needs the help).
That should allow Top to exert its influence on the map more reliably, especially in split push scenarios.

Ranged Top

We hear a lot of the complaints about Ranged Top laners and agree that when these champs get too powerful it leads to pretty degraded “low gameplay states”. That said we do think it’s reasonable for Ranged Top laners to be a thing you can play there viably, it just needs to be at the appropriate power level with the appropriate power curves.
We don’t feel comfortable taking a large swing here, especially before Worlds, but just wanted to let y’all know that we’re working on some small changes to make it a bit more tolerable for melee champions.
This will hopefully allow us to also buff some of the ranged champions that are normally played bot who were nerfed due to their top lane performance (eg. Vayne), but we won’t be able to do this until this set of systems changes is released.

Class Changes

Simple Champions & Nasus

In the post the other day about simple champions, I mentioned that we think it’s good to have simple champions be strong at all levels of play. Not all of them, but some.
This can often be frustrating, especially when in moment-to-moment combat, their play patterns are very straightforward and feel lower counterplay if they can meet their success condition.
Our philosophy is that if a simple champion is overpowered and causing frustration, then that might be a cause for nerf.
However, if a champion is frustrating and simple, but not overpowered, if it doesn’t have an unintended design flaw, we’re likely to leave it as it is (eg. Viktor).
Viktor is strong in lane, but he’s also easy to gank and weak in early skirmishes; we think this is a reasonable strength and weakness profile and also, over the last few years, we’ve taken (imo) too much power out of early game trading from many champions, which has caused the laning phase to lose texture broadly across the game.
Nasus however, has been strong according to this principle, even when accounting for his mastery curve and he has more sharp success conditions now with Q 4 stacks; in lanes where he can stack freely he becomes more of a threat, while in lanes where he’s contested, he’s easier to keep down.
This often means when you run into Nasus in a good matchup, he’s often scaled without much holistic counterplay for the team (only his lane opponent).
So while we think this shape of Nasus is broadly correct, it does warrant sitting at a slightly lower resting power level due to these considerations.
There was a lot of discussion about Lucian when the notes were revealed yesterday.
Our current approach is to make Lucian’s reliance on specific supports much less tightly bound.
Lucian Mid and Top are also at extremely low power levels (high 30’s/low 40’s) which would be considered borderline griefing if picked.
So we’re trying to make the lives of Solo Q Lucian pairings more pleasant, while also trying to keep the list power neutral overall for Bot Lucian.
This change is better framed as an adjustment, rather than the nerf that was listed yesterday.
For a long time (even after we removed Duskblade, which caused us to put this functionality in in the first place), Master Yi’s Q Cooldown has scaled negatively with ability haste.
Now that Duskblade isn’t in the game we don’t think this functionality is necessary anymore.