Author: Geekmandem

League of Legends Players in EUW Are Getting a Major Matchmaking Overhaul

Posted on by Geekmandem

In a post on X, Matt Leung-Harrison, Lead Gameplay Designer on League of Legends, has announced some major changes to matchmaking specifically for the EUW region.

These changes will roll out in the next 24 hours and are aiming to “Improvement to Matchmaking that we need to pilot in a large region.” The intention of the update will be “better balance autofills vs autofills & secondaries vs secondaries, etc.”

There have been a lot of reports since the new season of LP gains not being high enough, and matchmaking being poor overall. Matt expects the rollout to cause issues and has shared a thread outlining “edge cases” that might show up during the test.

LP Gains in EUW

The next major issue is LP gains during wins and losses, and how lopsided they appear to be to some. “This change would get everyone back closer to +-20LP in wins/losses, rather than +10/-30LP that a few people are experiencing currently (about 30% of Challengers).”

This will also target those reporting <10 LP Gains; these shouldn’t be possible, but players have reported them in a number of EUW games.

Demotions

The last issue that will be addressed comes in how demotion tiers work. “Last year, we made some changes to how Tier demotions worked (eg, Silver 4 -> Bronze 1). It is possible to demote to 50LP, 25LP if your MMR is low enough relative to your Rank. We fixed some edge cases that were preventing that from being true, and so if you have a surprisingly large LP demotion, this is why.” We don’t yet know how quickly these changes will take effect, but as an EUW player, we’ll be sure to follow them.

We’ll update this post as more news comes through the night.

League of Legends Players Can Grab Rare Winter Sports Skins Again — But Only Until February 26

Posted on by Geekmandem

Patch 26.4 brings in the changes, which you can see in our full patch notes article here. As always, it also brings with it a new selection of skins and chroma. Patch 26.4 Skins are highlighted by the second half of the Lunar skin line release, alongside the return of the Winter Sports skins to celebrate the ongoing Winter Olympics.

Patch 26.4 Notes

Patch 26.4 Skins

Six new Lunar skins will be available in Patch 26.4. These include Petals of Spring Camille, Jayce, Katarina, Lillia, Yasuo, and Divine Architech Porcelain Aurelion Sol. These skins will be joined by a selection of Chromas, with just Divine Architech Porcelain Aurelion Sol being without any.

Each of the skins will cost 1350 RP, meaning each skin costs around $10 each with some change. And they’ll be included in bundles alongside icons at a 12% discount.

Petals of Spring Camille
Petals of Spring Jayce
Petals of Spring Katarina
Petals of Spring lillia
Petals of Spring Yasuo
Divine Architech Porcelain Aurelion Sol

There is also a second set of Lunar skins that are already on the store. The first set includes Firecracker Ziggs, Caitlyn, Ashe, Poppy, Seraphine, & Yuumi. We highlighted them during the reveal post here.

Patch 26.4 Chromas

Each of the five Petals of Spring skins will feature Chromas, which you can see below.

Patch 26.4 Winter Sports Skins

With the Winter Olympics currently happening in Italy, LoL Patch 26.4 will see the return of the Winter Sports skin line. These include the incredible Curling Veigar, Festival Kassadin, Ice Toboggan Corki, Vancouver Amumu, Whistler Village Twitch, Team Spirit Anivia, The Mighty Jax, and Union Jack Fiddlesticks. All of these skins will be available from February 19th to February 26th.

These are very old skins. However, a few, such as Union Jack Fiddlesticks, have had major reworks when the champion in question was given a visual overhaul.

League of Legends Is Finally Adding Team Voice Chat — But There’s a Catch

Posted on by Geekmandem

Team Voice Chat is set to release within the League of Legends client in Patch 26.5. Originally revealed by notorious LoL leaker LeagueOfLeaks, the story was then confirmed by those on the PBE, with a setting to enable Team Voice Chat being found in the game’s settings.

This system applies to your in-game team, not your pre-made party. Party voice chat already exists in League of Legends. Curiously, the new toggle appears under the “When I join a Party” tab. It is off by default, meaning players must choose to opt in.

Team Voice Chat on PBE

The feature is currently live on the PBE and is expected to launch with Patch 26.5, although Riot has not formally confirmed the release window. For those worried about yet more negative abuse in LoL, LoL dataminer SkinSpotlights found code for “Voice Coms Abuse” as a report feature. Suggesting that moderation tools will be in place. Players will be able to switch between Team and Party voice chat during a match.

Voice Chat is a long-anticipated feature for League of Legends, though not everyone has been looking forward to it. In a game so heavily focused on team play, however, it feels like somewhat of a requirement. Games such as Riot’s own Valorant and CS2 all have the feature, though for CS and Valorant, it is on by default.

That said, League of Legends does feel like a different beast. LoL is often a game people play while doing something else, a show, YouTube, or a Podcast. It will be interesting to see how the feature is used. Other games have tried to implement such features in the past; World of Warcraft did, and while the feature is still in the game, it’s very underused in random group settings.

The impact will likely depend on rank. At higher elo, coordinated voice communication could offer a real edge. In lower ranks, some players may simply choose to leave it disabled.

League’s Lunar 2026 Skins Go All-In on Fire Effects

Posted on by Geekmandem

Riot Games has revealed the 2026 Lunar Skin line for League of Legends. The 2026 lineup is split into two halves: Firecracker Ziggs, Caitlyn, Ashe, Poppy, Seraphine, & Yuumi, and Petals of Spring Yasuo, Katarina, Jayce, Camille, and Lilia.

The 2026 Lunar Skins will celebrate the 2026 Chinese Lunar New Year. Which is the year of the fire horse, hence the theming and overall fire aesthetic.

Lunar 2026 Skins Cost

Each of the skins will cost 1350 RP, meaning each skin costs around $10 each with some change.

Closer Look at the Lunar 2026 Skins

Posted in LoL

Revenant Reign Viego Is Here — Riot’s Next $250 Exalted Skin

Posted on by Geekmandem

Revenant Reign Viego is here, and it’s the next Exalted Skin to hit the Rift after Arcane Jinx. The new skin completely changes how Viego looks in-game, altering his appearance as the game goes on. It features unique visual effects on each ability alongside unique sound effects. The skin also has a new set of emotes, including a new recall animation so you can show off your flashy new skin.

Revenant Reign Viego Cost

The new skin is available via the Ancient Spark Currency, allowing you a chance to summon the skin or a number of other rewards. The skin has a 0.5% pull rate, which is guaranteed after 80 pulls. Each Ancient Spark costs 400 RP, meaning at worst this skin could end up costing you $250. Though that 80 pull guarantee does carry over from previous Exalted skin events. So if you tried and failed to get the Arcane Jinx skin, then those chances roll over to this event.

Revenant Reign Viego Closer Look

As you can see below, the skin evolves as you go through the swords, defeating enemy champions to finish the skin’s final form.